[Dixielandjazz] John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molasky – NY Times 10/31/13

[Robert Ringwald]

October 31, 2013

A Harmonic Marriage

By STEPHEN HOLDEN

“Children and Art,”

John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey

’s wonderful new show at the Café Carlyle, isn’t just the title of a Stephen Sondheim

song from “Sunday in the Park With George.” This reflection on what matters most

is paired with “Children Will Listen,” from “Into the Woods,” to make a sweeping

reflection on the rewards and stresses of balancing the roles of parent and artist

by musicians who are married with two children. Both songs address personal responsibility

for that which we create and leave behind: “Careful the things you say/Children will

listen.”

Mr. Pizzarelli, a jazz guitarist and crooner, and Ms. Molaskey, a hybrid of Broadway

and jazz baby whose penetrating psychological radar locates the truth of a song lyric

wherever it leads, have been married for 15 years and recently renewed their vows.

Their satisfaction — and perhaps their amazement — at having stayed the course echoed

through Tuesday’s opening-night performance in which two new young band members,

the pianist Konrad Paszkudzki and the drummer Kevin Kanner, (replacing Larry Fuller

and Tony Tedesco) joined the group. Martin Pizzarelli, John’s younger brother, remains

on bass.

Although the revised ensemble has more percussive edge, what is lost is considerable.

Mr. Fuller and Ray Kennedy, his predecessor on piano, brought a high polish and astonishing

technical virtuosity to arrangements that showcased the group as world-class musical

unit. Their replacements, though competent, are far from the best of the best.

What matters above all is

the couple’s musical and personal chemistry

 in which each stretches to accommodate the other. Although Mr. Pizzarelli is happiest

scatting in unison with his jet-propelled guitar, his quiet crooning in duets with

Ms. Molaskey brings out an undertone of dreaminess in this supreme musical extrovert.

Ms. Molaskey is an expert at outfitting tricky tunes by the jazz pianist Horace Silver

with smart, complicated lyrics that use the staccato, multisyllable language of bebop

as a platform for witty, emotionally charged streams of consciousness.

A running theme of all their shows is the delight and sometimes the anxiety of seeing

yourself through the eyes of your partner. It found its most rhapsodic expression

on Tuesday in the pairing of “I Only Have Eyes for You” and “It Amazes Me,” sung

with such quiet intensity that it sounded almost like pillow talk.

The show runs through Nov. 23 at the Café Carlyle, the Carlyle Hotel; 35 East 76th

Street, 212-744-1600, thecarlyle.com.

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