Bill Charlap

To celebrate our tenth anniversary this year, Maria and I wanted to steal away to New York for a night, sans children, during our visit with my sister’s family. On the actual date of our anniversary, we would have just arrived at my sister’s, so it didn’t feel right to go then and leave our kids (especially Martin) with a family they hardly knew. Give them a couple days at least to get familiar with the place.

What Maria and I wanted most in New York was to see Bill Charlap play. We’ve been fans for a couple years, but hadn’t yet seen him play. He and his wife Renee Rosnes, herself a renowned jazz pianist, live with their kids in New Jersey, so they play a lot in New York but don’t come to Chicago too often. After quite a bit of searching, we had given up on seeing Charlap play for our anniversary. Then I saw it: an add in Jazz Times for “Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y, Bill Charlap, Artistic Director.” Woo-hoo!! Not only would we finally see him play, but also we could choose which night and which program. That was not easy! We decided on the George Shearing tribute concert, with Fred Hersch and Freddy Cole. Then we planned the rest of the evening around the concert on the Upper East Side.

We took the train in to the city – getting on the train warrants its own story sometime. From Grand Central, we took a subway up to 96th. We stopped at the Y at 92nd and Lexington and picked up the concert tickets. Then we walked to the Hotel Wales at 92nd and Madison to check in. This is a marvelous, charming hotel in an older ten-story building. We showered and rested, then went for a walk. Down 5th Avenue, then towards Erminia on 83rd near 2nd Avenue. Next to Erminia, there was a cute little toy shop. We had a few minutes to spare, so we shopped there for some gifts for the kids.

Erminia is a lovely, cozy Italian restaurant. The front is not particularly inviting – you need to know it’s there. You walk right in to the one small dining area. We were perhaps the second couple in the restaurant that evening. The service and the food were both decent. By the time we left, the place was jammed, and it was a bit of an exercise to get and pay the bill. Overall, not disappointing, but hardly overwhelming either. Then a short walk back up to the Y.

What a great concert! Charlap and the other musicians played in various combinations throughout the show. We were disappointed to learn that Fred Hersch was ill. Rosnes played instead, and did an excellent job. Joe Locke on the vibraphone was just awesome! Charlap talked frequently between numbers, and paced the show well. He has a marvelous ability to fit in with whatever group is playing. Dare I say, if Marian McPartland ever retires, Charlap might host Piano Jazz? An amazing show it was. Maria still tells me that she rides a wave of energy she got from this show.

After the concert, a short walk back to the hotel, where we stopped for a drink downstairs. In the morning, before Maria was up, I took the subway back to midtown just to walk around some more. Then we had breakfast on the hotel’s rooftop terrace, which was sublime – a decent view of the area, and you could see a bit of Central Park between the other buildings a couple blocks away. We would definitely stay at Hotel Wales again.

There was a cloud over this little mini-vacation. Maria had a flu bug the night before. At the last minute it wasn’t very clear whether we would go at all. And I couldn’t help but wonder if I would be next, and when it would hit. But we were motivated by this adventure, we travel well together, and our adventures feed us in return.