John Pizzarelli & George Shearing :The Rare Delight of You

John Pizzarelli with The George Shearing Quintet
The Rare Delight of You

Telarc

One can never tell for certain where collaboration between two musicians, even great ones, will lead. Sometimes two artists whose music is seemingly a good match are not personally well matched, being of vastly different temperaments. On the other hand, a couple of musicians who get along famously may still not be able to start a fire with the melding of their musical thoughts. Why, then, do artists take the risk? One reason is that they often enjoy the camaraderie and the communication that takes place when playing with another like-minded artist. Besides, when the concept works, the results can be really spectacular; creating a new and exciting entity that is separate from the individual work of the collaborators.

Such is the case with The Rare Delight of You, the collaboration between urbane swinger/singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli and that paragon of taste and civilized swinging at the keyboard, George Shearing. This is the type of music many artists set out to create in an intimate lounge or cabaret setting, but few are actually able to pull off. When this kind of project fails it can be unswinging at best; downright boring at worst. Fortunately, both Pizzarelli and Shearing have ample experience in this arena on heir own, and are able to communicate well as musicians and hold the listener's interest even as they are performing in a laid back, mellow style. Furthermore, it is clear from both the statements of each musician and from their playing on this disc, that the two very much admire each other's work and genuinely enjoyed being around each other.

The songs on this disc are pretty much standards and are approached with respect and feeling, but with an ultimate criteria that they swing. Even a somewhat slower number like "Everything Happens to Me" performed as a duet w/only Shearing's piano and Pizzarelli's vocals for most of the track, will set you tapping your toes or snapping your fingers in appreciation. Other, more uptempo numbers like "If Dreams Come True" or "Lulu's Back in Town", just swing at a level approaching ferocity. Pizzarelli sometimes reminds one of Mel Torme in terms of his phrasing and the sheer buoyancy of sprit that he brings to the happier numbers as well as his scatting. Of course, he is also sometimes compared to Nat "King" Cole, whose trio provided him with much of the inspiration for his own group. "I've always said we're an extension, a '90s version of what that group was," Pizzarelli has said, and there are few who would argue.

Shearing has gone in and out of fashion over the years, but you'd never know it from his prodigious recorded output-he does what he does, which is tastefully and urbanely swinging his way through anything he chooses to play. His more than 300 compositions have proven durable standards, the most famous probably being "Lullaby of Birdland." He is a masterful pianist, harmonically inventive, but never losing sight of the melodic line. Shearing is a favorite of other pianists, including his countrywoman Marian McPartland, who says he is one of her favorite pianists both to play with and to listen to.

The Rare Delight of You is like a trip to a time that most of us are too young to remember, when you could sit at a poured-glitter table not much larger than a quarter in a place with a name like 'The Ink Well' and listen to the sound of magic. When your suit cost you a month's salary and left you with little spare cash, but you didn't care because you looked so damn good. When you could hear songs like those played on this disc performed by musicians right there in front of you. One of the guys playing could have been George Shearing, because he is old enough to remember (but young enough to outswing most of you young cats). But, you may argue, John Pizzarelli certainly isn't young enough to remember all that. No, of course not, but he learned it firsthand from his father, Bucky, who played with the likes of Vaughn Monroe and Benny Goodman.

Check out the hot arrangement (with great vibraphone work by Ted Piltzecker, of Shearing's quintet) of Bobby Troupe's "Lemon Twist." Bobby also wrote "Route 66", married Julie London, and was there, too. Even the new songs here sound like standards, not standing out at all amongst the compositions by Irving Berlin, Troupe, and Leonard Bernstein. "The Rare Delight of You", written by Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey, might have come straight from a Fred Astaire movie. "I Predict (2001)", a collaboration between Pizzarelli, Shearing, and Molaskey, is suave and smooth and bodes well for this new millennium. Maybe things won't ever be the way they were back when music like this was the norm, but at least we humans haven't lost our ability to create this kind of statement. Or to enjoy it.