Fans of the Great American Songbook inside Toms River, NJ’s Grunin Center for the Arts put on a happy face this Friday, October 2, 2026 evening as they ready themselves for a Dear Mr. Bennett salute to the music of Tony Bennett by musician John Pizzarelli.
John Pizzarelli was born in Paterson, NJ. The son of jazz guitar great Bucky Pizzarelli, as a teenager John had the experience of performing with the likes of Benny Goodman, Clark Terry, and Les Paul. With a trio he founded with his brother Martin, Pizzarelli spent time in the 1990s as the opening act for Frank Sinatra.
Playing on over 50 albums by such celebrated artists as Paul McCartney, Rosemary Clooney, and The Manhattan Transfer, Pizzarelli won a Grammy for co-producing James Taylor’s 2020 recording, American Standard. He’s also appeared on over two dozen solo albums including his latest release, 2026’s Dear Mr. Bennett.
The lights dim and John Pizzarelli takes the stage with pianist Isaiah J. Thompson and bassist Mike Karn. Opening with a swinging version of “Watch What Happens,” Pizzarelli croons in his warm and appealing tenor, “Let someone start believing in you/Let him hold out his hand/Let him touch you and watch what happens,” before picking out a jazzy guitar solo which is followed by a syncopated piano solo by Thompson and a sliding bass solo by Karn.
Following a fast swinging arrangement of “Shakin’ the Blues Away,” Pizzarelli, 66, announces, “Tonight, we’re doing a program that celebrates the centennial of Tony Bennett,” prior to delivering an upbeat and bouncy rendition of the swinging Bennett favorite, “Firefly.”
Pizzarelli talks about the Columbia Records recording studio in New York City where such classic jazz albums as The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Time Out and Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue were recorded before performing two songs that Tony Bennett recorded there. Whereas the first, “Because of You,” is a lovely ballad where Pizzarelli’s soft legato vocal calls out, “Because of you there’s a song in my heart,” the second is a Latin-influcenced number, “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” where Thompson renders a rhythmic piano solo and Pizzarelli taps his foot as he fast-picks on the guitar while Karn holds down the bottom with his bass.
After telling a story about how Tony Bennett once came to see him perform at The Algonquin in New York City, Pizzarelli and Co. segue into a medley of “happy songs” including a jazzy version of “Put On a Happy Face,” a fast and upbeat rendition of “Forget Your Troubles, Come On Get Happy,” and a double-time interpretation of “I Want to Be Happy” where Thompson impresses with a bebop piano solo which brings applause from the crowd.
A rubato intro leads into a slow jazz arrangement of “Fly Me to the Moon” where Pizzarelli’s smooth, cool vocal croons, “Fly me to the moon/And let me play among the stars,” before Karn’s bass and Pizzarelli’s voice start off “Just in Time” where Thompson joins in adding piano embellishments and Pizzarelli scat-sings as he solos on guitar on the coda.
After Pizzarelli introduces “another ‘60s hit for Tony Bennett,” he’s deftly backed by the band as his voice rings out with style on a swinging interpretation of “I Wanna Be Around.”
Thompson and Karn exit the stage leaving Pizzarelli to perform solo guitar arrangements of Jerome Kern’s “The Way You Look Tonight” and Leonard Bernstein’s “Some Other Time.” Then, his voice and guitar are featured on a wistful vocal/guitar arrangement of Bill Evans’ “Waltz for Debby.”
Thompson and Karn return for “Young and Foolish” where Pizzarelli’s poignant vocal is accompanied solely by Thompson on piano before Karn joins in on bass on this lyrical ballad.
Pizzarelli reveals that Bennett was “very close” with Duke Ellington before concluding tonight’s show with three Duke Ellington compositions. Following the swinging “Love Scene” and the slow and bluesy “Lucky So and So,” Pizzarelli imitates a drum solo by rhythmically sliding and strumming on his guitar strings on “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got that Swing)” before he and Thompson trade riffs on their respective instruments on this Ellington classic.
The audience reacts with a standing ovation and Pizzarelli and Co. take a bow. After concluding with an encore of Tony Bennett’s signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” concertgoers softly sing along before Pizzarelli exclaims, “Thank you very much!” to the cheering crowd.
To learn more about John Pizzarelli, please go to johnpizzarelli.com. For information on upcoming performances at the Grunin Center — including Veronica Swift on October 15, Magical Mystery Doors on October 24, The Chris Pinnella Big Band on November 6, and Judy Collins’ Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: Farewell Concert on December 9 — please click on grunincenter.org.
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Count Basie Center for the Arts
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