Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes, two of the premiere pianists in Jazz, and also husband and wife, have joined forces to record their first collaborative album, Double Portrait, which will be released June 8 on EMI’s Blue Note Records. The album is a sparkling set of four-hand piano duets that traverses many of the couple’s musical touchstones including the great jazz composers (Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson), Great American Songbook composers (George & Ira Gershwin, Howard Dietz & Arthur Schwartz), and one of Rosnes’ own striking original compositions.
The depth of musical experience shared between Charlap and Rosnes is truly staggering. Charlap is a two-time Grammy Award nominee and the son of two renowned musicians (Broadway composer Moose Charlap and pop singer Sandy Stewart) who has performed with icons such as Tony Bennett, Phil Woods and Gerry Mulligan, and served as the musical director of The Blue Note 7. The Canadian-born Rosnes is a four-time Juno Award winner who has collaborated with legends the likes of Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson and J.J. Johnson, and has also been the pianist and contributing composer in the dynamic SFJAZZ Collective.
