Bucky Pizzarelli

Jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli was born in New Jersey in 1926 and is the father of John Pizzarelli, a modern guitarist known for his work with Paul McCartney and James Taylor. His other son Martin is a well known double bass player.

Pizzarelli learned to play guitar and banjo whilst still a schoolboy and began his professional career at the age of 17 when he joined Vaughn Monroe's dance band. His tenure with the band was interrupted when Monroe served as an infantryman during WWII and after demobilisation Pizzarelli rejoined Monroe and continued with the band until the early 1950s.
After leaving Monroe Pizzarelli became a staffer at NBC playing alongside pianist Skitch Henderson until eventually becoming a member of The Tonight Show Band, the house band on Johnny Carson's famous TV show. In later years Pizzarelli toured with Benny Goodman making numerous TV appearances and played at the White House on a number of occasions.

Although no longer active as a performer Pizzarelli released a number of solo albums between 1999 and 2007 and in 2011 was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.