Bucky Pizzarelli's 85th Birthday Concert

Now this was a performance that my heart was set on. We've never been in town at the same time as the brilliant guitarist John Pizzarelli and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey but, joy of joys, they were guest artistic directors of the Lyrics and Lyricists series at 92Y for a birthday celebration of John's dad Bucky, the most in-demand "sideman" for every major recording session from the early 40s to the present day. And I mean, for everyone from Peggy Lee, Rosemary Clooney, Vaughn Monroe and Nat King Cole to Roberta Flack, Frankie Valli, Neil Sedaka, Ray Charles, Julie London, Dion and the Bellmonts and Del Shannon.

John Pizzarelli

I was a little surprised to find that we were the youngest people in the audience by about forty years but as tt pointed out, these were the diehards who had probably attended every opening night on Broadway in the 50s and 60s in their jewels and furs.

The show began with a large movie screen against a deep blue lighted curtain showing a photo of the very young Bucky Pizzarelli as we heard a vintage recording of the lad playing a lightning fast rendition of "Bye Bye Blues" on the banjo. A dim spotlight revealed his son John with his back to the audience gazing up at the screen clutching his own banjo, and as he took over the melody, slowly the other five musicians took their places and one by one joined in with the song...Aaron Weinstein on violin (who we saw performing with Barbara Carroll at the Algonquin last year), Martin Pizzarelli (the youngest sibling) on bass, Tony Tedesco on drums, Ken Peplowski on sax and clarinet and pianist Larry Fuller. Then the three guest vocalists took their places at three mike stands upstage and sang the melody in unison...

Jessica Molaskey (if you don't have her albums, start buying them, they're a treat)...

the honey voiced Darius du Haas...

and another Broadway fave, Judy Kuhn.
I must confess that the excitement of seeing all these incredible talents on one stage combined with the sudden realisation that we are ACTUALLY LIVING IN NEW YORK and able to attend such occasions on a regular basis caused me to go into some terrible meltdown for the first ten minutes or so and I could do nothing but sob wetly and soundlessly whilst the blissfully unaware Ms. Molaskey chirped her way through "It's A Good Day". But I pulled myself together in time to witness some extraordinary performances. Judy Kuhn's ethereal version of "Spanish Harlem" made me hear the words for the first time and appreciate what a gorgeous song it is, the same with Ms. Molaskey's reading of  Del Shannon's "Runaway".

Interspersed throughout were projected photos tracing Bucky's long and highly successful career accompanied by audio reminiscences of the greats he had worked with. Mr du Haas gave us a beautiful "Georgia on My Mind" ...

and Ms. Kuhn stilled the room with a breathtaking "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face".

 John Pizzarelli opened the second half with Dave Frishberg's "I Wanna Be A Sideman" with special lyrics written for the occasion by Mr. Frishberg and soon it was time for the guest of honour himself to take the stage. Father and son led off with a virtuosi duet of "Honeysuckle Rose" ...

followed by Bucky's sublimely delicate "This Nearly was Mine". Then the whole band pulled out all the stops for the grand finale, Louis Prima's electrifying "Sing, Sing, Sing" which raised the roof even though most of the audience were only standing to lean on their walkers and shuffle up the aisle to catch the bus. But those of us who remained seated joined the cast for a jolly singalong of "Yessir, That's My Baby" and a knockout concert came to a close.

The final projected image...young Bucky in the centre with his family.

Another triumph for the 92Y. Forthcoming attractions include the music of Burton Lane featuring Liz Callaway and an evening of Comden and Green hosted by Phyllis Newman. I'll be performing that night so tt will have to see that one alone. Lucky bugger.