I love so much of their work, it's so hard to choose. Here's some right off the top of my head:
How Lucky Can You Get - Funny Lady Don't Tell Mama - Cabaret Class - Chicago Colored Lights & Chief Cook and Bottle Washer - The Rink Coffee in a Cardboard Cup - 70, Girls, 70 You Know Me - cut from The Visit In the Same Boat - Curtains Arthur in the Afternoon - The Act Two Little Words - Steel Pier Where You Are & Dear One - Kiss of the Spider Woman
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
I've fallen in love of late with THE HAPPY TIME. All of the songs are beautiful and several are funny while remaining in character. Robert Goulet is at his best and a teenage Michael Rupert shows the promise that he later fulfilled. I've read THE SEASON and I understand why the show didn't work, but the songs are among K&E's best, IMO.
As for picking a handful of favorites from the entire Kander & Ebb canon, I couldn't possibly...
The Visit is absolutely gorgeous. The music is exquisite, classy, and romantic. It took a while to get to Broadway but it matured like a fine wine along the way. It's impossible to choose a favorite song.
Cabaret will always be a favorite. While the original is great, the show really came together in the 1998 revival. They were able to combine the best parts of all of the previous productions and the film. My favorite song is What Would You Do?.
The Scottsboro Boys is incredibly disturbing but phenomenal at the same time. It's just a brilliant show that, like The Visit, deserves more recognition. My favorite song is Go Back Home.
Ironically, perhaps my favorite Kander ballad is Kander-without-Ebb: I Miss The Music from Curtains. Not only a gorgeous song in itself, its lyrics were written by Kander after Ebb's death and express the loss of the character's writing partner.
What's the matter, doesn't anyone remember that beauty of a song?