By Andrew Poretz***When you take two music masters at the top of their game and let them loose, anything can happen. Celebrated jazz singer-actress Dee Dee Bridgewater, with three GRAMMYs and a Tony Award, and GRAMMY-winning pianist, the extraordinarily-gifted Bill Charlap, came together at Bidland Jazz for a five-night, ten-set run of pure musical alchemy.
With no other musicians, the residency belonged entirely to Bridgewater and Charlap—and with no more than a loose set list, and each set unique in the series, the result was purely improvisational interplay. The pair opened with “A Foggy Day” (George and Ira Gershwin), with Bridgewater singing to Charlap in a slow, soulful and deliberate manner, walking through the London streets, step by step. They gradually hit a bluesy rhythm, with Bridgewater adding a scat here and there. Telegraphing and fulfilling intentions, each followed the other’s lead in intertwining, call-and-response; it was as fascinating to watch this real-time collaboration as it was satisfying to hear. Throughout, the duo followed a non-formulaic formula, with constantly changing rhythms and piano styles, one often challenging the other, and neither failing to live up to the challenge.
With “In The Still of the Night” (Cole Porter), Bridgewater prowled the stage singing directly to audience members, looking them right in the eye. Charlap occasionally dropped musical quotes such as a 
few seconds of “Come Back to Me” and Stardust;” the effect was like finding the “Ninas” in an Al Hirschfeld caricature. During “Come Rain or Come Shine” (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer), he quoted part of the opening riff to “Singin’ in the Rain,” apparently following the advice of the late jazz pianist, Jimmy Rowles who said, “If you have an idea, play half of it.” Typically, Charlap started with a recognizable riff, playing until Bridgewater found a starting point.
The often very funny diva is also open and free in her patter, complaining that she was suffering from a cold, to which Charlap subtly played a line of the novelty number, “I’ve Got a Code In My Doze.” Bridgewater described her technique of hiding a bad note by repeating it until you think it’s supposed to be there. Though she did have one note she could not quite make (after which she sang, “I can’t sing this note with my cold”), most singers would kill for the tone, strength and control she had even with a cold. On “Love for Sale” (Cole Porter), Bridgewater playfully and a bit suggestive
ly sang to a beautiful young French woman seated at the side of the stage before she and Charlap went into a scat call-and-response at the bridge.
As if leading a masterclass, Charlap spoke about song lyrics, reciting several from “My Funny Valentine” (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) to reveal their meaning through phrasing. Bridgewater then took the song, with a bridge scat that felt like a dance, with the pianist responding to each shift. Charlap obliquely honored his father, Moose Charlap (who wrote “Peter Cottontail” for Broadway’s Peter Pan), with an exciting take on Duke Ellington’s “Cottontail,” the two respectively scatting and playing in such perfect unison that the piece seemed as if it was magically created on the spot. As the set drew to a close, Bridgewater and Charlap turned to the blues with Billie Holiday’s classic, “Fine and Mellow,” followed by a hot blues medley, making this segment the highlight of a terrific evening.
Photos by Andrew Poretz
