Larry Kinley always gets a big laugh with this one: “I'm going to sing the unofficial anthem of senior citizens all over the country.”

        He then breaks into “Don't Get Around Much Anymore” and about 40 residents in the common room at Cottingham Retirement Community give him the laugh he was going for.

Larry Kinley performs at Cottingham Retirement Community in Sharonville. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        Meanwhile, fingers are snapping, toes tapping, hands clapping and knees bouncing, limbering up joints that, well, probably don't get around much anymore.

        Mr. Kinley sees this all the time and it does his heart good. Twice a week, 50 weeks a year, he and his combo visit local nursing homes and do a free hour concert for the residents. They've been doing it for 18 months.

        Music, as we all know, is the great communicator, he tells his audience.

        On this particular Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Kinley, a 59-year-old divorced East Sider and father of four who has been singing in Cincinnati nightclubs since 1962, is bounding into the audience, holding hands with 82-year-old Louise Miles while singing “Embraceable You.”

        Now he's bantering with a World War II vet, dedicating “P.S. I Love You” to him and all the others who lived through the war.

        Now he's on one knee, singing “Hello Dolly” in response to another request.

        Now he's leading them in a sing-along on “Amazing Grace,” jokingly inducting them into the Cottingham Adult Choir.

        What he's doing here is a nightclub act without the cocktail waitress.

        “I've been in enough club settings, that's for sure,” he says later. “Eight and a half years at the Omni, 10 years at the Harley (Hotel), 11 years at Dee Felice. I've been blessed because I've been gainfully employed all my life. For a musician to be able to say that, it's truly a blessing.”

        Remember, God loves you, and so do we.

        Right now, his main gig is 9 p.m.-1 a.m. every Friday and Saturday in Mount Adams at the Celestial's bar.

        “I sing these afternoons because it's needed. That sums up the whole thing in two words: It's needed. There are 136 retirement homes in the area and they have next to no budget for entertainment. For somebody to come in and do this, it's like one of the audience said recently, "You've given me back my youth'.”

        Mr. Kinley's budget for the shows isn't unlimited, but it's adequate thanks to underwriting by Robert C. Rhein Interest Inc. and Provident Bank. Their money covers expenses and pays the musicians — Wayne Yeager on keyboard, Kenny Poole on guitar, Bret Wamsley on drums — making it a good deal all the way around: Seniors get a free concert and musicians make a few bucks at 2 in the afternoon when there's no club work out there.

        “Mr. Rhein puts his money where his mouth is. He funded the whole first year of this. Provident jumped on board at the start of the second year. I'd like to personally thank them both on behalf of the senior citizens who benefit from these weekly concerts.

        “I can't say enough good about Mr. Rhein and the generosity that makes this possible. Although I think it's impossible to put a dollar value on something like this.”

        Here's how we show our love for you — with music.

        “I really do love older people. Growing up in Cincinnati with a loving grandmother and devoted parents, I learned love and respect for people. And it's the older people who can really teach you how to properly treat other people.

        “Plus it makes them feel good. So many people don't have visitors on a regular basis. People leave their rooms, come to the concert, then go back to their rooms. But I know they're feeling good when they go back, even if their family hasn't visited in a while.”

        One of the things Mr. Kinley does to crank up that feel-good atmosphere is to sing songs from the residents' era. “Nothing newer than 1950,” he promises, as he breaks into the likes of “What A Wonderful World,” “Sunny Side of the Street” and “Always.”

        “You know what really amazes me? They always knows the words. Even in Alzheimer's units, people who have forgotten their children's names remember the words and start singing. That tells me something about the music's power.”

        Music truly does open doors that have been too long closed.

        Mr. Kinley knows plenty about that power. Besides his gig at the Celestial and his retirement home afternoons, he also sings two masses every Sunday at Good Shepherd Catholic Church.

        “For the last 15 years, I've worked Friday and Saturday nights, then gotten up early to sing at church because people expect it. I know how music can move them.

        “The odd thing about it is there's one crowd out there who knows me for "Ave! Maria' and another that knows me for (Duke) Ellington.”

        It's Ellington and his ilk Mr. Kinley is selling — and yeah, he does know how to sell a song — at Cottingham, bouncing effortlessly from up tempo to ballads for an hour.

        He's in an up tempo mode when he makes a discovery: Peeking into the hall during “Don't Get Around Much Anymore,” he spots a couple dancing. “Dancing! Isn't that wonderful?” he asks, traveling the room, bending down to kiss ladies.

        “Come to mama,” one of them says when he gets within grabbing distance. And he does, right before “Sentimental Journey.”

        “I always make a promise when I begin that song,” he says. “I promise them that this song's going to take them back to a special time in their youth.

        “If I can actually do that, well, that's enough.”

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