Jersey Arts Podcast · ArtPride New Jersey

Staying 'Jersey Fresh' with John Pizzarelli

·29 min·1 clip

Paul McCartney called because Tommy LaPuma needed a jazz rhythm guitarist for the record.

1. Jersey Arts Podcast speaks with John Pizzarelli about New Jersey memories, Nat King Cole, and the path from club dates to major recordings. 2. Gina Marie Rodriguez hosts, and Pizzarelli is the guitarist, singer, and Radio Deluxe co-host whose Jersey connections frame the conversation. 3. The episode asks how a musician rooted in Saddle River, Mahwah, and New Brunswick became a contemporary interpreter of the Great American Songbook. 4. Pizzarelli says he has lived in New York City for 30 years, but his parents were in Saddle River and his mother was from Waldwick and his father from Patterson. 5. He remembers Knight's Day Camp in Upper Saddle River and says the place "closed 40 years ago" but still feels vivid to him. 6. He describes playing Nobody's Inn in Mahwah on Tuesdays and Sundays for at least 20 years, with solo standards sets and rock-band gigs. 7. He recalls Ryan's on George Street in New Brunswick, where he and Grover Kemball shared nights with different bands and played in the window. 8. He mentions seeing Les Paul sit in front of him at Nobody's Inn and finding a photo of that night while looking through old files. 9. Pizzarelli explains that a friend introduced him to Frank Weber's recording of "Straighten Up and Fly Right," which led him to Nat King Cole. 10. He says the reissued Nat Cole trio records changed everything because they had jazz, humor, and songs he could sing without sounding like Sinatra or Tony Bennett. 11. He jokes that his father said he was "the only guy who plays jazz to support his rock and roll habit" because Pizzarelli kept a rock band going too. 12. He says he loved the Beatles as a kid, especially Help and Hard Day's Night, and started a band because Steve Lafiosca had no gear but knew Pizzarelli's house had amps and guitars. 13. He says his father Bucky liked that the family was working, even if the music was sometimes too loud for him. 14. When asked for advice for young players, Pizzarelli says to build a repertoire, know songs well, and be ready when the phone rings. 15. He gives the example of learning material well enough that a call from James Taylor or Paul McCartney becomes something he can handle immediately. 16. He describes being in a room with Paul McCartney, Tommy LaPuma, and Joe Walsh, and says McCartney knew what he wanted and was "a genuinely terrific person." 17. The interview stays relaxed and conversational, with Rodriguez asking direct follow-ups about Jersey, family, albums, and career turns. 18. Pizzarelli answers with long stories, specific names, and practical examples rather than formal career advice. 19. Listeners who like Jersey music history, jazz standards, and career stories will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a tightly edited music analysis segment may skip it.

As heard by us

A warm Jersey Arts chat about jazz craft, family influence, and the discipline behind an easy-sounding career.

John Pizzarelli comes across with the easy, practiced touch that makes a Jersey Arts conversation feel informal rather than staged. It moves from his radio work to the family influence that helped shape his life in music, and then into the practical lessons he picked up in small…

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want John Pizzarelli talking Jersey, jazz, and the long game of making a living.

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