Billy Stritch Returns to Crazy Coqs With 'Billy Stritch: Cy Coleman Revisited'

Billy Stritch returns to Crazy Coqs with a band new show spotlighting the music of legendary tunesmith, Cy Coleman. He'll be joined this time by a swinging jazz trio - all the better to perfectly celebrate one of Broadway and pop music's jazziest composers.

The show will include Cy's biggest pop hits ('The Best Is Yet To Come', 'Witchcraft'), songs from his Broadway shows ('Sweet Charity', 'City Of Angels') and many undiscovered and unknown gems.

Cy Coleman was the composer of a dozen Broadway scores and a multitude of "stand-alone" pop songs in addition to being a world-class jazz pianist.

Billy Stritch said: "This show is one that I've been thinking about for a long time. I first met Cy Coleman in the late 80s when I was part of the vocal trio Montgomery, Plant and Stritch. The trio worked numerous times in London, notably at Pizza On The Park, Ronnie Scott's and one very memorable engagement at The Ritz Hotel in 1988 when they were presenting cabaret acts. I'm pretty sure Cy saw us during one of our engagements at the Algonquin Hotel Oak Room in New York.

"It wasn't until late in 1991 that I really got to know him. I had met Liza Minnelli in March of that year and she started giving regular parties in her apartment that fall. Always great guests - I remember Sammy Cahn, Tony Bennett, Annie Ross were all regulars, as was Cy. After an informal supper and cocktails, Liza and I would lead everyone into her great music room and the evening would really start! Everyone performed, it was so informal and low-key, and always lots of laughter and stories and great music. Cy was a born performer and fabulous pianist so he would always do at least three or four songs. So would I! We just became really good friends over the next few years and he would always be there in the audience whenever I opened a solo show or one with Liza. It was really an incredible time.

"One of the most wonderful benefits of his friendship was the series of afternoons I spent with him in the music room/studio of his east side town house. He would spend hours telling me great stories about shows he's written or been involved with - but mainly he would play all these wonderful tunes that he'd written for shows or for singers, most of which had been cut or repurposed or never heard. If I particularly liked something he'd make sure his assistant Terre sent me home with a copy of the music. Before long, I'd amassed a pretty impressive stack of Cy's undiscovered music.

"Cy passed away quite unexpectedly in 2004 and from that point on I've made it a point to include at least one of his songs in just about every show I've done. They are naturals for my style of playing and performing. I curated and hosted an evening of these 'undiscovered' gems for the prestigious Lyrics and Lyricists series at the 92nd Street Y a few years back but haven't done a solo evening of this material until this year. I premiered it in Palm Springs in June and am doing it at 54 Below here in New York on Sept 23th and 24th, right before bringing it to Crazy Coqs."

An award-winning composer, arranger, vocalist, and jazz pianist of extraordinary range and
sophistication, Billy Stritch breathes new life into the Great American Songbook, all the while bringing an easy sense of humor and showmanship to his performances. Born and raised in Sugar Land, Texas, Billy Stritch got his start at age 12, playing piano at his neighbourhood First Presbyterian Church. Word spread about the child prodigy, and the local country club hired him for a four-year weekly gig in the piano bar. The dreaded requests came in droves, prompting Billy to rush home and learn all the requisite standards, which would subsequently fill his tip bowl! Inspiration came from jazz greats like Oscar Peterson and George Shearing, but his older sister's love for Elton John and Billy Joel opened up a new world of pop music which informs his playing to this day. After being turned on to singers like Mel Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald, Mark Murphy and Carmen McRae, Stritch started to find his own voice to use in conjunction with the piano mastery.

Billy is a 1979 graduate of John Foster Dulles High School in Stafford, Texas and briefly attended North Texas State University before transferring to the University of Houston. While at U of H, Billy teamed with two female vocalists and created the vocal group Montgomery, Plant & Stritch. The jazz trio appeared in local saloons, but soon they were playing the most important supper clubs in the country including the Algonquin Hotel's famed Oak Room, the Cafe Carlyle and the Venetian Room at the Dallas and San Francisco Fairmont Hotels. Eventually, the JVC Jazz Festival paired the group with Mel Tormé at Carnegie Hall. They also became regulars at the Newport Jazz Festival, and they toured Italy and played the prodigious North Sea Jazz Festival four years in a row. When the group broke up, Billy made the big move to New York City. He was playing a piano bar when Liza Minnelli stopped in, listened and immediately hired him to arrange for her "Steppin' Out At Radio City" extravaganza. This led to international performances with her on stage at The Palais de Congres in Paris, The Municipale in Rio de Janeiro, The Russiya in Moscow, NHK Hall in Tokyo and The Royal Albert Hall in London. He acted as associate producer, pianist and arranger for Minnelli's "Gently" and "Confessions" CDs, which earned two Grammy nominations, and was co-arranger with Marvin Hamlisch for "Minnelli On Minnelli", a tribute to her film director father Vincente Minnelli at the Palace Theater in New York City. Nine years later, Billy once again acted as arranger, pianist and musical supervisor for Liza's Tony-winning show "Liza's at the Palace" and in that show he reconceived the vocal arrangements of the legendary Kay Thompson and The Williams Brothers. His arrangements have also been performed in the annual Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, most memorably in the "Multiplying Santa" fantasy.
Billy has also performed in twenty shows at Manhattan's 92nd Street "Y" in their acclaimed Lyrics and Lyricists series, including three that he wrote, produced and hosted - "Mel Tormé in Words and Music", "Give Me Fever - The Lyrics of Peggy Lee", and "I've Got Your Number - The Jazz Magic Of Cy Coleman".

As a composer, Stritch and Nashville writer Sandy Knox penned the 1994 Grammy Award-winning country song, "Does He Love You?", recorded by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis, which has sold over five million copies nationwide. The song went all the way to number one on the country charts and was named one of the Top Ten Country Songs of 1994 by the readers of Music City News. The song also appears on Patti LaBelle's CD "Flame" and was performed on "American Idol" and the 2018 Academy of Country Music Awards show by Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson and was additionally recorded by
Liza Minnelli and Donna Summer. The song was newly recorded in 2021 by Reba and Dolly Parton, introducing it to a new generation of listeners.

In 2001, a new door opened in the professional life of Billy Stritch. He was cast in the role of Oscar, the piano-playing crooner in the Broadway revival of "42nd Street" which starred Christine Ebersole. Their show-stopping number together, "I Only Have Eyes For You", led to television spots on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" and "CBS This Morning" and he performed in the show for well over a year. Billy's other TV appearances include "Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall", "The Today Show", "The Charlie Rose Show" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show". He was also guest conductor for The Rosie O'Donnell Show when regular musical director John McDaniel was absent.

In addition to his twenty-five year association with Liza Minnelli, Billy has recently completed a year touring as pianist and musical director for the legendary Tony Bennett which included an appearance in the NBC special "Tony Bennett at 90" live from Radio City Music Hall. He has also enjoyed a long association with legendary jazz singer Marilyn Maye, Broadway and opera star Paulo Szot and legendary Broadway and television star Linda Lavin and he co-produced Lavin's recent CDs "Possibilities" and "Love Notes". The readers of Broadway World named him the top musical director of 2012, 2014 and 2020 for his work on shows with Marilyn Maye and Tony-Award winner Lillias White.

During Covid-19, he created his own weekly Facebook live-stream show "Billy's Place", celebrating the Great American Songbook with songs and stories from his varied career. A new solo recording "Billy's Place" (Club 44 Records) was created during Covid and features favorite selections from over 65 livestream episodes. Billy has released several other solo recordings, including "Billy Stritch Sings Mel Tormé" a tribute to one of his biggest musical influences. Other recordings include "Billy Stritch" and "Waters Of March: The Brazilian Album". His third solo release "Jazz Live", caused the London Times to rave, "Equally gifted as a player and a singer, and doing both with no-holds-power, Stritch is not afraid to dazzle!" His solo shows have included tributes to Mel Tormé, Cy Coleman, and his most recent show "Lucky To Be Me" packed New York's legendary Birdland Jazz Club for three weeks. Billy currently calls Birdland his musical home and appears there every Monday night playing for Jim Caruso's Cast Party, New York's longest running (21 years) open mic night and also holds court with Jim Caruso on selected Sunday nights at Bemelmans Bar at New York's iconic Carlyle Hotel.

Awards include the Grammy for Best Country Duet ("Does He Love You"), six Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Awards, four Backstage Magazine Bistro Awards, Music City News Song of the Year award and the Bart Howard Award for excellence in cabaret given by the Mabel Mercer Foundation.

To post a comment, you must register and login.