Poet On The Run

Jimmy Pizzitola

Eclectic Singer/Songwriter with deep Texas roots. Ranges from John Prine wit to Willie Nelson simplicity, with a touch of Bob Dylan to keep things honest.

Let me come straight to the point: this album is one of the best i’ve got to hear the past months. Jimmy Pizzitola was completely unknown to me, until (SWA) gave me this album to review it. I

Eclectic Singer/Songwriter with deep Texas roots. Ranges from John Prine wit to Willie Nelson simplicity, with a touch of Bob Dylan to keep things honest.

Let me come straight to the point: this album is one of the best i’ve got to hear the past months. Jimmy Pizzitola was completely unknown to me, until (SWA) gave me this album to review it. I have to admit it: it hit me like a sledgehammer. Jimmy’s a singer songwriter from Houston, Texas and he seems to be friends with a lady we love a lot ‘round here: Glenna Bell. He grew up on a musical diet of songs by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jim Croce, Neil Young, James Taylor and Gerry Rafferty, all of them being known for their craftsmanship as songwriters.

I reckon all this food has left its traces: the first thing you hear, when you put this cd in the player, is that Jimmy’s got an ear for melody and the ability of telling a complete story within 4 minutes. The musical vehicle he’s riding has a lot to do with country and with the style we usually call “folk” around here. It’s the same kind of horse Townes Van Zandt used to ride, the one that brought Blaze Foley wherever he wanted to go. Blaze’s Cold Cold World is the cover song on this debut album by a guy with “a face of his own”: he manages to use the music that influenced him, whilst avoiding the copycat-thing. All of this leads us to an impressive album, which is big in all its simplicity: me, I’m not a great guitarist, but by now I can play all of the songs, after listening five or six times.

Does that prove anything? To me it proves that Jimmy Pizzitola doesn’t need any “look mom, no hands”-tricks, to reach maximum effect. The melodies sound so simple and organic, that, as a listener, you’d believe you could have written them yourself. If you had been a little talented, that is! The lyrics, on the other hand, prove that Jimmy’s a master in the Art of Scrapping: this record made me think of the Great Shel Silverstein, who was a master himself: not one word that wasn’t necessary, not too many words, not too little, but right-on-spot. Jimmy’s got it all. Life is fundamentally wrong: some people seem to have a lot of talents, other people don’t have any. Me, I’m happy I’m a good listener. Now it’s up to you….

Rootsville - Belgium

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The Choctaw Wildfire Sessions

Jimmy Pizzitola

This record was cut in about two days in an East Austin studio with Austin's boogie-honk outfit, Choctaw Wildfire. I love their groove!

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