In person, the John Pizzarelli Trio brims with galloping vitality and cheeky wit, but its albums have always been slickly overproduced. Here, the singer-guitarist has swapped the fancy overdubs for no-nonsense live-in-the-studio sound, and Pizzarelli, brother Martin on bass and Ray Kennedy on piano finally get to strut their superb stuff. Highlights: John charms to the max on his I Wouldn't Trade You, and the group burns on a Kennedy-penned tribute to master swinger Oscar Peterson called (what else?) Oscar Night.
--By Terry Teachout
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