Wed 5/1 @ 7 & 9PM
Thu 5/2 @ 7 & 9PM
Singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli comes by his musical inclinations naturally. He’s the son of legendary now-87-year-old jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. The younger Pizzarelli’s specialty has been pop ballads redolent of the martini-and-cigarette 50s, the stuff people like Frank Sinatra and Nat “King” Cole sang. Drawing from their repertoires, as well as the Great American Songbook in general, Pizzarelli has recaptured the cool, jazzy but accessible flair of that era.
Pizzarelli’s newest album, Double Exposure, released on Cleveland’s Telarc Records last spring, strays from the classic pop of the early-mid 20th century. On it, he covers pieces like Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man in Paris” and Seals & Crofts’ 1973 hit “Diamond Girl,” injects some Wes Montgomery into a version of the Allman Brothers’ “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” and mashes Billy Strayhorn’s classic jazz composition “Lush Life” with Tom Waits’ “Drunk on the Moon.”
He’ll be at Nighttown for four performances with his quartet: pianist Larry Fuller, drummer Tony Tedesco, and his brother Martin Pizzarelli on bass. Pizzarelli will also be Dee Perry’s guest on WCPN 90.3 FM’s Around Noon Thu 5/2.
Tickets for each show are $30.
http://www.johnpizzarelli.com/