So, I've Heard... Something Classy, Something Holiday-ish

Does live music sound sweeter with the New York City air full of friendly holiday cheer? Well, it certainly seems that way. I've been checking out some shows that celebrate the season or celebrate something else worth toasting.

So, I've heard... the following:

Well worth celebrating – for anyone – is reaching the age of 80 and being hale and hearty. In the case of a favorite performer with a long and notable career, having the person still in fine form and able to captivate an audience is the icing on the birthday cake. And so, a classy night at Birdland on West 44 Street honoring jazz artist Andy Bey was memorable and full of informed memories as we were treated to renditions of songs he recorded over the years and bio bits. That was done by a bevy of top-drawer admirers. They included Janis Siegel making "Midnight Sun" shine with a rich, nuanced treatment and Catherine Russell who, like Mr. Bey, is more than justified to lyrically declare "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" (and then can do so with sizzle). Relatives anchored/hosted the event, which included recreations of the very early material recorded as Andy & The Bey Sisters. The apple doesn't fall too far from the family tree with Darius de Haas, who has his own night at the club December 17, following in his uncle's musical footsteps (among others).

Anticipation built for the entrance of the man himself, who did not come on stage until the end, but it was the hottest kind of warm-up act you could imagine. When Andy Bey came up to devotional applause, it was immediately evident that time and age were irrelevant except to be an extra reason for admiration. Scatting and digging into blues, he had the audience in his thrall. The best came at the very end as a demanded encore: replacing the pianist, he played and sang a luxuriously slow, focused, and hypnotic version of the Gershwins' immortal gem, "Someone to Watch Over Me." When he got to the self-deprecating line, "Although I may not be the man some/ Girls think of as handsome..." someone called out, "You ARE handsome!" and that was just one more indication of the loving fan base that came to the packed room where it was also packed with emotion.

Lorna Dallas also had a night at the venue in December, in the newer downstairs Birdland Theater. What was she celebrating? Well, it didn't come off as self-aggrandizing at all, but her act called "Stages" celebrated celebrity, self-awareness, her career, her life, and her perspective. It's a follow-up to her 2017 return to cabaret after a very long absence. Ever the poised and elegant lady, everything was approached with taste, intelligence, crispness, and control. Old-school formality can be refreshing and the trained legit soprano voice and vibrato are especially effective in the more "high art" grander numbers or those needing true grace, like "I Wish It So," "My Dearest Dear," and "Stranger in Paradise." But, some let-down-your-hair moments allowed spunk or wryness to come through in this recital smoothly directed by Barry Kleinbort whose impressive song (with music by Joseph Thalken) "Was," was a major highlight. (He also added some lyrics to a couple of gems by old masters.) Christopher Denny as pianist/musical director is a fondly fortuitous match, as his nuanced playing, while never showy, is a pleasure and brings added vulnerability and flair as required. While the patter sometimes felt too obviously scripted, the information shared was interesting, especially the tale of why she turned down the plum role in a major Rodgers & Hammerstein show's revival. She had her reasons. But there's no good reason to turn down a chance to bask in the glow that is Dallas and Denny – divine!

Ann Kittredge celebrated movies and songs she heard (and loved) on the silver screen, sometimes first seen on the home screen of her family TV while growing up. The singer, resplendent in a terrific bright red dress, brought the sound of the soundtrack to the restaurant/cabaret stage at The Beach Cafe on the Upper East Side. With Alex Rybeck reliably presiding at the piano to shape musical moods, she picked a wide variety of material, representing almost every decade since the movies found sound. Some selections were not specifically written for films, but, at least in the singer's mind and memory, were more than sufficiently tied to them. While there's something to be said about recycling and rebranding, with the hundreds of possibilities created for the medium, it seemed like a distracting and unnecessary stretch – at least for the purist.

And it did seem odd to make a big deal about Ginger Rogers as a film performer and then do a song she introduced on Broadway that was given to others in films, then nothing from her iconic co-starring roles with Fred Astaire, whose potential songbook was untouched. But how can we at EDGE not give points to a singer who has our name as the last four letters of hers? Miss Kittredge has no noticeable edge, however, but rather a friendly manner and solid voice that can be bright and big (maybe sometimes too big in sound and presentational style for the intimate room with an attentive audience). While ingratiating, and with evident vocal skills, she somehow didn't always seem fully comfortable in inhabiting lyrics organically. With the very famous choices, like "As Time Goes By" and those in the torch song set, looser and more personalized phrasing or musical settings that could stray from the beaten path would help. "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" was slowed down so that the joke lines felt belabored. A thoughtful "Lost Horizon," from the movie musical of the same name, was rewardingly and convincingly explored, showing the songstress/actress at her best. Judy Garland-associated material was over-represented, knocking out other possible candidates, although I suspect the encore of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" would not be in the movie mix in other months. Stocking stuffer packets of actual popcorn with oil cutely "popped up" as parting gifts for one and all.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" closes another December show, this one thoroughly holiday-specific. Kati Neiheisel, newish to the cabaret scene, is a major fan of Christmas music and, even if she didn't say so, I have a feeling that you'd get that feeling with "That Holiday Feeling," her act that left me feeling---well, merry. Sentiment is not sent away, but things never get anywhere near as sticky as icky melted candy canes. You believe her joy when she breezes her way through any of her three Irving Berlin songs (No, not "White Christmas"), she is loving and warm ("I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"), or grateful to the max ("Plenty to Be Grateful For"), or looking forward with optimism ("Let's Start the New Year Right"). The repertoire is an eclectic mix, including things as old as carols and as recent as a few years ago ("To Be Together" by Amy Grant and Chris Eaton). With a 1970s classic, "Merry Christmas, Darling," capable Kati, with her versatile musical tool-kit, saw her path to carve a special way through Carpenters territory, nailing the essence without hammering us over the head with the absence that makes the heart grow fonder. She respects the original blueprint but is no phone-it-in clone. Her voice impresses as the show proceeds and deepens (and it's her deep tones and strong ending sustained ones that are especially "note"-worthy). Working with bassist Skip Ward and drummer David Silliman, musical director/pianist/arranger Gregory Toroian – a true Christmas song connoisseur/collector/appreciator – creates fond settings that allow all kinds of genres to sparkle, from "Silver Bells" (which rings true) to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Me" (Ron Miller/ William O'Malley), a Motown bauble. Singer friends Linda Jackson and Janice McCune add their vocals for texture and harmony and each gets a solo spot, too. Directed with style and spirit by Geoff Stoner, this Christmas banquet returned to Don't Tell Mama on Saturday, December 14.

Benny Benack III & Steven Feifke's Big Band barreled into Birdland with their brash take on the holidays. Singer-trumpet player-songwriter Benack and his arranger pal arranged for their own cramming of creation (five solid consecutive days) to whip up – and then record – a handful of holiday happiness and hilarity, high-energy style with a swing and presented their rollicking results. The confident, playful Benack and Feifke traded quips and compliments as BFF co-hosts. It's always fun to hear something not so tried and true or truly overdone at holiday time. The sly "My Girlfriend Is an Elf" brings forth a Christmas dilemma experience heretofore unimagined. Feifke requested a nod to Chanukah and so we got the hippest (or most Vegas) version of the old "Dreidel Song" that you can (or can't) imagine, with Frank Sinatra's swagger as a role model. On trifles or classics, the big – not an exaggeration! – band is terrific. The proceedings were enhanced with two guests: appealing-voiced singer Alita Moses for seasonal duet partnership and an any-season Broadway classic to solo for "On the Street Where You Live," and, at the end, dad Benny Benack II and his clarinet. That showed that talent runs in the family. When Benack is wailing and strutting and Feifke's band is blasting, it's a good and groovy, jazzy, snazzy affair.

It was neither Santa's naughty-or-nice list nor a Christmas shopping list including a partridge, turtle doves, French hens, or calling birds that the show called Holiday Musical Magic was about as its raison d'etre. It was its guest list. A bevy of cabaret entertainers shared the stage at the Laurie Beechman Theatre to enjoy a Yuletide ride with a touch of gay pride, some reverence, twirling lessons, and even a hippopotamus. Charming the audience was Hannah Jane Peterson, 19, first appeared as a peppy elf, and it was she who later sang charmingly of hoping for a hippo in the novelty number "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," with an animal-resembling prop, clad in her pajamas. How that hippopotamus got in her pajamas I'll never know. (Old joke courtesy of Groucho Marx.) She also accompanied herself on guitar with a song she wrote herself and that won her a prize. Another original self-accompanied piece (this time on piano) came courtesy of Bryon Sommers, bringing appreciative sighs for his sincere creation. Other able keyboarding came from John M. Cook and Jim Harder, who joined partner Tim Cahill for a teasing taunt via Christmas mega-medley from hell if you are one of those who hates the ultra-cute, bubbly holiday novelty songs (I confess to liking a lot of 'em). Natalie Douglas, like Santa Claus, reliably delivered sumptuous gifts – hers the musical kind, including "It Wasn't His Child," the touching tale of the birth of Jesus, focused on Joseph instead of Mary. Renee Katz's holiday choice came from the score of the animated "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," the tender ballad "Winter Was Warm." Host Eugene Ebner chatted with and lavished praise on his fellow performers, gave what seems to be his trademark treatise on the pleasures of twirling, and shared "The Prayer" with the "wow"-worthy operatically-inclined Sean Patrick Murtagh. (Originally announced headliner Alice Ripley did not appear; she'd been cast in a production of the musical "Baby," which is about anticipation of less holy births than the one celebrated on December 25.)

As the song asks, "Do you hear what I hear?" I mean, there's more holiday music all over town up to and even after the centerpiece day. Check out the offerings at the venues mentioned above as well as The Green Room 42, The Duplex, Feinstein's/54 Below, and other hot spots for fa-la-la-la-la festivities. And, if you overdose on Christmas songs, or the Yule stuff just isn't your cup of egg nog, there are plenty of other offerings at such places. Or, so I've heard.