Content area
Full Text
Bobby Short, who entertained Manhattan's cafe society for more than half a century, died yesterday in New York Presbyterian Hospital of leukemia. Short, a venerable institution who preferred to describe himself as a "saloon singer," celebrated his 80th birthday last fall and on New Year's Eve closed out his 36th year at Manhattan's tony Carlyle Hotel.
At engagements every spring and autumn, Short presided at the keyboard in the Cafe Carlyle. Elegantly attired - he said he went through three or four tuxedos a year - he accompanied himself in a barreling style as he croakily embraced the songs of Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Duke Ellington and others that met his qualifications.
He joked in a Newsday interview that his repertory was increasingly governed by audiences' expectations. "If I don't sing certain things, people don't believe they've seen Bobby Short," he said. In turn, he maintained that the songs influenced his signature style: "In addressing a Cole Porter song, one...