My jazzcat friend David was in town visiting from Wales and I joined him on a jazz binge this week. We took in two shows at Birdland and saw the Andrew Cyrille Quartet at the Vanguard.
An accomplished guitarist himself, Mac also jammed with some old friends at one of his favorite SoHo guitar shops, Rudy’s. The older geezers playing in the back blew away the young chaps who were magnetically drawn into the shop during the impromptu jam session.
We saw the John Pizzarelli Trio at Birdland, and I wanted to share this clip with you. The current lineup with Mr. Pizzarelli consists of Isiah J. Thompson on piano and Mike Karn on bass.
John Pizarelli playing “April Wind/Phase Dance” and “Antonia” on his Moll 7-string classical guitar at Birdland.
At the beginning of the pandemic, John Pizzarelli, the acclaimed New Jersey guitarist fondly known as Pizza, left NYC with his wife, the singer Jessica Molaskey, to stay at their cabin in upstate New York. Tragically, John lost both his parents to COVID-19 early in the pandemic.
Grieving and isolating with his wife in their lakeside cabin, John began fingering some of his favorite Pat Metheny songs every morning on the porch overlooking the lake.
The end result was Better Days Ahead: Solo Guitar Takes on Pat Metheny, which he released in 2021. John recorded the entire album on his iPad in his cabin, playing his well-known Moll 7-string classical guitar.
Jessica painted the picture of John wearing a mask that you see on the album cover. For the full story about the recording of the ode to Pat Metheny, see this Downbeat article.