Harry Allen Meets John Pizzarelli Trio
The Pizzarelli family name has become synonymous with prebop swing in the postbop era. Like his father,Bucky, John wields a strong, fast strum on guitar, here easily meeting toe-to-toe with tenor saxophonist Harry Allen. Pizzarelli's usual drummerless trio abets the music's rhythmic streams better than a drum-anchored band probably could, in large part thanks to the way piano and guitar wrap each other in harmonicandrhythmic motion at once. For his part, Allen is a big-toned player, slurring tones in buildups during "Blue Lou" and playing strong, hard-blowing solos especially on "I Want to Be Happy." Pizzarelli writes in the liner notes that he wanted the CD to have a loose, jam-session-like feel to it, and Martin Pizzarelli's bass is a great rudder steering the unit further and further forward with each tune. But there are also tender ballads, catching the guitar in glistening stillness and Allen's horn in romantic mellowness.--Andrew Bartlett