Pianist-singer Billy Stritch has been a presence on the New York and national nightclub scene for nearly four decades. He began his career in Houston, Texas, where he formed the vocal trio Montgomery, Plant and Stritch. The trio performed all over New York and Europe from 1983 until they disbanded in 1990. A chance meeting with Liza Minnelli in March of 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 as accompanist and opening act for Liza, Billy recently toured with the legendary Tony Bennett as Tony’s pianist and musical director. A solo entertainer in his own right, he has performed his own shows in concert halls and nightclubs across the country. He also hosted and curated tributes to Mel Tormé, Peggy Lee and Cy Coleman for 92Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists series.
Billy serves as music director for such leading vocalists as Linda Eder, Christine Ebersole, Melissa Manchester, Linda Lavin and Melissa Errico with whom he won Best Swing/Big Band Show by the readers of BroadwayWorld. The website also recently named him Outstanding Musical Director for the fifth time and his 2022 birthday show at New York’s famed Birdland Jazz Club was named Outstanding Vocal Jazz Engagement of the year. He is the co-writer of the chart topping Grammy-winning song “Does He Love You” recorded by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis. Lightning struck twice for this song as a new version was released in 2021 by Reba and the legendary Dolly Parton. When Billy is not on the road, he is the pianist for Jim Caruso’s Cast Party open mic night every Monday at New York’s legendary Birdland Jazz Club and he and Jim hold forth on selected Sunday nights at Bemelmans’ Bar in Manhattan’s fabled Carlyle Hotel. During Covid, he created his own weekly Facebook live-stream show
“Billy’s Place”, a series of 65 weekly episodes celebrating the Great American Songbook with songs and stories from his varied career. Billy has recorded five solo CDs and his latest CD release “Billy’s Place” (Club44 Records) is a collection of his favorite songs from these online concerts. Follow Billy on Instagram @billystritch.
