|
contents | jazz | |||||||||||||
| Live at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater: April 2023 March 28 – April 1 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (3/28-30); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (3/31-4/1) – Birdland Jazz Club Eliane Elias With over 2.2 million albums sold to date, Eliane Elias' singular sound is one of the most unique and immediately recognizable in jazz. Elias blends her Brazilian roots and alluring voice with her instrumental jazz, classical and contemporary skills as a vocalist and pianist. The New York Times has described Elias' live concert as "a celebration of the vitality of a culture overflowing with life and natural beauty" and JAZZIZ has called her "a citizen of the world" and "an artist beyond category." Her most recent recording, MIRROR MIRROR (Candid, 2021) – a set of duets with Eliane and the late Chick Corea, and Eliane and Chucho Valdez – won the 2022 GRAMMY Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. With her trio of bass master Marc Johnson (Bill Evans Trio) and drummer Rafael Barata (Ivan Lins), plus special guests, she will deliver her trademark brilliance for Birdland audiences. $40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum March 31 – April 2 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater Emilie-Claire Barlow Album Release: Spark Bird A total performer, the Canadian-born Emilie-Claire Barlow is an award-winning vocalist hailing from a musical family. Barlow is the recipient of 7 Juno Award nominations, winning the Best Jazz Vocal award in 2013 and 2016 for her albums Seule ce soir and Clear Day, and Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2008 National Jazz Awards. Her work—a fusion of popular song, Barlow's smooth and sultry voice, and the alluring musical textures of Brazil and France—has received nearly 150 million streams on Spotify and nearly 170 million on Pandora. A long-time television actor, the brilliant Barlow has been on hundreds of TV show episodes, playing long-running characters on such beloved shows as Sailor Moon, Almost Naked Animals, Numb Chucks, and Fugget About It. She releases her 13th full-length album, Spark Bird, on March 31st, celebrating the recording's premiere and her NYC debut at the Birdland Theater. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 2 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Erica Seguine | Shon Baker Orchestra The astounding music of composers Erica Seguine and Shan Baker is immersive, daring, impressionistic, emotional, and cinematically precise. Highly praised by The New York Times for its "vast, multifaceted, semi-abstract" writing and by New York Music Daily for its "majestic sweep" and "clever outside-the-box humor, " this hard-hitting big band is a deadly serious new character in music. Co-leader Seguine has received the 2013 BMI Foundation Charlie Parker Prize for Jazz Composition/2014 Manny Albam Commission; three ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards; the 2014 ASCAP Foundation Johnny Mandel Prize; and a commission from New York Youth Symphony Jazz. Her compositions and arrangements have been performed by ensembles such as the Metropole Orchestra, the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, the Danish Radio Big Band, the Brilliant Corners Large Ensemble, the J-Orchestra. The group's forthcoming debut, The New Day Bends Light, will be released March 31, 2023, produced by renowned composer and bandleader Darcy James Argue, and the composers will celebrate at Birdland on April 2nd. Listeners should be careful not to miss out on this incredible work! $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 3 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Cashino with Susie Mosher and John Boswel "Cashino, " the long-running LA and NYC cult hit, stars Susie Mosher (Hairspray and host of Birdland's "The Lineup") and recording artist John Boswell as Pepper Cole and Johnny Niagra in a special concert version of the critically acclaimed multimedia musical show. "Cashino" began in the early 2000s with a series of short films about the lives of two legendary singers and their continuing struggle to become internet entrepreneurs. Since then, Johnny and Pepper have entertained audiences on both coasts with high energy, high strung and emotionally charged live sets. Known for seamlessly blending '80s pop/rock with classic show tunes, medleys include: "The Queen & I, " "Midler On the Roof, " "Chicago" and "The Prince & The Poppins." After 10 years of vocal rest, Johnny and Pepper are back and ready to rock your world! Pianist John Boswell has served as musical director for Judy Collins, Andy Williams, Bob Newhart, Faith Prince, Carmen Cusack, and more. John played the role of "Moose" in the national tour of Crazy for You and has appeared on "The Tonight Show, " "Today Show, " "General Hospital" and was the piano playing hands of Nancy McKeon on "The Facts of Life." Susie Mosher has been performing professionally since she was sixteen in the west coast premiere of Godspell. Nightclubs, theater, television and movies have been along her checkered path, including films "View from the Top, " "It's Pat, " and "The Wedding Planner." She has been seen on TV in "Beverly Hills 90210, " "The L Word, " and "Nurse Jackie." Susie played Prudy Pingleton in Hairspray for the last two years of its run on Broadway. $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 3 (Monday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater Nick Finzer Album Release Award winning composer, arranger, producer, educator and trombonist Nick Finzer is one of the most dynamic musicians of the millennial generation. Famed trombonist and mentor Wycliffe Gordon called Finzer "a new voice [in] the pantheon of upcoming trombone greats in the making." Finzer's resume boasts an impressive roster of jazz greats; recently, he appeared on the 2019 GRAMMY Nominated recording Triple Helix with Anat Cohen Tentet. Nick Finzer's last album, Cast of Characters, was released on his universally loved label Outside in Music featuring an accomplished cast of characters including tenor-saxophonist Lucas Pino, guitarist Alex Wintz, pianist Glenn Zaleski, bassist Dave Baron and drummer Jimmy Macbride. He celebrates his newest recording, Dreams, Visions, Illusions—due out April 14th—at this engagement at Birdland. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 4 (Tuesday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club The Anderson Brothers Play Gershwin "Virtuosos on clarinet and saxophone" (New York Times) Peter and Will Anderson present the life and music of George Gershwin, with an entertaining narrative and live sextet performance. One of the most striking geniuses of modern music, George Gershwin composed for Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, film, radio, and symphony orchestras, combining the sounds of jazz and European classical music. Selections will include "Rhapsody in Blue, " "I Got Rhythm, " "It Ain't Necessarily So, " "Summertime, " "They Can't Take That Away From Me, " "Embraceable You, " and "S'Wonderful." $40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 5 (Wednesday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Birdland Big Band Catch the Birdland Big Band on a special Wednesday night performance as the band roars into action playing a thrilling and original mix of jazz, funk, Brazilian, Latin and world music. The "BBB" performs weekly at Birdland on Friday nights and for two headlining weeks per year; 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!" This is a special performance not to be missed! $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 6-8 (Thursday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Rickie Lee Jones An exclusive 3 night NYC engagement with Rickie Lee Jones previewing her upcoming album, Pieces of Treasure, a reunion with her lifelong friend, legendary producer Russ Titelman, co-producer of Jones’ star-making debut and Pirates. Throughout her career, the Grammy-winning singer songwriter has interpreted an extraordinarily wide range of songs and has recorded celebrated jazz-leaning albums including Girl at Her Volcano and Pop Pop, but until now, she had never devoted an entire album to the American Songbook. Rickie Lee will be backed by Rob Mounsey on piano, guitarist Russell Malone, bassist Paul Nowinski and drummer Mark McLean. *Doors open at 5:30 for seating. Food service will pause during the performance and bar service will be available throughout the evening. LIVESTREAM performance available to view on Friday, April 7 at 7PM – stream passes available at www.fly.live/birdland $100/$75 tables / $50 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 6-9 (Thursday-Sunday) 8:30 PM (4/6); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (4/7-8) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (4/9) – Birdland Theater Marquis Hill Marquis Hill is one of our generation’s most important trumpeters, the artistic descendant of legendary musicians that pushed forward the jazz tradition: he holds the flame of Donald Byrd’s lyricism and stylistic breadth, Freddie Hubbard’s raw technical determination, Lee Morgan’s exuberance and wry linear craftsmanship, Louis Armstrong’s swinging power, and Miles Davis’s reserved mystique. Hill’s band, The Blacktet, is among the vanguard of contemporary groups, with its rotating cast of characters some of new black instrumental music’s most special voices: Jonathan Pinson, Braxton Cook, Joel Ross, Mike King, and others. Over the past few years, Hill has released a string of EPs centered on spiritual themes, including Meditation Tape, Love Tape, Love Tape with Voices, Soul Sign, and his new single “Black Alchemy/Hall of Mirrors.” This confident, mature, and sensitive artist’s four-night residency at Birdland is sure to offer audience members a thrilling, mind-expanding experience. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 9 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Yoko Miwa Trio Internationally acclaimed pianist/composer Yoko Miwa is one of the most powerful and compelling performers on the scene today. Her trio, with its remarkable telepathy and infectious energy, has brought audiences to their feet worldwide. Their latest CD, 2019’s Keep Talkin’, showcases Miwa’s fine playing and artful compositions and the trio’s uncanny musical camaraderie. DownBeat gave the recording four stars, calling it “a beautifully constructed album” and noting “the drive and lyricism of a pianist and composer at home in bebop, gospel, pop, and classical.” JazzTimes also reviewed the album favorably, praising Miwa’s “jaw-dropping degree of technique.” The album enjoyed seven weeks in the top 10 on Jazz Week’s charts, much like its predecessor, Miwa’s 2017 release Pathways, which also made Jazz Week’s top 10 for several weeks. In a 2017 feature article on Miwa, DownBeat noted her “impressive technique and a tuneful lyricism that combines an Oscar Peterson-ish hard swing with Bill Evans-like introspection.” $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 10 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Kenn Boisinger – “Plugged: The Birdlund Concert” Kenn Boisinger is the brainchild of musical comedian Michael West, known for his runs in “Forbidden Broadway, ” “NEWSical, ” and “When Pigs Fly.” Fresh from his much heralded, totally sold-out Christmas show at Birdland, Kenn now brings his indescribable style and inimitable voice to Birdland. Expect to hear Kenn’s unique take on classic jazz standards, as well as his new, jazz-infused versions of Boisinger classics, including “Third Rail, ”“Is She A Call Girl, Or Just a Girl I’d Like To Call?, ” “Daddy Drinks Because You Cry, ” and “Someone’s Always Dead At Manhattan Plaza, ” as well as some new, destined-to-become-Boisinger classics that Kenn will be introducing, including “Stay for the Loud Note” and “The Last One To Leave The Strip Club.” The show will feature musical directorAlan Bukowiecki, as well as the bass guy, the drummer, and a surprise guest or two. $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 10 (Monday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater The Kinsey Sicks – “Drag Queen Storytime Gone WILD!” The country’s most potty-mouthed and politically outspoken drag quartet has somehow been put in charge of morning assembly at your local elementary school. What can possibly go right? The new show features a cavalcade of Kinsey classics and new parodies to ruin your childhood favorites. You’ll never be able to hear nursery rhymes and other classic children’s songs the same way again. For over 25 years, America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet has served up a feast of music and comedy to audiences at performing arts centers, music venues, and comedy festivals in every kind of town you can imagine! Their award-winning a cappella singing, sharp satire, and over-the-top drag have earned The Kinsey Sicks a diverse and devoted following. They have been called “inventive, riotously and sublime” by Variety. $40 tables + $20 food/drink minimum April 11-15 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (4/11-13); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (4/14-15) – Birdland Jazz Club Joey Alexander 3x Grammy nominee and early piano prodigy Joey Alexander recently released Origin (Mack Avenue, 2022) to critical acclaim. Featuring his heavy-hitting trio of Kendrick Scott and Larry Grenadier, as well as his collaborators Chris Potter and Gilad Hexelman, the passionate virtuoso Alexander is in the company of masters. At only 18 years old, he has already lived a musician’s dream life, performing on the world’s biggest stages (Obama’s White House, the Grand Ole Opry, Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Newport Jazz Festival) with its most revered names (Wayne Shorter, Wynton Marsalis, Esperanza Spalding)—all since the age of 11. For this week at the Jazz Club, Alexander will bring the latest moment of his mature genius to your ears. $40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 13 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater Myriam Phiro – “Becoming Marlene Dietrich” After sold-out performances of her acclaimed tribute to Edith Piaf, Phiro returns to Birdland with a new show about the one and only Marlene Dietrich. Ms. Phiro will be accompanied by her stellar and long-tenured trio: Hyuna Park (piano), Elias Bailey (bass) and guests. Dietrich was a pioneer in asserting a woman’s right in controlling her image and defying social conventions of the 1930’s. She is recognized for denouncing fascism and embodying a uniquely enigmatic sex appeal. Marlene exhibited an unapologetic control over her career and image while being featured in over 50 films and performing countless cabaret shows in a career lasting over 60 years. Myriam Phiro is known for her poignant renditions of Dietrich’s counterpart, Edith Piaf. The songstress is ecstatic about this new show that combines elements of Piaf and Dietrich’s time period and explores the rumored scandalous relationship between the two. Phiro, deemed to be “the perfect re-enactment of a mix between Edith Piaf and Marilyn Monroe; deep, powerful, fun and sexy all at once” by Miguel Dominguez of NYC Culture & Style Magazine, will combine her talents for this spectacular event. She will convey some of the most dramatic moments of Dietrich’s life and legacy while unveiling some of the diva’s mysteries. $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 14-16 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater Dangerous Rhythms All-Stars In 2022, award-winning crime writer and historian TJ English released his new book, Dangerous Rhythms: Jazz and the Underworld, published by HarperCollins. The New York Times best-selling author assembled an all-star band for his Birdland release celebration, composed of Bobby Sanabria (drums/musical director), Santi Debriano (bass), Edsel Gomez (piano), Kali Rodriguez-Peña (trumpet), T.K. Blue (sax/flute), and Roman Diaz (congas/percussion), to bring the book to life. Now, the Dangerous Rhythms All-Stars return to Birdland Theater for a weekend of high-energy performances. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 16 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Amy Lynn and the Honeymen Amy Lynn & The Honey Men (formerly known as Amy Lynn & The Gunshow) is an eight-piece machine that blows glitter all over the traditional memphis-motown soul/rock style. In high-dramatic fashion, Lynn leads her horn section of trumpet, tenor sax, and bari sax, and her rhythm section of piano, electric bass, and drums, to powerful moments of grooving joy. The group has performed at iconic New York institutions Joe’s Pub @ The Public Theatre, The Cutting Room, BB Kings, Highline Ballroom, Brooklyn Bowl, 54 Below, Mercury Lounge, The Bell House, C’mon Everybody, BB Kings, The Engeman Theatre, Hard Rock Cafe Times Square, & Brooklyn Bowl. Join them at Birdland for a fun, high-energy time. $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 17 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Anita Gillette & Penny Fuller – “Sin Twisters: The Next Frontier” Two of Broadway’s most beloved performers, Anita Gillette and Penny Fuller, take the stage at for their latest song and story compilation. These two glorious veterans of stage and screen share stories about shows they’ve done (or might have done) as well as highlight the Broadway songwriters they have worked with, including Irving Berlin, Strouse & Adams, Kander & Ebb, and William Finn. Musical director Paul Greenwood is at the keyboard and director Barry Kleinbort is at the helm. Anita Gillette has played Birdland, 54 Below, and London’s St. James Studio. Probably best known as Miss Mona in Moonstruck, or Miss Mitzi in Shall We Dance?, her other feature films include: The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, Boys on the Side, She’s the One, Bob Roberts, and The Great New Wonderful. She starred in fourteen Broadway shows including: Chapter Two (Tony Nomination, LA Drama Critics Award), Cabaret (Sally Bowles), Carnival, Gypsy, Guys & Dolls, All American, They’re Playing Our Song, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Mr. President. She was Tina Fey’s mother on “30 Rock.” Penny Fuller was recently seen on Broadway in the acclaimed revival of Sunday in the Park with George. She began her Broadway career starring in Barefoot in the Park, and the musicals Cabaret, Rex, and Applause (Tony nom. for “Eve Harrington”). Her television work garnered her six Emmy nominations and the Emmy Award for ABC’s “The Elephant Man.” Recent Broadway credits include Horton Foote’s Dividing the Estate and Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party (Tony nom). $40 tables / $40 bar seating + $20 food/drink minimum April 17 (Monday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater Sean McDermott with Cassidy Place Broadway veteran Sean McDermott, star of Falsettos, Starlight Express, Grease, and the original cast of Miss Saigon, will be singing songs from his Broadway repertoire as well as classic standards by Cy Coleman, Leiber & Stoller, Henry Mancini, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Michel Legrand, and Rodgers & Hart. Sharing the stage with him will be Cassidy Place, an LA-based singer/songwriter who revives music of the ‘50s, while developing a new contemporary genre of her own. Ron Abel serves as musical director. McDermott has performed all over the world with some of the most celebrated symphony orchestras. He was one of four Broadway Leading Men to sing with Barbra Streisand on her European tour, at Carnegie Hall with Bernadette Peters, and has performed for the President of the United States on three separate occasions. Off-Broadway, Sean starred in the first revival of The Boys in the Band, Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Silence! The Musical and originated the role of Mike Brady in The Brady Bunch. His television credits include “The Blacklist, ” “FBI: Most Wanted, ” “Ray Donovan, ” “Law & Order SVU, ” “Desperate Housewives, ” “Medium, ” and “The Guiding Light.” $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 18-22 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (4/18-20); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (4/21-22) – Birdland Jazz Club Cyrille Aimée Grammy-nominated Cyrille Aimee spent over 10 years in NYC wowing audiences with her joyful improvisations, effortless swing, and wild spirit. Having relocated to New Orleans to enter the vibrant musical community of that storied city, Aimee loves to return to Birdland—where she spent years with a weekly residency. From her native France to the USA, from jazz festivals to Broadway, from a longtime working band to new adventures in new sonic landscapes, Cyrille Aimee is never content to stay in one place too long. Recent releases include 2018’s Cyrille Aimee Live (Mack Avenue); 2019’s Move On: A Sondheim Adventure (especially relevant now that the legend has just passed); 2021’s I’ll Be Seeing You; and 2021’s Petite Fleur, as a featured guest of drummer Adonis Rose and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Hailed as “one of the most promising jazz singers of her generation” by The Wall Street Journal, Aimee will certainly bring something new to her old city. $40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 20 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater Composers Concordance Presents CompCord Jazz Ensemble featuring Dick Griffin and David Amram Composers Concordance brings together the exceptional instrumentalists of the CompCord Jazz Ensemble for an evening of high-velocity newly written jazz compositions, featuring composers David Amram (New York Philharmonic’s first composer-in-residence, scored such films as ‘Splendor in the Grass’ and ‘The Manchurian Candidate’), and Dick Griffin (Sun Ra, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Abdullah Ibrahim). Also included are cutting-edge Jazz compositions by Joe Abba, David Amram, William Anderson, Anthony Branker, Dan Cooper, Sophie Dunér, Jane Getter, Dick Griffin, Laurence Goldman, Franz Hackl, and Gene Pritsker. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 21-23 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater Tony DeSare Quartet The excellent jazz vocalist and pianist Tony DeSare has released 11 albums of music, delivering a gem of a recording nearly every year since 2007. A crooner’s crooner, he is a master interpreter of the American Songbook. But over the course of his career, he also ventured into pop classics by Carole King, Prince, and the Beatles; and while he certainly remains a descendant of the Rat Pack singers and the swinging tradition, DeSare has also carved out space as an interpreter of songs even further outside his genre’s norm, covering New Order, Philip Bailey, and Bob Dylan. With a smooth, clear voice and an entertainer’s sensibility, DeSare found himself in long-time collaboration with jazz giant Bucky Pizzarelli and in shows like Our Sinatra. Now a veteran of the music, DeSare will deliver a weekend at the Theater that’s sure to have audiences swooning. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 23 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Purchase Latin Jazz Orchestra dir. by David DeJesus Comprised of the top student musicians in SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Music, this exciting large ensemble performs styles from all across Latin America, rendering the worlds of mambo, cha-cha, danzon, festejo, porro, and more with youthful verve. Director David DeJesus is a master saxophonist fluent across Latin, jazz and dozens of other styles. The director of the Birdland Big Band, he has been a fixture on the New York City music scene for three decades, performing with the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars, Ron Carter’s Great Big Band, and the Grammy-nominated Arturo O’Farrill Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. DeJesus will guide the orchestra as they bring to life the many flavors of Latin Jazz on the Birdland stage. $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 24 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Karen Akers – “About Time” Singer and actress Karen Akers will return to Birdland with her concert featuring musical director Alex Rybeck. Akers takes a look back at some of the songs that first brought her acclaim in cabaret as well as on Broadway, television, and recordings — works by Craig Carnelia, Maury Yeston, Edith Piaf, and Stephen Sondheim, among other treasures. Akers is one of America’s more arresting and successful concert stars. She is the recipient of the 2005 New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Female Cabaret Vocalist, as well as the 2009 Nightlife Legend Award. Ms. Akers has appeared in many prestigious venues worldwide, including Carnegie Hall and The Hollywood Bowl, as well as the Cafe Carlyle and The Oak Room at The Algonquin Hotel. She has taken her music to the south of France, Russia, and Barcelona’s Liceu Opera House. She appeared on Broadway as one of the original stars of the Tony Award-winning musical Grand Hotel. She made her debut on the Great White Way in the original production of Nine, receiving a Tony nomination and a Theatre World Award. $40 tables + $20 food/drink minimum April 24 (Monday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater Naama Gheber Quartet Vocalist Naama Gheber is a self-assured, easygoing talent whose deft melodic sense and pleasing swing feel have brought her to the front lines of the New York jazz scene. Gheber’s debut album, 2020’s Dearly Beloved, and her 2nd recording, 2022’s If I Knew Then, earned her acknowledgement in All About Jazz and Downbeat Magazine, and her forthcoming effort, Where Flamingos Fly, featuring vibraphone legend Steve Nelson, is set to release in 2023. Gheber’s love for joyously bouncing rhythms and the power of song has led to frequent performances at leading New York jazz institutions Smalls, Mezzrow, the Django at the Roxy Hotel, and Birdland. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 25-29 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (4/25-27); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (4/28-29) – Birdland Jazz Club John Pizzarelli Album Release: Stage and Screen Internationally-acclaimed John Pizzarelli charms audiences with his warmth, sense of humor, and musical chops. Through his multifaceted career as a jazz guitarist, vocalist and bandleader, the son of the legendary New Jersey native guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli has become one of the most recognizable faces and voices in contemporary jazz for his interpretations of classic standards, romantic ballads and the cool jazz flavor he brings to his performances and recordings. While maintaining a busy touring schedule, John also founded “Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli, ” a nationally syndicated radio program co-hosted with his wife, Broadway star Jessica Molaskey. Long-time a Birdland favorite, Pizzarelli puts on a show you won’t want to miss. $40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 27 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater John Minnock and Dave Liebman A special vocalist who contributes freshness and contemporaneity to the tradition, John Minnock possesses the street-smart sound of jazz vocalists past and maintains the forward-thinking attitude that has always uplifted the music. The recipient of the 2019 Hot House/Jazzmobile Best Male Vocalist Award, Minnock has become a fixture on both the jazz and cabaret circuits in New York City, playing the city’s finest cabaret clubs, including Don’t Tell Mama, the Triad Theater, and the Metropolitan Room, and receiving the 2016 Hot House Jazz Fans Decision Metropolitan Room Award. Minnock is joined by saxophone icon Dave Liebman. Liebman, a legend of jazz music, appears on over 500 recordings, including 200 as a leader. His membership in the bands of trumpeter Miles Davis and drummer Elvin Jones in the 1970s continues to guide him toward artistic heights which inspire countless young musicians the world over. Together, Minnock and Liebman form a savvy, edgy unit, sure to excite listeners. $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 28-30 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater Steven Bernstein 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 April 30 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club All-City Latin Ensemble and The Fat Cats Many know all about Birdland’s many-years-long Sunday night residency of Arturo O’Farill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO). Lesser known, however, are the Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats, or Fat Cats for short, a group founded by O’Farill in 2010 to bring together the most talented Latin-jazz-playing youth in NYC. Directed by O’Farill’s son Zach, ALJO trumpeter Jim Seeley, and ALJO bassist Bam Bam Rodríguez, the high-school-aged Latin jazz orchestra performs standards of both Latin jazz and swinging jazz. Its members regularly end up in top conservatories across the country, including New York City’s own Manhattan School of Music, upstate’s SUNY Purchase, Oberlin Conservatory, and New England Conservatory. See for yourself: a lively group of young devotees, the Fat Cats’ excellence goes far beyond their years. $30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum Monthly Engagements: April 3, 10, 17, 24 (Mondays) 9:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club Jim Caruso’s Cast Party “Jim Caruso’s Cast Party, ” a New York institution for almost two decades, is a wildly popular weekly open mic night/variety show that has brought a sprinkling of Broadway glitz and urbane wit to Birdland since 2004. Called “show-business heaven” by The New York Times and “the gold-standard of open mic nights” by The Wall Street Journal, “Cast Party” will take advantage of the city’s post-pandemic nightlife renaissance to keep presenting a potent mix of Broadway stars, jazz swingers and cabaret legends, in addition to new faces and rising talent from every genre. The buoyant, sharp and charming Caruso guides the entire affair, while musical genius Billy Stritch (Liza Minnelli, Tony Bennett) holds court at the ivories and leads the Cast Party Symphony Orchestra (Steve Doyle on bass and Daniel Glass on drums). $30 + $20 food/drink minimum April 4, 11, 18, 25 (Every Tuesday in April) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater Tatiana Eva-Marie Born into a musical family—her father the film composer Louis Crelier and her mother the violinist Anca Maria—Tatiana Eva-Marie spent her formative years in a radiant world of art: an actor, recording artist, and model from age 4, she collaborated with industry beacons like Francis Reusser, Henri Des, and Charles Joris all before attending the Sorbonne in Paris at age 15. There, she continued to write, direct, and act in plays and dance pieces with prominent artists. But Eva-Marie’s love for song and call to perform led her to relocate to New York, where her fame as an interpreter of American popular song has grown quickly. Included on a recent list of jazz talent to know by Vanity Fair and praised as “one of the best young singers around” by The Wall Street Journal, she has crafted a sound that is her own, drawing audiences in with her gentle stage presence and sweet tone. Many have delighted, too, in Eva-Marie’s ability to pen original lyrics to the music of Django Reinhardt. Performances at SummerStage, Winter Jazz Fest, Jazz Aspen, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, The Iridium, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival have thrust her into the limelight—right where she belongs, and where she has always felt at home. $20 + $20 food/drink minimum April 4, 18 (Tuesdays bi-weekly) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater The Lineup with Susie Mosher “The Lineup with Susie Mosher” is a wild, anything-goes variety show featuring entertainers from the Broadway, cabaret and comedy scenes, ranging from today’s hottest headliners to the best up-and-coming stars of tomorrow. Mosher – the noted actress and singer from Broadway and beyond, called “one of those talents you need to see to believe” by Time Out New York – hosts the spontaneous extravaganza every Tuesday, and each Lineup is unique and promises to deliver an unforgettable night of quintessential New York City entertainment. $20 + $20 food/drink minimum April 11, 25 (Tuesdays bi-weekly) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks Catch Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks for their final performance in a highly successful 7-week Tuesday night residency at the Birdland Theater. Giordano, the recipient of a GRAMMY Award for his work scoring the HBO show Boardwalk Empire, is a master composer and arranger whose 11-piece band, The Nighthawks, recreate the jubilant 1920s jazz sound with amazing definition, using violins, tubas, banjos, and collector’s item drum sets. The band has provided soundtracks for film and television productions including The Cotton Club, The Aviator, Finding Forrester, Revolutionary Road, Cafe Society, Boardwalk Empire, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and many more. Not to be missed! $30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 5, 12, 19, 26 (Wednesdays) 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 5, 12, 19, 26 (Wednesdays) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater 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 at 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 Trio, featuring bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Vince Cherico, will perform tunes from the standard repertoire, inviting up a rotation of special guests: Paul Bollenback (4/5), Peter Bernstein and Catherine Russell (4/12), Pasquale Grasso (4/19), Dave Stryker (4/26). $30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum April 14, 21, 28 (Fridays except 4/7) 5:30 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 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 (Saturdays) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club (4/8 in Birdland Theater) Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano Hailed as “the truest heir to Bobby Short” in The New York Times, pianist/singer Eric Comstock returns to Birdland with star bassist/composer Sean Smith with songs by everyone from George Gershwin to George Harrison. These two masters met on the Off-Broadway hit Our Sinatra (which Eric co-wrote) and have since worked separately and together around the world. Vocalist Barbara Fasano joins them at Birdland for a swinging Saturday supper where the music and stories are equally great. Sean Smith has been an integral part of the international jazz scene for over 25 years, and has performed with Gerry Mulligan, Phil Woods, Benny Carter, Art Farmer, Flip Phillips, Clark Terry and many others. Barbara Fasano has been praised as “a gorgeous, soulful singer who has an actor’s intensity in whatever she sings” by The New York Post and “a lyrically sensitive interpreter” by The New York Times. Her latest album Busy Being Free is the recipient of the MAC Award for “Major Recording of the Year.” $30 + $20 food/drink minimum April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 (Sundays) 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 :: © 2023 Jazz News :: home page |