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Sandy Stewart is a native of Philadelphia. As a child, Stewart knew she wanted to sing and perform. She secretly auditioned for parts on local children's TV shows. |
As a teenager, she developed her singing voice and took lessons, upstairs, as it happens, from the rehearsal space of a young songwriter named Mark "Moose" Charlap.
Stewart and Charlap met again in New York city a decade later, fell in love and got married. Both were pursuing careers in music at the time. Moose Charlap was already a successful broadway composer and songwriter, with a number of of popular scores for such shows as Alice Through the Looking Glass, Kelly, and his most famous work, Peter Pan. Stewart had her breakthrough hit in 1962 with a grammy-nominated performance of "My Coloring Book." She went on to make TV appearances with Ed Sullivan and Perry Como before briefly touring with Benny Goodman. At age 26, she retired from the music business to raise a family, though she would continue to sing the demos for her husband's new compositions.
In 1966, Sandy gave birth to a son, Bill. Surrounded by music, the child took to the piano on his own. Stewart remembers her young son approaching the piano cautiously, playing one note and then walking away. Before long he was imitating his father, and sitting at the piano for long stretches of time.
Moose died when Bill was 7, and Stewart returned to work singing demos and advertisement jingles. Bill continued playing the piano and attended New York's High School for the Performing Arts. He took private lessons from pianist Jack Rielly and received more informal tutelage from Dick Hyman, a distant cousin on the Charlap side of the family. Bill began studying at SUNY Purchase, but when he landed a gig with Gerry Mulligan's band he left school and began a fulltime career on the jazz circuit.
He's since performed with singers such as Carol Sloane, Sheila Jordon, Tony Bennett and, of course, his mother. Charlap has also continued a long-standing gig as the pianist with Phil Woods group, which began in 1995. With his own trio (bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington), Charlap has received critical acclaim for his sophisticated and creative treatments of jazz standards and tunes from the American popular songbook.
Love Is Here to Stay marks Charlap's fifth album for Blue Note records and is the first album recorded with his mother.
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Set List for Sandy Stewart and Bill Charlap on Piano Jazz:Two for the Road (Mancini, Bricusse)
The Boy Next Door (Blane, Martin)
Where or When (Rodgers, Hart)
Melancholy Mood (Ellington)
Here I Am in Love Again (Charlap, Sweeney)
In a Sentimental Mood (Ellington)
The Nearness of You (Carmichael, Washington)
Taking a Chance on Love (Duke, Fetter,Latouche)
Stewart and Charlap met again in New York city a decade later, fell in love and got married. Both were pursuing careers in music at the time. Moose Charlap was already a successful broadway composer and songwriter, with a number of of popular scores for such shows as Alice Through the Looking Glass, Kelly, and his most famous work, Peter Pan. Stewart had her breakthrough hit in 1962 with a grammy-nominated performance of "My Coloring Book." She went on to make TV appearances with Ed Sullivan and Perry Como before briefly touring with Benny Goodman. At age 26, she retired from the music business to raise a family, though she would continue to sing the demos for her husband's new compositions.
In 1966, Sandy gave birth to a son, Bill. Surrounded by music, the child took to the piano on his own. Stewart remembers her young son approaching the piano cautiously, playing one note and then walking away. Before long he was imitating his father, and sitting at the piano for long stretches of time.
Moose died when Bill was 7, and Stewart returned to work singing demos and advertisement jingles. Bill continued playing the piano and attended New York's High School for the Performing Arts. He took private lessons from pianist Jack Rielly and received more informal tutelage from Dick Hyman, a distant cousin on the Charlap side of the family. Bill began studying at SUNY Purchase, but when he landed a gig with Gerry Mulligan's band he left school and began a fulltime career on the jazz circuit.
He's since performed with singers such as Carol Sloane, Sheila Jordon, Tony Bennett and, of course, his mother. Charlap has also continued a long-standing gig as the pianist with Phil Woods group, which began in 1995. With his own trio (bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington), Charlap has received critical acclaim for his sophisticated and creative treatments of jazz standards and tunes from the American popular songbook.
Love Is Here to Stay marks Charlap's fifth album for Blue Note records and is the first album recorded with his mother.
Check out this week's Piano Jazz Shorts: the Piano Jazz podcast.
Subscribe!
Set List for Sandy Stewart and Bill Charlap on Piano Jazz: