New Album!!!
Our Love Is Here To Stay
A selection of classic standards from the Great American Songbook (and two original compositions), played solo on my 7-string jazz guitar.
Enjoy 30 minutes of relaxing melodic music.
Stream it on Youtube:
or Bandcamp
Physical CD album available (please email john dot piazza at yahoo dot com)
(other platforms and formats coming soon)
Liner notes from CD sleeve:
This collection of songs is my attempt to provide some sonic comfort for your days and evenings. I have been inspired by some of the great Jazz guitarists who (in those moments when they are not putting their technical virtuosity on display) choose to create a beautiful moment, giving life to a great melody.
I created this album primarily to share with relatives and friends who do not access music online, Perhaps the physical format will also appeal to younger listeners as they seek out authentic human experiences free from screens and A.I. I can guarantee that the music on this album is 100% human-made
Many of the songs featured on this album are from the Great American Songbook, written between the 1920’s and 1950’s. I have also included two originals: Passatempo Blues is an homage to one of my heroes, Joe Pass (originally Passalaqua), who, like me, is of Sicilian origin. Passatempo is an Italian phrase that means “pastime,” or a way to pass the time. Joe could play in a very relaxed groove, and the pun on “Pass” is just icing on the cake.
he second original is called Shine, which I composed in college as part of a longer suite, but has stayed in my head all these years. The album ends with I Left My Heart in San Francisco, which is the city of my birth.
In 2022, with the encouragement of my late mentor Edward Decker, I decided to take on the challenge of the 7-string guitar, which has an additional low A string. This was not in order to play more notes, but rather to express myself in a fuller range, closer to that of a piano. It is for this reason that George Van Eps, inventor of the modern 7-string guitar, called it a “lap piano.”
Other solo guitar players who have inspired me include Bucky Pizzarelli, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Barney Kessel, Charlie Hunter, Erik McIntyre, and Vilray.
This page is for my musical interests, mostly unrelated to my work as a Latin teacher. For help using Latin songs in your classroom, please visit this page.
I have spent much of my adult life listening to, enjoying jazz, and playing jazz guitar and trumpet. In the past few years, I have picked up both instruments more seriously (especially guitar). The pages linked here describe aspects of the music I am listening to, or the instruments I am playing.
Bucky Pizzarelli’s fingerpicking style (solo and duet)
Rediscovering jazz trumpet with a Martin Imperial