Mollie Malone

Mollie Malone (born Nancy Louise Rosenthal), whose flirty swing vocals and original decorative artwork have brought smiles to New England culture for decades, passed from our earth-bound congregation on May 22, 2020, in Needham, MA. Mollie was an original. A lifelong professional singer—first in the folk genre, then in jazz--she had her own sense of timing. She helped keep alive America’s danceable, bendable rhythms.

Born and raised in Worcester, she graduated from Classical High School where, among her large group of friends, she tended to be fairly reserved. Yet when she stormed the music scene in Boston and then in New York, she revealed the sparkle that made her a people magnet for the rest of her life.

Mollie launched her singing career at the seasoned age of five, in her family’s summer home near Gloucester’s Good Harbor Beach, engulfed in her Aunt Irene’s polka-dot vintage gown. She never stopped talking about her wonderful times there.

She studied classical piano for fourteen years. But when the sixties folk craze rolled in, she switched to guitar, gigging at coffee houses from her first year at Boston University, from which she later graduated. Making waves on the Boston folk circuit, she became one of the finest six-stringers working at the time, intuitively playing jazz chords and her own arrangements. She recorded for Warner Brothers, collaborating with David Grisman, Martin Mull, Bill Keith, and John Nagy. She opened concerts for Tom Rush, Livingston Taylor, and other luminaries, and played for capacity at the Hatch Shell and the Berklee Performance Center.

Steve Merriman, who worked with Mollie, recalled, “Her sense of melody was sublime; her sense of harmony was very sophisticated; she had a poet’s ear for lyrics, and her voice was something to die for.”

So were her accents. She could do French, Russian, Polish—whatever came to her ears—and get people smiling from ear to ear. She could do Bob Dylan’s Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat (a blues) like she had slid with him out of the record sleeve.

In the 1980s, she changed over to swing-band rhythm and The Great American Songbook, playing with local standouts such as Craig Ball, Dave Whitney, Dick Johnson, and Gray Sargent (currently Tony Bennett’s guitarist). She had an effect. When she opened her mouth to sing, the band rhythm would invariably click up. Taking a lead from Judy Garland, she put a smile in her voice. Boston bandleader Bo Winiker, with whom Mollie worked for eighteen years, said he never heard anyone sound so much like Billie Holiday. With the Winiker band, Mollie sang for Bill and Hillary Clinton as they danced at their first inaugural ball.

Mollie also worked with the arranger Bill Elliott and the jump-up swing group One O’clock Jump, as well as with the “monster” Boston pianist Dave McKenna. “Making music with Dave was a thrill beyond description,” she recalled. She sang intermittently with other Bay State bandleaders such as Stan McDonald, Jeff Hughes, and Artie Lee. And with her French fluency, she fit right in with the Boston gypsy jazz group Sinti Rhythm.

Mollie had a repertoire of some 400 songs, which she had learned during a two-year “sabbatical,” locked in her apartment. She brought that repertoire to such top venues as Scullers, Ryles, the Oak Bar, the Bay Tower Room, the Colonnade Hotel, Rowes Wharf, and Jordan Hall.

In her later years, Mollie performed as a soloist with the Newton vocal group “Basically Broadway.” The group’s director, Barbara Brilliant--who also produced the documentary film “Broadway Musicals: The Jewish Legacy”--recalled that “Mollie’s musicality was unparalleled.”

Mollie shared her passion for music with her two nieces, Rona and Lisa Cohen, She organized excursions to jazz festivals and jam sessions, afternoon tea at the Ritz, vintage clothing shopping sprees, antiquing, and countless trips to their family home at Good Harbor Beach.

Mollie studied decorative arts at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and turned out original-design hat boxes, vases, buffets, and other furniture. She became a regular at the Brimfield Antique Flea Markets, trading in the objects she loved. Her close friend Beebe Sinofsky, who often accompanied her there, said, “At Brimfield, everybody knew Mollie.” And Beebe remembered, “Meeting Mollie was instant love.” As with Mollie’s song delivery, her decorative figures seemed to move. And her aesthetic taste washed over onto the antique dresses and jackets she wore in performance. Artistically and musically, Mollie covered the waterfront.

Mollie loved animals, especially cats. She would exclaim, “Hi, sweetheart!” whenever she saw even a photo of one. Always accepting life as it came, she had a laugh that could light up the night sky. Her resilience reflected the Jewish Eternal Flame. She only seems to have left us.

Mollie is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Jane and Eli Cohen of Seattle; by nieces Lisa Cohen (Charles Mayer) of Seattle and Rona Cohen (Jonathan Beck) of Upper Montclair NJ; by grand-nieces Isabel and Olivia Beck and Sydney Mayer and by grand-nephew Samuel Mayer; and by cousins Jimmy and Mirta Rome of Gloucester. In addition, Mollie leaves her long-time partner and musical colleague, Peter Gerler of Newton, as well as countless new and old dear friends and former band mates.

A memorial service will be planned for the spring.

Donations may be made to the Jazz Foundation of America (https://jazzfoundation.org).