Marina Pacowski
Tom Rolla’s Gardenia, West Hollywood, CA, May 8, 2019
Reviewed by Eliot Zwiebach for Cabaret Scenes
Marina Pacowski is a delightful singer and an amazing scat artist. Regardless of the song or tempo, she has the ability to improvise pleasing sounds and rhythms that take any song beyond the limits of mere lyrics or melody.
With her bright smile, vivacious personality and tres charmant French accent, she is a pleasure to behold as she uses her innate creativity to move an audience. She was ably abetted for the evening by the nimble fingers of Bevan Manson on piano, the hot sounds of Rickey Woodard on saxophone, and the ubiquitous strumming of Santino Tafarella on bass.
Pacowski and company seemed consistently to wow the audience with an eclectic mix of standards, jazz, be-bop, and classical music. However, her own enthusiasm for what she was doing and the sublime talents of her musicians turned a pleasant cabaret experience into a two-hour marathon that seemed ultimately to exceed the patience of some of her listeners, a handful of whom left early.
Each song was sung through, followed by each of the three musicians doing a solo, followed by extended scatting. Despite the talents of all concerned, each number ultimately sounded very much alike once past the first time through.
Aside from the length and some repetitiveness, the evening’s highlights included a haunting version of “Alone Together” (Arthur Schwartz/Howard Dietz), with Pacowski’s slow-tempo vocal backed by Woodard’s warm, gentle sax tones, followed immediately by a complete shift in mood with a rapid-fire take on Thelonious Monk’s “I Mean You,” with Manson’s fingers seeming to fly across the keyboard and Pacowski keeping pace scatting.
She offered a sweet, gentle “I Wish You Love” (Charles Trenet) in the original French, and a swinging version of the Gershwins’ “But Not for Me,” plus a sincere reading of “I’m Old-Fashioned” (Jerome Kern/Johnny Mercer), a smooth “Up Jumped Spring” (Freddie Hubbard), and a nicely paced “A Night in Tunisia” (Dizzy Gillespie).
The energy on stage was fast and furious as Pacowski and her trio performed Charlie Parker’s “Moose the Mooche,” which preceded a palette-cleansing of sorts as the singer, taking over at the piano, demonstrated her gentle touch and elegant arm movements on a quiet piano solo of “Clair de Lune” (Claude Debussy).
The evening also featured a sensuous take on Miles Davis’ “Solar” and an upbeat version of Charlie Parker’s “Blues for Alice,” both featuring French lyrics penned by Pacowski.
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With the show approaching the two-hour mark, Pacowski said she would delete three of the 16 songs from her pre-show set list to bring the long evening to a close.
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