Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes are not like most couples. By the time they married in 2007, each was already a world-renowned jazz pianist with an impressive discography and a packed touring itinerary. The living room of their New Jersey home is taken up mostly by two grand Steinways, and their piano stools are where they prefer to spend their leisure hours. They brought that collaborative impulse into the studio at last on their new Double Portrait album, which features stunningly virtuosic four-handed workouts on a collection of jazz covers and standards, as well as one Rosnes original.

The two had long wanted to record together, but waited patiently for the stars to align. “We’d been looking forward to getting into the studio for quite a while,” says Rosnes. “Between our busy performing schedules and being parents, it took some organizing to pull it together.”

After all that, the music itself came naturally. “We don’t alter our playing styles for each other,” says Charlap. “We just listen and react. The result is a new entity comprised of both our voices.” The couple says that each track on Double Portrait includes a fair bit of improvising. “Sometimes we bounce ideas back and forth trading bars, and other times we take longer individual solos,” explains Rosnes. “There are also moments where we improvise at the same time, such as on my piece ‘The Saros Cycle.’ We didn’t discuss the idea; it just happened like that when the tape was rolling.

“Certainly both of us have distinct styles, but there is also a lot of common ground that existed before we ever sat down to play together. Being married, there is also an intimate spirit that comes through in the music.”

Charlap, who is the son of cabaret singer Sandy Stewart, first met Rosnes in 2003 when they were part of a group of 10 pianists touring Japan together. Their relationship grew over the next few years and by the time they tied the knot, they’d already learned how to weave together their professional and personal lives—they have three children between them from previous marriages. Now they look forward to further collaborative efforts.

“Playing together is a joy for us, and the possibilities are so vast with two pianos,” says Charlap. “We’ve only just begun to explore our musical partnership.”

–Jeff Tamarkin