Jazz in July All-Star Celebration
92NY
Livestream Here

Bill Charlap took to the stage and started playing a deliberately straightforward rendition of the verse to “S’wonderful.” He played it as if reading directly from the sheet music until he was about to make the transition into the main melody, and at that point he threw in a brief quote from “An American in Paris.” He then played a slowed down, stretched out version of the familiar tune, sounding like an Art Tatum 78 played at 45 RPM. 

After that chorus, he stood up and directly addressed the crowd. As bassist David Wong and drummer Dennis Mackrel launched into a vamp, Mr. Charlap enthusiastically brought on the cast for the evening: alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, clarinetist Ken Peplowski, pianist Renee Rosnes, and guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli. The mood was jubilant as each of them soloed, and then the four horns traded eight-bar statements.

This was Mr. Charlap’s final appearance as musical director of 92NY’s Jazz in July series; Aaron Diehl, who takes over next year, was born about two months after the series started in summer 1985.   

This concluding event demonstrated how much these concerts have evolved under Mr. Charlap’s guidance, while at the same time maintaining true to the principles established by founder Dick Hyman, who himself was building on the great traditions of jazz concerts as developed by such pioneers as Norman Granz and George Wein. 

The “Jazz Party,” as Mr. Hyman called it, has been part of the mix for all 38 years of the series history, and it’s always given the impression of being the most loosely structured, the most like a free-form jam session on stage. In truth, it’s very diligently planned, at least in the overall format, though there’s still a lot of room for spontaneity — as when, in the opening Gershwin number, Ms. Glover joyfully quoted Sonny Rollins’s “Pent-Up House,” and in the closer, when Mr. Wilson referenced Thelonious Monk’s “Nutty.” 

This was a significant concert, not only for the historic occasion of Mr. Charlap’s farewell to 92NY, but because of the diverse musicians and the quality of the music that they made together. 

Steve Wilson is one of the major alto players working today, but when he performs at Birdland, Dizzy’s, or elsewhere, usually as a sideman, he is generally worked in very modern and postmodern contexts. This is the most “mainstream” that I have ever heard him — to use a term coined by writer Stanley Dance describing a melodic style that employs elements of both swing and bebop. It’s also a rare delight to hear him playing love songs; Mr. Wilson’s rendition of Johnny Mandel’s beautiful “A Time For Love,” accompanied by Ms. Rosnes, was an obvious highlight. It was timely, too, in that it put us all in mind of the late Tony Bennett.

Jeremy Pelt and Ken Peplowski are also equally adept at both modern and traditional playing; Mr. Pelt shined on a chorus of “It Had to Be You” in support of Mr. Pizzarelli. For his part, Mr. Pizzarelli is rarely heard outside of his own long-running trio; this was a welcome opportunity to hear him primarily as a soloist in a different context.  

He’s a true virtuoso; I can’t believe there’s any kind of music out there, from Joaquín Rodrigo to Steely Dan, that Mr. Pizzarelli can not play. Still, it was especially rewarding to hear him for once more as a soloist than a star, especially surrounded by such heavy hitters as the four horns here.  He also sang, marvelously as always, on two standards, “It Had to be You” and “Deed I Do.” 

Mr. Charlap also illustrated a difference between himself and his predecessor when he called a number for himself, the rhythm section, and two horns, Mr. Pelt and Ms. Glover. Where Mr. Hyman would have been likely to choose “Sweet Georgia Brown,” Mr. Charlap went with “Windmill,” a hard bop variation on that venerable anthem composed by the late trumpeter Kenny Dorham on his classic 1961 album “Whistle Stop.”

There also were two pieces by American jazz composers that sounded vaguely Brazilian, both involving Ms. Rosnes; Lyle Mays’s “Chorinho,” a four-handed piano duet with Mr. Charlap, and her own “Life Does Not Wait,” featuring Mr. Peplowski in a quartet setting, both sounded like choros. Mr. Peplowski’s playing throughout was, as we’ve come to expect, strong and inventive.

Of the 10 tunes played, there was only one blues, but it was a doozy, a themeless number featuring Mr. Pizzarelli, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Pelt, Mr. Charlap, and the rhythm section. Mr. Wilson began the number slowly, with a blues chorus that split the difference between Johnny Hodges and Sonny Stitt.  Mr. Pelt growled aggressively, and it was a further blessing to hear Mr. Charlap — quoting a “Heartbreak Hotel” line some of us actually associate as much with Tatum as Elvis — Mr. Pizzarelli, and Mr. Wong solo at length, almost atavistically, on such fundamental material. The advantage of a themeless blues is that it could become anything, and no one was shocked when the six musicians started playing the melody to Ellington’s “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be.” 

Following the blues, Mr. Charlap gave the most impassioned speech I have ever heard him utter — at least verbally; on the keyboard it’s a different story — thanking the Y and the audience: “I love all of you, and I love everybody on this bandstand.” He then played a slow and heartfelt “Some Other Time,” somewhat inspired by Bill Evans’s “Peace Piece” but clearly it’s own animal.  

That might have been a perfect closer, but it was almost too bittersweet. Instead Mr. Charlap led the entire company in a rousing rendition of another Ellington jam favorite, “Love You Madly.” The playing of the group and Mr. Charlap in particular left no doubt but that he does.