Gabrielle Stravelli and Billy Stritch.
Gabrielle Stravelli and Billy Stritch will be making their first appearance together at the RRazz Room New Hope in “Down For Double” on Feb. 17 at 8 p.m.
The pair met at Jim Caruso’s Cast Party at Birdland Jazz Club in New York City in 2012, and have since collaborated on two shows at the 92nd Street Y, headlined a concert with the Santa Rosa Symphony, and spent many spontaneous Monday evenings making music together in the “jazz capital of the world.”
For “Down for Double,” Stravelli and Stritch have mined the Great American Songbook for beloved classics like “I Wish I Were in Love Again” and “Goody Goody,” and lots of lesser-known gems. The show features the pair’s seamless vocal blend, tight harmonies, scat singing and playful banter, say promoters.
Stravelli has garnered critical acclaim and a loyal following through her original songs and unique take on material from the new American songbook as well as classic standards. Most recently, Gabrielle toured Pakistan and Azerbaijan as a United States Department of State “Jazz Ambassador,” in addition to touring the U.S. promoting her new album, “Dream Ago,” which has gotten some great press.
She headlined the 2016 Eleuthera Jazz Festival, a four-country U.S. State Department-sponsored international tour in the American Music Abroad Program, and premiered Rooms of Light, a new song cycle by renowned jazz pianist Fred Hersch. Stravelli has toured the U.S. with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, performing Wynton Marsalis’s “Abyssinian: A Gospel Celebration,” and has been featured in 92Y’s “Lyrics and Lyricists Series,” at the Caramoor Festival with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops.
Billy Stritch is one of the premier singer-pianists on the New York and national jazz/cabaret scenes. He began his career in Houston, where he formed the vocal trio Montgomery, Plant and Stritch. The group performed throughout New York and Europe from 1983 until they disbanded in 1990. A chance meeting with Liza Minnelli in March 1991 resulted in her asking him to create vocal arrangements for the record-breaking extravaganza “Liza Stepping Out at Radio City Music Hall.”
In addition to his 25-year collaboration with Liza, Stritch has served as musical director for Marilyn Maye, Christine and Linda Lavin, and recently completed a year on the road as pianist for the legendary Tony Bennett. A solo entertainer in his own right, he has performed his own shows (including tributes to Mel Tormé and Cy Coleman). When he’s not on the road, Stritch is the pianist for Jim Caruso’s Cast Party open mic variety show every Monday at Birdland, and he and Caruso hold forth on Sunday nights at Bemelmans Bar in Manhattan’s fabled Carlyle Hotel.
Upcoming shows at the RRazz Room at the Clarion Hotel in New Hope include:
Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. – Emmy Award-winning comedian Judy Gold
Saturday, March 10 at 8 p.m. – An evening with two-time Tony nominee and American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis
Saturday, March 17 at 8 p.m. – Emmy Award-winning personality Carson Kressley and Billboard Magazine’s Dance Music Artist of the Decade Kristine W. in “Stand Up With A Twist”
Saturday, March 24 at 8 p.m. – MAC Lifetime Achievement Award winner Sharon McKnight in “Gone, But Not Forgotten,” saluting the late legendary ladies of song
RRazz Room at the Clarion Inn & Suites is located at 6426 Lower York Road in New Hope.
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