John Pizzarelli

Rooted in the American jazz tradition, guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli was born in 1960 in Paterson, New Jersey, into a musical family and trained by his father, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. Active on the New York scene from the late 1970s, Pizzarelli established himself in a style that blends swing, jazz song, bossa nova and reinterpretations of standards. His debut album, I'm Hip (Please Don't Tell My Father), was released in 1983 and launched a discography in which the acoustic trio format plays a central role. Throughout the 1990s he pursued a sustained exploration of the Nat King Cole songbook with Dear Mr. Cole (1994) and P.S. Mr. Cole (1999), before paying further tributes—to Sinatra with Dear Mr. Sinatra (2006), to Duke Ellington with Rockin' in Rhythm (2010), to Paul McCartney with Midnight McCartney (2015), and to Jobim and the Brazilian repertoire with Sinatra & Jobim @ 50 (2017). Between jazz clubs, international tours and Broadway appearances, Pizzarelli alternates collaborations with jazz and pop singers and more intimate projects such as Better Days Ahead: Solo Guitar Takes on Pat Metheny (2021), where his guitar work and singing explore a crooner-like jazz register with compact arrangements.