The partnership of John Pizziarelli and Jessica Molaskey is breathtaking. From the  start of their fast-paced new show, titled When Worlds Collide, presented through four weeks at the Café Carlyle, it’s clear that these performers’ strong individual talents—John’s as a jazz guitarist and singer, Jessica’s as an expressive vocalist and actress—rather than clashing with each other, have been artfully combined.

The “colliding worlds” were, in part, the numbers they performed. The idea, John explained, was to look at songs of the 1960s and ’70s—material the two performers grew up with—and program them alongside songs of the ’40s and ’50s. Most songs were sung in pairs, some expressing similar ideas, some the reverse. Among the combinations: Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “The Waters of March” and Joni Mitchell’s “Circle Game”; Billy Joel’s “Rosalinda’s Eyes” and Sondheim’s “In Buddy’s Eyes”; James Taylor’s “Traffic Jam” and Joe Henderson’s “The Kicker,” the latter with lyrics by Jessica; and  two freshened-up chestnuts co-written by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar, “I Want to Be Happy” and “Sometimes I’m Happy,” featuring virtuoso guitar work by John. The two performers shone as well on individual solos, such as John on McCartney’s “Can’t Buy Me Love,” Jessica in a fast, funny, pokerfaced performance of Sondheim’s “Getting Married Today,” and Jessica again in a moving rendition of Sondheim’s “Sorry-Grateful”

Backing the vocals with cool, close, seemingly spontaneous arrangements were John on electric and acoustic guitar, his brother, Martin Pizziarelli, on bass, Larry Fuller on piano, and Tony Tedesco on drums.

John & Jessica are at the Café Carlyle through Nov. 26.

Peter Haas
Cabaret Scenes
November 1, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org