Pete Malinverni
On the Town: Pete Malinverni plays Leonard Bernstein
Planet Arts Recordings
With Steven Spielberg’s reinterpretation of West Side Story dominating the box office and awards season, it’s a good time to take another look at Leonard Bernstein, the songwriter. The real inspiration for this collection was something that happened years ago. Malinverni is a jazz pianist working in New York City. He played the opening night cast party for Franco Zeffirelli’s production of Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera, and Leonard Bernstein was one of the guests. When the composer entered the room, he launched into “Lucky To Be Me.” Bernstein recognized his own composition and ended up spending a large part of the evening hanging out with Pete, listening and talking music. It was an event Malinverni never forgot.
The tunes Malinverni selected for On The Town are culled form Bernstein’s contributions to New York-centric shows, On the Town, West Side Story and Wonderful Town. The album opens with a bopping version of “New York, New York.” Pete improvises on the theme while bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Jeff Hamilton keep the tune bubbling down below. “I Feel Pretty” is rendered as an off-balance waltz and “Some Other Time” sounds a bit film noir. The only Malinverni composition on the record is the title track, “A Night on the Town,” on which Pete shares his spiritual connection to Bernstein. Malinverni incorporates themes from the Bernstein songs he’s just interpreted and makes them his own.
