Moonglow (Bucky Pizzarelli Album)

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Moonglow
Studio album by Bucky Pizzarelli , Frank Vignola

Publication
(s)

2005

Label (s) Hyena Records

Format (s)

CD

Genre (s)

Mainstream jazz , swing

Title (number)

16

running time

46:53

occupation
  • Guitars : Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola

production

Joel Dorn

chronology
Bucky Pizzarelli: Plays the Music of Jerome Kern
(2003)
Frank Vignola: Gypsy Soul
(2003) 		Moonglow Bucky Pizzarelli: Doug and Bucky
(2006)
Frank Vignola: Vignola Plays Gershwin
(2007)

Moonglow is a jazz album by Bucky Pizzarelli and Frank Vignola . The recordings, which were made in New York City in 2005, were released on July 19, 2005 on Hyena Records .

background

Frank Vignola had recorded the trio album Three of a Kind with Bucky Pizzarelli and Howard Alden two years earlier . Moonglow is a duo session that focuses on classical ballads . Vignola has the role of the "singer", wrote David R. Adler, Pizzarelli that of the companion. Both play 16 short tracks on acoustic guitars in just under 47 minutes. The selected song material includes titles such as "Sleepy Time Down South", "I Can Dream, Can't I", " Whispering ", the Perry-Como hit "Temptation", "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and "In." the Blue of the Evening ".

Track list

  • Bucky Pizzarelli and Frank Vignola: Moonglow (Hyena Records TMF 933)
  1. Whispering
  2. I Can Dream, Can't I.
  3. Temptation
  4. Moonlight serenade
  5. My ideal
  6. Moonglow
  7. In The Blue of Evening
  8. Sleepy Time Down South
  9. If I Had You
  10. Golden Earrings
  11. Dream a Little Dream of Me
  12. PS I love you
  13. Serenade in Blue
  14. I'm Confessin '
  15. Deep Purple
  16. You'll never know

reception

Ken Dryden gave the album four stars in Allmusic, saying that two of the modern masters of the jazz guitar, Bucky Pizzarelli and Frank Vignola, may be a generation apart, but they agree on their playing style. Her duo guitar recording focuses on ballads, most of which were standards at one time, though many of them fell unfairly out of favor at the beginning of the new century, including songs like "Moonlight Serenade" and "Deep Purple". During recording, their common focus was on subtle lyricism, Dryden wrote, “so as not to please anyone but themselves. The intimate sound makes the listener feel like an eavesdropper in a private session among two old friends. "

Les Paul performing at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City in October 2008

Robert R. Calder criticized in Pop Matters that the liner notes included with this CD describe this recording as "background music" in a certain sense - which is stupid. It is calm music, but far from being background music - far less routine! - it demands to be heard and pays back increased attention with more and more real surprises, according to the author.

The senior pizzarelli provided the harmonic depth, Vignola the melodic lines on the acoustic guitar, with a pedigree that might be partly Italian, but certainly with a certain reference to Les Paul . Vignola's distinctly individual melodic concept is reminiscent of some earlier stylists such as Les Paul, says Calder. Vignola doesn't try to be different, he's so good and so committed that he's just different. His linear work leads and stays in the foreground most of the time, then idle once or twice to make room for the great pizzarelli, the chord master, to play solo with Vignola's gently pulsing accompaniment. In other moments, Pizzarelli joins him on the front line and at the same time continues the accompanying work. In fact, there is no background for the harmonic development that is generated by the self-accompanying duet and that even lifts the music above the consistently very high level. In other titles, Pizzarelli is always present with the harmonious color scheme and the real substance that every object needs, albeit not as forward-looking as Vignola. Sometimes he only delivers the few notes that underline and support the soloist, and it is always obvious that he really likes what Vignola does.

According to David R. Adler, who reviewed the album in JazzTimes , the approach of the two musicians to their material is straightforward, with Vignola staying close to the melodies. However, he does play some adventurous licks on "If I Had You", "Golden Earrings" and "PS I Love You". Pizzarelli, on the other hand, fills the bass register with the additional seventh string of his guitar and adds highs to his comping chords in lighter tempos such as in "Deep Purple". He has his only solo in the title track. Despite their reluctance, the two guitarists are fully alert and alive with these great songs.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b David R. Adler: Bucky Pizzarelli: Moonglow. JazzTimes , March 1, 2006, accessed April 7, 2020 .
  2. ^ Bucky Pizzarelli and Frank Vignola: Moonglow at Discogs
  3. ↑ Review of Ken Dryden's album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  4. ^ Robert R. Calder: Bucky Pizzarelli and Frank Vignola: Moonglow. Pop Matters, November 22, 2005, accessed April 7, 2020 .