Time Magazine described Grammy-winning pianist Bill Charlap perhaps best: ”No matter how imaginative or surprising his take on a song is, he invariably zeroes in on its essence.” Charlap who has performed with the leading artists of our time—Phil Woods, Tony Bennett, Gerry Mulligan, Wynton Marsalis, Ron Carter, to name a few—has been playing piano since he was three years old. His father was Broadway composer Moose Charlap, best known for his score for Peter Pan, and his mother, singer Sandy Stewart, toured with Benny Goodman. She and Bill performed together throughout the years and released two albums, Love is Here to Stay in 2005 and Something to Remember in 2013.

In 1997, Bill Charlap formed what was to become his signature performing ensemble, a trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington who are in demand to this day. Charlap won two Grammy nominations, one for Somewhere and the other for Live at The Village Vanguard, followed by a 2016 Grammy win for The Songs of Jerome Kern with Tony Bennett. He and his Canadian-born wife, pianist Renee Rosnes, began appearing as a duo with a 2006 performance at Litchfield Jazz Festival and released a record together, Double Portrait, on Blue Note/EMI in 2010. In addition to recordings as a sideman and a leader of the Bill Charlap Trio and New York Trio with Jay Leonhart and Bill Stewart, Charlap has had a career as a concert producer for Jazz at Lincoln Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Chicago Symphony Center and the Hollywood Bowl.

Bill Charlap recently retired from his long-time role as Artistic Director of the Jazz in July Festival at New York’s 92Y and, in 2015, assumed the role of Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University.

This is his third appearance at Litchfield Jazz Festival. He appeared here in 2002 with his Trio and in 2006 with Renee Rosnes.  In his 2024 appearance, Bill was assisted by Kenny Washington on drums, and David Wong in for Peter Washington on bass.