Video: Billy Stritch Sings Tony Bennett at 54 Below for Centennial Tribute
Watch clips from the cabaret show, featuring stories from Stritch's time touring with Bennett.
Four performance clips from 54 Below capture pianist and singer Billy Stritch marking what would have been Tony Bennett's 100th birthday with an evening built around songs and stories from the year Stritch spent playing piano at Bennett's side. The venue posted the videos from a set billed as both Billy Stritch SINGS Tony Bennett and Billy Stritch CELEBRATES Tony Bennett'S 100TH BIRTHDAY, with Stritch recalling the arc of that collaboration, from a first gig in West Virginia to a final show in San Francisco.
The first video finds Stritch blending two Bennett standards into a single performance, mashing up "All For You" with "For Once in My Life." It's a pairing that lets him move between the romantic and the buoyant sides of Bennett's songbook in one continuous arrangement, underscoring the range Stritch draws on throughout the tribute.
A second clip steps outside the Bennett catalog proper, with Stritch performing "The Trolley Song" from Meet Me in St. Louis, a nod to the standards repertoire that overlapped with Bennett's own influences and interpretations. The next two videos return squarely to Bennett's own hits: one captures Stritch singing "I Wanna Be Around," and another has him performing "The Good Life," both delivered with the same blend of musicianship and personal recollection that runs through the full program. And finally, a full
Throughout the clips, Stritch frames the songs with memories from his time as Bennett's pianist, describing the stretch of shows as "a wild, unforgettable ride" full of "surprises, great music, and nights playing for packed houses of devoted fans." That firsthand vantage point, more than a decade at the keyboard beside Bennett, gives the four performances their throughline, turning a birthday tribute into a musician's personal remembrance of the man himself.
The tribute joins a busy run of programming at the Manhattan supper club, which has recently featured its own mix of Broadway and cabaret bookings, including the previously reported lineup of shows featuring Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp.
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