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Live Reviews
92 Street Y Continuum: From Dick Hyman to Bill Charlap
Daniel Kassell
Dan seeks out jazz that swings to highlight exceptional artists and events“ This extraordinary evening was but a brief reflection of Dick Hymans seventy nine years of assimilating Americas indigenous music ”
Dick Hyman and Bill Charlap,
Jazz in July,
Kaufman Hall, Tisch Center for the Arts,
New York, New York,
July 19, 2006
"20 years on a wonderful carousel ride is enough, pianist/producer, Dick Hyman mused for a New York Sun reporter upon retiring, at age 77, from New York's most successful annual series—Jazz In July at the Kaufmann Concert Hall in the Tisch Center for the Arts on 92nd Street. Hyman successfully produced six evenings per year from 1984 to 2004, totaling 120 well thought-out, musically arranged, and staged shows. One rehearsal would take place the afternoon of the performance, with the performance in true jazz improvisation fashion occurring that same evening at 8 pm to a sophisticated audience who expected perfection and were rarely disappointed. Hyman's advice to his successor, pianist Bill Charlap, was to "remake the program in his own image (TimeOut New York).
Following the same tradition as Hyman for the 2005 season, Charlap brought together some of the world's best jazz players, continuing to emphasize mainstream piano jazz but with more modern players and instrumental pioneers. His "Dream Team as well as his regular rhythm pair bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington were also well received.
Dicky Hyman (l) with Bill Charlap (r)
To commemorate Hyman's prodigious contribution, the July 19, 2006 evening was titled: Dick Hyman: A Jazz Life. The band included electric guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli with his rheumatically accurate foot tapping plus pianists Derek Smith and Ted Rosenthal, drummer Eddie Locke, bassist Jay Leonhart, clarinetist Ken Peplowski and vocalist Terry Burrell, with Charlap serving as MC.
As the audience was being seated they were greeted by a running history of Dick Hyman publicity photos reflecting the changes in his appearance from a youthful wunderkind pianist to the tuxedoed gentleman honored tonight by being the first "Legend feted by the 92nd Y Series. In the usual fashion the evening proceeded with a procession of individual pianists followed by groups made up of tonight's performers introduced by Charlap. Charlap told of "first meeting Dick Hyman when he [Charlap] was only 15," relating how helpful Hyman had been in encouraging the growth of his career as an example of Mr. Hyman's consideration for other young pianists.
"S' Wonderful introduced Smith on the left grand piano, Rosenthal opposite, Leonhart behind Smith, Locke behind a full drum kit on a riser above the right hand grand, Pizzarelli seated in the curve of Smith's piano and Peplowski in the curve of the other piano for a welcoming warm-up number. After they all walked offstage Charlap announced, "Here's Dick Hyman, inviting appreciative applause from this audience that, from observation, had witnessed all twenty years of performances.
Impeccably dressed for the occasion in black suit, white French cuffed shirt with a pink triangle design satin tie and white hair well slicked back, Hyman introduced "Lover. He began by establishing the verse, followed by its melody, quietly adding short bursting runs that got more elaborate and classical, inserting a few Art Tatum-like tidbits on occasion. Smith then joined on the right piano for "Have You Met Miss Jones and both played so much piano together it was hard to know who to watch!
Smith, joined by the rhythm duo, performed Duke Ellington's "Squeeze Me and he became the first of the evening to inject the blues and some emotional swing, on top of Locke's backbeat layered over Leonhart's string bass rhythms.
Charlap popped out again to introduce Peplowski (aka "Peps ), who took the mic to speak about his admiration for Hyman. He called him, "a jack of all trades and a master of them all, and related a story of being asked at the last moment by Hyman to play improvisation on a never before played tune at a Waterloo Village, New Jersey event. Then from the outset of "Limehouse Blues he sped through its melody, inserting all kinds of improv, trading frequently with Leonhart and Locke. Listening to Locke it became obvious that he's a master of the well-tuned drum kit.
Rosenthal introduced "Baby Boom, composed by Hyman, followed by an exploration of the father of stride piano James. P. Johnson's "You've Got to be Modernistic —attempted because "Dick is so diverse. But Ted's conception was based upon reading music to play all the right notes—unlike Johnson he hasn't mastered the use of the spaces between them so we were left without the drama and tension that stride pianists build into every performance.
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