By Andrew Poretz***At the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli teamed up with singer Catherine Russell for Billie & Blue Eyes, an evening of music associated with Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday. On hand were Pizzarelli’s top-notch trio members, pianist Isaiah J. Thompson and bassist Mike Karn.
The New Jersey-born Pizzarelli, son of the late legendary guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, has long been one of the most engaging performers in jazz. An exceptional guitarist himself, he’s also an appealing singer with a quick wit and still-boyish charm. Russell, equally at home with jazz and the blues, is the daughter of jazz royalty: legendary pianist and bandleader Luis Russell and renowned vocalist, guitarist and bassist Carline Ray.
The program commenced with “I’ve Got the World On a String,” which Sinatra himself sang to start many shows. This simple shuffle arrangement was low-key compared with Sinatra’s big band version, but suited him well. Interestingly, Pizzarelli chose to perform standing up for the entire concert, which is rare for jazz guitarists, and something I don’t recall seeing him do in some 30 performances I’ve attended since 1986.
Pizzarelli humorously announced a “sing-along” part for “You Make Me Feel So Young.” When he sang, “I’m such a happy…,” he pointed the mic to the crowd, who obliged him with the next word, “individual.” He stated, “That was the sing-along,” before continuing the number. Utilizing double-time rhythm for “Come Fly with Me,” Pizzarelli did his patented scat doubling on the break, a technique that matches the scat note for note on the guitar.—much like the late multi-instrumentalist Toots Thielemann’s whistling while playing the same notes on the guitar. He seems to do this as easily as you or I can breathe, no matter how fast or difficult the passage.
Commanding the stage solo for about half of the concert, the guitarist performed a beautiful ballad medley of “I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry” with “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning;” about this song, he told a swell story involving a poker game, and how the songwriters (Bob Hilliard and David Mann) happened to bring their tune to Sinatra’s attention. They were stunned when it became the title song of Sinatra’s 1955 torch album. “Poker eventually pays off!” Pizzarelli quipped.
Notably, Pizzarelli did some deeper dives into the Sinatra songbook, such as a rare cover of “Ring-a-Ding Ding,” written for Sinatra by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn as the title song for the singer’s first album on his own label, Reprise. Pizzarelli upped the swinging ante with a scat doubling solo. Also notable was Pizzarelli’s seven-string guitar, which, with an extra bass string requires a high-level of skill to play. You can count all the great seven-string jazz guitarists on one hand, and Sinatra worked often with two of them, George Epps and Tony Mottola. Pizzaelli replicated Mottola’s complex arrangement for a solo outing with Sinatra on a beauty called “It’s Sunday,” meeting its extraordinary challenges to sing and play flawlessly.
Catherine 
Russell came out at the halfway mark with “All of Me.” After her take on the lyric, Pizzarelli sang it while Russell provided an obbligato (an accompanying melody vocal response). On “You Go to My Head,”, Russell shined with Pizzarelli’s solo comping, and sang with only Karn’s bass for much of “Love Me or Leave Me.” Karn was on fire here, playing intricate sub-melodies. On “Ghost of Yesterday,” Russell’s singing was especially soulful and bluesy. For the remainder of the set, Pizzarelli and Russell traded off in a series of mostly complete songs, oddly described as a medley, including “If I Had You,” Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” Moonlight Becomes You,” “Everything I Have Is Yours,” Darn That Dream” and “What a Little Moonlight Could Do.” The segment was reminiscent of the many times Sinatra performed with Ella Fitzgerald.
Russell started and ended “Of Thee I Sing” with a clever vocalese quote of “Swingin’ Down the Lane” from Sinatra’s Songs for Swingin’ Lovers album.For the finale, the duo performed “I Thought About You” with Pizzarelli singing lead and Russell providing obbligato and harmony. Billie & Blue Eyes was a fine performance by Pizzarelli and Russell—both were in excellent voice throughout. Thompson’s deft touch on piano and Karn’s melodic, powerful bass playing added greatly to the mix.
Photos: NJPAC
