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| What's Coming Up at Birdland: Jazz Programming April 18 - May 1 April 18 (Monday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater Denis Reis Quartet A proponent of Brazilian music the world over, Denise Reis possesses a beautiful spirit and a warm, soothing voice that make her original songs, as well as her renditions of both MPB (musica popular brasileira) and blues classics, a healing experience. Honored to have been invited to compose and present a song live and in person to His Holiness Dalai Lama, Reis seeks to tap into the "universal language" of music, and resists defining her sound with labels; in light of this expansive openness that characterizes her songs, she has brought her soulful voice to stages across the world, including Portugal, Ukraine, Senegal, Venezuela, Israel, Canada, Slovenia, France, Germany, and the United States. In New York City, she has performed at Birdland, City Winery, Joe's Pub, and other distinguished venues. Her albums—Chá de Hortelã com Caviar and Alfândega—showcase her touching sound, which includes a unique and stirring use of the "mouth trumpet": Reis can seem just with her lips to be playing a brass horn. Sure to be a special night at Birdland Theater. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 19-23 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (4/19-21); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (4/22-23) – Birdland Jazz Club Cyrille Aimée International singing sensation Cyrille Aimée possesses a spritely, joyous presence and an astounding vocal technique. Her daring, witty performances have taken her from street corners in Europe to the Apollo Theater to 1st place at both the Montreux and Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competitions. After co-starring with Bernadette Peters in a Sondheim tribute at New York's City Center, Aimée took a deeper dive into Sondheim's work, which led to 2019's Move On: A Sondheim Adventure (Mack Avenue) and a GRAMMY nomination for her rendition of his "Marry Me A Little." Cyrille has certainly become a "rising star in the galaxy of jazz singers, " as The New York Times put it; and at Birdland, where she has performed regularly for many years, she is sure to bring audiences into faraway lands and back again. $40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 20 (Wednesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band Inspired by the noble jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and their colleagues, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band breathes life and passion into America's own great art form. Now in its 18th year of residency at Birdland, the weekly post-workday engagement is the city's best musical bargain! Tuba player David Ostwald leads a rotating lineup that features talents such as clarinetist Anat Cohen, trombonist/vocalist Wycliffe Gordon, pianist Ehud Asherie, drummer Marion Felder and more! $30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 20 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater / Livestream Event Frank Vignola's Guitar Night It's the best jazz guitar lover's show in the world. Frank Vignola's virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world's top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Les Paul, the Boston and New York Pops, and more. Every Wednesday @ 8:30pm in the Birdland Theater, Frank leads "Frank Vignola's Guitar Night at Birdland." Inspired by journeyman jazz guitarist John Pisano's now famous Los Angeles Guitar Night, "The Frank Vignola/Jimmy Bruno Quartet" featuring bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Vince Cherico, will perform tunes from the Standards repertoire + special guests: John DiMartino (4/6), Aaron Weinstein (4/13), Olli Soikkeli (4/20, Dave Stryker* (4/27), Martin Taylor (5/4). *The last Wednesday of the month is "Solo Guitar Night, " a Round-Robin of unaccompanied solo, duo, and trio guitar performances. $30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 21 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater Donald Vega Trio Nicaraguan-born, Los Angeles-raised, and New York-based Donald Vega is a shining star of jazz piano. Mentored by drumming legend Billy Higgins, taught by piano great Kenny Barron, and regularly employed by bassist extraordinaire Ron Carter, Vega has lived inside the inner circle jazz family for most of his life, and his live concerts and recordings prove as much: Vega's writing, improvisation, and ensemble playing converse joyfully with the history of jazz. On recording, he has teamed up with drum and bass icons Lewis Nash and Christian McBride for Spiritual Nature (Resonance, 2012) and again with Nash for With Respect to Monty (Resonance, 2015), joined by Monty Alexander bassist Hassan Shakur. Vega teaches at The Juilliard School and tours regularly around the globe with the foremost names in jazz. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 22 (Friday) 5:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club The Birdland Big Band Every Friday, and for two headlining weeks a year, the "BBB" roars into action playing a thrilling and original mix of jazz, funk, Brazilian, Latin and world music for sold-out audiences. Featured weekly guest artists drop in from television bands (David Letterman, Saturday Night Live) and pop music touring bands (Rob Thomas, Rod Stewart). Come see for yourself why Time Out New York called the BBB "A completely unique experience… there isn't another band like this anywhere, " and why yelp.com proclaims, "If you hear one band in NYC make sure this is it… and prepare to be blown away!" $30 + $20 food/drink minimum April 22-24 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater Wycliffe Gordon and His International All-Stars Widely regarded as one of the foremost voices on trombone in the world today, the great Wycliffe Gordon brings His International All-Stars to Birdland for a weekend of good old New Orleans fun. The band recorded its debut in 2016, entitled I Give You Love, with pianist Ehud Asherie born in Israel; bassist Yasushi Nakamura born in Japan; clarinetist and vocalist Adrian Cunningham born in Australia; and Wycliffe as well as drummer Alvin Atkinson from the United States. The trombonist leader has been presented with some of the jazz's highest distinctions: the 2019 Sonny Award from Suncoast Jazz; the 2018 "Louie Award" by the Louis Armstrong House Museum; the 2017 International Trombone Association Award; the 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014 ASCAP Plus Awards for his composing; Downbeat Magazine's "Best Trombone" Award in 2020, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2013 and 2012; and the Jazz Journalists Association "Trombonist of the Year" Award a whopping 14 times. His signature artistry is a combination of impossible technique, jubilant swagger, and soul-drenched expression. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 24 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Sunday Special! Ashley Pezzotti with the Birdland Big Band Ashley Pezzotti possesses an elegant, rich tone startlingly reminiscent of the singers from jazz's golden age. Her voice has been featured on Wynton Marsalis's The Ever Fonky Lowdown (2020). As Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra's trumpeter Marcus Printup remarked, "Ashley Pezzotti is a 'singer's singer'" who can "deliver timeless melodies" and whose improvisations allow her to "hold her own with any horn player." She joins the renowned Birdland Big Band for a Sunday night performance of original compositions inspired by American songbook classics. The "BBB" is one of New York's most exhilarating large ensembles, effortlessly running through a jaw-dropping range of styles, from jazz and funk to Latin, Brazilian, and other world musics. Yelp.com proclaims, "if you hear one band in NYC make sure this is it… and prepare to be blown away!" $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 24 (Sunday) 8:30 & 10:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Pianist, composer and educator Arturo O’Farrill—leader of the “first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz” (The New York Times)—leads the GRAMMY® award winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), who bring together the drama of big band jazz, the culture of Latin music, and the virtuosity of eighteen of the world’s most accomplished solo musicians. Twelve years of critically-acclaimed performances internationally have firmly established the ALJO as the standard-bearer for creative interpretation of Latin jazz greats such as Tito Puente, Frank “Machito” Grillo, and Chico O’Farrill, as well as the driving force behind new commissions from Latin music’s most talented composers and arrangers. $30 + $20 food/drink minimum April 26-30 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (4/26-28); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (4/29-30) – Birdland Jazz Club Jane Monheit $40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum With a robust, sultry tone and an uplifting stage presence, Jane Monheit has become a household name among contemporary jazz fans over the last 15 years, who have come to identify her with the living tradition of swinging vocalists. Performing standards from the Great American Songbook in a way that is both all her own and yet deeply dedicated to the great achievements of the master singers, Monheit has been the vocalist of choice on recordings by the great Terence Blanchard (Let’s Get Lost), Tom Harrell (Wise Children), Harold Mabern (Afro Blue), David Benoit (Two in Love and Believe) and others. As a leader, she has released 13 full-length albums; and for this engagement at Birdland Jazz Club, she celebrates the release of her new album on Club44 records, Come What May (2021). As her first recording in five years, Come What May sees Monheit at her peak: sharpened by years on the road, and yet calm, since pandemic touring schedules have allowed her to stay more frequently inside, nourished by the closeness to her loved ones. Performing with her long-time group that features her husband, Rick Montalbano, on drums as well as Michael Kanan on piano and Miles Okazaki on guitar, Monheit will bring this new record to life for Birdland audiences. April 27 (Wednesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band Inspired by the noble jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and their colleagues, David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band breathes life and passion into America’s own great art form. Now in its 18th year of residency at Birdland, the weekly post-workday engagement is the city’s best musical bargain! Tuba player David Ostwald leads a rotating lineup that features talents such as clarinetist Anat Cohen, trombonist/vocalist Wycliffe Gordon, pianist Ehud Asherie, drummer Marion Felder and more! $30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 27 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater / Livestream Event Frank Vignola’s Guitar Night It’s the best jazz guitar lover’s show in the world. Frank Vignola’s virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world’s top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Les Paul, the Boston and New York Pops, and more. Every Wednesday @ 8:30pm in the Birdland Theater, Frank leads “Frank Vignola’s Guitar Night at Birdland.” Inspired by journeyman jazz guitarist John Pisano’s now famous Los Angeles Guitar Night, “The Frank Vignola/Jimmy Bruno Quartet” featuring bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Vince Cherico, will perform tunes from the Standards repertoire + special guests: John DiMartino (4/6), Aaron Weinstein (4/13), Olli Soikkeli (4/20, Dave Stryker* (4/27), Martin Taylor (5/4). *The last Wednesday of the month is “Solo Guitar Night, ” a Round-Robin of unaccompanied solo, duo, and trio guitar performances. $30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 28 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater Daniel Glass Trio Drummer, historian, author, and world-class showman Daniel Glass first came to public prominence after his long-time band, The Royal Crown Revue, rocked audiences the world over in the infamous swing dance from Jim Carrey’s The Mask. Glass has become synonymous with the swing dance revival that has animated thousands across the globe. His work, however, is broad in nature: he performs, of course, with Jim Caruso’s Cast Party every Monday night at Birdland; he has performed as a sideman with Bette Midler, Freddie Cole, KISS’s Gene Simmons, James Brown, the B52s, and Marilyn Maye (the list really goes on and on); he was twice voted one of the top 5 R&B drummers in the world in both Modern Drummer and DRUM! magazine polls; and he has published 5 books and 3 DVDs, making him one of the most sought-after drumming educators in the world. Daniel’s love for and vast experience in jazz music led him to establish jazz workshops which he has hosted since 2016 in New York City, lasting 4 days and drawing students from across continents; and in 2021, his Daniel Glass European Jazz Intensive launched in Frankfurt, Germany while his school DrummingInMotion.com launched online. Glass brings a jazz trio to Birdland Theater; he is sure to rouse audiences with his spectacular playing. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 29 (Friday) 5:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club The Birdland Big Band Every Friday, and for two headlining weeks a year, the “BBB” roars into action playing a thrilling and original mix of jazz, funk, Brazilian, Latin and world music for sold-out audiences. Featured weekly guest artists drop in from television bands (David Letterman, Saturday Night Live) and pop music touring bands (Rob Thomas, Rod Stewart). Come see for yourself why Time Out New York called the BBB “A completely unique experience… there isn’t another band like this anywhere, ” and why yelp.com proclaims, “If you hear one band in NYC make sure this is it… and prepare to be blown away!” $30 + $20 food/drink minimum April 29-May 1 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra One of the most peculiar, eye-popping, truly virtuosic, uncompromisingly glorious, absolutely renegade figures in contemporary jazz, Steven Bernstein is a musician among musicians. The chosen arranger for Robert Altman and Woody Allen films, or for collaborations between U2 and Sun Ra’s Arkestra; the trumpeter for saxophone legend Sam Rivers, rocker Courtney Love, superstar Lou Reed, and the queen herself, Aretha Franklin; and the leader of the infamous Sex Mob, which performs pan-stylistic work with the swagger of Louis Armstrong and Count Basie; whichever one he’s being at the moment, Bernstein is always proving that he is one of music’s truest heirs to the showman tradition of Cab Calloway, Jimmy Lunceford, Duke Ellington, Lester Bowie, and Sun Ra. His Millennial Territory Orchestra takes on the great works of Prince, Stevie Wonder, and the Beatles, as well as those of early jazz by the likes of Don Redman and Bennie Moten. Comprised of a stellar cast, this is a band unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Get ready: Steven Bernstein is coming to party. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum May 1 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Meg Okura Pan Asian Jazz Ensemble Founded by a Tokyo-native jazz composer and violinist Meg Okura in 2006, the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble brings a “distinctive transcendental musical identity” (New York City Jazz Record) through Okura’s unique jazz compositions. Okura uses her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble to negotiate her conflicting identities: a Japanese immigrant Jew by choice in a Black family and a violinist in jazz. The group has performed at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., K.L. Jazz Festival in Malaysia, and in hometown at Winter Jazz Fest in New York City, Blue Note, Knitting Factory, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz At Lincoln Center. And it is now making a debut at the historic Birdland Jazz Club. $30 + $20 food/drink minimum May 1 (Sunday) 8:30 & 10:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Pianist, composer and educator Arturo O’Farrill—leader of the “first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz” (The New York Times)—leads the GRAMMY® award winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), who bring together the drama of big band jazz, the culture of Latin music, and the virtuosity of eighteen of the world’s most accomplished solo musicians. Twelve years of critically-acclaimed performances internationally have firmly established the ALJO as the standard-bearer for creative interpretation of Latin jazz greats such as Tito Puente, Frank “Machito” Grillo, and Chico O’Farrill, as well as the driving force behind new commissions from Latin music’s most talented composers and arrangers. $30 + $20 food/drink minimum write your comments about the article :: © 2022 Jazz News :: home page |