Review: Billy Stritch's LET'S START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT Gets It Right at Birdland Theater

There are certain rights of passage that come at that time when a person really becomes an adult. Your first apartment, the first time you throw a dinner party, when you shift from drinking MD 20/20 to Brunello di Montalcino, the first time you buy a piece of art, and when you begin listening to jazz. Listening to Today's Hits and the Top 40 will always be fun, but when you buy your first Chet Baker record or some Sadao Watanabe, you feel like a grown-up -- a Brunello serving, dinner party hosting, Baker listening grown-up.

The Birdland Theater was filled with grown-ups at last night's Billy Stritch show, Let's Start The New Year Right. Billed as The Billy Stritch Trio, Mr. Stritch is joined by Tom Hubbard on Bass and Eric Halverson on drums and, together, these three create an evening of such exquisite entertainment that, even without the singing, the musicianship would be worthy of one's time and interest. But, oh, the singing. Most usually Mr. Stritch is at the keyboard to provide another singer with expert accompaniment, so there is always a possibility that an entire show may pass by without Billy Stritch ever raising his voice in song. To be given a full hour of non-stop Billy Stritch song stylings seems like an embarrassment of riches, with his smooth, mellifluous vocal cords wrapped around interpretive storytelling skills that remind one of the days when people sat in a piano bar for hours on end just to hear Bobby Short or Barbara Carroll - and the huge crowd at Birdland appeared so satisfied with Stritch that they might, well, have been happy to stay all night.

Let's Start The New Year Right is a mixture of some of Billy Stritch's favorite songs from throughout the years and numbers that have, long, been on his list that are finally making it to the stage; and though he is still stuck behind the piano and Misters Halverson and Hubbard are a part of the titular trio, there can be no mistake that the Leading Man in the trio is, indeed, Stritch, whose arrangements for other singers have become the stuff of dreams within the industry. How fitting that this time the arrangements and the dreams belong to Stritch, the happy byproduct being a night's worth of entertainment for a crowd of people so enamored with the music that a regular sight last night was no fewer than 7 iPhones at a time video recording the musical acrobatics of the men onstage. There is no bad place to sit during a Billy Stritch show because audience members on house left are given the treat of seeing his million-dollar hands gently caress the keys before furiously pounding them into the ground like a masseur cum rock star, while the people seated house right will have a perfect view of the piano pedal-ography that makes Billy's feet resemble those of dancers ranging from Astaire to Baryshnikov, as, with lightning-quick precision, they control the intensity of the instrument's singing and ringing into the air of the famed nightclub dedicated to the art of jazz. Of course, both of these sights are contingent upon whether or not a person is able to take their eyes off Stritch's face, a sight of pure beatific joy as he raises his head to bring forth the powerful and pleasurable sound of his voice performing his arrangements of his favorite songs. It's a one-two punch of perfect performing that led the crowd to cry out affirmatively when, half-way through the night, Stritch asked: "Are you having a good time?"

Hell yeah, they were having a good time.

Of particularly outstanding note in an evening that included such incomparable works as "Alone Together" and "No Moon At All" were Stritch's tribute to Peggy Lee, with her self-penned "There'll Be Another Spring," and his always-present nod to his favorite, Cy Coleman, with a little "You Fascinate Me So" and some "The Best Is Yet To Come." However, nothing could have prepared the audience for two mashups in that signature Stritch style, the first being "That Old Feeling" combined with "I Thought About You" -- the belated Christmas present you didn't know you needed -- and the second being a Sondheim/Berlin combo that will blow your ever-loving mind. If you can get out the door without your chin hitting the floor during this number, you have more self-control than the crowd cheering for Stritch last night. It's a number you will hear in your head walking down the street, riding the train home, and drifting off to sleep.

A word of advice, though: when you get your reservation to see Billy Stritch's Birdland show, make sure you have a companion with whom you can do some grown-up things after it's all over, maybe even while the show is going on. Sipping some Glenlivet and snuggling, maybe even snogging, while this music fills the air isn't just beneficial... it's essential. And what you do when the show part of the evening is through is up to you, but, rest assured, if you're ready to get busy with someone special, this show and this music is definitely the place to start the fire.

So get a reservation to see Strich and get that fire lit.

Billy Stritch and The Billy Stritch Trio will play Let's Start The New Year Right at Birdland at 9 pm on January 2nd, 3rd and 4th at 9:45 pm. For information and tickets please visit the Birdland website

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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