John Pizzarelli Salutes Johnny Mercer: Live at Birdland

John Pizzarelli Salutes Johnny Mercer: Live at Birdland is a tribute album by John Pizzarelli to American songwriter Johnny Mercer. It was recorded live at the Birdland jazz club in New York in 2014,[1] and released in 2015 by his Vector Records label.[2] The album was recorded as a medley,[3] interspersed with commentary by Pizzarelli.[4]

This article is about the Johnny Mercer tribute album. For Pizzarelli's 2003 performance, see Live at Birdland (John Pizzarelli album).
John Pizzarelli Salutes Johnny Mercer: Live at Birdland
Live album by
John Pizzarelli
Released2015 (2015)
Recorded2014 (2014)
VenueBirdland, New York
GenreJazz
LabelVector
John Pizzarelli chronology
Double Exposure
(2012)		 John Pizzarelli Salutes Johnny Mercer: Live at Birdland
(2015)		 Midnight McCartney
(2015)

Background

Pizzarelli had performed Johnny Mercer tunes on previous albums, and as a cast member of the 1997 Broadway musical Dream.[5] Pizzarelli explained the album dedicated to Mercer was significant given Mercer was "responsible for so many great things in [his] life."[6]

Reception

Christopher Loudon wrote in JazzTimes, "Pizzarelli manages to squeeze a remarkably panoptic homage into 65 minutes, covering 26 Mercer tunes, familiar and obscure, from all stages of his career...[Pizzarelli] remains the Dorian Gray of jazz, his sound and sensibility preternaturally boyish, joyously championing an art he was, quite literally, born into."[1]

For Vintage Guitar magazine, Rich Kienzle wrote, "[o]n 'I Got Out of Bed on the Right Side' and 'Goody Goody' Pizzarelli offers the usual Bensonesque scat-guitar solos. 'Dearly Beloved' features a crisp, single-string break. He comps as flawlessly as his dad, Bucky, on 'Accentuate the Positive', 'Skylark', and 'Too Marvelous for Words'...Lesser-known gems like the swing-era 'Jamboree Jones' and 'Slue Foot' also get their due. While 'Something's Gotta Give' features driving single-string work, his solo on 'Emily' is a model of brevity and eloquence."[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Johnny Mercer.

No.TitleLength
1."I Got Out of Bed on the Right Side"3:50
2."Intro Dearly Beloved" (commentary)0:28
3."Dearly Beloved"4:22
4."Goody Goody"4:03
5."You Medley"7:22
6."Skylark"3:53
7."Intro" (commentary)0:26
8."I'm Old Fashioned"2:31
9."Jamboree Jones"3:14
10."Emily"3:11
11."Accentuate the Positive"5:12
12."Academy Award Medley"3:47
13."Slue Foot"3:11
14."Intro" (commentary)0:31
15."October Medley"5:33
16."Intro" (commentary)0:21
17."Something's Gotta Give"4:09
18."Empty Tables"2:56
19."Too Marvelous for Words"3:46
20."And So to Bed"2:03

Personnel

Musicians
  • John Pizzarelli – guitar, vocals
  • Budd Burridge – baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet
  • Ken Hitchcock – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute
  • John Mosca – trombone
  • Konrad Paszkudzki – piano
  • Martin Pizzarelli – bass
  • Kevin Kanner – drums

Support
  • Chris Byars – arrangement ("You Medly")
  • Dick Lieb – arrangement ("Jamboree Jones")
  • Don Sebesky – arrangement (all other tracks)[4]

References
  1. Loudon, Christopher (2015-05-30). "John Pizzarelli: Salutes Johnny Mercer: Live at Birdland". JazzTimes. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  2. "John Pizzarelli Official Website – MUSIC". Archived from the original on 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  3. Kienzle, Rich. "John Pizzarelli Salutes Johnny Mercer (Live)". Vintage Guitar. No. 2015–07.
  4. John Pizzarelli Salutes Johnny Mercer: Live at Birdland (CD liner notes). John Pizzarelli. United States: Vector Records. 2015. Barcode 859713989573.CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. Kienzle, Rich. "'John Pizzarelli Salutes Johnny Mercer' Reviewed: PG Music Podcast". Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  6. Lustig, Jay (2015-02-04). "John Pizzarelli salutes Johnny Mercer on album and on TV". Retrieved 2018-09-08.
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