And Once Again, the Stylings of Irving Fields "That's his fountain of youth right there: the martini," one patron squealed the other night at Nino's Tuscany on West 58th Street. She was pointing to a brimming two-olive vodka martini resting on the grand piano being played by Irving Fields. Mr. Fields is 96 and has been playing piano in New York City since the 1920s. For the past eight years, he has been holding forth at Nino's, an upscale Italian restaurant that prides itself on its dry-aged steaks displayed right next to the piano. As for the martini, a nightly staple, Mr. Fields admitted that it was as good an explanation as any for his longevity. "Don't forget the ice cream sundae I have every night before bed," he said, while dusting off a Latinized medley of tunes from "Fiddler on the Roof." He has never let his playing get in the way of his talking. "The real secret is that I love what I do, and the piano is my best friend," said Mr. Fields, who was dressed as dapper as ever, in a velvet blazer and stylish tie, as he table-hopped and chatted with customers and took requests. His wife, Ruth, 82, was also working the room. As for other hints to his endurance, Mr. Fields has produced a flier, a stack of which sit on the piano, with his "Secrets to Longevity," a list of aphorisms on topics ranging from health - "Eat four hours before bedtime (You'll digest better) - to financial - "Never make a decision intoxicated." He did not seem a day older than when I first met him in 2004. I had been walking past the East River Cafe on First Avenue and 61st Street and, through the window, I saw an elderly, well-dressed man playing an old upright with a tip jar next to his nameplate: "At the Piano: Irving Fields." Something seemed strange about this distinguished-looking man playing next to a pay phone, and being ignored by most patrons. Right about this time, he was hired at Nino's, where he has been playing ever since. "I'm big on authenticity, and you can hear the influence of the "30s and "40s and "50s in his playing," said Vail Barrett, 61, who Mr. Fields introduced as a grandson of James Grover McDonald, who served as the first United States ambassador to Israel. He's lived through all the musical eras and styles. Plus, he's always had the ability to play and charm his listeners at the same time, and it's that charm that keeps you coming back. Mr. Fields said the six-nights-a-week Nino's gig was perfect for him, because it is a two-minute walk from the apartment on Central Park South where he has lived for 50 years. Also, his career has been buoyed by a resurgence in interest in the traditional American songbook, he said. "I get so many young people coming in saying they love Sinatra and they're requesting the classics," he said. Indeed, on this particular night, two young women were hovering around the piano. One, Deborah Lindenau, 21, was photographing Mr. Fields for a blog, Whatnowdeb.com, she writes about nightlife. The other, a Cheryl Balestra, 32, got up with Mr. Fields to sing "Summertime" and then "The Nearness of You." Mr. Fields was born Yitzhak Schwartz in 1915 and grew up in Brooklyn as the youngest of six children. He was studying piano by 1923, and by 1933 was playing on cruise ships. By the 1940s, he said, he was playing the biggest hotel lounges, piano rooms and supper clubs in New York City. In the 1950s he was a fixture at the Mermaid Room, and he also played the Copacabana, the Latin Quarter, the El Morocco and the St. Moritz. He was the regular pianist in the Oak Room at the Plaza from 1982 to 1990. Mr. Fields remembers Ava Gardner dancing barefoot to his Latin songs, and Edward G. Robinson requesting Viennese waltzes. He was a pioneer of the supper-club-trio format and made more than 80 albums, with an eclectic style that seemed to combine the Catskills, Manhattan, Miami and Havana. Mr. Fields found a niche with his Latinization of various ethnic styles of music. It began with a quirky hybrid of Latin-Jewish tunes that led to such albums as "Bagels and Bongos" and "More Bagels and Bongos," which helped usher in the Yiddish mambo craze. There were songs like "Managua Nicaragua," "Miami Beach Rhumba" and "Miami Beach Rhumba," which became a hit for the Latin bandleader Xavier Cugat. He moved on to other genres, including Italian numbers ("Pizzas and Bongos"), French tunes ("Champagne and Bongos") and Hawaiian songs ("Bikinis and Bongos"). Nino Selimaj, the owner of Nino's, said of Mr. Fields, "As long as his fingers perform, he will be playing here." "He's one of a kind," Mr. Selimaj added. At 10:30 at night, when most people his age would be in bed, he's going from table to table taking requests. I think it keeps him going.