Kisses In The Rain

By TERRY TEACHOUT

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