John Pizzarelli

John Paul Pizzarelli made his debut on April 6, 1960 in Paterson, New Jersey, the first son of John "Bucky" and Ruth (nee Litchult) Pizzarelli, baby brother to sisters Anne and Mary and future older brother of Martin. John grew up surrounded by music in the Pizzarelli home, located in Clifton and later, in Saddle River, NJ. In fact, he claims that one of his earliest memories is that of listening to Beatles records while still a preschooler. Home movies on his 1992 Live in Montréal: The Big Band DVD show the happy siblings laughing and dancing, seemingly always within arm's reach of a musical instrument, usually one of father's guitars leaning against the couch. To develop their finely tuned ears, the children were encouraged to take piano lessons and play in their school band. Even while the family ate, the latest jazz LP would play in the background, both for enjoyment and for a music appreciation lesson around the dinner table.

Naturally, the children were all fascinated by their father's unique profession. Bucky decided that the best way to gauge his young son's interest was to have him learn the same way he did in the 1930s; starting with the banjo as taught by two of the masters. So, at the age of six, John was sent for lessons in nearby Clifton with Peter and Bobby Domenick, his paternal great uncles. The Domenicks were talented musicians, featured on a Carmen Mastren album for Mercury called Banjorama. Peter, the eldest, worked at a Paterson textile company and played area club dates while Bobby went out on the road with early big bands led by Clyde McClure and Buddy Rogers. After a tour stretch, the family eagerly awaited Bobby's stories, listening to his brushes with celebrity as well as learning any new musical tricks he'd picked up.

The Domenicks taught John basic wrist techniques on Bucky's Paramount tenor banjo, working up to "Bye, Bye Blues," "Bye, Bye Blackbird" and "Honeysuckle Rose," a musical rite of passage in the family. John practiced using the solos that Bobby had written out in simple tablature form. It wasn't long before the young novice had his calluses.

Those days, as in many years previous and even more since, Bucky was in high demand as a solid rhythm guitarist. He played on dozens of legendary recordings, no less than Ray Charles' "Georgia on My Mind," Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me To the Moon" and Ben E. King's "Stand By Me." A studio session player, Bucky was a regular with NBC's Tonight Show band when the show was based in Manhattan, before moving to Burbank, California in 1972.

"His day began by leaving New Jersey at eight o' clock," John says, recalling his father's hectic schedule. "He went into the city and did a couple of jingle dates. Around four o'clock, he did the Tonight Show in New York. He came home, and then he went back into the city to work from ten until two in the clubs. My father worked his ass off, but he always did the type of work he wanted."

John is quick to add that the sacrifices and successes of Bucky's career is what schooled all four of the children well and put two of them through college. He credits both his parents for maintaining a normal routine in the household.

"Family comes first and we've been lucky," Ruth Pizzarelli told Bucky's biographer, Terence Ripmaster. "Other than the normal give and take, we all adjusted to Bucky's career. Sometimes it was hard on the kids. He'd have to miss their recitals, graduations and that sort of thing. But we understood. Of course, the fact that the kids all loved music and played with Bucky made for lots of fun."

When he wasn't touring with Benny Goodman's big band, which he joined in 1965, Bucky earned a living inside New York's recording studios. He would sometimes take the children to his sessions, whether laying tracks with Dion and the Belmonts or playing on a toothpaste jingle, and took pride in introducing his family to fellow musicians. John remembers it as being very exciting, "(and) one of the few times I kept quiet."

Bucky constantly looked for opportunities to gently expose his children to the business, like inviting daughter Mary, then 15, to play guitar on two of his albums, including the acclaimed Green Guitar Blues.

While he recorded albums under his own name in the '70s, Bucky played extensively with Goodman, guitarist George Barnes, violinist Joe Venuti and saxaphonist man John Haley "Zoot" Sims. Often, the Pizzarellis would host the musicians that Bucky chummed with, much to the delight of the rest of the family.

"Bucky's a real family man. It's remarkable how his children developed into such talented musicians. But that's Bucky and Ruth," guitarist Tony Mottola once said. "When we musicians would gather at their home in Saddle River, the children were included in the jams."

John's childhood memories include playing ping-pong with Zoot Sims, snacking on cookies and Ovaltine at the kitchen table with bassist Slam Stewart and impromptu sessions around the Christmas tree with Joe Pass and Les Paul. "The funny thing was I knew these guys from being around my father," John says. "I didn't really know much about them aside from they were my dad's buddies. And I think that I had a better time because I didn't know those things."

In fact, witnessing the easy camaraderie between the players is one of the things that pulled John toward the musician lifestyle. "I was attracted to the 'guys.' I loved the 'hang' - watching my father and Zoot Sims all sit in the living room and tell stories," John remembers. "I loved the fact they were having fun."