By Geri Silk
There have been so many blizzard warnings for Morristown lately that it is difficult to recall where you were when the great snows came.
My most memorable snowstorm was Tuesday, Jan. 11, in the Bickford Theatre’s sold-out audience, enthralled by Bucky Pizzarelli’s 85th birthday tour.
The jazz guitar legend has played with Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra, at Carnegie Hall Town Hall and the White House.
As a guitarist, his sensitive style and repertoire grows more spectacular every year. He is the master of the rare seven-string Benedetto Bucky Pizzarelli Signature Guitar, which provides him with a continuous bass line. This gives him the ability to play melody, harmony and bass all at the same time.
As a child, he was largely self-taught; among his influences was the gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.
Photographs: Bruce M. Gast, NJ Jazz Society. He has run jazz concerts for the past 20 years.
The other performers in the snowy night concert were Jerry Bruno, providing lush subtleties on the bass; the youthful Aaron Weinstein on violin; and Ed Laub, guitar, who sang the only vocal of the evening, Where do you Start, by Johnny Mandel. Ed has been a student of Bucky’s since he was sixteen, and they both keep time with their foot in the exact same manner.
The quartet played Three little words, Tangerine, Stompin’ at the Savoy, Nuages, and other classics from the 1930’s and 40s. In the Latin style, they played the luscious bossa nova Wave by Carlos Jobim, as well as the Cuban Tres Palabras (Without You.)
In the middle of the program, the fanciful Snow Fall, by Claude Thornhill, reminded us of the white wintry world we were to encounter after the concert. This composition explored the sparkling, mystical qualities of snow that can bring a deep peace on us all.
However, my favorite moments are when Bucky plays solo. Bucky plays in the most quiet hushed tones as the audience leans in intently. It is as if a tiny exquisite music box is open for all to behold.
In this hushed intimacy, he played It’s Easy to Remember, and This Nearly was Mine by Richard Rodgers, causing many in the audience to shed a tear.
In the days where louder is better and more is best, Bucky’s extremely minimalist volume explores the realms of exquisite quietude as an uncommon threshold of the hearing dimension.
If you want to capture someone’s attention, whisper.
Sometimes, just listen to the snow falling.
When the concert was over, after bravos and encores, we rushed out to a snow globe evening– first stopping to purchase CDs and receive Happy 85th Birthday Bucky fortune cookies, a souvenir worth saving.
Driving home with the rhythm of Stardust on my windshield wipers into a dizzying maze of hypnotic flakes, I was the only car on the road.
This would be the prelude to a snowstorm I would never forget.
Bucky Pizzarelli will be appearing in Morris Township on Friday, March 4, at The Minstrel, and he is always playing just about every night somewhere in the tri- state area.
Geri Silk is a Dance Movement Therapist, and amateur flute player in the Morristown area.
Geri,
Lovely article – I wish I was there, but then again, your vivid descriptions almost make me feel like I was.
I’ll have to keep my ears open for when and where he is playing to catch one of his shows
It was a festive, snowy special birthday at the Bickford. The music was fantastic as expected and the enthusiasm of the brave sould who ventured to the party was unbridled. You captured the evening perectly!!
Geri’s review reminds us that concerts need not be loud, frantic dancing, flashing lights affairs. Mood music sets our “inner stage” for emotional participation leaving us with a sense of deep satisfaction at experiencing the concert.
I liked the review very much. It makes me want to hear the next concert