Music Review

John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey at the historic Venetian Room of Fairmont San Francisco

As part of the Bay Area Cabaret series, husband and wife John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey brought their show "Children and Art" from the Cafe Carlyle in NYC to San Francisco. New to their band are pianist Konrad Paszkudzki and drummer Kevin Kanner.  John's younger brother Martin Pizzarelli remains on bass.

The darling couple of the cabaret world, John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey banter so playfully you feel as though they're hosting you at an intimate cocktail party in their home. Their personal chemistry certainly shines through. Musically, they're an interesting pair. Mr. Pizzarelli is a jazz guitarist following in the footsteps of his legendary father, Bucky Pizzarelli. He often scats along with his guitar, blending the tones so perfectly, it leaves you wondering where the guitar ends and the voice begins. He croons his ballads in a way that reminds me a bit of Chet Baker. Ms. Molaskey, on the other hand, comes to us from Broadway and it's clear that is where her strengths lie. She sings out her tunes with the controlled precision of a leading lady. Here's where the pairing gets interesting. I get the feeling when it comes to jazz Ms. Molaskey is like a wife rooting for her husband's favorite football team instead of her own. (Sorry for the football analogy. The show was during the 49ers championship game.)  A clear example of this is their interpretation of "I only have eyes for you" (sung by Mr. Pizzarelli) arranged into the Cy Coleman-Carolyn Leigh classic "It Amazes Me" (sung by Ms. Molaskey.) His half of the piece is swinging jazz. Her half is Broadway Ballad. It works. It's just an interesting pairing. Listen for yourself:



Mr. Pizzarelli's rapid fire guitar playing on "Cloudburst/(I'm Not) Getting Married Today" had me worried that Ms. Molaskey wouldn't be able to get out all the very funny lyrics. Silly me. She kept up beautifully. Although, I'll admit I wish he hadn't rushed the tune so much:



My wish for their next show would be for Mr. Pizzarelli to sit out for just a tune or two and have his wife perform with just piano, bass, and drums. Speaking of drums...Kevin Kanner deserves special mention. He's quite a young talent!

How I Spent My Winter VACATION

I took my kid to The Fillmore in San Francisco to see The GoGo's!

Free Apples. A Fillmore Tradition.

Beauty and The Beat came out in 1981 when I was 11 years old. 

In 1978 they were just a bunch of girls that formed a band. But back then there weren't any all-female groups that wrote all their own songs and played all their own instruments that made it onto the Billboard 200 chart. There was no puppet master behind the stage pulling their strings, telling them how to look and what to sing. They were born of the LA punk scene. As their bio says, "How could anyone who loves real music not love The Go-Go’s? They melded the timeless songcraft of The Beatles, a defiant punk attitude, the blitzkrieg bombast of The Ramones, the deceptively dangerous allure of Blondie, the distinct personalities of The Monkees, 60s garage-band grit, good-girl wall-of-sound schmaltz, and a touch of 70s glam, all while creating a canon of work that deftly defined the spirited 80s sound. Even more astonishing is the fact that they merged all of those grand influences into streamlined MTV stardom — without sounding overtly dated. Quite a feat, but then The Go-Go’s are quite a band."

Three decades later The GoGo's still Got The Beat. 

Their sound hasn't changed a bit. They played one crowd pleaser after another.  Each member of the band addressed the audience. Gina Schock even came out from behind her drums to say hi! 

The song "Mad About You" was one of a few songs that were being considered to be on the fourth (unrecorded) Go-Go's album. When The Go-Go's split up, "Mad About You" wound up on Belinda Carlisle's debut solo album, Belinda instead. But...we got to hear them play it live.


 

In a review of Beauty and The Beat for the non-profit organization Common Sense Media Blair Jackson states:

"the Go-Go's' music has a light power-pop quality" 

and

"the content is downright innocent when compared to current pop music."

So, I felt pretty good exposing my 13 year old to the show. She's not exactly new to seeing live music. We've taken her to the The Bridge School Benefit Concert, The San Francisco Symphony, Yoshi's Jazz Club, and ton's of Broadway shows. If the venue is all ages she comes with us! 

And that's how I spent my winter VACATION...