Jon Gordon & Bill Charlap - Contrasts

Styles: Piano And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:13
Size: 122,4 MB
Art: Front

(8:37)  1. Stardust
(6:53)  2. Young At Heart
(3:11)  3. Bye Ya
(5:26)  4. For Sue
(5:30)  5. These Foolish Things
(3:01)  6. Contrasts
(5:54)  7. I Fall In Love Too Easily
(6:41)  8. Compensation
(6:24)  9. Over The Rainbow
(1:32) 10. Epilogue

A precocious, well- studied pianist, trading eights with two alto giants. The common denominator in both of these recent releases would at first glance appear to be pianist Bill Charlap. However, the relationship goes much deeper. Alto saxophonist Jon Gordon was a school chum of Charlap's at New York City's High School for the Performing. Phil Woods's was Gordon's principle teacher and produced Contrasts for Double-Time records. The disc was recorded in Phil Wood's home. Phil Woods's mentions Voyage in the liner notes for Contrasts and recorded voyage aboard the Queen Elizabeth II with Bill Charlap's working trio. Bill Charlap has been a member of Phil Woods's Quintet since 1995. Thus this is music that runs deep. Bill Charlap is fresh off of his success with an earlier duet outing with Warren Vaché, 2gether. 

On that recording, Charlap proved an encyclopedic knowledge with the American Songbook both in terms of content and performance. He, while being considerable younger than the veteran Vaché, played with a keenly intelligent empathy, never sounding out of place. Here Charlap's empathy surpasses that which he showed Vaché. Having known Gordon for so long paid off. Contrasts is a fine duet recital of standards and originals. Jon Gordon has a very interesting dry tone compared to that of his mentor Woods. Gordon sounds like an amalgam of Frank Morgan and Johnny Hodges with an edge of Art Pepper. Not exactly a "wounded bird" as Morgan's tone was once described. Gordon's tone is parchment fine, maybe a 'wounded bird" with an IQ of 160. Gordon and Charlap approach their material much in the same way, very respectfully and with heightened sensitivity. 

This results in dramatically performed music that is never melodramatic. Charlap is a ballad performer on par with Fred Hersch and Hersch's muse, Bill Evans. This philosophy dovetails perfectly with Gordon's approach. Made up of mostly standards, Contrasts, offers jazz from the confines of the duet that is never claustrophobic or smothered. Both men allow one another plenty of space to look for the right notes. "Stardust" is taken as a lengthy dissertation on nostalgia. "Young at Heart is innocence in carnate. "Over the Rainbow" may be the perfect ballad for these balladeers. "For Sue" was written by West Coaster Jack Montrose for Jon Gordon's mother. It is performed like an unbroken sigh. This is a alto-piano duet disc on par with Art Pepper's Goin' Home and Frank Morgan's Double Image. ~ C.Michael Bailey  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/contrasts-with-jon-gordon-voyage-with-phil-woods-bill-charlap-double-time-jazz-review-by-c-michael-bailey.php

Personnel:  Jon Gordon: Alto Saxophone; Bill Charlap: Piano.

Contrasts

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