SFC: George Mesterhazy

George Mesterhazy, Pianist, Arranger, Dies at 58
by David Wiegand for The San Francisco Chronicle
April 16, 2012

It was pure chance -- or maybe great luck -- that brought singer Paula West together with the man who would become her pianist, arranger and creative soul mate, but that's how many great artistic collaborations begin.

In 2006, West made a frantic call to George Mesterhazy, because she'd just lost her regular pianist to Tony Bennett and was about to start a gig at the Algonquin Hotel's famed Oak Room. At first, he was just going to sub for one night, but soon enough, West asked if he could do the whole run.

Then she asked, by the way, could he write her an entire show?

Of course, he agreed, going on to become West's closest collaborator until his untimely death Thursday in New Jersey. Mesterhazy was 58.

Mesterhazy, a Hungarian native whose family immigrated to the United States in 1958, was long familiar to Bay Area audiences, performing regularly with West at the Rrazz Room as well as in concert as recently as February when she performed with his quartet at Herbst Theatre to celebrate the release of their new CD -- her first in 11 years -- "Live at the Jazz Standard."

A small man with an ever-present beret circling his long white hair, Mesterhazy was one of those guys who always seemed slightly rumpled and never seemed to worry about it. When performing with West, there was always a smile planted on his almost cherubic features as he trained his focus on West and his hands rippled up and down the keyboard.

The relationship between a singer and his or her pianist/arranger is much more complicated than audiences may perceive. It's a lot more than hitting the right notes at the right time: At its best, a singer-arranger relationship is not unlike a marriage, especially in the area of trust.

Mesterhazy was an exquisite pianist and arranger, having developed his skills in both areas as a protege of the late Shirley Horn and working with the great Boston jazz singer Rebecca Parris. His style was richly lyrical and his arrangements equally generous toward other members of his ensembles, which often included the sublime guitarist Ed Cherry, the sizzling young percussionist Jerome Jennings and the great young Israeli-born bassist Barak Mori. They clearly shared the appetite for pushing musical boundaries that bound the singer and her pianist together.

Early on in their collaboration, West brought Mesterhazy the enduring Sonny and Cher hit "The Beat Goes On" and asked him to adapt it for her voice and singular style.

"I wasn't sure of that at first," he told The Chronicle in 2009. "I really had to get the original tune out of my head and clear a point to some kind of creativity.

"To her, 'The Beat Goes On' is about what's happening in life today," he said. "But to me it was a cue to look at something about the beat, something that drums do that are different. And I tell you, I was going at it for the longest time until I asked her, 'Would you mind reaching for something really crazy? How about I put in an Afro-Cuban clave rhythm and put chords to it?'"

Over the years, the two continued to "reach for something really crazy" -- at least to fans of traditional cabaret -- and it always paid off. Of course, there was the inclusion of at least one Bob Dylan song in every West show, but beyond that, her gigs were graced with his exquisite arrangements of songs such as "Oh Shenandoah," "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," "Nature Boy," "Wichita Lineman" and the moody torch song "Where Flamingos Fly."

To her longtime listeners, there was no question that the creative symbiosis of these two great artists was something incredibly special. From the beginning of her career in the Bay Area, West has demonstrated an insatiable musical curiosity, but it's not coincidental that she became even more adventurous once she started working with Mesterhazy.

For six years, Paula West and George Mesterhazy were a singular team. While there is no question that West's career will continue to flourish and that she will always explore new creative frontiers, she's suffered a tragic loss with the passing of Mesterhazy. And so have her audiences.