Eric Comstock

Eric Comstock

Birdland, NYC, March 4, 2017

Reviewed by Peter Haas for Cabaret Scenes

Lovers of elegant jazz piano and vocalizing have long saved and savored their early Saturday evenings flocking to Birdland. The attraction: the one and only Barbara Carroll. Now that she has passed, so has the torch—and it burns brightly and warmly at the hands of the pianist, singer and very knowledgeable Eric Comstock.

With Sean Smith backing on bass, Comstock, clearly enjoying himself, performed a generous program of  19 songbook favorites, to continuing audience smiles and applause. On tap were classics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (“How Can You Forget?,” “This Can’t Be Love” and the perky “Mountain Greenery”); a taste of the Gershwins (“Who Cares?”), and Lane and Lerner (“Too Late Now”). A hint of Sinatra was Comstock’s performance of “All the Way” (Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn), while the audience was given a trip to Latin America (by way of Tin Pan Alley) through such numbers as “You Don’t Have to Know the Language,” (Van Heusen and Johnny Burke),  “Manhã de Carnaval” (Luiz Bonfá and Antônio Maria) and “Living on Dreams” (Antonio Carlos Jobim and Susannah McCorkle). Smith came center stage with a bass solo of his own work, “Homemade Japanese Folk Song.”

Eric’s schedule for appearing in this new series at Birdland is still in formation. It will be most worth your while to keep checking—and attending.

Tags: Alan Jay Lerner, All the Way, American Songbook, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Antônio Maria, Barbara Carroll, Birdland, Broadway Musicals, Burton Lane, Cabaret, Cabaret Reviews, Cabaret Scenes, CD, Clubs, Composers, Eric Comstock, George Gershwin, Gershwins, Great American Songbook, Homemade Japanese Folk Song, How Can You Forget?, Ira Gershwin, Jazz, Jazz Singers, Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke, Lane and Lerner, Latin America, Living on Dreams, Lorenz Hart, Luiz Bonfá, lyricists, Manhã de Carnaval, Mountain Greenery, Musicals, Musicians, Nightclubs, NYC, Peter Haas, Popular Song, Revues, Richard Rodgers, Rodgers & Hart, Sammy Cahn, Sean Smith, Show Tunes, Sinatra, Singers, Songbook, Standards, Supper Clubs, Susannah McCorkle, This Can't Be Love, Tin Pan Alley, Too Late Now, Venues, Vocalists, Who Cares, You Don’t Have to Know the Language

Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews, Regional