Alexis Cole & Bucky Pizzarelli: A Beautiful Friendship

Alix Cohen | September 24, 2015

Alexis Cole & Bucky Pizzarelli

A Beautiful Friendship

(Venus Records, Inc.)

September 24, 2015

Reviewed by Alix Cohen for Cabaret Scenes

Alexis Cole makes singing appear easy. The naturalness of her vocals can imply she’s shrugging a song, as if skating octaves happen organically, as if scat was carbonated exhalation. The performer feels companionable. This, of course, is her art. In his own arena, Bucky Pizzarelli showcases like qualities, caressing his instrument with ultimate finesse.

“East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)” bears the influence of Django Reinhardt. One pictures a solo dancer with tilted fedora. Cole enters and exits higher or lower than the melody, endowing interest. “Mood Indigo” is sleepy, shadowy, a slow dance with trumpet circling like a gossamer wrap. Sentiment seems resigned. In “Stardust,” one can palpably feel lyrics drift down like leaves in a light breeze. Guitar arrives glissando. Cole sighs into delicate phrasing. “I Thought About You” is a stroll. The singer remembers, considers. Bass is airbrushed.

Two vocal duets with Cole and Nicki Parrott (also on bass) are highlights. A tandem “Blue Moon”/“Moonglow” is delivered with buttery harmony and nostalgic lilt. The songs interweave with fluency and style. “On the Sunny Side of the Street” is jaunty and fresh. Parrott’s appealing, open-throated scat loops rather than emerges in any linear way. Attitude is infectiously frisky. Cole’s own, masterful scat appears for “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You),” which is more engaging in its second, more temperate half.

I admit to having trouble with “On the Street Where You Live,” whose romance feels diminished by flippancy, and “Just Friends,” whose tenderness is quashed by upbeat delivery.

The low-key charm and adroit musicianship of A Beautiful Friendship makes it dulcet listening. All the material is familiar. Much, unfortunately, sounds similar. Warren Vaché on trumpet, so subtle and cool, one is always astonished he makes sound. And Anat Cohen is on clarinet, which contributes accenting; melodic ribbons add texture and distinction. Frank Vignola is on ballast guitar.

Tags: A Beautiful Friendship, Alexis Cole, Alix Cohen, American Songbook, Anat Cohen, Blue Moon, Broadway Musicals, Bucky Pizzarelli, Cabaret, Cabaret Reviews, Cabaret Scenes, Clubs, Composers, Django Reinhardt, East of the Sun, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Fedora, Frank Vignola, Great American Songbook, I Thought About You, Just Friends, lyricists, Mood Indigo, Moonglow, Musicals, Nicki Parrott, Nightclubs, On the Street Where You Live, On the Sunny Side of the Street, Popular Song, Revues, Show Tunes, Singers, Songbook, Standards, Stardus, Supper Clubs, These Foolish Things, These Foolish Things Remind Me of You, Venues, Venus Records Inc, Vocalists, Warren Vache