John Pizzarelli, Jr.
(born April 6, 1960) is an American jazz guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader. He has had a lengthy career as a recording artist, performing for a variety of labels that include Telarc Records, RCA Records and Chesky Records, among others. He has recorded twenty-three albums of his own, as well as other joint recordings with his father. Additionally, he has appeared on more than forty albums of other recording artists, including those of James Taylor, Rosemary Clooney and his wife, Jessica Molaskey.
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JOHN PIZZARELLI TICKETS
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John Pizzarelli & Catherine Russell Tickets 5/10 | May 10, 2024 Fri, 8:00 PM | | John Pizzarelli Tickets 5/11 | May 11, 2024 Sat, 6:00 PM | | John Pizzarelli Tickets 5/11 | May 11, 2024 Sat, 8:30 PM | | John Pizzarelli Trio Tickets 5/12 | May 12, 2024 Sun, 4:00 PM | | John Pizzarelli Trio Tickets 5/12 | May 12, 2024 Sun, 7:00 PM | |
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Biography
Career
Despite his young age, Pizzarelli has recorded nearly 40
albums of
music, either as the
leader or in tandem with other performers. Among others, Pizzarelli has recorded with such luminaries as
George Shearing,
Rosemary Clooney,
Johnny Frigo and
Buddy DeFranco, as well as the
Boston Pops Orchestra. Many if not most of his albums have received good to excellent reviews and are very popular sellers. Additionally, he has been a guest performer on numerous records throughout his career.
Pizzarelli often performs with his own
jazz trio, composed of his brother
Martin Pizzarelli on
double-bass and
Larry Fuller on
piano. He is also sometimes compared to another
jazz singer,
Harry Connick, Jr., for his performances of
jazz standards and overall popularity. John has appeared in commercials for
Foxwoods Casino, and he and his wife are also hosts of their own jazz radio program (
Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli).
Particularly lauded for his swinging interpretations of
jazz standards, Pizzarelli also composes his own songs, some of which have achieved a sort of modern "standard" status in their own right. He is also a fan of
bossa nova and released an album entirely composed of that type of music.
Perhaps his most famous and highly-regarded album, though, is
Dear Mr. Cole, an album featuring Pizzarelli's versions of some of
Nat "King" Cole's most famous songs. Interestingly, the John Pizzarelli Trio only appears together on track one of the album,
Style is Back in Style. The rest of the album features Pizzarelli performing with
Christian McBride on bass and
Benny Green on piano.
Pizzarelli is also known for his winning personality, and his great
rapport with
audiences during his live performances has gone a long way to garnering him cachet with the jazz public. He is also known to sing his solo lines while playing his guitar.
Pizzarelli also sings the theme for Foxwoods Casino, "The Wonder of It All."He now leads a quartet that includes Tony Tedesco on drums, Larry Fuller on Piano and his brother Martin on bass.
Pizzarelli and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey co-host the nationally syndicated weekly radio program "Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli."
He appeared on the
March 31,
2007 episode of the NPR weekly radio news quiz, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me", on the "Not My Job" segment.
Personal life
Pizzarelli, an
Italian American, was born in
Paterson, New Jersey, the son of legendary jazz guitarist
Bucky Pizzarelli. During childhood, Pizzarelli was a counselor at the now defunct Knights Day Camp. He grew up in
Bergen County,
New Jersey and attended
Don Bosco Preparatory High School in
Ramsey, NJ, an all-boys Roman Catholic High School. He frequently expresses pride about being from New Jersey; a fan favorite at his live shows is the Cosgriff-Bernardi number
I Like Jersey Best, a largely humorous tribute to the Garden State.
Pizzarelli is a huge
Boston Red Sox fan, and has played baseball (in one capacity or another) all his life. In
high school he split his time between studying music and playing
sports. As he once said in an
interview: "I wasn't making any of the sports teams and I was a big sports fanatic. That's when I realized there was a reason why I was going to band practice." In April, 2007 he performed at the
BLOHARDS luncheon at The
Yale Club of New York City, the BLOHARDS being
Red Sox Nation chapter in New York.
[1]
He married singer
Jessica Molaskey in 1998, and the couple have a daughter, Madeleine Elizabeth. Pizzarelli also has a son John Paul Pizzarelli who attends the
Bronx High School of Science.
Select discography
John Pizzarelli albums
Released
| Album
| Notes
| Label
|
2008-00-00
| "With a Song in My Heart"
| -
| Telarc Records
|
2006-07-18
| "Dear Mr. Sinatra"
| -
| Telarc Records
|
2005-03-22
| "Knowing You"
| -
| Telarc Records
|
2004-04-27
| "Bossa Nova"
| -
| Telarc Records
|
2003-04-22
| "Live at Birdland"
| -
| Telarc Records
|
2002-04-23
| "The Rare Delight of You"
| w/ George Shearing
| Telarc Records
|
2000-11-28
| "Let There Be Love"
| -
| Telarc Records
|
2000-10-10
| "Two Family House"
| film soundtrack
| RCA Records
|
2000-06-06
| "Brazil"
| w/ Rosemary Clooney
| Concord Jazz
|
2000-02-22
| "Kisses In The Rain"
| -
| Telarc Records
|
1999-09-14
| "P.S. Mr. Cole"
| -
| RCA Records
|
1998-08-25
| "Meets The Beatles"
| -
| RCA Records
|
1997-04-29
| "Our Love Is Here to Stay"
| -
| RCA Records
|
1996-10-06
| "Let's Share Christmas"
| -
| RCA Records
|
1996-01-16
| "After Hours"
| -
| Novus
|
1994-06-28
| "New Standards"
| -
| Novus
|
1994-11-23
| "Dear Mr. Cole"
| -
| Novus/RCA
|
1993-02-09
| "Naturally"
| -
| Novus
|
1992-02-14
| "All Of Me"
| -
| Novus
|
1990-04-18
| "My Blue Heaven"
| -
| Chesky Records
|
1988-11-01
| "One Night With You"
| -
| Chesky Records
|
1987-?-?
| "Sing! Sing! Sing!"
| -
| P-Vine Records
|
1985-06-25
| "Hit That Jive Jack!"
| -
| Stash Records
|
1983-05-?
| "I'm Hip - Please Don't Tell My Father"
| -
| Stash Records
|
John & Bucky albums
Released
| Album
| Notes
| Label
|
2007-04-10
| "Generations"
| -
| Arbors Records
|
2006-02-28
| "The Best of Bucky and John Pizzarelli"
| -
| LRC Ltd.
|
2006-?-?
| "Around the World in 80 Years"
| -
| Victoria Records
|
2003-07-01
| "Legends"
| w/ Skitch Henderson
| Arbors Records
|
2001-06-08
| "Twogether"
| -
| Victrola Records
|
2001-06-03
| "Passionate Guitars"
| -
| LRC Ltd.
|
1999-05-14
| "Passion Guitars"
| -
| Groove Jams
|
1999-02-09
| "Contrasts"
| -
| Arbors Records
|
1996-07-23
| "Solos and Duets"
| -
| Jazz Classics
|
1996-05-14
| "Live at the Vineyard Theatre"
| -
| Challenge Records
|
1995-08-01
| "Nirvana"
| -
| Delta Records
|
With Jessica Molaskey
Released
| Album
| Notes
| Label
|
2007-05-08
| "Sitting In Limbo"
| -
| P.S. Classics
|
2004-10-05
| "Make Believe"
| -
| P.S. Classics
|
2003-05-20
| "A Good Day"
| -
| P.S. Classics
|
2002-06-04
| "Pentimento"
| -
| Image Records
|
As guest or sideman
- Please see John Pizzarelli album credits
References
- News From the BLOHARDs