Wednesday, January 26, 2011

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-John Pizzarelli

Artist:John Pizzarelli
Song:I Got Rhythm
Album:Kisses In The Rain





I'm sure you've heard the saying "The apple doesn't fall from the tree". The outstanding singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli grew up in jazz and plays guitar like his dad. He was born Apr. 6, 1960 in Paterson, NJ the son of legendary jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. His brother Martin Pizzarelli plays bass. So obviously they grew up listening to jazz though John was interested in baseball as a child. He's a big Boston Red Sox fan. John started touring with his dad at age 20 and by 1983 released his solo debut. Obviously John's dad was a huge influence on his guitar playing but Les Paul and Django Reinhardt are influences as well. And his vocal style is clearly influenced by Nat King Cole and Chet Baker. John opened for Frank Sinatra on his 1993 tour including the Carnegie Hall birthday concert. He recorded for RCA and the RCA owned jazz label Novus early in his career but switched to Telarc when RCA closed Novus. I Got Rhythm is from his 2000 CD Kisses In The Rain and was his debut on Telarc. John's standard trio of brother Martin Pizzarelli on bass and Ray Kennedy on drums are great. John Pizzarelli is a staple on the jazz charts. His latest CD Rockin' In Rhythm: A Tribute To Duke Ellington was released Feb. 2010. BTW, his dad appeared on the album and so did his singer wife Jessica Molaskey and jazz singer Kurt Elling. Here's John Pizzarelli with Martin Pizzarelli on bass performing I Got Rhythm.

No comments:

Post a Comment