On Center: Lewis and guitarist-singer John Pizzarelli pay tribute to Nat King Cole

Pianist Ramsey Lewis has appeared at Eisenhower Auditorium three times in the last quarter century. He’s performed in a duo with the great Billy Taylor, been backed by Penn State’s Essence of Joy choir, and shared billing with the legendary Dave Brubeck.

When Lewis returns to the university October 13, he’ll be celebrating the creations of a pianist-singer whose timeless music has touched generations.

Lewis and guitarist-singer John Pizzarelli pay tribute to Nat King Cole, the giant of 1950s vocal pop, in a Center for the Performing Arts presentation featuring Cole’s hits along with the tracks of sophisticated cool jazz that have influenced their own work.

“We have a hard time imagining anyone recapturing the magic of sterling jazz pianist and pop-idol crooner Nat King Cole in quite the way that piano vet Ramsey Lewis and string-swing star John Pizzarelli do,” writes a critic for Time Out New York.

Cole broke the pop barrier with his smooth vocals, achieving a number of hits after his first, “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” soared up the charts in 1943.

As a vocalist, Cole was called “the best friend a song ever had,” but he was first and foremost a jazz performer. Even the songs crafted for the pop charts belie a piano technique, vocal phrasing, and orchestration indebted to his jazz roots.

The Eisenhower concert will include Cole standards such as “Route 66,” “Smile,” “Hit That Jive Jack,” “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons,” “Nature Boy,” and “Unforgettable.”

Lewis, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, released the first of his more than 80 albums in 1956. The pianist, who with his trio won the first of his Grammy Awards for a swinging rendition of Dobie Gray’s hit “The In Crowd,” has collaborated with countless artists, including Nancy Wilson, Grover Washington Jr., Chick Corea, Kurt Elling, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Tony Bennett.

In the 1990s, Lewis added radio host to his list of accomplishments. His weekly two-hour jazz radio program, Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis, is syndicated in cities across the United States.

Lewis and Pizzarelli, who has released two albums devoted to the music of Cole, have performed their tribute to the pianist-singer intermittently since 2013.

Called “the genial genius of the guitar” by a Toronto Star writer, Pizzarelli is one of the leading contemporary interpreters of the Great American Songbook. He’s also expanded the songbook repertoire with recordings of music by Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and John Lennon.

Midnight McCartney, Pizzarelli’s 2015 release, came about after Paul McCartney asked the guitarist-singer if he would like to record an album featuring jazz arrangements of lesser-known songs by the Beatles star.

Since the release of his first album in 1990, Pizzarelli has shared billing with the likes of Lewis, Brubeck, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, and his guitarist father Bucky Pizzarelli. He’s appeared on late-night shows starring Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Conan O’Brien.

In 1997, the younger Pizzarelli made his Broadway debut in the musical Dream, a revue of songs by Johnny Mercer. Six year later, he led a 40-member orchestra in Sinatra: His Voice, His World at Radio City Music Hall.

Northwest Savings Bank sponsors the performance. For information or tickets, visit cpa.psu.edu or phone (814) 863-0255.