The Carlyle Hotel (James McBride, Managing Director) welcomes the return of John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey, the gifted husband-and-wife team, as they open the fall entertainment season in the legendary Café Carlyle. Beginning Tuesday, September 9th and playing through Saturday, November 1st, Mr. & Mrs. Pizzarelli, who made their debut engagement in May 2007, will once again grace the stage to present an entertaining evening of romantic ballads and swinging jazz tunes, including songs from each of their latest recordings: "With A Song in My Heart" (Telarc, 2008), Mr. Pizzarelli's tribute to composer Richard Rodgers, and "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" (Arbors Records, 2008), a sophisticated collection of 15 of Ms. Molaskey's favorite tunes. Mr. Pizzarelli (guitar and vocals) will lead a quartet consisting of younger brother Martin Pizzarelli (bass), Larry Fuller (piano) and Tony Tedesco (drums).
John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey will play Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:45PM with additional shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 10:45PM. There is a $95 music charge Tuesday through Thursday and a $110 music charge for both shows on Friday and Saturday. Bar seating is available ($75 music charge) for all shows. Dinner is served from 6:30PM. Every Monday night at 8:45PM (through December 15th), Woody Allen appears with the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band. There is a $100 music charge. For reservations please call 212-744-1600. For additional information visit www.thecarlyle.com.
John Pizzarelli has cultivated a winning international career by singing classic standards and late-night ballads, and by playing sublime and inventive guitar. Using greats like Nat "King" Cole and Frank Sinatra and the songs of writers like Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen as touchstones, Pizzarelli is among the prime revivalists of the great American songbook, bringing to his work the cool jazz flavor of his brilliant guitar playing.
Born on April 6, 1960, in Paterson, New Jersey, Pizzarelli has been playing guitar since age six, following in the tradition of his father, guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli. Hanging out with his father, John was exposed to all the great jazz music of the era, from Erroll Garner and Les Paul to Django Reinhardt. He began playing with his father at age 20, then went out on his own. Since 1992, the John Pizzarelli Trio has toured extensively. In 1993, they were honored to open for Frank Sinatra's international tour and then joined in the celebration for his 80th birthday at Carnegie Hall.
John Pizzarelli's voice has continued to develop with time, displaying both charm and humor. He has recorded as a bandleader for RCA, Chesky, Stash and Novus, and in 1997 appeared in the Broadway musical 'Dream,' a revue of
Johnny Mercer songs. Along the way, Pizzarelli has earned rave reviews. "The
John Pizzarelli Trio has never been tighter, and Pizzarelli himself has never been looser," the Village Voice said of a recent New York show. "We can say we're as lucky to listen to (Pizzarelli) as Nat Cole fans were in the years before he became a legend." Pizzarelli was also named "Jazz Vocalist of the Year" by Swing Journal in their Readers Poll.
For Pizzarelli, the comparison to the
Nat "King" Cole Trio is the highest of compliments. "I've always said in my concerts that Nat 'King' Cole is why I do what I do." But Pizzarelli quickly adds, "We aren't trying to copy him. That sound was so singular and inspired. I've always said we're an extension, a '90s version of what that group was." In fact, Pizzarelli devoted his Dear Mr. Cole album to music made famous by the beloved song stylist. Pizzarelli's catalogue of albums also includes a touching cycle of torch ballads ('After Hours'), an album featuring originals along with classic jazz and swing ('Our Love is Here to Stay'), and a Christmas collection ('Let's Share Christmas'). In 1999, Pizzarelli's trio was featured in the
Goldie Hawn/
Steve Martin comedy 'The Out of Towners,' performing "That Old Black Magic."
On one of his last projects for RCA, '
John Pizzarelli Meets the Beatles,' he brought classic Beatles songs into the worlds of swing and smoky balladry. Now Pizzarelli is gaining almost as much commercial success as the Beatles - well, success with a commercial anyway. A spot for Foxwoods Casino has made Pizzarelli a recognizable face. "In the Northeast, I can see people staring at me on the street. It's a great tune," he enthuses of the
Don Sebesky-arranged number. "And people are calling the casino to ask 'who's that guy singing?' If I'm going to be associated with a jingle, I'm happy that at least it's something I like."
Pizzarelli signed with the Grammy Award winning label Telarc International at the end of 1999 and in February 2000 debuted 'Kisses in the Rain,' a diverse set of standards and original tunes that showcases the spontaneity of his live performances within a studio setting. His trio, with
Ray Kennedy on piano and younger brother Martin Pizzarelli on bass, performs
George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm,"
Dorothy Fields' "I'm In The Mood For Love" and
Jimmy Van Heusen's "I Thought About You." Pizzarelli's familiarity with the American songbook is so complete that even his own songs - "I Wouldn't Trade You" and the title ballad - sound at home beside the classics.
His second Telarc recording, the intimate and unabashedly romantic 'Let There Be Love,' was released in November 2000 and features Kennedy, Martin Pizzarelli and percussionist Tony Tedesco, along with saxophonist
Harry Allen, clarinetist Ken Peplowski, accordionist
Dominic Cortese, cellist Jesse Levy and guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli.
On his 2002 album, 'The Rare Delight of You,' Pizzarelli teamed up with veteran pianist George Shearing. In the tradition of classic quintet-and-vocalist recordings, they lay down great standards (including "Be Careful, It's My Heart," "If Dreams Come True" and "Lost April") as well as a couple originals, all in vibrant arrangements.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the
John Pizzarelli Trio, Live at Birdland was released in April 2003. This 2 CD set includes two
James Taylor tracks ("Mean Old Man" from October Road and "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight"), Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away From Me," Rodgers and Hart's "Manhattan," a pair of
Rosemary Clooney staples ("Moonlight Becomes You" and "Will You Still Be Mine"), three originals and a classic rendition of one of John's signature numbers, "I Like Jersey Best." That October, Pizzarelli led a 40-member live orchestra at Radio City Music Hall in 'Sinatra: His Voice, His World, His Way.'
In 2004, Pizzarelli introduced a new generation to bossa nova. Produced by
Russ Titleman, 'Bossa Nova' features several Brazilian musicians including Paulo Braga, who played drums with Antonio Carlos Jobim for many years, vocalist Daniel Jobim (Jobim's grandson) and Cesar Camargo Mariano, who produced, composed and played on many great Brazilian records, most notably with Elis Regina.
'Knowing You,' his 2005 release, pays homage to the many talented musicians and songwriters he's met throughout his career. The disc features material from noted pop and Broadway songwriters
Jimmy McHugh,
Sammy Cahn,
Jimmy Van Heusen,
Frank Loesser,
Alan Bergman and Johnny Mandel, among others. The album spotlights longtime partners
Ray Kennedy on piano and brother Martin Pizzarelli on bass, along with the newest member of the group, drummer Tony Tedesco. Special guests include Cesar Camargo Mariano on piano, Bucky Pizzarelli on rhythm guitar, Larry Goldings on organ and piano, Tony Monte on piano, Ken Peplowski on clarinet,
Harry Allen on tenor saxophone and singer
Jessica Molaskey.
John recently launched 'Radio Deluxe with
John Pizzarelli,' his nationally syndicated radio program, co-hosted with his wife, Broadway star
Jessica Molaskey. Bringing warmth, humor and that long-lost "live" feel back to radio, the show takes place in their "deluxe living room" and the conversations are relaxed, candid, and off-the-cuff. Recent guests include
Regis Philbin,
Liza Minnelli,
Keely Smith and
Tony Danza. The show is available globally as a podcast at
www.johnpizzarelli.com.
In 2006, Telarc released 'Dear Mr. Sinatra,' John's tribute CD to "Ol' Blue Eyes," featuring the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. The CD features classic standards like "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "Nice And Easy," as well as rarely-recorded songs like "Ring A Ding Ding" and "The Last Dance." In 2007, he was featured in the new PBS series "Legends of Jazz."
The guitarist-vocalist's 2008 release, 'With A Song in My Heart:
John Pizzarelli Sings the Music of
Richard Rodgers,' is a tip of the Pizzarelli hat to Rodgers' musical legacy and includes such well-known tunes as "It's Easy To Remember" (a Rodgers & Hart collaboration from the 1935 film 'Mississippi'), "Happy Talk" (from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, '
South Pacific'), "The Lady is a Tramp" (from the Rodgers & Hart musical, 'Babes in Arms'), and many more.
In addition to being a bandleader and solo performer, John has been a special guest on recordings for major pop names such as
James Taylor,
Natalie Cole,
Tom Wopat, Rickie Lee Jones and Dave Von Ronk, as well as leading jazz artists like
Rosemary Clooney,
Ruby Braff, Johnny Frigo, Buddy DeFranco,
Harry Allen and, of course, Bucky Pizzarelli. He was recently featured opposite
Donna Summer,
Jon Secada and
Roberta Flack on the Grammy Award winning CD, 'Songs From The Neighborhood: The Music of Mr. Rogers.'
John has performed numerous times on the country's most popular national television shows such as "The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno," "The Late Show with David Letterman," "Live with Regis & Kelly," "The
Tony Danza Show," "The CBS Early Show," Fox News Channel and
Jerry Lewis 's Labor Day Telethon.
Pizzarelli continues to tour throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, performing classic pop, jazz and swing, while setting the standard for stylish modern jazz. Please visit
www.johnpizzarelli.com for tour schedule, discography, radio guests and much more.
Jessica Molaskey's voice has been compared to
Peggy Lee,
Chris Connor, k.d. lang and even Chet Baker. She has sung in concert from Lincoln Center to
Carnegie Hall, and has had the great honor of performing at the Montreal Jazz festival. Jessica has performed regularly at Feinstein's at the Regency with husband
John Pizzarelli, and in 2005 made her sold-out solo debut at the Oak Room at the Algonquin hotel in New York. Due to popular demand, she returned for three weeks in 2006.
Jessica's third solo CD 'Make Believe' was given an "A" ranking and called "wondrous" by the Philadelphia Daily News on its first day out. Her debut CD, 'Pentimento,' was proclaimed one of the top five entertainment records by Amazon.com for 2002.
Jonathan Schwartz of National Public Radio called it "The best cd of the year." Show Business Weekly called her second solo CD, 'A Good Day,' "the best female vocal CD of 2003." Her fourth CD 'Sitting in Limbo' was in May 2007. Her upcoming CD 'A Kiss To Build a Dream On' will be released on Arbors Records in November.
She is a veteran of a dozen Broadway shows, most recently the Roundabout Theatre's recent revival of
Stephen Sondheim's 'Sunday in the Park with George' at Studio 54. Other Broadway credits include the musical, 'A Man of No Importance' at Lincoln Center written by
Terrence McNally,
Lynn Ahrens and
Stephen Flaherty, 'Parade' (directed by
Hal Prince), 'Dream,' 'Tommy,' 'Crazy For You,' 'Les Miserables,' 'City of Angels,' 'Chess,' 'Cats' and 'Oklahoma!' Jessica has premiered music written by
Ricky Ian Gordon,
Adam Guettel,
Jason Robert Brown,
Michael John LaChiusa, and
Stephen Sondheim.
Jessica has written songs for almost a dozen recordings including the critically acclaimed "Greed", part of a commission for
audra mcdonald's 'Seven Deadly Sins' at
Carnegie Hall. Ms. McDonald performed Jessica's composition "Cradle and All" - written with
Ricky Ian Gordon - for the Lincoln Center Songbook Series and recorded it for 'Build A Bridge,' her 2006 CD from Nonesuch.
Other recordings include 'Fine and Dandy,' 'Myths And Hymns,' 'Parade,' 'Songs For a New World,' 'Weird Romance,' 'Chess,' 'Oklahoma!,' 'Windflowers: The Music of
Jerome Moross,' Fred Hersch's CD 'Two Hands, Ten Voices' and the recent cast album of Dream True by
Tina Landau and
Ricky Ian Gordon.
She co-hosts the nationally syndicated radio program, 'Radio Deluxe' with
John Pizzarelli, on which they have interviewed such stars as
Tony Danza,
Liza Minnelli and
Regis Philbin. For more information, please visit
www.jessicamolaskey.com.
