“Mel Tormé at 100”: Celebration with Billy Stritch & Nicolas King

One more performance at 54 Below – September 14, 2025

By Alix Cohen

Billy Stritch and Nicolas King swing like the rest of us breathe- naturally, as if informed by DNA. Clearly a mutual admiration society, the artists bring polish and prowess to a show of songs favored by one of their idols, Mel Tormé. Stritch additionally sketches the celebrant’s background. Rhythm, harmony, and gusto rule.

A tandem “Just One of Those Things” (Cole Porter) and “On Green Dolphin Street” (Bronislaw Kaper/Ned Washington) opens the evening with King’s scat provoked by Jakubu Griffin’s terrific percussion. Stritch’s vocal and crisp piano swagger.

“Born to Be Blue” (Mel Tormé/Robert Wells) is “extremely sophisticated to have been penned by a couple of 19 year-olds” (Stritch) It emerges like savored Jameson (whiskey), smooth and lush. The performer’s eyes crinkle and close. Piano leans towards jazz.
“A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” (Manning Sherwin/Eric Maschwitz) sways. Vocals are gauzy, meditative. Stritch looks up at the moon.

King’s brisk “Love for Sale” (Cole Porter) arrives insouciant. Bass acts as ballast; drums are fast, light, precise. The performer’s whole body is enlisted. He bends forward, then jumps back. Left hand curls as fingers rise and fall; right hand plays the microphone.
“Too Close for Comfort” (Jerry Bock/Larry Holofcener/George Weiss) is here, a ballad with bounce. King’s scat is round-edged. Rarely does one hear such a smorgasbord of scat styles.

Unexpected counterpoint of “Honeysuckle Rose” (Fats Waller/Andy Razaf) and “The Nearness of You” (Hoagy Carmichael/Ned Washington) begins “Two Tune Medley,” arranged and recorded by Tormé with Cleo Laine. The duet medley is, in fact, excerpts from 16 songs. Flow is seamless.

An anecdote about opening for the honoree (in Montgomery, Plant, and Stritch) precedes Tormé’s jaunty “Mountain Greenery.” (Richard Rodgers/ Lorenz Hart) Stritch admits he first heard the song “performed by Rob and Laura Petrie in their living room.” (The Dick Van Dyke Show.) “Zab a deep bop ba do bad ah,” he happily scats. “I’ve been singing that song since I was 17.”

One of King’s favorites “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II) wafts in unhurried. The vocalist palpably visualizes. It’s just lovely.

His former MD of 14 years, Mike Renzi, had also accompanied Tormé. The musician suggested King try Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields’s “Pick Yourself Up” from the film Swingtime. King plays both the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers roles. He insisted on learning original scat sound for sound, note for note. At the piano, classical overlay manifests. Chair dancing can be observed.

Also a long time collaborator with Tormé, Jay Leonhart recalls, “It was great fun, Marty’s was this little 120 seat room…” The consummate bassist describes walking out to praise on both sides until exiting into the restaurant- then, silence. “ He was brilliant. I miss him dearly.”

Stritch sighs into an evocative “When the World Was Young” (Philippe- Gérard/ Angèle Vanniet/Johnny Mercer. His silky ease is wistful. A Moon Medley concocted by the artists touches familiar bases with brio. “Lulu’s Back in Town”, one of Tormé’s signature numbers, closes the show with breezy sophistication. Musicianship is superb.

Mel Tormé, dubbed “The Velvet Fog” for his smooth, mellifluous voice, was a prodigious jazz vocalist, composer, arranger, songwriter, expert drummer and author whose career spanned nearly seven decades. Born in Chicago in 1925, he began performing professionally at age four, supporting his family during the Depression. The artist quickly became a fixture in radio, film, and big band music.

Performance Photos by Alix Cohen

Mel Tormé at 100: Celebration with Billy Stritch & Nicolas King
MD/Piano- Billy Stritch
Bass- Jay Leonhart; Drums- Jakubu Griffin
54 Below 254 West 54th Street https://54below.org/