Billy Stritch

Billy Stritch, born February 12, 1962, in Houston, Texas, is an American composer, arranger, vocalist, and jazz pianist. He grew up in Sugar Land, Texas, where he attended Dulles High School, graduating in 1979. The school's music program introduced him to jazz, and by his early years he was already playing in the school's jazz band. His first encounter with big band music came when he was eight or nine years old. At the University of Houston, Stritch performed with a jazz vocal trio that went on to play festivals for nine years before eventually disbanding, after which he relocated to New York City.

Around 1980, while Marilyn Maye was performing at a Houston club, Stritch met the singer, beginning a long professional relationship in which he has served as her frequent accompanist and music director. His debut album, the self-styled jazz LP Billy Stritch, was released in 1992. Two years later, Stritch and collaborator Sandy Knox received a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration for "Does He Love You," a song the two had originally written in 1982 during their trio years. The recording, made by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis, reached number one on country charts in both the United States and Canada. Stritch was also nominated for the Grammy for Best Song that year, losing to Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Passionate Kisses." The song later appeared in a 1996 duet version by Liza Minnelli and Donna Summer on Minnelli's album Gently, and in 1997 on Patti LaBelle's album Flame.

Stritch's association with Liza Minnelli spanned 23 years, beginning in March 1991 when the two met while he was playing piano in Manhattan. On the night they met, he performed musical themes from films directed by her father, Vincente Minnelli, and the connection was immediate. He went on to arrange music for her show at Radio City Music Hall and opened her act on a national U.S. tour. In 1999, he arranged the music for Minnelli's Broadway one-woman show Minnelli on Minnelli: Live at the Palace. He also performed with Minnelli in the 2008 Broadway production Liza's at the Palace, for which he co-wrote, with Brian Lane Green, "I Would Never Leave You," a Johnny Rodgers song produced by Phil Ramone. In 2009, the two performed together at the grand re-opening of the Guildhall in Easthampton, Long Island.

Stritch's Broadway career includes two productions between 2001 and 2002. He appeared in the 2001 revival of 42nd Street, playing the role of Oscar, and also starred in Something Gay. During the run of 42nd Street, he first met actress Christine Ebersole, a professional relationship that later extended to recordings, including the albums In Your Dreams (2005) and Sunday in New York (2008). Also in 2001, Stritch released his third major recording, Jazz Live, on Sin-Drome Records.

In March 2003, Stritch performed in a concert of Amanda Green's original revue Put a Little Love in Your Mouth! at off-Broadway's Second Stage Theater, alongside Jessica Molaskey and Mario Cantone. That same year, he began providing piano accompaniment on most Monday nights for "Cast Party," an open mic event hosted by his longtime friend Jim Caruso at Birdland, the Manhattan jazz club. In 2013, Stritch and Caruso joined together for a cabaret show at Bemelmans Bar, and in 2015 the two toured the United States and Canada with their show The Sinatra Century.

In 2006, Stritch developed a tribute show dedicated to his idol, Mel Tormé, which opened at New York's Metropolitan Club and subsequently toured nationally from 2007 through at least 2013. That same Christmas, he performed at the Iridium in New York alongside guest performers including Minnelli, Lainie Kazan, Ann Hampton Callaway, and Sally Mayes. His recording Dreaming of a Song: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael, made with Klea Blackhurst, was released in October 2008. Stritch has also performed frequently with Linda Lavin, including national tours in 2017 and 2018, and headlined the 2016 Provincetown Jazz Festival on Cape Cod.

In 2014, Stritch returned to Sugar Land, Texas, where the Sugar Land Auditorium was renamed the Billy Stritch Stage in his honor. In 2019, he performed with Marilyn Maye at the Cotuit Center for the Arts in Cotuit, Massachusetts. His discography includes Billy Stritch (1992), Waters of March: The Brazilian Album (1997), Billy Stritch Sings Mel Tormè (2012), Christmas at Birdland with Jim Caruso and Klea Blackhurst (2019), Billy's Place (2020), and The Sunday Set: Recorded Live at The Birdland Theatre with Jim Caruso (2022). He also contributed as a guest artist on Benny Carter's Benny Carter Songbook (1996) and Benny Carter Songbook Volume II (1997), and co-authored The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook with Scott Schechter, published by Citadel in 2004.