Maybe
only Arthur Prysock ever experienced greater spillover success from a commercial
gig than John Pizzarelli. For years, Pizzarelli got requests for the Foxwoods
song, “The Wonder of it All,” but Prysock actually charted with “Here’s to Good
Friends.” Of course, both also had a facility for interpreting the Great American
Songbook, particularly Johnny Mercer in the case of Pizzarelli. The
vocalist-guitarist takes the stage for an all Mercer concert for this week’s
installment of American Songbook at NJPAC,
premiering Wednesday night on NJTV.
Yes,
it is all Mercer, but Pizzarelli also highlights the veritable hall of fame’s
worth of collaborators he wrote with. It doesn’t get much more American
Songbook than Jerome Kern, who composed the music for “Dearly Beloved.”
Pizzarelli gives it a good healthy swing, featuring short but legit solos from
Bud Burridge on trumpet and Kenny Berger on baritone. Acknowledging them by
name, Pizzarelli gives the set an old school big band vibe, which is
refreshing.
Shifting
gears a bit, “Skylark,” written by Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael, gets a stripped
down arrangement with only the barest of rhythmic support, but it’s the sort of
melancholy song that lends itself to such treatment. However, the medley of
Mercer’s four Academy Award winning songs really don’t really fit together so
naturally, starting with “On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe” (Harold
Arlen) and ending on with Mercer’s Henry Mancini collaborations, “The Days of
Wine and Roses” and “Moon River.”
Pizzarelli
cranks up the swing for an up-tempo high-energy rendition of “Something’s Gotta
Give.” A bit surprisingly, he embraces some of Mercer’s more novelty-ish tunes,
like “Goody Goody” and “Accentuate the Positive,” doing his best to keep them
honest. Of course, Pizzarelli also has the sort of musical theater chops for
those sort of numbers. In fact, he reminds the audience he met his wife,
vocalist Jessica Molaskey when they were both performing in a Mercer show.
Unlike
the Osnes and Fontana season opener, Pizzarelli never sits down for an
interview segment with host Ted Chapin, but he has a lot more band to showcase.
John Mosca on trombone, Ken Hitchcock on flute, and Konrad Paszkudzki on piano
all get some nice, tasty solo spots, while drummer Kevin Kanner and Pizzarelli’s
brother Martin on bass lay down rock solid support. (FYI, it is only a limited
family affair, with neither their father, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, nor Molaskey
making a guest appearance).
It
is just a pleasure to hear good standards get a muscular going over. “Dearly
Beloved” has an especially catchy and appealing melody, but it is not exactly
overplayed, so it is quite nice to hear Pizzarelli put it into the mix. Thanks
to NJTV and NJPAC, it is a lot of fun to have the chance to tap your toe along
with the Mercer songbook Again, this is great original programming that ought
to be a model for regional PBS stations. Highly recommended, American Songbook at NJPAC: John Pizzarelli premieres
this Wednesday (2/4) on NJTV, with a later WNET Thirteen airdate scheduled for
March 28th.
