Les Paul's 92nd Birthday Party at Iridium Jazz Club

Jazz guitarist extraordinaire, Les Paul, celebrated his 92nd birthday at the Iridium Jazz Club in Manhattan on June 11, 2007, with a huge bash. Iridium was packed, and excitement was in the air as a long line of fans outside signed a birthday card for the well-loved musician and inventor.

Once inside, the people settled down to listen to the Les Paul Trio, which consisted of John Colianni on piano, Lou Pallo on rhythm guitar, and Nicki Parrott on bass. Les Paul has been a fixture at Iridium on Monday nights since 1996.

I arrived in time to hear the second set (sorry I missed the first set, as I was told that Bucky Pizzarelli sat in), with a wide variety of audience members of every age. The band started the set with Rodgers & Hart’s “You Took Advantage of Me.” Les’ expertise on the guitar is evident through his swinging beat, note placement, slides and ease of movement in every position on the fretboard. After a short piano solo, Les took the tune out and segued smoothly to “I Can’t Get Started,” with the trio (rhythm guitar, piano and bass) playing great backup.

Les Paul is not only famous for his guitar know-how and making the electric guitar into the great instrument that it is today, but also for his showmanship on stage. Throughout the evening, Les cracked jokes and carried on an entertaining dialogue with the audience. The banter that he carries on with his band members is a wonderful part of the allure that the famous guitarist exudes.

Brazil” was a fine example of accompaniment by rhythm guitarist, Lou Pallo. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Pallo sing Gershwin’s “Embraceable You,” at which point Les Paul took a turn with backup fills. The pianist played some tasteful runs as well.

Les brought up several guests during the set, one of whom was Richie Cannata, tenor saxman for Billy Joel. Richie improvised some cool jazz on “Summertime” and “Satin Doll,” both crowd-pleasers. Candles were lit on a cake that was sitting on the piano, and a bright red Les Paul Guitar was displayed next to it. This was a grand way to celebrate Les Paul’s 92nd birthday!