gether on Monday mornings and
get this thing put together. Let’s
put this act on the road!’ So we
did. The first gig out of the gate,
he takes me to Birdland in New
York. I probably knew 12 songs
- just enough to get through the
set. From there we ended up with
years we did 150-160 gigs a year.
We traveled all over the place. It
was a lot of fun.”
Yet even though he performed
around the world, he loved play-
ing in New Jersey and could be
seen in clubs, theaters, and festi-
vals around the state.
“Bucky was as satisfied playing a
$100 gig in front of 25 people as
he was in front of 25,000 people,”
said Laub. “In fact, he probably
enjoyed the former better. His
personality was not of a spotlight
guy. That was not what he was
all about. I recount this story to
people that I think sums up his
personality as a musician. When
I went for my very first lesson, we
sat down and before I played a
note he asked me, ‘You want to be
a musician?’ I said, ‘Yeah’ and he
Watch a brief documentary on Bucky Pizzarelli
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