Review: John Pizzarelli Swing 7 Celebrate P.S. MR. BENNETT Album at Birdland

There's something special about a sold-out room at Birdland, and on August 5th, The John Pizzarelli Swing 7 gave the packed house exactly what it came for. The crowd was a wonderful mix of young kids there with parents, couples on date night, and longtime jazz fans who've probably seen Pizzarelli a dozen times before. I think I can safely say that everyone had a great evening. 

John Pizzarelli has been hailed by the Boston Globe for “reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz.” His current show was a fantastic example of that. The set kicked off with "Frim Fram Sauce," the 1940s tune Nat King Cole made famous, but Pizzarelli's version had more pep in its step than the version I’ve heard, setting the tone for the performance. 

Musically, the set moved through a mix of romantic and nostalgic standards. "I Remember You" (the 1941 classic, music by Victor Schertzinger, lyrics by Johnny Mercer) and "Emily" (Johnny Mandel and Mercer again) gave the room some tender, wistful moments. Many of these old standards felt extremely fresh, and it was a delight to hear. 

One of the standout moments was his rendition of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," which he leaned into with more melancholy than you usually hear, a gorgeous arrangement that the crowd clearly felt.

Later, he flipped the switch with "Goody Goody," picking up the tempo enough that a few tables were singing along. The room was just giving back the energy they received. 

One of the things that makes Pizzarelli a great performer, though, isn't just his guitar work (though that's plenty impressive on its own) and likely anyone reading already knows that; it's how he talks to the room. If you haven’t seen him live, he has an easygoing, conversational charm, like he’s trying to make the crowd feel at home. Well-rehearsed anecdotes about his long career came out sounding completely natural, and he seemed just as excited to share that his wife, and soon-to-be married daughter, were in the audience. Buy his new album, he quipped, she needs flowers.

He told a charming story about a pair of orchids he'd gotten as a gift, sitting in his window, that had bloomed twice. He'd written a soft little melody for them. It's a small thing, but it's a good example of what makes Pizzarelli such a warm performer. Everything feels like a story he's telling you for the first time, not a well-worn bit he's rehearsed a hundred times, even though it probably has been.

The back half of the set was pulled from his newly released tribute album, Dear Mr. Bennett. He introduced these songs with another natural ‘let me tell you guys about this one time’ and casually told the story of his very first gig in 1991 at the Oak Room at the Algonquin, where Tony Bennett himself sat right up front, listening intently, the whole set. Afterward, Bennett handed him and the band sketches he'd drawn on cocktail napkins during the performance, one of which now graces the cover of the album.

He closed the night with cuts from Dear Mr. Bennett, including "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," sending the crowd out on a high note.

Timing-wise, the show lined up perfectly with his new music release, a five-song companion EP, P.S. Mr. Bennett, dropped that same Friday, August 7th, on Green Hill Music, following up the full-length Dear Mr. Bennett released earlier this year.

Between the outstanding talent of Pizzarelli and his band, the personality, and a genuine love for the songbook, it added up to a show jazz fans shouldn't miss next time around.

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