Bobby Short was not only a New York institution, who played a residency at the chic Cafe Carlyle for over 35 years, but one of the most beloved cabaret singers. The singer/pianist began recording in the 1950s, championing the Great American Songbook in an era when the old standards were being displaced by the arrival of rock & roll. For decades thereafter, Short steadfastly represented the Tin Pan Alley musical tradition, holding court from behind his piano at the Carlyle in an urbane but effervescent manner until his death in 2005.