Eric Yves Garcia Plays Classics at Laurie Beechman Theater Eric Yves Garcia playing at the Laurie Beechman Theater in Clinton. Eric Yves Garcia, a Manhattan piano bar entertainer who toiled in semi-oblivion at Chez Josephine until his recent appearances at the New York Cabaret Convention, belongs to the school of jazz-leaning connoisseurs of the American Songbook epitomized by the irreplaceable Bobby Short. If Mr. Garcia's sprightly appearance at the Laurie Beechman Theater on Monday evening says anything about the frustrations of turning out semi-anonymous background music in a restaurant, it might be that inside many a piano bar musician beats the heart of an aspiring concert entertainer, waiting for his moment. For Mr. Garcia, who was accompanied by Ritt Henn on bass and Tony Romano on guitar, is more than an agreeably polished musician and singer knowledgeable about pop-jazz esoterica. In the show, "One Night Standards," he revealed himself to be amusing storyteller with the timing of a standup comedian. His tales of absurd encounters with fans are funny, self-deflating reflections on the entertainer's lot. In his self-presentation, he is a mouthier, less debonair echo of Eric Comstock, who is a decade his senior. But unlike Mr. Comstock, Mr. Short and Steve Ross, Mr. Garcia doesn't maintain a suave distance from his material. The strongest musical moment in his show was the most introspective: Alec Wilder's desolate final song, "A Long Night," written for Frank Sinatra, with lyrics by Loonis McGlohon and paired with Rod McKuen's "Lonesome Cities." Another Sinatra song, "Hey Look, No Crying," took on an intense personal resonance when Mr. Garcia said that hearing it on a car radio helped him to let go and move on after a shattering breakup. Another high point was a soft, slow bossa nova rendition of Richard Rodgers's "The Sweetest Sounds." As rough-edged as the show became at moments, the fundamentals were all in place. Mr. Garcia is scheduled to perform on Feb. 1, March 1 and April 5 at the Laurie Beechman Theater at the West Bank Cafe, 407 West 42nd Street, Clinton; 212-695-6909, westbankcafe.com.