BUCKY PIZZARELLI Master of the jazz guitar
1926-2020
Bucky Pizzarelli, who after many years as a respected but relatively anonymous session guitarist became a mainstay of the New York jazz scene in the 1970s, died Wednesday in Saddle River, New Jersey. He was 94.
Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli, his son and frequent musical associate, said the cause was the coronavirus.
A master of the subtle art of rhythm guitar as well as a gifted soloist, Pizzarelli was sought after for recording sessions in the 1950s and ’60s and can be heard on hundreds of records in various genres, although he was often uncredited. He also toured with Benny Goodman and was a longtime member of the “Tonight Show” orchestra. But he was little known to all but the most knowledgeable jazz fans until he was in his 40s.
When Johnny Carson moved “The Tonight Show” to California from New York in 1972, Pizzarelli stayed behind. He explained at the time that he did not want to uproot his four school-age children from their home in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Freed of the responsibilities of a regular job, he began performing more frequently in New York nightclubs.
Among those clubs was a midtown Manhattan spot appropriately named the Guitar, where he had already attracted attention in a duo with fellow guitarist George Barnes in 1970.
Reviewing one of their first performances, John S. Wilson of The New York Times wrote: “This is a brilliant and unique team. Mr. Barnes and Mr. Pizzarelli can be dazzling, and they can be sensuously brooding. They sparkle with excitement, leap with joy or relax with a warm romantic glow.”
After Pizzarelli and Barnes parted ways in 1972, Pizzarelli began performing and recording in a variety of high-profile settings: unaccompanied, as the leader of small groups, as a sideman with leading jazz musicians like saxophonists Zoot Sims and Bud Freeman and violinists Stéphane Grappelli and Joe Venuti.
In 1980, he began performing with a new duo partner: his son John, 20 at the time, who went on to become a jazz star in his own right.
The two Pizzarellis would perform and record together many times over the years, often joined by Pizzarelli’s other son, Martin, a bassist, and vocalist Jessica Molaskey, John’s wife.
John Pizzarelli once described them as “the von Trapp family on martinis.” As John’s star ascended, he frequently employed his father as a sideman.
Pizzarelli’s sons survive him, as do his wife, Ruth (Litchult) Pizzarelli; two daughters, Anne Hymes and Mary Pizzarelli; and four grandchildren.
Pizzarelli was among the few guitarists (his son was another; George van Eps is believed to have been the first) to play an instrument with seven strings rather than the customary six. The extra string, tuned to a low A, enabled him to provide his own bass line, an important advantage when he played unaccompanied or in a duo setting.
John Paul Pizzarelli was born Jan. 9, 1926, in Paterson, New Jersey, where his parents owned a grocery store. Two uncles, Pete and Bobby Domenick, played guitar and banjo professionally.
His unlikely nickname was bestowed on him by his father, who as a teenager had decided to explore the Wild West he knew only from movies.
He returned to New Jersey with a lot of memories and a lingering love for the West that would lead him to nickname his young son Buckskin. Shortened to Bucky, the name stuck.