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Steve Ross: “I Remember Him Well – The Songs of Alan Jay Lerner”
Birdland Jazz Club
Mon, Aug 19 Open: 5:30 pm | Show: 7:00 pm
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Description

Birdland is proud to present singer/pianist Steve Ross in “I Remember Him Well,” a tribute to Alan Jay Lerner.  The one-night-only event will take place on Monday, August 19 at 7pm!

To celebrate the centenary of one of the musical theatre’s most literate lyricists, Steve Ross presents “I Remember Him Well – The Songs of Alan Jay Lerner.” Lerner’s equally notable musical partners include Kurt Weill (“Love Life”), Burton Lane (“Royal Wedding,” “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever”) and most famously and most prolifically Frederick Loewe. Lerner & Loewe’s contributions to the musical world of theatre and film are many and marvelous -  “Paint Your Wagon,” “Brigadoon,” “Camelot,” “Gigi” and the eternal treasure that is “My Fair Lady.” Steve’s songs will include “I Talk to the Trees,” “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” “I Remember It Well” (a duet for one), “What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?,” “The Heather On the Hill,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?,” and “Almost Like Being In Love.”

Steve Ross was raised in Washington, DC, and heard a lot of music at home, some from his mother who played piano. In due course, he studied piano himself and by the time he had attended Georgetown University, spent a little time in a seminary, and served in the US Army, he had become an accomplished pianist, drawing his repertoire not from contemporary pop but from the Great American Songbook. In the early 70s he settled in New York City where he soon became well known on the city’s cabaret scene. At first a background pianist, he was urged by club owners to sing and gradually began to do this, eventually training as a singer. As his personal style developed, so his reputation spread. Ted Hook, owner of Backstage, a piano bar in the midtown theatre district, hired him. The association was hugely successful and in 1979 Hook opened a new club, Onstage, especially to showcase Ross’ talents. In 1981, Ross was booked into the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel where he played a considerable part in establishing the room as a perennial favorite of artists and customers. At some venues he would find himself accompanying leading entertainers who happened to be in the audience, among them Liza Minnelli and Ginger Rogers. Ross toured Australia in 1986, one of his shows there being recorded at Don Burrows’ Supper Club, and he returned to that country in the late 90s. He has played many festivals, including Perth in Australia, Spoleto in Italy, and Hong Kong. Other international venues include seasons at London’s Ritz Hotel and Pizza On The Park. In 1989, he hosted a live cabaret series for BBC Television, and back in America was host of New York Cabaret Nights, a series for National Public Radio.