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, and released in 2015 by his Vector Records label. The album was recorded as a medley, interspersed with commentary by Pizzarelli.
Background Pizzarelli had performed Johnny Mercer tunes on previous albums, and as a cast member of the 1997 Broadway musical Dream. Pizzarelli explained the album dedicated to Mercer was significant given Mercer was "responsible for so many great things in [his] life."
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."
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."
Track listing
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)
References
External links