Music Education Monday: A master class with pianist Bill Charlap

Bill Charlap has won wide acclaim as one of the most accomplished and tasteful pianists of his generation. Charlap (pictured) who turns 50 this year, has recorded seven albums as a leader or co-leader for the Blue Note label, including two Grammy-nominated CDs.

He also was a member of Blue Note Seven, the all-star group assembled in 2008 to mark the label's 70th anniversary, and as a sideman has performed or recorded with many well-known singers and musicians, including Tony Bennett, Phil Woods, Harry Allen, Ruby Braff, Scott Hamilton, Gerry Mulligan, Warren Vaché, Jim Hall, Benny Carter, Clark Terry, and more.

More recently, Charlap last year was named director of jazz studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ, and today for Music Education Monday, you can see a video of a master class Charlap presented in 2013 at the Jazz Philharmonic Hall in Saint Petersburg, Russia. While the quality of the video (shot by an audience member) isn't particularly good, and there are occasional interjections from a translator, it's listenable and watchable enough to spend 50 minutes with Charlap as he shares the story of his career and some musical perspectives, with accompanying musical examples. 

You can see the video after the jump...