Singing Along With Mick Moloney

By Gwen Orel

At the end of October, Mick Moloney launched his new CD "If It Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews" at a soldout concert at the Peter Norton Symphony Space. As Moloney pointed out at the concert and in the CD's extensive liner notes, ethnic songs were all the rage during the Tin Pan Alley era. You didn't have to be Irish to write an Irish song.

It didn't hurt to be Jewish.

Moloney, who put together Green Fields of America in the 70s (and first presented Michael Flatley) is reknowned for banjo and singing. The fluent knowledge of the NEA National Heritage Fellowship award winner, PhD folklorist and professor at NYU was on display during the evening.

The title song of the CD, penned in 1912 by William Jerome and Jean Schwartz, epitomizes the collaborations-the song celebrates how the Irish and the Jews have contributed to culture, politics and the life of the country. William Jerome was the son of Patrick Flannery - his family always thought he changed his name to sound more Jewish.

Slides of the colorful characters who composed them accompanied the songs. At times I felt like there should be a little desk attached to the arms of the plush Symphony Space chairs-but the only "test" was to join in on the occasional chorus.

Many of New York's best Irish musicians and singers appeared. The distinctive voice of Susan McKeown and that of jolly Englishman John Roberts provided harmony. Athena Tergis, who plays fiddle with Green Fields, appeared with her unique style.

The string quartet arrangements by Dana Lyn included fiddler Liz Hanley. Other all-stars appearing included accordionist Billy McComiskey, pianist Donna Long and piper Jerry O'Sullivan. Dancers Donna Long and Niall O'Leary stepped lively, as did Darrah Carr, who runs the Mod-Erin company.

"Twas Only an Irishman's Dream," a homesick fanciful song that imagines shamrocks on Broadway, was sweetly pure, never maudlin, with Lyn's sensitive arrangement. "Shirley Levine," accompianied by Tergis, sounded like a Tin Pan Alley song, which rhymed "dance the hora" with "begorrah"-but of course, it was actually written by Moloney. Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks added brass and pomp to the marches and warsongs that were popular elements of Tin Pan Alley, particularly the fun "The Mulligan Guard," and the rather jingoistic George M. Cohan World War I song "When You Come Back." Projections of the era's colorful sheet music screen added atmosphere.

Cantor Kerith Spencer-Shapiro opened the second half, singing a few Yiddish tunes, with a sweet soprano schmaltz. So fluent is Moloney with history that it was delightful when, jet-lagged after having just returned the day before from Thailand, where he played in the Pan Asian Gaelic Games, he introduced Irving Berlin and "Alexander's Ragtime Band" without noticing that Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks were not onstage. After he realized he'd jumped the cue, he sensibly just told the audience to delete all that, never losing his cool or the audience's approval.

The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra played a couple of traditional tunes. The dancers added greatly to a feeling of excitement. When Giordano and the Nighthawks did take it away with "Alexander's Ragtime Band," the sound was joyous.

The concert, even more than the CD, showed off the strength of these old standards. Moloney's simple delivery shows off the songs, but it would also be fun to see these performed by musical theatre performers, today's nearest thing to vaudevillians. I hope Moloney considers an even bigger variety in future.

There were too many people onstage for everyone to leave before returning for the encore, which was "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly" (a song made famous, you learn from the CD liner notes, by Norah Bayes-born Norah Goldberg). The 760 seats at Symphony Space were full of the Irish and the Jews-Irish Arts Center patrons, Symphony Space patients, and other New Yorkers of all sorts. Everyone sang along together.

Which is sort of the point of the CD.