In order to fully appreciate a John Pizzarelli listening experience, the following accoutrements are recommended: candles, rose petals, and a bit of bubbly. Because a night of romance is what's to be expected when one of the contemporary jazzman's discs is playing in your living room or boudoir. Pizzarelli's music is renowned for capturing all of the little nuances of love in confections that are light, breezy, and finger-snapping smooth. The singer/guitarist is one of the early 21st century's more notable jazz interpreters of the younger generation, and he has thus far devoted his career to presenting the classics in his own compositions on his albums. On his second Telarc release, Let There Be Love, Pizzarelli pulls back his arrow again and shoots out a 15-song tribute to romance – from its endearingly awkward beginnings to steadying middle to the enduring golden years.
What a fantastic "jazz piano trio" - yes George Mraz is truly a bassist delight, sympathetic, emotive, with improvised soloing thrown in. Virtuosic players all three, Billy Hart is one of the greatest drummers for modern jazz - creative, inventive, and progressive! Last but not least - the leader - Richie Beirach on piano - a consistently inventive pianist whose ability to play straight ahead or avant-garde and with lyricism makes him an original.
Chie Ayado, the Japanese Jazz Giant with that fabulous expressive dynamic voice sings standards of jazz and pop from the fantastic version of Work Song to Leaving on a Jet Plane. How can there reside such a great voice in such a tiny body? As always her interpretations are extraordinary and thrilling although accompanied mostly just by her own piano…
Maya With Love reunites the powerful trio that Harold Mabern assembled in 1997 to record his Mabern's Grooveyard album. Like that recording, this current offering makes the most of the talents of all three players to produce music that is a whirling stream of power. The percussive nature of Mabern's playing is highlighted on the boogie-woogie style of "Boogie for Al McShawn," while the young lion Christian McBride steps out from the background with some impressive bowing on "Lament." Tony Reedus provides a rhythmic framework to hang the whole work on with his impressive and intricate percussion work…
Chuck Mangione, the famed flugelhornist and trumpeter fills his first recording of the 21st century with some wonderfully subdued love songs whose subtle, intimate qualities may surprise those of his fans who best know his boisterous pop hits. More than simply expressing a romantic boy-girl kind of love, Mangione is playing gentle, atmospheric jazz for a wide variety of special people, real and animated. And there is no doubt that the truest love here is that between the artist and some of his old bandmates.