By Steven Suskin
13 Oct 2008

JESSICA MOLASKEY: A Kiss to Build a Dream On [Arbors ARCD 19384]
Having only recently loved John Pizzarelli's sparkling CD of Richard Rodgers tunes ("With a Song in My Heart") and the current John Pizzarelli/Jessica Molaskey stint at the Café Carlyle, I was a bit skittish about immediately turning to Molaskey's new CD. No hesitation needed, as it turns out; "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" is just as good as Ms. Molaskey's first four CDs. Something must be in the water over at Chez Pizzarelli; in goes the aqua, out comes torrents of refreshing, cascading melody.

The new CD originated in an impromptu jam session, with Mr. & Mrs. Pizzarelli joined by father Bucky (on guitar), brother Martin (on bass), and violinist Aaron Weinstein. As Molaskey relates in the liner notes, they sat there simply "pulling music out of thin air. There were no set lists, no rehearsals, just four musicians, with various sized pieces of wood, with strings attached and two sets of vocal cords, a family calling tunes that we loved, and existing for 60 minutes to create a joyful noise. . . At one point, John said 'Okay, key of G, ready: one, two, three.' And I replied, laughingly, "That sounds great, but can you give me a hint as to what song we might be doing in the key of G?'"

That's the love of music within this clan, and that's the kind of set that you'll hear on this recording (although the vocals are mostly by Jessica, with John chiming in on only two). The songs are mostly old standards, of the "Baby Face," "Breezin' Along with the Breeze," "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" variety. Molaskey throws in two songs by the same Mr. Sondheim whose "Story So Far" is referred to above. "Everybody Loves Louis" comes from Sunday in the Park with George, in which Ms. Molaskey made one of her occasional theatre appearances last spring at Studio 54. "Isn't He Something" is from Bounce, in which Molaskey appeared back in 1999 when it was still called Wise Guys. Both songs are presented in the Pizzarelli manner, which is to say friendly-cool jazz; "Isn't He Something" sounds especially lovely. The Pizzarellis also give us two of their homegrown songs, "Take Me to You" and "Hiding in Plain Sight." The latter is especially felicitous, a modern-day homage to Arlen, Gershwin & Harburg's "Let's Take a Walk around the Park." Let it be added that on more than a few of the tracks the irrepressible John playfully misleads us, prefacing the song Jessica is going to sing with an intro to something else altogether. ("Breezin' Along with the Breeze" is prefaced by "every little breeze seems to whisper Louise," for example.)

As always, the secret of the success of both Ms. Molaskey and Mr. Pizzarelli is not so hidden: canny song selection, impeccable musical instincts, and an unconditional love for the material. They always seem to be having a holiday on guitar strings, but we — the listeners — are the ones who benefit.