Richard Carr, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli Jr.
Biography Richard Carr, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli Jr.
Richard Carr
is a violinist, composer, and music educator. He holds a Doctorate in Music Education from Columbia University. He studied composition with Donald Martino and Jonathan Kramer as well as violin at New England Conservatory with Eric Rosenblith.
He has recorded numerous albums under his own name and with artists such as Bill Laswell, Fred Frith, Bootsy Collins, Sly & Robbie, The Swans, Milt Hinton, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli Jr., American Contemporary Music Ensemble, Caleb Burhans, Clarice Jensen, Alan Dawson, Howard Alden, and Karl Berger. He has performed with James Williams, Kenny Davern, Doc Cheatam, Jay McShann, Jamal Nasser, Major Holley, Mike Nord, Georg Hofmann, Steve Gorn, John McDermott, Adam Rudolph, and Brooklyn Raga Massive. He has regularly toured the United States, Europe, Japan, and Mexico over the past 30 years. He is a former radio host on WDST in Woodstock NY. In the 1980s he lived in Boston and played sectional violin with the Boston Philharmonic.
An avid hiker and mountaineer, he has traversed the world’s mountain ranges including the Rockies, Sierras, Alps, Dolomites, Himalayas, Andies, and the Darran Mountains.
Bucky Pizzarelli
A superior guitarist appreciated by swing musicians in particular, Bucky Pizzarelli has been a fixture in jazz and the studios since the early ’50s. Self-taught, Pizzarelli has long been a master of the seven-string guitar. He toured with Vaughn Monroe before and after a stint in the military. In 1952, Pizzarelli joined the staff of NBC and 12 years later he switched to ABC; in addition, he worked with the Three Sounds (1956-1957) and had several tours with Benny Goodman. In the 1970s he was more active in jazz, co-leading a duo with George Barnes and working with Zoot Sims, Bud Freeman, and Stéphane Grappelli, among many others. Pizzarelli has since kept up a busy recording schedule and plays often at jazz parties. Bucky has also recorded with his son, John Pizzarelli, on an occasional basis since the early ’80s, including the albums Nirvana (1995), Solos & Duets (1996), Contrasts (1999), Passionate Guitars (2001), and Generations (2007). Also in 2007 the senior Pizzarelli recorded 5 for Freddie: Bucky’s Tribute to Freddie Green on the Arbors label.
John Pizzarelli Jr.
is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Rosemary Clooney; his father, jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli; and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey. Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli has been hailed by the Boston Globe for “reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz.” Established as one of the prime contemporary interpreters of the Great American Songbook, Pizzarelli has expanded that repertoire by including the music of Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Antônio Carlos Jobim and the Beatles.
John is touring this year in support of his new album "Dear Mr. Bennett," a tribute to the late singer Tony Bennett. For Pizzarelli, Tony Bennett was more than simply an influence. Pizzarelli’s late father, the revered guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, was a frequent sideman for the legendary singer, appearing on albums including 1960’s To My Wonderful One and 1969’s I’ve Gotta Be Me. John got his own opportunity to accompany Bennett for a radio broadcast that also featured pianist Ralph Sharon and bassist Jay Leonhart.
In addition to being a bandleader and solo performer, Pizzarelli has been a special guest on recordings for major pop names such as Natalie Cole, Kristin Chenoweth, Tom Wopat, Rickie Lee Jones and Dave Van Ronk, as well as leading jazz artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Ruby Braff, Johnny Frigo, Buddy DeFranco, Harry Allen and, of course, his father, the legendary guitarist, Bucky. He won a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category as co-producer of James Taylor’s American Standard in 2021.
