Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Nightlife roundup: JOHN PIZZARELLI pays homage to Tony Bennett, PAULO SZOT dazzles with his baritone and charisma

• By drediman
• March 11, 2026
• No Comments

In recent days, I found myself drawn to the nightclub performances of a pair of utter professionals — both in possession of innate leading men vibes — at two of my favorite supper club venues. As always, read on for my assessments of these satisfying nightlife excursions.

JOHN PIZZARELLI
Birdland Jazz Club
Closed

This past weekend, I had the great privilege of nightcapping at one of John Pizzarelli’s late night shows at Birdland Jazz Club (RECOMMENDED). In fact, the evening was the final showing of Pizzarelli’s weeklong residency at the beloved club, the great jazz guitarist’s venue of choice when playing in his hometown. Coinciding with the release of his latest album Dear Mr. Bennett, this recent round of concerts paid particular homage to the late, great Tony Bennett, whose spirit loomed large over the performance. Leading his hand-picked trio — which includes baby-faced Tyler Henderson on piano and longtime collaborator Michael Karn on bass — the coolly demeanored Pizzarelli didn’t waste time diving into some of Bennett’s most enduring hits, including a pair of Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh classics (“It Amazes Me” and “Firefly”), the aching “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, and a couple of Bill Evans and Bennett compositions (“Young and Foolish” and “When in Rome”). Perhaps even more crowd-pleasing were inspired and articulate versions of enduring standards such as “Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)”, “Just in Time”, “Put on a Happy Face”. One of the more affecting musical moments actually took place when Pizzarelli extracted himself from the Bennett songbook when he played a deeply felt instrumental rendition or Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “This Nearly Was Mine” from South Pacific. Throughout, Pizzarelli’s singing — perfectly attuned to his intimate and meticulous musical guitar-wielding — was as smooth and expressive as I remember. The evening concluded on a truly swinging note with a winning take on “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”.

PAULO SZOT
54 Below
The show will be performed again on April 5

Then on Monday night, the dashing and immensely charismatic Tony-winner and opera star Paolo Szot (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) — fresh from his stint in “Hadestown” on Broadway — gave an absolutely terrific concert at 54 Below, showcasing his powerful yet smooth baritone against the lush playing of a mini eight-piece pops orchestra (culled from the American Pops Orchestra, expertly led by music director Luke Frazier). His crowd-pleasing set included popular standards from the stage and beyond, including a number of selections from shows that have made him a star, as well as a few songs he admits hopes to be able to sing on the legitimate stage one day. Suffice to say, the entire affair had his adoring audience swooning. From Man of La Mancha, he predictably crushed “Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)” and “The Impossible Dream”. And then from Hadestown, he focused on some of Anaïs Mitchell’s lesser known and more intimate material, like “Hey Little Songbird” and “How Long” (the latter in stunning duet with the smoky voiced Allison Russell). In perhaps the most hilarious and audacious segment of the evening, Szot successfully mashed “Marianne” from Stephen Sondheim’s final musical Here We Are with Max Martin’s “Teenage Dream” from & Juliet. Then in robust and effortless performances of Javert’s anthem “Stars” from Les Misérables and the equally anthemic “This Is the Moment” from Jekyll & Hyde, we saw glimpses of what could be in store for the Brazilian star. To end things off, he proved that he fully deserved his Tony with his two encores — Szot’s soaring and emotionally felt renditions of “This Nearly Was Mine” and “Some Enchanted Evening” from South Pacific were classic and brought the audience to its feet.