[Dixielandjazz] John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey interviewed

[Charlie Hull]

John and Jessica are appearing in concert tonight, March 12, at Folsom 
(California) College Auditorium.

Charlie Hull

On 3/12/2011 11:06 AM, Robert Ringwald wrote:
> Married to Music
> by Robert Sokol
> San Francisco Examiner, March 11, 2011
> She's flying in from Portland rehearsals with Dave Frishberg and he's coming off
> a recording session, but when longtime couple Jessica Molaskey and John Pizzarelli
> return home from their two concerts at the Fairmont's Venetian Room this weekend,
> they will enjoy a rare treat.
> "We'll actually sit next to each other on the flight home from San Francisco," says
> Pizzarelli, adding, "and without a child between us!"
> Molaskey already had credits in shows like "Les Miserables" and "The Who's Tommy"
> and Pizzarelli was a well-established guitarist and recording artist when they met
> on Broadway in the 1990s.
> Both were in the cast of the Johnny Mercer tribute show "Dream" with the late Margaret
> Whiting, who knew right away something had sparked. "She said, 'Jessica... every
> time you walk by that man your face gets all red!'"
> Music abounds in the Pizzarelli family. John's father Bucky is a noted jazz guitarist
> and brother Martin is a bassist. Between his own releases and collaborations with
> both his wife and his father, Pizzarelli has been a principal artist on 40 albums
> in the past 30 years. He's credited as a contributor to more than 100 more.
> "If John has a day off in New York City he goes and plays... on someone's record,"
> Molaskey jokes.
> Molaskey, who toured her first Broadway show here at the Curran Theatre, is particularly
> excited to be playing the Venetian Room. "I saw Oscar Peterson there back in the
> '80s," she says. "It was the first time I ever went to San Francisco."
> The lineup of their show here is still being decided. "Which one are we doing, John?"
> she asks politely. "Well, we can do whatever you feel like doing, Jess," he replies
> obligingly. It's not a lack of planning on their part, but an overabundance of material.
> "We have a bit of an embarrassment of riches these days because we haven't played
> San Francisco in quite a while," says Molaskey.
> Like fine wine with good food, a recent trend for them has been pairings of songs
> that Molaskey says answer each other. "I'll play 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'"
> says Pizzarelli. "Then I'll sing 'Killing Me Softly,' which is from the perspective
> of someone watching someone playing the guitar," Molaskey finishes.
> "We never script a show," says Molaskey. "We both come from such different places
> in terms of approaching the music and we put it through our individual filters and
> hope that it comes out in a way that people like." Adds Pizzarelli, "It's really
> 52nd Street meets 42nd Street."
>
>
> --Bob Ringwald
> www.ringwald.com
> Fulton Street Jazz Band
> 530/ 642-9551 Office
> 916/ 806-9551 Cell
> Amateur (Ham) Radio K6YBV
>
> My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary.
> She said, "I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds."
> I bought her a bathroom scale.
>
>
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