A VERY GOOD YEAR

Someone should carve a statue
to this delightful performer

If the world of cabaret ever got around to having someone carve its own equivalent of Mount Rushmore, the smiling face of singer Jeff Harnar might well be one of the heads in stone. After all, he’s carved out quite a long career and has been a consistent presence for years, not only in New York City, but in places far flung. Yes, he’s a regular, and comes off as a regular guy, down to earth despite the stage polish, stage presence, and stage knowhow, somehow. On June 8, he returned to Birdland on West 44th Street with The 1959 Broadway Songbook, where Stage and Cinema had caught him in recent times dedicating his sets to songwriters like Cy Coleman and Cole Porter.

On September 9 and 16, he revisited his shows from the first chapters of his career in a set called, appropriately, Blame It on My Youth, in Manhattan at Don’t Tell Mama on West 46th Street, the cabaret club and piano bar where supportive, cabaret-nurturing Sidney Myer has long reigned as impresario. Singing a clever original lyric, Mr. Harnar participated in a loving American Popular Song Society tribute to that man who’d likely be another face on the eventual Mount Rushmore. (Meanwhile, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Cutting Room, a week after the 1959 show at Birdland.) And the ever-busy crooner is an in-demand, award-winning director of other people’s cabaret acts these days, too.

A youthful “boy next door” charm still comes across, despite the reality of decades passing. He’s quite open about his age, having named one of his signature song programs after his birth year and making it a fun-filled survey of material that was playing on Broadway at the time. The 1959 Broadway Songbook is a bountiful collection, with so much memorable music that, rather than leave out some of the hits and disappoint, there are several medleys to stuff more delicious items into the banquet. Since some mega-hits that opened in earlier calendar years were still running in ’59, the act’s title allows for the inclusion of material from musicals such as My Fair Lady, West Side Story, and The Music Man, as well as those that opened in 1959, like Gypsy and The Sound of Music. First presented and recorded many moons ago, merry Mr. Harnar trots it out every now and then. It was as fresh as ever at Birdland, the show packed with songs playing to a packed house.

Rewardingly, the repertoire is not rigidly restricted to the most famous songs from the most famous shows that even those casually acquainted with Broadway would recognize and can hum. Included are the lecherous invite to “Have Some Madeira, M’Dear” heard in the revue At the Drop of a Hat and the elegant “I Wish It So” from Juno. Irreverent humor shows up in “I Don’t Think I’ll End It All Today” from Jamaica. These contrasting numbers, in fact, illustrate the range of the Harnar characterizations beyond his trademark ebullient, bright renditions of cheery tunes and tender sincerity of endearing balladeering. The connective talk blends songs serving similar character types and plot functions from different shows into a one-size-fits-all scenario that could be the formula for one (arche)typical musical, resulting in a series of mash-ups. His delight is contagious, but his fondness for the formulas is not overly devotional; there’s a wink to understanding the needed shortcuts to present love at first sight and marriage in musicals.

As usual, his indispensable music director Alex Rybeck was at the keyboard, playing arrangements the two men concocted and singing along on several pieces, to fine effect. (Especially effective was their interaction playing characters of a shady politician and a judge on “A Little Tin Box” from Fiorello!) Joining them instrumentally were two other ace players often seen and heard in this nightclub: bassist Tom Hubbard and drummer Dan Gross.

There is no shortage of possible material from Broadway, but the program cleverly evokes memories of that year by pausing midway for nostalgia via sentimental non-theatre pop song hits one would have heard on the radio at the time. This section is called “Intermission.”

Every autumn, you can bet your bottom dollar (and other valuables) that the genial Jeff will be part of the annual Cabaret Convention concerts, typically co-hosting one night, as well as singing on a bill with others. The three-night series at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater opens on October 13, and the theme that evening is a tribute to the chanteuse whose name is given to the presenting organization, The Mabel Mercer Foundation. Meanwhile, perhaps someone can recommend a sculptor who works in stone or mountainsides to rush immediately to work on that cabaret Mount Rushmore.

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The 1959 Broadway Songbook
Jeff Harnar
Birdland, 315 W. 44th St. in New York City
performed June 8, 2026
for future performances, visit Jeff Harnar

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Jaff Harnar Sings Cole Porter in Palm Springs