Born in New Rochelle, New York, Ross grew up in Washington, DC, where music filled the household, particularly through his mother’s piano playing. He later took up the instrument himself and, after Georgetown University, a period in a seminary, and service in the US Army, had developed into a skilled pianist whose material came from the Great American Songbook rather than current pop songs. During the early 1970s he moved to New York City and quickly gained recognition in its cabaret circles. Initially providing piano support, he accepted club owners’ encouragement to perform vocally and eventually pursued formal vocal training. His emerging personal approach helped extend his standing, leading Ted Hook, proprietor of the midtown piano bar Backstage, to engage him. That partnership proved so effective that in 1979 Hook launched Onstage specifically to feature Ross. In 1981 he took up a residency in the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, contributing significantly to its lasting appeal among performers and patrons alike. At various spots he accompanied visiting stars such as Liza Minnelli and Ginger Rogers. He toured Australia in 1986, with one performance captured at Don Burrows’ Supper Club, and revisited the country in the late 1990s. Festival appearances have included Perth, Spoleto, and Hong Kong, while additional engagements have taken him to London’s Ritz Hotel and Pizza On The Park. In 1989 he presented a live cabaret series on BBC Television and later hosted the National Public Radio program New York Cabaret Nights.
Ross sustained both his audience and his artistic level through the 1990s and into the early 2000s. During the winter of 1996/7 he joined the cast of a Noël Coward revival, Present Laughter, at the Walter Kerr Theatre; the production, headlined by Frank Langella, completed 175 performances. In the winter of 2003/4 he introduced the cabaret program My Manhattan at the Stanhope Park Hyatt Hotel, an elegant survey of the city’s century-long story told through song. His selections encompass songwriters from earlier and more recent eras, among them George Gershwin, Cole Porter—whose catalog holds particular appeal for him—Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, and Stephen Sondheim. He collaborated with stride pianist Judy Carmichael on Style Meets Stride, a program centered on the music of Porter and Fats Waller. Delivering songs in a light baritone while accompanying himself with spirited piano work, Ross has for years been known, deservedly though unofficially, as the Crown Prince of New York Cabaret.
