John Pizzarelli

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – The so-called Great American Songbook will be the script from which Broadway musical star Barbara Cook and jazz singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli will read when they join forces for an exclusive duet concert at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Saturday, August 4, 2012, at 8 p.m.

Cook’s silvery soprano, purity of tone, and warm presence have delighted audiences for more than 50 years. Considered “Broadway’s favorite ingenue” during the heyday of the Broadway musical, she went on to launch a second career as a concert and recording artist, playing on the biggest stages around the globe. Her ever-growing mantle of honors includes Tony, Grammy, Drama Desk, and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, a citation as a Living New York Landmark, induction into the Theatre Hall of Fame, and recent Kennedy Center Honors.

John Pizzarelli is a Grammy Award-nominated jazz guitarist and singer. He has established himself as one of the prime interpreters of the so-called Great American Songbook and beyond, bringing to his work the cool jazz flavor of his guitar playing and singing. He is both a bandleader and solo performer, and has been a special guest on recordings for artists such as James Taylor, Natalie Cole, Kristin Chenoweth, Donna Summer, Roberta Flack, Rosemary Clooney, and his father, Bucky Pizzarelli. Pizzarelli’s most recent album, Double Exposure, seeks to expand the breadth of his repertoire – and by connection, that which is included in term “Great American Songbook” – with jazz versions of compositions by rock-era songwriters including Donald Fagen, Lennon and McCartney, Neil Young, James Taylor, Leiber and Stoller, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell and others.