John Pizzarelli

Singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli is the son of famous jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, but the younger Pizzarelli’s success is certainly not a case of simply cruising to fame on his father’s coattails, as his latest CD, bossa nova, proves. Inspired by his love for Brazilian music and in particular by singer/guitarist and “King of Bossa” Joao Gilberto’s album, Amoroso (which Pizzarelli describes as “a gift to the world”), Pizzarelli has put together a beautiful CD. True to his description of the disc as “a true marriage of American and Brazilian music,” Pizzarelli combines American and Brazilian tunes and American and Brazilian musicians (Daniel Jobim, grandson of Antonio Carlos Jobim, appears). The Latin treatment of James Taylor’s “Your Smiling Face” is lovely, and his presentation of all the bossa standards—“One Note Samba,” “The Girl from Ipanema,” “Aguas de Marco,” etc.—is thoroughly authentic and, at times, satisfyingly dreamy.