By Marilyn Lester***It’s hard to believe that 2022 marks the 13th annual A Swinging Birdland Christmas (where does time go?), but it’s not so hard to believe that Klea 
Blackhurst, Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch just keep building the show better and better. With cohorts Steve Doyle on bass and Daniel Glass on drums, the crew put on a show that was a fantastic and fabulous treat. Could Santa have done better? Probably not. The trio offered a beautifully curated, eclectic set of great tunes and a bag full of thrilling arrangements by Stritch.
Swinging was the order of the day with an uptempo opener of “Christmas is Starting Now/It’s the Holiday Season” (Danny Jacob, Martin Olson, Dan Povenmire/Kay Thompson). Herein, besides being a boffo beginning, was a key to the fun to come. The former song is from the animated TV show special, “Ph
ineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation”—how esoteric is that!—and the latter was sung on “The Andy Williams Show,” Christmas edition. In fact, A Swinging Birdland Christmas was inspired by and begun when the trio of Blackhurst, Caruso and Stritch were thinking about TV variety shows of yore and the fabulous Christmas specials most of them presented each December.
What made A Swinging Birdland Christmas special itself is the synergy between the three singers (with Stritch, of course, at the piano). It’s more than having the template of the show down pat, it’s that each of the principals is so comforta
ble and in tune with the other two. What’s created is a familial atmosphere that translates to an all-embracing warmth and fuzziness—audience members can’t help but feel a very relaxed sense of happy contentment.
Blackhurst, Caruso and Stritch even bring a friend or two in for the fun. Sung solo by Stritch, “Manhattan in December” is by pal Ann Hampton Callaway, with lyric by Lindy Robbin. Touching was a tribute to Nat King Cole’s little brother, Freddy, who passed away in June 2020. Freddy Cole for years also had a Christmas run at Birdland. Two of his staples were sung: the jazzy, sweet “Jingles the Christmas Cat” (Ray Parker) and the lovely ballad “Old Days, Old Times and Old Friends” (Ray Parker), sung 
by Stritch. And some years before her death in 1998, Caruso and Stritch became friends with the wildly talented Kay Thompson—author, singer, vocal arranger, vocal coach, composer, musician, dancer, actress and choreographer. It was her swinging arrangement of “Jingle Bells” that “ended” the show. Of course there was an encore—of more “Jingle Bells” in a small multitude of arrangements.
Comedy was on hand with, among other numbers, “He’s Stuck in the Chimney Again,” written by Cy Coleman and Floyd Huddleston, but never recorded. “Mr. Santa,” with lyric by Pat Ballard, sung to the tune of Ballard’s “Mr. Sandman,” was great fun, with riffs of Afro-Cuban rhythms included in the jazzy arrangement. Back in the friends department, pal and crooner Todd Murray’s own composition of “I’m Gettin’ Into the 
Swing of Christmas” included vocal contributions from Doyle and Glass. But then… the two sidemen had a song of their own to sing. What a surprise and a highlight! Stepping forward with his bass and into the spotlight, Doyle sang and played solo Burl Ives-esque “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (Johnny Marks). He was joined by Glass, who forward with sticks, drummed on the bass as Doyle continued to play the number.
The riches of A Swinging Birdland Christmas were many. And as we were politely and convincingly reminded, there’s more! An eponymous CD (Club 44 Records), in original and deluxe editions, is available on streaming platforms and where CDs are sold.
A Swinging Birdland Christmas started its run on December December 20 and ends on December 25 at Birdland Jazz Club, 315 West 44th St., New York, NY
Photos by Kevin Alvey
