Jazzed to be finishing on a classic note
‘‘I met Bruce later and he became a good friend. We played the same TV show and decades later we’ve kept in touch.’’
Since moving to Wanaka, Paulson has become involved in the music scene and the pair on previous visits have attended local concerts.
This time they agreed to perform a classical recital themselves.
‘‘He made it easy. You are such a warm, nice bunch of people. New Zealanders have that reputation.
‘‘It’s my wife’s favourite place and we’ve been many places.’’
Laura, a renowned musician in her own right, is a graduate of the same school Vizzutti went to, the Eastman School of Music
‘‘We met at music school and got married 17 years later — it took a lot of begging on my part. There was 15 years of water under the bridge, different lives and then we reconnected.’’
A concert pianist and recording artist, she has done
solo and ensemble shows throughout the United States, Japan, Australia, Austria, Croatia, Finland and Germany.
These days she makes an ‘‘occasional appearance’’ while passing on her skills to the next generation in a small home studio.
‘‘For the most part it is just the two of us when she is performing.’’
The pair enjoy performing together and as Vizzutti says, ‘‘it’s very nice, we’re able to rehearse at home’’.
‘‘She is a very highlevel player so it’s really nice to play with someone who really knows the music, but is also very musical and technically skilled.’’
Vizzutti says a classical repertoire requires a ‘‘soft and delicate’’ touch to get the right sound and cleanliness of sound.
‘‘It’s a mental shift too. I do the best I can and it’s worked out so far. Sometimes I might play two types of music on the same night.
‘‘It becomes routine in a sense . . . it’s in your bones and brain after a while.’’
The concert the couple will perform in Wanaka will be an ‘‘eclectic mix’’, featuring some of Vizzutti’s classical compositions and some familiar melodies from the likes of Gershwin.
‘‘We’ll spice it up a bit. Play Over the Rainbow, too, probably. It’ll be a smorgasbord.’’
He finds it is not quite the same when he cannot travel with his wife.
‘‘Lots of time I’ll have a reason to perform somewhere, but there might be some reason we can’t both go. In that case it’s just not quite the same.
‘‘It’s great to play with her as an equal level musician.’’
He enjoys surprising people with the sounds that can come from a trumpet.
‘‘One of my favourite things after a performance is when someone comes up and says I didn’t know a trumpet could sound like that.
‘‘It’s natural, partially because the concept of a trumpet is of a large fanfare, loud type of instrument. That’s the history of it really going back to military times.’’
Vizzutti (67) has been playing the trumpet since he was introduced to it at age 7 by his father, a selftaught amateur musician.
Seeing his father weeping in the front row of a school concert when he was playing, aged 15, is a memory that has stayed with him.
He went on to play at jazz festivals around the world, performing in Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show band with Doc Severinsen and has played on more than 60 recordings.
He has also composed many pieces of music from different genres. His favourite is composing for a symphony orchestra.
‘‘It’s become a labour of love. I’d just jump in and see if I could pull it off.’’
His interest in composing developed at Eastman, where he got a taste for writing and recording his music with fellow students.
‘‘I was always wanting to play a little different, wanting to explore different styles and techniques.’’