John Pizzarelli: Stage & Screen

Evoking heartfelt memories of love and longing, sunshine, laughter and more, vocalist/guitarist John Pizzarelli's Stage & Screen delivers vibrant interpretations of classic songs from Broadway and Hollywood. The album provides not only nostalgia and hopeful vibes, but what amounts to orchestral artistry by Pizzarelli, pianist Isaiah J. Thompson and bassist Mike Karn as a bonus. Pizzarelli, a Grammy award winner and long an internationally acclaimed performer and entertainer, has been credited as being a prime interpreter of the Great American Songbook and jazz standards while maintaining a repertoire including the music of those like Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Antonio Carlos Jobim—and the Beatles. He's played with, among many others, Rosemary Clooney, Natalie Cole, Buddy DeFranco and his father Bucky Pizzarelli.

"In thinking about some of the songs that I really love to play, it struck me how many of them come from either a Broadway show or from a movie," Pizzarelli says. "An idea like Stage & Screen frees me to explore a wide range of songwriters and eras, and it continues to offer a wealth of new possibilities." And the album celebrates the 40th anniversary of Pizzarelli's 1983 debut recording. It features Pizzarelli's vintage, incisive strumming guitar work and is embellished by bandmates Karn and Thompson. Karn, a story in his own right, is a talented tenor saxophonist who has worked with many big names, including Joe Lovano—and then switched to the bass and mastered that as well. Thompson is the prodigious pianist first eyed by Pizzarelli when Thompson was just 16. Since then Thompson, a Juilliard School graduate, has performed with Ron Carter, Steve Turre and many other jazz stars.

The trio's empathy makes Stage & Screen one of 2023's early album of the year candidates. Several of the classics are familiar, yet made special by Pizzarelli's soothing and artful, and at other times crackling and energetic vocals. "Tea for Two," "Just In Time" and "Where or When" are notably enchanting lullabies with Pizzarelli's guitar work accented by Karn's softly rumbling melodies on bass and Thompson's lyrically inventive piano ripples. Then there's "I Want To Be Happy," a romp showcasing Pizzarelli's ability and agility for not just lulling romance but also jamming, witty riffs, ably matched by Karn and Thompson's whipping runs of their own.

Two special highlights deserve mention. "Some Other Time" is a lilting Pizzarelli solo, a gem of enchanting rhythm and melancholy. "Oklahoma Suite" becomes a rich mosaic of the sights and sounds of the famed musical Oklahoma! from Karn's theme-setting bass opening, through Thompson's rollicking piano and Pizzarelli's joyful, whipping guitar strumming on "Oh What a Beautiful Morning," "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," "People Will Say We're in Love" and others. People will say Stage & Screen makes for a lot of fun memories for many of us, and enduring music.