Bill Charlap Trio

Bill Charlap is regarded as one of the premiere interpreters of the Great American Songbook. On January 13, 2009, Blue Note Records will commemorate the labels 70th anniversary with the release of Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records, an eight-song collection of classic Blue Note repertoire re-envisioned by The Blue Note 7, an all-star septet comprising pianist, musical director, and current Blue Note recording artist Bill Charlap with trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, alto saxophonist/flutist Steve Wilson, guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash. The album is produced by Charlap, Michael Cuscuna and Eli Wolf, and executive produced by Danny Melnick, founder of the event production company Absolutely Live Entertainment, which will be producing The Blue Note 7s extensive 51-city North American tour launching January 7. Charlap says, The music that Blue Note recorded is so vast and historically important that there was no way we could be comprehensive in covering the contributions of so many major musicians. We chose to record compositions that would honor the label and its key players, whittling it down to eight of our favorites from Blue Notes wide-ranging and extensive catalog. Charlap hails the wisdom of Blue Note founder Alfred Lion, who launched the label in 1939, for creating a forum for composers to write music. He trusted them to go ahead and do what they do best.