John Pizzarelli Meets The Beatles

Editorial Reviews
From Jazziz
Beatles fans love to explain that one key to the successful partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney was their contrasting songwriting personalities: Lennon was the tongue-in-cheek, sardonic wit, McCartney, the earnest balladeer. On john pizzarelli's John Pizzarelli Meets the Beatles (RCA Victor), a well-conceived tribute that sets the duo's classics in jazz-trio and big-band arrangements, the singer/guitarist hits the mark most often when taking on McCartney's tunes. He approaches "Can't Buy Me Love," "When I'm 64," and "Get Back" with a playful wink, jumping off his speedy melody lines and the rising brass sections for extended improvisational tradeoffs with pianist Ray Kennedy. Pizzarelli adds colorful touches like scatting and even ad-libs his own lyrical verses based on the originals. Likewise, he treats an instrumental version of "Eleanor Rigby" with an aggressive sense of swing. And his intense vocal on a percussive "Oh, Darling" helps the tune rise above mere cover-band fare. However, when Pizzarelli presents ballads like "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and "Long and Winding Road" with maudlin arrangements, he pretty well grinds the party to a halt.

Tracks:

Can't Buy Me Love
I've Just Seen a Face
Here Comes the Sun
Things We Said Today
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
Eleanor Rigby
And I Love Her
When I'm Sixty-Four
Oh! Darling
Get Back
Long and Winding Road
For No One [Hidden Tracks]

Average customer rating:

HELP!
Meets the Beatles (+1 Bonus Track) [IMPORT]

Meets the Beatles
John Pizzarelli
Manufacturer: Bmg Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000G6IF
Release Date: 1998-11-24

Tracks:

Can't Buy Me Love
I've Just Seen a Face
Here Comes the Sun
Things We Said Today
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Eleanor Rigby
And I Love Her
When I'm Sixty-Four
Oh! Darling
Get Back
Long and Winding Road
For No One [Hidden Tracks]

Album Details

Japanese Version featuring a Bonus Track: For No One.

Customer Reviews:

HELP!.......2003-05-24

I've been a fan of John Pizzarelli for many years. His Dad Bucky too for that matter. Just prior to the realese of this CD, I had by chance caught The John Pizzarelli Trio while in Las Vegas on business. He was promanently featuring Beatles songs in his sets, for obvious reasons, and I was blown away by the material he had chosen and the wonderful arrangements and interplay between the group members. When he announced that there would shortly be a CD containing the Beatles material, I looked forward to it's release with great anticipation. To say I was greatly disappointed with the resulting CD would be an understatement. The songs, when played live with only the trio were wonderfully inventive, and actually had somethng new to say musically about some of Lennon and McCartney's classics. They were reshaped and reworked to truly showcase what is so extrodinary about the trio. The selections on the CD however, are for the most part booringly arranged, overly instrumentalized with pedestrian horn charts, and worst of all, poorly chosen, omitting some much better choices from the live set. Stranger still, the CD seems to want to highlight Pizzarelli the vocalist more than the guitarist and Trio leader. As a singer/guitarist fronting a tight trio of sympatico musicians, Pizzarelli is a standout. Here, indulging his seeming desire to be accepted primarily as a crooner, he comes up short, and again, finds nothing new to say in the material chosen. The last thing the music world needs is another hackneyed cover of WHEN I'M SIXTY-FOUR. It's a crying shame, as the idea seemed a brilliant one in the capable hands of the live trio.

Meets the Beatles (+1 Bonus Track) [IMPORT].......2000-09-13

Beautiful! John Pizzarelly is always my favorite jazz musician and I'm truly a huge fan of him. He continues his collaboration with Don Sebesky to deliver a pleasant mix of swingin' big band, high-powered brass arrangements and lovely, melodic string orchestrations. He sang and played Beatles' songs in his own style so beatifully and soulfully. Great stuff!!!

Average customer rating:

Meet the Beatles - Jazz Musician John Pizzarelli
An interesting view of the Beatles
A new way to hear the Beatles' songs
a breath of fresh air
listen before you order

John Pizzarelli Meets The Beatles
John Pizzarelli
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000HZOU
Release Date: 1999-02-09

Tracks:

Can't Buy Me Love
I've Just Seen A Face
Here Come The Sun
Things We Said Today
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Eleanor Rigby
And I Love Her
When I'm 64
Oh Darling
Get Back
The Long & Winding Road
For No One

Customer Reviews:

Meet the Beatles - Jazz Musician John Pizzarelli.......2006-11-10

Just a short review to indicate that this selection is a neat arrangement of Beatles music.

An interesting view of the Beatles.......2006-11-10

When I first heard this CD I was in a restaurant and I asked who was singing. After that I look for the CD in Amazon and had the chance to listen to all of it. I think Pizzarelli does an interesting job and the cover of the Beatles song in a more jazzistic style it's nice. I don't regret purchasing this CD and if you like to hear different versions of the Beatles song this is highly recomendable.

A new way to hear the Beatles' songs.......2003-08-25

I've been a fan of John Pizzarelli for some time now. As a guitarist and interpreter of jazz standards he has no equal. His interpretations of some of these songs by The Beatles helps shed new light on these classic songs. While a few of the ballads tend to drag a bit, the arrangements are wonderful. The best moments are the swing arrangements done in the style of the big bands. The band sounds great! The best song on the CD though, in my opinion, is "For No One"...Not one of McCartney's better known songs, it nonetheless represents some of his finest lyric writing. hearing John give it a new and more sensitive reading brought tears to my eyes.

a breath of fresh air.......2003-08-13

After seeing the concert on t.v the album was a compulsory buy. Great arrangements from Don Sebesky compliment Pizzarelli`s Chet Baker like vocals.As ever,Ray Kennedy`s swinging piano playing shines through,and John`s unique sounding guitar playing is a pleasing treat.All in all a great way to sell good musicianship to the "not so"jazz fan.

listen before you order.......2003-01-03

I am a Beatles fan and a student of jazz guitar, so this CD seemed perfect. I was very disappointed. These arrangements of some great tunes are, in my opinion, cheesy and more appropriate to a low-end Las Vegas lounge act. Mr. Pizzarelli's interpretations are not true to the original aesthetic of the songs and seem like caricatures of the originals.

Average customer rating:

Meets the Beatles

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000FWGTZI
Release Date: 2006-07-27

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