John Pizzarelli is a rare breed, a hip and happening entertainer with an irresistible draw to songs of the past. In his latest album, With a Song in My Heart: John Pizzarelli Sings the Music of Richard Rodgers, the son of legendary jazz guitarist, Bucky Pizzarelli, selected his favorite Richard Rodgers melodies, some of which are hugely familiar and others less well known.

Richard Rodgers was famous for insisting that his original melodies remain true; as one of his songs says, “I Like to Recognize the Tune.” John Pizzarelli is recognized for exploring the byroads of jazz in the songs he plays. In his liner notes, Pizzarelli states that he “never fully explored the ‘upper tier’ of the Great American Songbook,” meaning that he has recorded numerous pop hits by Tin Pan Alley composers like Milton Ager and Walter Donaldson. In this CD, he focuses his guitar and vocal talents on Rodgers, whose theater and film tunes with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II are generally regarded as the stuff of which standards are made.

To bring diverse colors to the music, Pizzarelli is backed by a seven-piece band, with brother Martin Pizzarelli on bass, Tony Tedesco on drums, and the nimble-fingered Larry Fuller on piano. A horn section features John Mosca, Andy Fusco, Kenny Berger and Tony Kadleck, opening “This Can’t Be Love” in big dance band mode. Brazilian piano legend Cesar Carmago Mariano is featured interpreting “Happy Talk” from South Pacific with a Latin accent. Bucky Pizzarelli is a special guest with his arrangement of “It’s Easy To Remember,” a song Bucky and a very young John used to play when they opened for Benny Goodman. They play it here with tender intimacy.

Pizzarelli used Don Sebesky’s arrangement for an earlier Chet Baker recording of the title song, “With a Song in My Heart,” coloring the tune with the romantically wistful Baker touch. “She Was Too Good To Me” reveals much the same vulnerability with some intimate guitar fingering by John P.

“Mountain Greenery” zooms into Pizzarelli’s strong swing, as does “Johnny One-Note,” and a presumptuous, finger-snapping, “The Lady Is A Tramp.” On the other hand, “You've Got To Be Carefully Taught” from South Pacific, is provocative and simple.

With reliable charm, wit, and a musical savvy both learned and instinctive, forty-seven-year-old John Pizzarelli’s selection of Richard Rodgers’ sweeping melodies comes to the listener wrapped and delivered with fresh Pizzarelli perceptiveness.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
October 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org