by I’ve been a fan of swing jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli since the 1990s, so when I saw that he was playing a gig relatively close to Boston at the impressive Groton Hill Music Center, I grabbed some tickets shortly before the concert sold out. The show was a Frank Sinatra tribute with Pizzarelli’s seven-piece jazz combo, and as I’m also a Sinatra fan, this was right up my alley.
John Pizzarelli is the son of the late legendary jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. Bucky was a long-time member of The Tonight Show Band when Johnny Carson sat at the desk, and the list of jazz and pop musicians with whom he collaborated or accompanied is extensive.
Son John has been active since the 1980s, including a stint opening for Frank Sinatra on tour in the 1990s. He has been a main supporter of the American musical standards movement, including projects such as co-producing James Taylor’s American Standard, winner of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020.
In 2006, he released Dear Mr. Sinatra (affiliate link), a tribute album that featured about a dozen popular Sinatra songs scored for a swing jazz orchestra.
Most of the tunes came from Sinatra’s swing era, and I was variously singing under my breath and bouncing in my seat throughout much of the show!
This was our first visit to the Groton Hill Music Center in Groton, Mass., and it is an impressive facility. The organization is a non-profit music education and performance venue, and opened its new 126,000-square-foot facility in 2022. The Pizzarelli concert was in its 300-seat recital hall, but the center also has a 1,000-seat main hall with outdoor lawn seating, a 50-seat performance hall, and 35 private instruction spaces.
