John Pizzarelli - Kisses In The Rain (2000)

This is a diverse set of standards and original tunes that aims at the intimacy and spontaneity of John Pizzarelli's live performance with a studio setting. The singer-guitarist's long-established trio with pianist Ray Kennedy and brother Martin Pizzarelli on bass just keeps getting better, working with an instrumentation that Nat "King" Cole first perfected in the '40s and which also served Oscar Peterson well in the '50s. The trio achieves a sound that's both smooth and complex when all the parts are working in perfect synch, and that's what happening here. Whether they're flying on uptempo numbers like "I Got Rhythm," with Pizzarelli scatting in unison with his guitar, or playing at a medium bounce on the Cole signature "When I Take My Sugar to Tea," the group swings magnificently. Pizzarelli's light but resilient voice can suggest Chet Baker at slower tempos, but his relaxed delivery and conversational ease contribute to this music's distinctive charm. He sounds particularly good on some great Jimmy Van Heusen songs, both the well-known "I Thought About You" and "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" and the rarely heard "I Could Have Told You So." Pizzarelli's ingrained familiarity with the great American songbook is such that his own songs–like the witty "I Wouldn't Trade You" and the effective title ballad–sound right at home beside the classics. Kennedy wrote the sole instrumental, "Oscar Night," a fittingly ebullient tribute to Peterson. – Adam Rains, Editorial Review, Amazon.com

Tracklist:

1. From Monday On
2. When I Take My Sugar to Tea
3. I'm in the Mood for Love
4. I Can't Get Up the Nerve
5. I Got Rhythm
6. When Lights Are Low
7. I Thought About You
8. Should I?
9. Don't Be That Way
10. I Could Have Told You So
11. Kisses in the Rain
12. Oscar Night
13. Polka Dota and Moonbeams
14. Baby Just Come Home to Me
15. A Lifetime or Two
16. I Wouldn't Trade You