This past weekend I had the pleasure of seeing pianist Bill Charlap and his trio at Keystone Korner in Baltimore.

I’ve sung the praises of Keystone Korner before, no question the only legit old-school jazz club within a hundred miles of my house. It out-Blues Alleys Blues Alley, bringing in a venerable who’s who of jazz on a nightly basis.

Case in point: Bill Charlap, the man who has accompanied Gerry Mulligan, Phil Woods, and Tony Bennett (to name a few), actually needs only one thing to accompany him on a great set.

A piano.

Though he looks a little like your dentist, or maybe the owner of a Jewish deli, don’t let the doughy face and George Burns glasses fool you. He out-Brubecks Dave Brubeck (to use that analogy again), bringing a cerebral approach to the piano that lacks nothing in creativity. He can literally pianoforte, touching the keys with a surgeon’s sensitivity one moment, then pounding the board with his elbows the next. (That’s actually not an exaggeration.)

Joining Bill in his trio are two of the biggest names in rhythm. Well, just one name, actually: Washington. Worthy of Founding Father status, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington are the guys you’d want to play with if you were literally the best and could afford to hire literally the best sidemen on the planet. This was the Brubeck model in his later years, and the Tony Bennett model as well.

And whom did Tony Bennett have playing piano for him?

Yup.

This was one to blog about.