''Midnight McCartney'' is a tribute album by

John Pizzarelli John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. (born April 6, 1960) is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Ros ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, including tracks from

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

. It was released in 2015 with

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

. According to the album's press release, Paul McCartney suggested John Pizzarelli perform tracks from his canon, and offered the title. Pizzarelli had previously performed Beatles songs in his 1996 album '' Meets the Beatles''. John's wife

Jessica Molaskey Jessica Molaskey (born January 9, 1962) is an American professional actress and singer. Jessica most recently appeared in the Off Broadway production of ''The Connector'' at the MCC Theater Company for which she was nominated for a Lucille Lortel ...

, daughter Madeleine Pizzarelli, father

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He worked for NBC as a staffman from 1964, including for Dick Cavett (1971) and ABC with Bobby Rosengarden in (1952). Musicians he collaborate ...

, and brother

Martin Pizzarelli John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. (born April 6, 1960) is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Rose ...

all performed on the album.

Reception

Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the source material, but commented the "key to the record's success is Pizzarelli himself, who delivers upon the laid-back promise of the title but is savvier than he needed to be, which is why Midnight McCartney satisfies." Christopher Loudon wrote for the

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...

that "the set’s not all midnight lace. Indeed, lovely as everything wrapped in Pizzarelli’s trademark silken lilt is, the more adventurous selections are more interesting."

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

music critic Chris Pearson described the album as "delightful." In an interview with Pizzarelli, James Wood from Guitar World commented the tracks were "all tastefully done in Pizzarelli’s trademark style."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

guitar, primary artist * Katherine Finkflute (alto) * Pamela Sklarflute (Alto) * Tony Kadlecktrumpet * John Moscatrombone * Andy Fuscosax (alto) * Harry Allensaxophone (tenor), soloist * Chris Cardonaviola * Mairi Dorman Phaneufcello *

guitar (rhythm), soloist * Paul Woodielviolin * Robin Zehviolin * Hélio Alvespiano * Larry Goldingsorgan, piano * Konrad Paszkudzkipiano, bass * Martin Pizzarellibass * Duduka Dafonsecadrums, percussion * Kevin Kannerdrums * Don Sebeskyorchestration * Michael McDonaldprimary artist, vocals *

vocals (background) * Madeleine Pizzarellivocals (background) *

Linda McCartney Linda Louise, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, cookbook author, and activist. She was the keyboardist and harmony vocalist in the band Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings tha ...

composer *

composer

Support

* John Pizzarelliarranger * Chris Byarscopyist * Holger Ecksteinphotography * Larry Goldingsarranger * Rachel Gutekdesign * Jessica Molaskeyproducer * Bill Mossengineer, mastering, mixing

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 2015 albums John Pizzarelli albums Paul McCartney tribute albums Concord Records albums