Jazz pianist Renee Rosnes is appearing twice during the Gilmore Piano Festival in Kalamazoo — first in a two-piano duo with her husband Bill Charlap on Thursday, May 7th at the Williams Theatre (shows at 5 and 8 p.m.), and then with her all-female ensemble Artemis on Friday, May 8th at 7:30 p.m. in the Dalton Center Recital Hall. In a conversation with Cara Lieurance, Rosnes reflects on her Canadian roots, her path into jazz, and the music fans can expect at both concerts.
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and raised in North Vancouver, Rosnes says she didn’t discover jazz until high school. “I became interested in jazz in high school through a music teacher — a band director who knew that I played classically and recruited me for the jazz band,” she says. That director, Bob Rebliotti, gave her recordings by artists ranging from Count Basie to Herbie Hancock, and Rosnes says she quickly grasped the depth of the music’s history.
Rosnes and Charlap have been married nearly 20 years and keep two Steinway grand pianos in their living room, though she notes they don’t rehearse together as often as one might expect. Among the pieces they may perform is Spellbound, a composition Rosnes secretly wrote to honor Charlap at a 92nd Street Y gala. “That’s how I think people feel when they listen to him play,” she says. “They are spellbound.”…