Morris Museum Celebrates Bucky Pizzarelli
On the occasion of the centennial of his birth in Paterson 100 years ago, the Morris Museum in Morristown celebrated with his son, bassist Martin Pizzarelli, his trio, and guest soloists, the life and music of guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, as it paid tribute to the man who in his long career collaborated with Les Paul, Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, Benny Goodman, Aretha Franklin and Sarah Vaughan and many others before becoming a fine-art painter. Martin now lives in Saddle River. He told the New Jersey Jazz Society on the occasion of the tribute concert that his dad “loved Paterson, and some of his paintings depict the Paterson Falls.” His brother, vocalist John Pizzarelli, employed Martin as his bassist for 25 years.
In 2008, Bucky told Jersey Jazz magazine the secret of maintaining a close relationship with the inscrutable and often mean-tempered Benny Goodman for so many decades. “Benny could pick a wise guy out before he even walked in the room,” he told reporter Schaen Fox. “If you tried to outsmart him, you couldn’t do it. I knew what he wanted. With Benny, you had to know what tempo he was doing. That’s all. When he played by himself, there was the tempo before you started playing. If you interpreted it the wrong way, you were out.”
Bucky recorded 34 albums as leader and appeared on 43 more as a sideman.