Renee Rosnes has been in the news lately as one half of a jazz power couple

Renee Rosnes Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard

Renee Rosnes has been in the news lately as one half of a jazz power couple: She's married to fellow pianist Bill Charlap, and earlier this year they released the duet album Double Rainbow. But she recently made headlines as one quarter of a jazz powerhouse: The Renee Rosnes Quartet. That foursome played a week at the Village Vanguard this September; NPR Music and WBGO were there to record and live broadcast the group both on air and online on Wednesday, Sept. 15.

Let's be clear: Rosnes' talent on the piano is no fraction of anything. She's been on the New York scene for nearly 25 years, enough to play with late jazz legends and develop her own approach in doing so. At the Vanguard, she was full of subtle shadings on lesser-played standards and a few rambunctious originals. There was deep blues feeling and plenty of buttery swing, set forth among a variety of textures from her veteran bandmates. With Rosnes for her Vanguard run are the silky vibraphonist Steve Nelson and the reliable hookup of bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash.

Raised in Vancouver, Rosnes moved to New York in the mid-1980s. Within years, she was playing in the bands of Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter and J.J. Johnson, among others. Her self-titled 1989 debut album features such guest stars as Shorter, Branford Marsalis and Herbie Hancock. She's gone on to make more than 10 additional albums under her name, recording for a while on Blue Note Records, and to join the all-star SFJAZZ collective at its inception.

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Renee Rosnes is one of the premier jazz pianists and composers of her generation

Renee Rosnes is one of the premier jazz pianists and composers of her generation. Canadian born, she began classical studies at age three and began to play jazz during her high school years. Shortly after relocating to New York from Vancouver in 1986, she swiftly established a reputation as a major talent. She toured and recorded with many of the greatest masters, attracting international attention and building a resume that reads like a who’s who of jazz, including stints with Joe Henderson, JJ Johnson, Wayne Shorter, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band with Jon Faddis, James Moody, and Bobby Hutcherson.

Rosnes has released a series of twelve diverse recordings, nine of which are on the legendary Blue Note label. Four have garnered Juno Awards, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy. Her latest release is Black Narcissus: an album celebrating the music of Joe Henderson with longtime collaborators bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash. It was recently honored with a “Gold Disc Award” from Japan’s Swing Journal magazine. Other recent releases featuring Ms. Rosnes are: Bobby Hutcherson: For Sentimental Reasons and the SFJAZZ Collective Live 2009: The Music of McCoy Tyner and Original Works.

From its inception in 2004 through 2009, Renee Rosnes held the piano chair for the SFJAZZ Collective, an all-star ensemble that featured many contemporary luminaries including saxophonists Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano, alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon and trumpeters Nicholas Payton and Dave Douglas among others. During her tenure with the octet, Ms. Rosnes contributed six commissioned works and several original arrangements of music by Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter and McCoy Tyner.

In addition to performing with her trio and quartet, Rosnes often collaborates with her husband, pianist Bill Charlap, in a two piano setting.

"Rosnes offers exquisite balances of delicacy and power, witty and weighted ideas, assertiveness and deference.” - Down Beat

“If you looked closely, you would have sworn you saw steam rising from the piano at the (Village )Vanguard.” - The New York Sun

Jazz Valentines: Bill Charlap And Renee Rosnes

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, February 13, 2009 - It's a rare thing to have three pianists at three pianos in one studio. But given the recent marriage of keyboard masters Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes, Marian McPartland thought it was a perfect opportunity to expand the Piano Jazz format with two of today's most gifted players as her guests.

Rosnes (the modern master) and Charlap (the accomplished acolyte of the American songbook) are a true jazz-piano power couple. Naturally, they met on the bandstand in various encounters over the years, from New York to Switzerland to Japan. The couple got together for the ultimate duet in 2007, with a star-studded wedding ceremony at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in the Jazz at Lincoln Center complex.

Charlap's talents run in the family: His father, Moose Charlap, was a successful Broadway composer, while his mother, Sandy Stewart, was a popular singer in the 1960s who worked with Benny Goodman and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. While Bill grew up on the Manhattan music scene, Irene "Renee" Rosnes spent her childhood on the other side of the continent in Vancouver, British Columbia. She didn't make it to New York until the mid-'80s, but her jazz acumen was quickly recognized by such jazz masters as Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter and J.J. Johnson.

The two demonstrate their complementary styles on a duet of "Just in Time." Charlap and Rosnes then invite McPartland into the mix for a trio version of "Gone With the Wind" — which happens to be the very first tune the couple ever played together.

Rosnes plays a haunting, impressionistic version of Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge" and Charlap salutes McPartland with her own "Stranger in a Dream." The two come together again on a gently swinging duet version of McPartland's most famous tune, "Twilight World." The host can't resist taking advantage of this unique piano-trio setting to perform a free improv sesson with her guests. The esteemed trio winds up the hour with each having a go at "I'll Remember April."
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