Steve Ross

Birdland, NYC, October 21, 2022

Reviewed by Ron Forman

You always get your money’s worth in a Steve Ross show. No one packs more songs into an evening, all of them done with his inimitable sound, style, and class. In addition to the music, there are his frequently amusing off-the-cuff remarks, and of course there is his often dazzling work on piano. He performed more than 30 mostly familiar songs along with a few obscure ones, some nicely combine in themed medleys. His knowledge of the Great American Songbook is encyclopedic, and I always pick up interesting information about them at his shows.

Ross opened with a soft and sweet medley of memory songs: “Try to Remember,” “September Song,” Autumn Leaves,” and “When October Goes.” He began “With a Song in My Heart” with the seldom-heard verse. It was followed by “Honeysuckle Rose,” which included a lengthy piano solo.

He mentioned that he became aware of satire as a child by listening to 78-rpm records of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. That was followed by a medley of Noël Coward songs that included “Don’t Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs.

Worthington,” “Some Day I’ll Find You,” “I’ll Follow My Secret Heart,” and “If Love Were All,” all performed impeccably. Ross got a lot of laughs with the very funny song “And Her Mother Came Too!” He showed that he could do a bluesy number with “Good Morning Heartache,” followed by a delightful “I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plan,” that included the rarely sung second part that ends with “I found the one girl I lost.” The highlight of the show came after Ross mentioned that as a child he had been in a 1952 production of Show Boat. He then displayed his virtuosity on piano with a seven-song medley from that show beginning with “Life Upon the Wicked Stage”; it included an amazing piano solo on “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” and ended with “Ol’ Man River.” He closed the show with “We’ll Meet Again.” Having seen Ross many times over the past 15 years, I knew that song applied to me.