It was Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Christine Ebersole and Billy Stritch made sure you knew it. The mood was jazz and the dynamics were cool, as in Peter Nero/Carroll Coates' "Sunday in New York," and heated with Skeets Tolbert's catchy "Hit That Jive, Jack," the salute to the high fives, which was paired with Nat "King" Cole's "I'm an Errand Girl for Rhythm."

Ebersole has a bright, secure soprano tone with admirable breath control. In addition, Ebersole is a charmer onstage, although the patter she and Stritch delivered at the Allen Room is getting very familiar if you have seen previous shows. We know she is from Winnetka, he is from Texas, and when they finished chatting about backgrounds, they lit into Bob Haggart's "Big Noise from Winnetka," a neat follow-up.

Stritch seems to excel at all things musical, experimenting but not falling over the edge. He nudged Jerry Bock's "Too Close for Comfort" (Mr. Wonderful), away from Sammy Davis, Jr.'s outsized swing version of the memorable, pre-"Candyman," days. Stritch brought the song into lively but relaxed, Mel Torme territory. With Ebersole, he jazzed up Rodgers and Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things" punching out the "crisp apple strudels..." and "schnitzel with noodles." This is a favorite jazz tune and this duo brought out the vocal jazz fun as well.

Jazz singing is so connected to instrumental jazz, and with the jazz stress in this performance, I missed hearing more of Ebersole's interpretive ballads. She did deliver two familiars from other shows, a restrained meditation about loss, "What'll I Do?" (Irving Berlin) and the lovely "Will You?" (from Grey Gardens by Korie and Frankel), given a contemporary edge with somber meandering into the minor keys. It illustrated what talented musicians can do to standard form songs in a subtle, yet transforming way.

Ebersole and Stritch were backed by Tom Hubbard on bass and David B. Meade on drums.

For her encore, it was Christine Ebersole a cappella reflection on Joni Mitchell's anti-war sentiments in "The Fiddle and the Drum."

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
February 29, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org