Photos: Jacob Khalil 'Most Requested' at the Birdland Theater NYC

Singer/Songwriter/Pianist Jacob Khalil made his Birdland Theater debut on Sunday March 20th, 2022 with his show "Most Requested".
The show was a clever set list mixing styles & genres from the American Songbook, Jazz, Pop, and several outstanding original songs penned by Khalil.
Starting with an unexpected and beautifully performed "Misty" - the show moved through a procession of songs Jacob has found to be the "most requested" in his nightclub and piano bar career.
In less proficient hands this mixing of styles might be tricky... but not with Jacob. The show flowed seamlessly through songs and styles. Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" was well matched to Mr. Khalil's soothing jazzy piano/pop singer vibe. The sold out audience continually cheered his vocal stylings and even sang a along to a rousing version of "Hey Jude".
His pacing of the show keeps the crowd "leaning in" and looking forward to the next number and when his trio launches into "That's Life" you can feel the lift in the room's energy and the smiles on people's face.

The standouts of the evening may, indeed, have been the songs written by Jacob Khalil. His writing and arrangements were so consistently creative it could make one think his original tunes were already a part of the American song-scape. It makes it tricky to know if the songs "Come A Little Closer" or "Flame" might be the pop song hits or if (Coldplay's) "Yellow" was from Khalil's pen!
Jacob's original tune "The Good Life" is such a bop, you'd think it would already be in heavy rotation on the radio.

Mr. Khalil was joined by musicians Corentin Le Hir (Bass), Donovan Taylor (Drums), with a guest appearance on two numbers by Bobby Spellman (Flugelhorn).

He rounded out the evening's songs by bringing a quintet of singers onstage to provide background vocal sweeteners to the last 10 minutes.
Singers were Jacob Aviner, Denise Nalibotsky, Angela Grey, Angie Pastor, and Victoria Hardy.

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