Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater: May 1 – May 31 Schedule
Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater are proudly open this May with a full slate of nightly performances!
At Birdland Jazz Club, catch Meg Okura: Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Bill Charlap Trio, Bill Charlap Solo Piano, Andy Farber Big Band, NYC All-City Latin Ensemble and the Fat Cats, Eliane Elias, George Gee Orchestra, The Tierney Sutton Band, Robert Edwards Big Band, Tatiana Eva-Marie, and Brecker, Copland, Liebman Quintet.
Birdland Theater will present Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra, Anaïs Reno with the Pete Maliverni Trio, Lauren Henderson Quartet, Steve Slagle Band, Mafalda Minnozzi, Kristen Lee Sergeant, The Royal Bopsters 10th Anniversary Celebration (with Special Guest Sheila Jordan), Oz Noy, Ugonna Okegwo, & Ray Marchica: “Riverside” CD Release, Alexa Tarantino Quartet, Bill O’Connell Trio, Dezron Douglas Quartet, and Ed Neumeister Quartet.
Repeat engagements include Jim Caruso’s Cast Party with Billy Stritch at the piano, The Lineup with Susie Mosher, David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Frank Vignola’s Guitar Night, Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, and Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.
See below for the full schedule! More information can be found at www.birdlandjazz.com
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 Chamber Jazz Ensemble
Pioneering violinist and composer Meg Okura creates and performs an original fusion of Chinese, European, Black American, and Jewish classical/folk musics. Led by a graceful sense of melody, her work combines her early life as a touring classical violinist with the improvised aspect of American jazz. Okura has performed at hallowed halls such as the Village Vanguard, Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, and Blue Note Tokyo, with residencies, awards, and grants coming from The Stone, the Copland Residency Awards, Jazz Road Creative Residencies, and Chamber Music America New Jazz Works. Giovanni Russonello of The New York Times praised her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble’s 2018 release, Ima Ima, for its “grandiloquent beauty.”
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 2 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Amanda McBroom – “Crimes of the Heart”
McBroom brings us musical medicine for these crazy times. Her concert will celebrate songs of passion, politics, and just plain love, written by the likes of Stephen Sondheim, Irving Berlin, Leonard Cohen, and of course Amanda McBroom. Her name came to the attention of the public when Bette Midler’s version of Amanda’s song “The Rose” hit #1 on the charts. Her songs have been recorded by Barbara Cook, Manhattan Transfer, Judy Collins, Barry Manilow, Reba McEntire, Kurt Cobain, and many other artists. She received a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy nomination, Johnny Mercer Songwriter of the Year, and the Mabel Mercer Lifetime Achievement Award. With her writing partner, Michele Brourman, she has written lyrics for 19 Universal Animation features, including the Land Before Time series and Curious George. Her 9th album of original songs, Voices, went to #1 on Amazon during its first week.
$40 tables / $40 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 2 (Monday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Anaïs Reno Quartet
In 2021, the young Anaïs Reno celebrated the release of her debut album, Lovesome Thing – Anaïs Reno Sings Ellington and Strayhorn, recorded at age 16 and backed by the lively Emmet Cohen Trio. The record reached #6 on the jazz charts and stayed in the top 10 for four weeks. Reno returns to Birdland now with her working band, a trio helmed by veteran pianist Pete Maliverni. Recipient of the Julie Wilson Award and the first prize in the Mabel Mercer Competition, Reno’s recent work includes a performance of “America The Beautiful” on national television for the Mets/Yankees game on September 11th, as well as an album of all Tadd Dameron songs recorded with renowned saxophonist Gary Smulyan, set for Fall 2022 release. At work on her second solo album, and looking forward to national tours over the rest of this year, the young Reno is developing a warm, swinging approach that delights audiences.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 3-7 and 10-14 (Tuesday-Saturday, two consecutive weeks) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (5/3-5 and 5/10-12); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (5/6-7 and 5/13-14) – Birdland Jazz Club
Bill Charlap Trio
One of the world’s leading pianists for the past thirty years, Bill Charlap served for many years as Tony Bennett’s primary pianist, all the while leading his working trio with legendary drum/bass team Kenny Washington and Peter Washington to the heights of jazz honor. Nominated for a Grammy for the records Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein and Live at the Village Vanguard, this trio’s communication is finely tuned, its energy boundless, its taste immaculate, and its repertoire expansive. Working together, these three gentleman of jazz are known for their telepathic connection, admirable restraint, and tight arrangements of standard material. They perform at Birdland for two consecutive weeks. Jazz fans will regret missing this band!
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 7, 14 (Saturdays) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Bill Charlap Solo Piano
Bill Charlap has proven himself time and time again as a sensitive interpreter of popular song, a prolific artist whose collaborations with jazz legends—be it Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ron Carter, Houston Person, or his own trio of Kenny Washington and Peter Washington—are always highly satisfying. As a solo performer, he delivers similarly heartwarming renditions of classics from the Great American songbook, with deft fingers, flights of the imagination, and a passionate commitment to the tradition of piano. Twice Grammy-nominated, Charlap is an adored figure in jazz. His trio performs for two full weeks at Birdland this month, and on each Saturday, he will perform solo for one early evening set before joining his trio for another two sets.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 5 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Lauren Henderson Quartet
A jazz singer with a truly sultry sound, Lauren Henderson fulfills the mission of the jazz tradition with her love of traditional forms and her forward-thinking approach. Henderson’s music runs the gamut—from the hip and highly swinging, to the funky 1970s, to contemporary pop soundscapes, and back again—within an album and sometimes within one song, and always retaining naturalness and ease. Praised by The New York Times and The Financial Times, and reaching the Top 5 of the Jazz Charts, the vocalist conjures late-night pictures with her stellar cast of jazz’s young stars as she sings her way through the African Diaspora, diving into her Panamanian, Montserratian, and Caribbean roots and her North American upbringing in such selections as “Todo Tiene Su Final,” “Alma Oscura,” and her arrangement of Amy Winehouse’s “Love Is a Losing Game.”
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 6-8 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Steve Slagle Band
Saxophonist Steve Slagle is storyteller whose robust, unique melodies and open-hearted sound have endeared audiences since the mid-70s, when he began working with legendary forces such as Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, McCoy Tyner, the Mingus Big Band, and Ray Barretto. He has been a saxophonist of choice for the Joe Lovano Nonet, Milton Nascimiento, and even the Beastie Boys, in addition to leading over 20 solo recording projects. A true proponent of the jazz tradition, Slagle’s latest release, entitled Ballads: Into the Heart of It, features a swinging ensemble of his close compatriots, including Ugonna Okegwo, bass; Randy Brecker, trumpet; Bruce Barth, piano; and Jason Tiemann, drums. Brecker is replaced by Scott Wendholt for this weekend engagement at the Birdland Theater.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 8 (Sunday) 5:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Andy Farber and his Orchestra
Award-winning jazz composer, arranger, and saxophonist Andy Farber is one of the most in-demand artists of his generation. His eye-popping list of musical associates include Shirley Horn, Bobby Short, Joe Lovano, Joe Temperley, Regina Carter, Lee Konitz, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Billy Stritch, and more. Last summer, he released his long-awaited new album Early Blue Evening on the Grammy-winning label Artist Share. Farber’s 17-piece big band speaks the foundational language of big band’s forebears — swing and the blues — in a decidedly contemporary dialect, navigating deft originals and newly arranged standards with a rare, elegant blend of verve and verisimilitude that is, at once, inspired by history but never bound by it. Farber “doesn’t recreate specific existing charts or records,” writes noted author and music critic Will Friedwald, “Nor does he slavishly strive to make everything sound as contemporary as possible. He has found a viable and exciting middle path, expanding the legacy of Duke and the Count, rather than strictly recreating their work.”
$30 tables + $20 food/drink minimum
May 9 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Debbie Gravitte with Marc Shaiman
Tony Award winner Debbie Gravitte has been in theater long enough to have made some very special friends. Join her as she welcomes Stephen Schwartz (April 11), Marc Shaiman (May 9), and Harvey Fierstein (September 12) for three separate evenings full of songs, stories, and surprises. Gravitte, one of Broadway’s biggest personalities, has found herself in demand from the Broadway stage to the concert stage and beyond. After making her Broadway debut in the original cast of They’re Playing Our Song, she went on to appear in Perfectly Frank, Blues in the Night, Ain’t Broadway Grand, Chicago, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, and Les Misérables. She has appeared in three shows for Encores!: Carnival, The Boys From Syracuse, and Tenderloin. Debbie has performed her nightclub act worldwide, from New York’s Rainbow & Stars and 54 Below, to London’s Pizza on the Park to Atlantic City with Jay Leno, Harry Anderson and the legendary George Burns.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 9 (Monday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Mafalda Minnozzi
The Italian singer-songwriter Mafalda Minnozzi is an international sensation, having performed in over 1,000 concerts on 3 continents, released 18 CDs and 2 DVDs over 35 glorious years. Equipped with a purring voice and an unmatched imagination, Minnozzi has been utterly prolific, releasing 5 albums since the pandemic began and 2 documentary films. The first, SENSORIAL – Portraits in Bossa and Jazz, stayed on the Jazz Top 100 for 34 weeks straight. She followed that with April 2021’s To Naples – Port of the Soul, blending Brazilian and Italian rhythms and approaches; then, in June 2021, she released PRIMAVERA and ESTATE in September. In October, she released CINEMA CITY – Jazz Scenes From Italian Film, and in her performance at Birdland, entitled “FOTOGRAMMI – Scenes from Life and Music by Mafalda Minnozzi,” the songstress, backed by an all-star Brazilian ensemble, combines these latest projects into an enveloping narrative. The result is sure to be both universal and—as her intimate, sweetly-styled vocals always are—highly personal.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 12 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Kristen Lee Sergeant
“From Greek myths to outer space, I hope to bring listeners on a rewarding and thoughtful journey in sound,” muses Kristen Lee Sergeant. “And I get to be their Virgil, stumbling down ahead of them.” The forward-thinking vocalist Sergeant writes music that swings, waltzes, and stumbles into high-concept song-cycles. On her just-released Falling (Tiger Turn, 2022), the artist adds a cellist into a traditional jazz ensemble of piano, bass, drums, and soprano saxophone. With her lyrics alternating between the prescient and the suave, the album is a testament to the many exciting possibilities that exist for an ambitious, thoughtful jazz artist today. Sergeant is joined by Ted Nash on soprano saxophone; Helen Sung, piano; a cellist to be announced; Hannah Marks on bass; and Jay Sawyer on drums.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 13-15 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
The Royal Bopsters 10th Anniversary Celebration (with Special Guest Sheila Jordan, 5/14-15)
“When it comes to group jazz singing and the art of vocalese,” writes JAZZIZ, “The Royal Bopsters are keepers of the flame.” After a decade delivering swift rhythmic turns in smart four-part harmony, this lovable crew of brilliant vocalists presents “The Royal Bopsters 10th Anniversary Celebration” at the Birdland Theater. Amy London, Jeanne O’Connor, Pete McGuinness, and Dylan Pramuk have always honored the legends of jazz singing—in particular, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross and Mark Murphy, who perfected the art of group singing and “vocalese,” or writing lyrics to famous jazz improvisations—and these formidable four are in prime form and gaining momentum! To celebrate their ten years together, they invite vocal legend and NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan to join them on Saturday and Sunday. The Bopsters were voted the #1 Jazz Vocal Group in the 2021 JazzTimes Expanded Critics’ Poll, and they were chosen as this year’s Jazz Artist Winner for the Bistro Awards. Their latest recording, Party of Four (Motéma Music, 2020) received a prestigious 4-star rating from DownBeat Magazine. Expect to walk away smiling.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 15 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
NYC 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
May 16 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Wendy Moten – “Sings Richard Whiting (And Other Classics That Should Never Be Forgotten)”
“The Voice” performer Wendy Moten will perform the songs of Richard Whiting, with hits including “He’s Funny That Way,” “My Ideal,” “Miss Brown to You,” and “Too Marvelous For Words.” Ms. Moten will also perform the Janis Ian classic “At Seventeen,” Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years,” and one of her most popular songs from “The Voice,” “Over the Rainbow.” Moten is an exceptional singer, a pure musical spirit, and a bridge from Memphis to Nashville to the rest of the world. Respected in the music industry for years, the wider public discovered her through her remarkable run on NBC’s “The Voice” in 2021. She turned all four judges’ chairs on her blind audition and ended up in second place overall – unprecedented for an artist in her fifties. A native of Memphis, Moten sang R&B on a major label in the ‘90s then moved to Nashville to become an in-demand harmony singer. She spent 15 years as vocal support voice for Julio Iglesias. And she has toured with Martina McBride, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, and Vince Gill. She’s performed as a soloist on the Grand Ole Opry and was a featured artist in the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2019 she joined the Grammy-winning Nashville western swing band The Time Jumpers.
$50 tables / $40 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 16 (Monday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
”Off The Top” with Jason Kravits
Kravits returns to Birdland with “Off the Top!” after several sold-out shows last year. Whether you recognize him from Broadway (The Drowsy Chaperone, Relatively Speaking) or TV (“Halston,” “The Undoing,” “Dr. Death,” “B Positive,” “Search Party”), you’ve never seen Jason Kravits quite like this. In a performance London’s Reviewsgate calls “a five-star masterclass in the art of improv,” Jason invents an entire cabaret, from scratch, right before your eyes. Every song, every lyric, every show-biz anecdote, humblebrag and overshare… made up, on the spot, based on your suggestions. Backed by the most daring band in the business, and featuring very special guests, Jason creates a solo, improvised musical-comedy high wire act you must see to believe.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 17-21 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (5/17-19); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (5/20-21) – 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 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), she will interpret the music on MIRROR MIRROR for audiences at Birdland.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 19 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Oz Noy, Ugonna Okegwo, & Ray Marchica: “Riverside” CD Release
When the pandemic hit, musicians tried to find ways to get together safely and play. On Manhattan’s upper west side, three jazz musician neighbors—virtuoso jazz fusion guitarist Oz Noy, ultra-swinging bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and consummate percussionist Ray Marchica—beginning playing twice or three-times weekly in Riverside Park, safely distanced and not taking any money from the regulars that would stand and listen. After five months of this healing ritual, Noy, Marchica, and Okegwo decided to enter the studio and record an album. The result is Riverside, a charming collection of standard jazz repertoire that reflects the trio’s collective sense of relief and relaxation that they created just like when using Budpop’s ashwagandha gummies.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 20-22 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Alexa Tarantino Quartet
A talented woodwind artist with a serious output of music, Alexa Tarantino has been praised by Wynton Marsalis as “an indomitable force for expression…and absolute excellence.” Tarantino has been a frequent hire for Marsalis’s Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; given her command of her multiple instruments (saxophones, flute, and clarinet) and her sense of poise as a soloist within a band, it’s no surprise. Over the past three years she has released three full-length recordings: Firefly (2021), Clarity (2020), and Winds of Change (2019), all on Posi-Tone Records. A Rising Star for Alto Saxophone in DownBeat Magazine’s 2020 and 2021 Critics Polls, and named one of the Top 5 Alto Saxophonists of 2019 by the JazzTimes Critics’ Poll, Tarantino’s joyful playing has led her to such prestigious venues as Umbria Jazz Festival, Jazz in Marciac Festival, the Kennedy Center, and the Hollywood Bowl.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 22 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
George Gee Orchestra
After conducting a 1979 radio interview with the legendary William “Count” Basie, George Gee determined he would one day lead his own big band. Now, with nearly 40 years experience as a conductor and 20 years leading weekly shows in Times Square’s SWING46, Gee’s swing band dreams have blossomed wildly, and he leads what is perhaps New York’s most popular swing dance orchestra. Inspired by the styles of Basie, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, and Benny Goodman, Gee—a native New Yorker—began leading his big band in the Big Apple right when swing dancing was revived as an international sensation among young audiences. And—bringing New York’s best musicians along for a stomping-good time—he has been a hit ever since.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 23 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Natalie Douglas
Twelve-time Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs winner Natalie Douglas has been called “a true force of nature” by Clive Davis of The Times (UK). She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Cafe Carlyle, The Town Hall, Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Pheasantry in London, and at her NYC home club, Birdland where her award-winning “Tributes” monthly residency (Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Nat “King” Cole, Dame Shirley Bassey, Ella Fitzgerald, Roberta Flack, Joni Mitchell, Sammy Davis, Jr., Lena Horne, Barbra Streisand and more) ran from Summer 2017 thru January 2020. Natalie has released three albums, including the MAC Award-winning Human Heart. Having also made her mark as a much sought-after educator and actor, she is a Master Teacher for the Mabel Mercer Foundation, the St. Louis Cabaret Conference, and the Eugene O’Neill Cabaret & Performance Conference.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 23 (Monday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
John Manzari – “The First Set”
Manzari’s “The First Set” is a high-energy show highlighting the influence of tap dance on African American music through songs by Ahmad Jamal, Gregory Porter, Bill Evans, and others. John is joined by the Luther S. Allison Trio which includes Stanley Ruvinov on bass, Zach Adleman on drums, and Luther S. Allison on piano. Manzari is an Ovation Award and Helen Hayes Award nominated dancer, singer, actor, choreographer, and teacher. Stage credits include the Bessie Award winning production Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic; 42nd Street; Maurice Hines: Tappin’ Thru Life, featuring his mentor Maurice Hines, The Wiz is 40: A Celebration in Dance and Music, directed and choreographed by George Faison; and Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies. TV credits include the PBS special “The Kennedy Center 50th Anniversary Celebration”, ABC’s “The View,” and The Jerry Lewis Telethon. John can be seen in the documentary Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 24-28 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (5/24-6); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (5/27-8) – Birdland Jazz Club
The Tierney Sutton Band
Hailed by The New York Times as “a serious jazz artist who takes the whole enterprise to another level,” Tierney Sutton is an 8-time Grammy nominee, receiving 7 consecutive “Best Jazz Vocal Album” nominations for each project she has released in the last decade. With a recording and touring history spanning over 20 years and 9 CDs, The Tierney Sutton Band is a true collaborative unit with a rich thematic discography that has addressed Americana (American Road, 2011); materialism (Desire, 2009); the pursuit of happiness (On The Other Side, 2007); the musical legacies of Frank Sinatra (Dancing in The Dark, 2003) and Bill Evans (Blue in Green, 2001); as well as scoring Clint Eastwood’s Sully. In recent years, Sutton has headlined at The Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center and Jazz At Lincoln Center. Her latest recording, Paris Sessions II, which deepens her musical connection with now-husband Serge Merlaud, is due out in early May. Don’t miss this iconic group!
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 26 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Bill O’Connell Quartet feat Craig Handy
Bill O’Connell’s creative career in music has seen him performing with and writing for both straight-ahead jazz legends and Latin jazz all-stars. From Mongo Santamaria and Dave Valentin to Charles Fambrough and Nnenna Freelon, the talented O’Connell has appeared on nearly 100 recordings including nearly 20 of his own. Engagements with Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker, Gato Barbieri, Astrud Gilberto, and the Fort Apache Band have marked his star-studded life in music, as well four separate years winning the “Jazz Writer of the Year” award from SESAC. The pianist and composer brings a trio to Birdland to explore his flights of fancy across multiple musical worlds.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 27-29 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Dezron Douglas Quartet
Regarded as one of the foremost bassists of his generation, Dezron Douglas is a composer, bandleader, and educator whose presence in the bands of Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Cyrus Chestnut, David Murray, Louis Hayes, Enrico Rava, George Cables, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Benny Green, and Trey Anastasio have cemented his reputation as a star. As young man, Douglas was the protégé of the great saxophonist Jackie McLean. Now, recorded on over 100 albums, including 6 as a leader, Douglas is a full-fledged power of his own. He recently released Force Majeure with harpist Brandee Younger (International Anthem, 2020) and the solo bass record Meditations of Faith (2021), and sits on faculty at NYU Steinhardt School of Music.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 29 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Robert Edwards Big Band
Legendary bassist John Lee has called Robert Edwards “One of the future giants of the jazz trombone.” Educated at the prestigious Juilliard School, and an alumnus of the bands of Jimmy Heath, Claudio Roditi, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, and the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, Edwards has proved himself as a highly gifted voice in the upper echelons of the New York scene. “A wonderful trombonist,” says the great Steve Turre. Edwards’s debut on D Clef Records, Sound Business, features a stellar cast of young talent and the trombonist’s arrangements and compositions which range from clever to pensive, from twisting to expansive. For this engagement at Birdland Jazz Club, he assembles a full big band. Edwards plays Michael Rath trombones exclusively.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 30 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
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.
$30 cover / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 30 (Monday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Ed Neumeister Quartet
A master trombonist and composer, Ed Neumeister came of age with an adventurous crop of writer-improvisers such as Jim McNeely and Joe Lovano, working with legendary bandleaders such as Duke Ellington, Mel Lewis, Lionel Hampton, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, and Buddy Rich. Time in these bands allowed the trombonist to blossom into a mature player whose fresh ideas, expressive sound, and playful approach astound audiences. Saxophonist Joe Lovano has called him “an inspired arranger, composer and conductor, as well as a soloist of deep expressive passion.” While Neumeister’s NYC Assembláge Jazz Orchestra makes its world premier at Birdland in April, his Quartet appears in May.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 31 – June 4 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (5/31-6/2); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (6/3-4) – Birdland Jazz Club
Brecker, Liebman, Copland Quintet
Some of the most adventurous, celebrated improvisers to emerge in the post-Coltrane era, the members of the Brecker/Copland/Liebman Quintet have delivered brilliant performances for the last five decades and have not lost their original fire. With Randy Brecker on trumpet, Marc Copland on piano, Dave Liebman on saxophone, Drew Gress on bass and Joey Baron on drums, they represent a cadre of musicians that have consistently pushed the boundaries of the jazz tradition in multiple directions: toward fusion, the avant garde, into classical territories, and deeper into the spiritual tradition paved by John Coltrane. In 2020, these heavyweights released Quint5t on Innervoice Jazz. They bring their collective powers to Birdland for a week of marvelous performances.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
Monthly Engagements:
May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 (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
May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 (Tuesdays) 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
May 4, 11, 18, 25 (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
May 4, 11, 18, 25 (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/Jimmy Bruno Quintet, featuring pianist John DiMartino, bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Vince Cherico, will perform tunes from the standard repertoire, inviting up a rotation of special guests including British fingerstyle jazz guitar virtuoso Martin Taylor (May 4)
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
May 6, 13, 20, 27 (Fridays) 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
May 21, 28 (Saturdays) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
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
May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 (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