Bob Levy
Live, Love & Laugh: The Ronny Whyte & Bob Levy Collaborations
(Silk River Music)
March 13, 2026
Reviewed by Kathleen Landis
When asked to review this compilation of original songs by Ronny Whyte and Bob Levy, at first I hesitated because Ronny, who passed away less than a year ago, was both a colleague and a friend. But I decided to do it because I really wanted to get to know these new works. In 2024, when he received the Lifetime Achievement Bistro Award, Ronny asked me to perform his and Francesca Blumenthal’s MAC Award-winning song, “The Party Upstairs.” I was already a fan of Ronny’s originals and for decades a regular at his performances, and I felt sure that his collaborations with Bob had to be clever and sophisticated, just like all of Ronny’s work. My feelings were correct.
I also knew that listening to his last recordings on this CD (plus several others he had previously recorded) would bring me be a mixed bag of emotions, and sure enough, I needed tissues to get through Ronny’s performances. His voice had such a “Ronny” signature. Bob Levy’s lyrics were a perfect fit for Ronny’s smooth writing and performance style. Their songs focus on emotions involved with love affairs gone right and those gone wrong—basically what we expect from a good cabaret song.
The CD features 12 songs and 14 tracks. Bob and Ronny started their collaboration in the late 1960s. They had intended to record their songs but somehow all of Ronny’s arrangements got lost. Though both went on to write award-winning songs on their own, they began writing together again in the 1990s and this collection is the result.
When Bob learned that Ronny was ill, he brought up the idea of getting their songs recorded. Ronny performed several in his typical smooth, cool-jazz style, but the version of “Live, Love & Laugh” (it’s performed twice on the CD) that is second from the end on the CD, shows that his had weakened voice due to his decline. But Ronny still carried the message of the song. That message: “do it all while you can.”
Following Ronny’s passing Bob wanted to present this CD at Ronny’s memorial concert held at Saint Peter’s Church in the sanctuary where Ronny had hosted Mid-Day Jazz for more than a decade. Bob needed five more songs for the CD and asked performers Dane Vannatter and Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano to record those remaining numbers, and he and Ronny had previously recorded several numbers, and they chose excellent singers and pianists to arrange and record them. A track-by-track review of the CD follows.
Track 1: Super-talented Nicolas King opens this collection with the first version of “Live, Love & Laugh.” His singing shows real maturity, and he seems very comfortable in his skin as an interpreter. He swings and scats with interesting lines that are clean and on pitch. I find something in his voice reminiscent of Chet Baker. His group, headed by jazz pianist Daryl Kojak, sets a good groove that blends perfectly with his vocals.
Track 2: “It’s Time for Love” features the velvety side of Ronny’s vocal sound backed by his duo partner of many years, bassist Boots Maleson along with sensitive Brazilian-influenced drumming by Mauricio de Souza. The arrangement has a very up Brazilian feel that I was very comfortable dancing along to.
Track 3 “If I Let You Go” offers a stunning arrangement sing by Dane Vannatter, a singer who was new to me but won’t be any longer. I trusted his musicianship from the start. Vannatter lives in Ohio but has won numerous NYC awards, including a Bistro Award for Outstanding Vocalist. He appears on Bob Levy’s 2024 MAC Award winner for Best Album Ever Since We Met and was a co-winner as well. He is featured on four tracks of this CD backed by the fine pianists Daniel May, Doug Hammer, and Joe Leaman. Like Ronny, Dane presents the lyric with a relaxed phrasing that makes you feel you are being sung to personally.
Track 4: “Before I Met You” is performed by the talented dynamic duo of Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano. This vocal team with Comstock at the piano always puts their original stamp on a song without altering its intention. Whether they are singing fun, perky numbers or serious ballads, their mutual love for the music and their warmth and intelligence always shines through and makes you happy to be listening. This songs seems a little awkward, but they’re so creative and experienced that they were able to smooth it out and harmonize in this unusual jazz waltz. When they sing they make me smile.
Track 5: “Don’t Come Back to Me” is a solo by Ronny on piano and vocals. This is the way I first heard him perform, and he’s smooth as a glove. This was probably recorded at home; at least the piano sounds that way.
Track 6: “Tell Her Now” is performed by Benny Benack III, a guy who literally scares me with the immensity of his talent as a singer and instrumentalist and his vibrant and appealing personality. Benack is also a unique scat singer, here joined by his swinging pianist Doug Hammer. I think this is one of my favorite pieces on the CD. Benack simply nailed this trenchant lyric and gave it a heart-rendering warmth and a steely resolve.
Tracks 7, 9, and 10 again feature the talented interpreter, Dane Vannatter. Track 7, “She Just Needs You” is well recorded and cute, but I found it a little bit dated (she doesn’t want a fancy sports car, she prefers a bicycle that’s built for two); but it’s also clever and funny all the same. Track 9 “We’re in the Groove Today” is a hard-swinging, bluesy number that I would love to learn. This performance presents the song perfectly; it’s a good song to improvise on as well. On Track 10 “Every Time When I’m With You,” Vannatter, similar to Ronny in his performance style, is intimate and very conversational. The trio (especially the pianist) frames him well. This is a good number for a cabaret show; singers should consider trying it out.
Track 8: “Can We Love Tonight” features Ronny on vocals and piano.
Track 11 “Perfectly Frank” is sung by Ronny and was composed in memory of singer Frank Torren. This is a touching tribute to a great showman and a great guy. I am not sure how it could be changed to fit any other occasion, or whether it should be.
Track 12: A second version of “It’s Time for Love” was recorded live by another fine singer, Eric Leuthauser, in Berlin in 2020. He’s backed by pianist, Wolfgang Kohler. Leuthauser, a fine and experienced singer, had originally included this song on a tribute recording of Ronny’s original songs. I want to hear that CD too! His version here is slower with a more pop-sounding arrangement (he reminds me slightly of Johnny Mathis in certain phrases). The song turns jazzy with Wolfgang’s jazzy/bluesy solo. But the vocal and mood would fit with “smooth jazz” and could use a sexy tenor and a bass.
Track 13: “Live, Love & Laugh” is the last recording made Ronny made. As mentioned previously, his decline in health can be heard here as compared with tracks he recorded earlier, and there is some sound distortion in the piano part. This lyric offers us advice about how to live life, we whether choose to see the glass as half-empty glass rather than enjoying the wine that’s there to be drunk. Ronny knew how to enjoy the fullness of a glass half full and the wine as well! He lived life fully!
Track 14 “What Do I Do Now” is the only song on this collection that has both music and lyrics by Bob. Ronny performs it with talented Steve Doyle on bass and George Farrell on drums, all experienced and contributive musicians. It’s a touching song (Bob wrote it after the death of his mother) that lays out the simple realities of facing the loss of someone you have loved. Bob’s love and respect for Ronny make this tribute number the perfect ending to their collaborative CD.
If I had one critical comment it would be about ‘listener preparation.” Because the CD had to be finished quickly since Bob wanted it available at Ronny’s memorial, the tracks had not been recorded at the same time or in the same place. Therefore, the acoustics and the instrumental sound vary somewhat from track to track. This is not unusual for original music recordings. But that shift in sound quality doesn’t take away from the purpose of presenting new repertoire performed by good singers and musicians or the chance to hear Ronny perform his own material.
I feel that most of the songs on Live, Love & Laugh are worthy of being added to the Great American Songbook. Bob Levy, who also produced this CD, dedicated it to Ronny.
