By Kati Neiheisel***Friends of Ronny Whyte gathered at Saint Peter’s Church on Lexington Avenue to honor his life through music. The Jazz Memorial for Ronny Whyte: All About Ronny/The Party Upstairs. Produced by Ben 
Cassara and Boots Maleson, in collaboration with Jazz Foundation of America and Saint Peter’s Church, Cassara set the evening’s mood by announcing, “Let’s celebrate because Ronny loved to celebrate!”
Ronald “Ronny” Whyte,” born Ronald Gene Bangerter on May 12, 1937 in Seattle, Washington, passed on August 19, 2025 in Fredon Township, New Jersey. Throughout his 88 years, Whyte touched many lives with music, including through his role as producer and host of Saint Peter’s Midday Jazz concert series. Equally at home in the jazz and cabaret worlds, Whyte was well known for his sophisticated interpretations of the Great American Songbook.
Ari Silverstein headed the program with stories of Whyte’s early days and his move to New York in the 1960s, where he would eventually performed in every supper club and piano bar in the city, including the St. Regis Room, Bemelmans Bar, Café Carlyle, the Conservatory in the Mayflower Hotel, Café Pierre, Jan Wallman’s, the Showplace and Danny’s Skylight Room. Said Silverstein, “Today 
we celebrate Ronny as a remarkable pianist, singer, composer, lyricist, accompanist, producer, cook, gardener, Francophile, teller of awful jokes and as a good friend. Everyone in this sanctuary could go on for hours with stories all about Ronny, best told in a toast.” We also learned that internationally, Whyte also performed in jazz festivals and made appearances with symphony orchestras with his arrangement of Porgy & Bess. Among those to record his songs were Tony Bennett, Mark Murphy, and Marlene VerPlanck.
Performance-wise, Stephanie Nakasian, accompanied by pianist Russ Kassoff, appropriately opened with “All About Ronnie” (Joe Greene). Pianist-singer Eric Comstock, with bassist Maleson and drummer Ray Marchica performed Whyte’s original song “Listen to the Piano Man.” Pianist Bill Mays with bassist Dean Johnson performed “I Remember You” (Victor Schertzinger, Johnny Mercer). Mary Foster Conklin sang “It’s Nice Weather for Ducks,” followed by pianist-singer Kathleen Landis with “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most,” both songs with lyrics by Fran Landesman and music by Tommy Wolf. Pianist-singer Alex Leonard with Maleson and drummer Mike Campenni performed “Throw Me a Word” (Whyte, Roger Schore).
Schore, for a moment, put the focus on 
Whyte’s husband, Jack Burns, “because he was left out of Ronny’s obituary in The New York Times. That was a regrettable omission as they were together for 37 years, loving, traveling, supporting each other. Another serious omission was Travis Hudson, Ronny’s professional partner from the late 60s through most of the 70s.” Schore addedd: “I was lucky enough to be one of Ronny’s writing partners, but there are others. Frank Grant and Bob Levy have the gift of finding words in perfect harmony with Ronny’s music. And we can’t leave out Francesca Blumenthal, who with Ronny wrote the 2006 MAC Award-winning song, ‘The Party Upstairs,’ as well as the song with the memorable title ‘If He Were Straight and I Were Young.’ Ronny wrote his own lyrics, but he also wrote with John Bunch, one of Tony Bennett’s long-term accompanists, and J. Billy VerPlanck, a great arranger and friend. Ronny made everything he did look easy, and he never gave anything less than his best.”
Another pianist-singer, Rich Siegel, sang the ASCAP Award-winning “Forget the Woman” (Ettore Stratta, Whyte), recorded by Tony Bennett. In a two-bass performance, Johnson and Maleson played “Bass Ale” (Whyte). Hilary Kole sang 
“I’ve Got the World on a String” (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) in an arrangement from Our Sinatra, and Jane Scheckter sang “But Beautiful” (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke). Erli Perez sang “I Love the Way You Dance” (Whyte, Frank Grant), and in a nod to Mabel Mercer’s influence on Whyte, KT Sullivan sang “Isn’t He Adorable” (Cy Coleman, Joseph A. McCarthy Jr).
Mark Walter, son of pianist Cy Walter, spoke of Ronny as part of his family. “He was fond of saying he met me when I was a small child, at a time when my family’s apartment was visited by people like Alec Wilder, Mabel Mercer and Ethel Merman. I feel honored, blessed and grateful for all the wonderful times I spent with Ronny.” Featuring trumpeter Ron Horton, Amy London performed “Bohemia After Dark,” originally an instrumental by Oscar Pettiford to which Whyte set lyrics. London added an additional vocalese chorus.
Pianist-singer Daryl Sherman performed her original “Thanks to You,” then “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own” (Whyte, Jack Burns). Kassoff, Johnson and Marchica performed “Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby” (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn) and pianist-singer. Nancy Winston offered “Always Christmas in New York” (Whyte, Schore). Tyler 
Bassett, Manager of Programs and Communications at Saint Peter’s Church, himself a pianist-singer, delivered “Nobody Else But Me” (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II), and with guitarist Sean Harkness, Libby York sang “Still on the Road” (Earl Brown and Bill Mumy). Closing the tribute, with saxophonist Harry Allen, Cassara performed “The Party Upstairs,” and then offering: “I know Ronny is smiling and so happy we’re all here. He was a gift to all of us.”
In addition to the evening’s performers and speakers, those in attendance included Karen Akers, Nancy Barell, Sharon Brand, Arnoldo Caballero Y Cespedes, Warren Chiasson, Francesca “Cha Cha” Miana, Jack Di Monte, Barbara Fasano, Will Friedwald, Sherry Eaker, Adrian Galante, Frank Grant, Ken Greves, Melissa Hamilton, Val Hawk, Richard Holbrook, Lindsey Holloway, Karl Kimmel, Kay Andreas Kostopoulos, Joe Lang, Quinn Lemley, Jay Leonhart, Jack Lewin, Bob Levy, Karen Mack, Yukimi Maeda, Cindy Miller, Joel Mindel, Susan Mindel, Beth Naji, Andrew Poretz, Alex Rybeck, Harvie S, Saundra Silliman, Claudia Stack, Ken Starrett, David Stern, Frank Tate, Gregory Toroian, Teri Wade, Janis Wilkins, Andrea Wolper, and many more friends and admirers.
Photos by Janis Wilkins
