By Steven Suskin
01 Jun 2003
A GOOD DAY [ps classics ps-311]
Jessica Molaskey's second solo album, “A Good Day,” pretty much avoids theatre music (although it gives us a leisurely smooth "Somebody Loves Me" and a smashing "Small World"). Molaskey cites singer Peggy Lee as inspiration. Three of the 14 tracks were written by Lee and her guitarist husband Dave Barbour (while five were written by Molaskey and her guitarist husband John Pizzarelli). But forget Peggy; here is Jessica.
In my review last December of Molaskey's “Pentimento” [ps classics ps 205], I said "Molaskey's voice is a cool, cool drink on a lazy hot day. Friendly and welcoming, with a hidden throb hinting of inner mystery." Terrence McNally, in his liner notes for A Good Day, cites her "voice that glows with a burnished confidence. . . . She will take us to the music in the simplest, most direct route: via a wonderfully supple voice, real musical intelligence and an honest emotional response to the words and music at hand."
Little more need be said. If Molaskey's first album was immensely enjoyable, “A Good Day” makes a tip-top pendant to “Pentimento”; put them on your CD player together, and you've got two hours of listening enchantment.
Producers Pizzarelli and Allen J. Sviridoff have surrounded their singer with the same top-notch musicians who played on the earlier album. Pizzarelli himself is ever-present, along with his dad Bucky. Ken Peplowski and Andy Fusco stand out with their clarinet solos, as does Ray Kennedy on the piano and trumpeter Tony Kadleck. Composer-guitarist-producer-husband Pizzarelli also provided half the arrangements, with others coming from Don Sebesky, Dick Lieb and Kennedy. And as with “Pentimento,” the sound quality itself is crystal clear and welcoming.
—Steven Suskin, author of the new "Broadway Yearbook 2001-2002," "Show Tunes," and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached by e mail at Ssuskin@aol.com.
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