Guitarist John Pizzarelli hails Ol’ Blue Eyes in “Dear Mr. Sinatra”
Where: Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
When: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday
Info: $65 to $80; 202-467-4600; kennedy-center.org
Guitarist John Pizzarelli tops off the decade with selections from “Dear Mr. Sinatra,” his album saluting the artist whose songs are being rediscovered by fans of the Great American Songbook. The back-to-back shows at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater climax a tribute year that welcomes the completion of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, co-founded by singer Tony Bennett and his wife in Astoria, Queens.
“The whole thing set up nicely at the point in time when I was traveling with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Band,” Pizzarelli said. “They wanted to do some of his music and had a couple of charts. Then during our tour of Japan we added more. Since the last couple of records I’ve done seemed to lead up to a focus on his work, it was serendipitous.”
The son of legendary jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, he grew up emulating his father and listening to the popular vocalists of the day. Nat King Cole was such an inspiration that two of his albums are devoted to the singer and his classic songs, even a few that are somewhat obscure. Pizzarelli’s most recent album, “With a Song in My Heart,” features the music of Richard Rodgers, some arrangements by the incomparable Don Sebesky and an appearance by his father. “Rockin’ in Rhythm,” his release due out in February, will champion Duke Ellington.
Pizzarelli has cut more than two dozen ear-bending solo albums over the past 25 years, 11 with his father and five with his wife, Broadway veteran and songwriter Jessica Molaskey. He is also a popular guest on recordings by such heavyweights as Natalie Cole, James Taylor and Rosemary Clooney. When they are not recording, he and Molaskey frequently perform live together, most recently in New York’s Cafe Carlyle, and hold forth weekly as co-hosts of “Radio Deluxe With John Pizzarelli.” The freewheeling, nationally syndicated program is broadcast from their home.
“Jessica and I met in a Broadway show,” he said. “When I first heard her sing, I wanted to accompany her. Working with her is always fun. She has great ideas about presenting a song. Our radio show sprang out of our working together. We were asked to do a pilot, got in a room and figured out off the cuff what would be fun to talk about the music we love.”
As the winner of the 2009 Ella Fitzgerald Award, Pizzarelli joins such past honorees as Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Tony Bennett and Harry Connick Jr., cementing his place as a jazz master. As a singer, his styling has been compared to Sinatra and Cole. When he and Molaskey join forces, his guitar and the texture of her voice exude an earthy quality that enhances the meaning behind the lyrics.
As the son of a guitar genius, he absorbed a love for music from his father, but he also acknowledges others who have inspired him along the way, including his wife, Sebesky, Daniel Jobim, and a host of musicians he met and admired. At his workshops and master classes for youngsters, he stresses the importance of knowing the history of jazz and the musicians who matter.
“I’m lucky my father taught me that way,” he said. “There were a lot of great musicians not everyone knows, like jazz guitarist George Van Eps, the blind accordion player Joe Mooney, jazz pianist Paige Cavanaugh and guitarist George Barnes. Every time we played a recording one of them was on, he would tell me to listen and learn.”
