Guitarist John Pizzarelli and singer Jessica Molaskey are man and wife, and married in music. Headlining the Café Carlyle this week, their act is a sublime mix called “The Little Things You Do Together” after a Stephen Sondheim tune; they perform standards such as Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields’ “A Fine Romance,” a Joni Mitchell favorite, “The Last Time I Saw Richard,” and Sondheim’s classic “Children Will Listen” and “Finishing the Hat.” Jessica sits back as John does “Baubles, Bangles, and Beads,” and then exclaims, “Now you know why we are together for 20 years. He had me at ‘baubles.’” Cute, yes, and their banter works as well onstage as it does on the radio, even when they plug their respective albums, such as her new “Portraits of Joni,” urging your purchase. (They have a kid in college.) Yes, they can sing!
The night we were there, not the opening, the Carlyle was packed. Some guests flew in just for the evening that featured a superb Konrad Paszkudzki on piano and an excellent Mike Karn on bass. That’s all the instrumentation this fine show needs. Doing that Carlyle cliché, pretending to leave the stage for an encore inducing applause, John launches into his rendition of his New Jersey song, accompanying himself on the guitar and channeling the styles of the Beach Boys, BeeGee’s, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Springsteen, Dylan, Lou Reed, Billie Holliday and Roy Orbison. It’s hilarious especially as, at the Carlyle, unlike the times he does this in Singapore, he says, everyone gets the joke.
Regina Weinreich
Graphic Design: Salpeter Ventura
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