Steve Ross
Come On and Hear
Birdland, NYC, October 23, 2017
Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes
Combine the songs of the “Man who was American music,” Irving Berlin, with the man who is the very definition of sophisticated cabaret artist, Steve Ross, and you get 90+ minutes of great entertainment. Ross, in his inimitable way, described Berlin as “After vodka, Russia’s second best export to the USA.” In a show filled with laughter and an occasional tear, the always elegant Ross performed over 30 of Berlin’s songs, including a few very funny, but unknown, numbers. As always, Ross accompanied himself marvelously on piano. He also displayed a hitherto unseen by me talent for stand-up comedy: He told a Yiddish joke, attributed to Fyvush Finkel, flawlessly. In between songs, he displayed his encyclopedic knowledge of the Great American Songbook telling Berlin’s life story in an interesting, informative, and amusing manner.
Among the many highlights of this totally delightful show was his opening number, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” followed by a brief history of ragtime music. A medley of the songwriter’s slow waltzes included “Let’s Go Back to the Waltz,” “Remember,” and “All Alone.” Ross’s performances of “I Love a Piano” and “Let Me Sing and I”m Happy” were sung with great joy and were obviously autobiographical. A medley from Annie Get Your Gun began with “They Say It’s Wonderful” followed by seven instrumental numbers before finishing with the very beautiful “I Got Lost In His Arms.” His emotionally intense performance of “Always” brought tears to my eyes, as did his performances in a medley of “All By Myself” and “How About Me?.” His closing number was another medley, this one of songs introduced by Fred Astaire. The encore was a sing-along “God Bless America” that had all of us on our feet. With the audience still standing and applauding, Ross did a second encore, a very lively “Let Yourself Go.”