KARRIN ALLYSON, CHRISTINE EBERSOLE, THE LEADING MEN IV, JULIE HALSTON, DAVID MURRAY QUARTET, HEATH BROTHERS QUARTET, NICHOLAS PAYTON, PHAROAH SANDERS, THE MUSIC OF DUKE ELLINGTON w/ The David Berger Jazz Orchestra, CHICO OFARRILLS AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA, CAST PARTY, & MORE!
Birdland (315 West 44th Street between 8th & 9th Aves.) is pleased to announce an exciting line-up of extraordinary entertainment for the month of May. A detailed schedule follows:
Karrin Allyson
Three-time Grammy nominated jazz vocalist, Karrin Allyson first started performing in the Kansas City jazz scene, which explains why she swings so hard! She is also an impressive bop-based improviser who both scats and improvises within lyrics. Most recently, the vocalist has released Imagina: Songs of Brasil, a beautiful collection of 14 tracks that features songs sung fully in Portuguese, as well as Brazilian songs with English translations by Susannah McCorkle, Chris Caswell, Gene Lees, Paul Williams and Jon Hendricks. Not only is Karrin Allyson one of the most artful jazz singers on the current scene, but she's also doing more than any other to expand the jazz vocal repertoire (The New York Times).
Wednesday-Saturday, April 29-May 2 @ 8:30 & 11pm
($30 General Seating, $40 Premium Seating)
Christine Ebersole & Bette Sussman - Garage Band Fantasy!
In this outing, called Garage Band Fantasy, Ms. Ebersole joins forces with musical director/pianist Bette Sussman (Bette Midler/8 years, Whitney Houston/11 years) to celebrate and re-live her favorite pop songs of all time, composed and performed by The Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Michael MacDonald, Sting, Susan Werner, and more. With an all-star band that includes Zev Katz on bass, Clint DeGannon on drums, Larry Saltzman on guitar and Tabitha Fair on background vocals, the evening is sure to rock the socks off of Christine's Broadway fans, yet still employ Ebersole's vast talents as an actor/singer.
Monday, May 4 @ 7pm
($40 General Seating, $50 Premium Seating)
David Murray Quartet
Tenor saxophonist David Murray is known as a prominent leader of the New York jazz scene of the 1970s and 80s. A founding member of The World Saxophone Quartet, Murray worked with the likes of Oliver Lake, Max Roach, Randy Weston, and Elvin Jones. Murray's music emerged from the free jazz movement, and evolved into a mature and unique post-free jazz style combining the innovations of free jazz with the New Orleans style, while also drawing from African traditions. As both a bandleader and musician, David Murray has been honored with many prestigious awards including a Grammy, the Bird Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, along with being named Village Voice Musician of the Decade in 1980 and Newsday Musician of the Year in 1993.
Wednesday-Saturday, May 6-9 @ 8:30 & 11pm
($30 General Seating, $40 Premium Seating)
The Leading Men IV
As part of the long-running Broadway at Birdland series, this annual concert benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, features top male singers from Broadway and cabaret. John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Shrek the Musical) will once again host, while Emmy-nominated writer, host and comic Seth Rudetsky returns as musical director, along with director Alan Muraoka (NAATCO's Falsettoland). This year's lineup consists of Nick Adams (Guys and Dolls), Tom Andersen (Award-winning cabaret singer), James Barbour (A Tale of Two Cities), Jim Caruso (Liza's at The Palace!), Michael Kadin Craig (Altar Boyz), Jack Donahue (Award-winning jazz singer), Kevin Earley (A Tale of Two Cities), Cody Green (West Side Story), Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening), Norm Lewis (The Little Mermaid), Graham Phillips (13), Tom Postilio (Award-winning cabaret singer), Zak Resnick (The Broadway Boys), Nicholas Rodriguez (Tarzan), and Tony Yazbeck (Gypsy). Produced by Wayman Wong (The Daily News) the Leading Men” concerts have raised thousands of dollars for Broadway Cares, and alumni from the three previous soldout shows include: Matt Cavenaugh, Cheyenne Jackson, Aaron Lazar, Matthew Morrison, Hugh Panaro, Daniel Reichard, Jai Rodriguez and Christopher Sieber. Michael Dale, a critic at BroadwayWorld.com, has called ”The Leading Men” concert ”a wildly entertaining boys' night out [where] the sellout crowd leaves all smiles.”
Monday, May 11 @ 7pm
($100 Premium Seating, $50 General Seating)
Julie Halston
The hilarious Julie Halston returns to Birdland for a two-night comedy series that is not to be missed! One of the busiest actress/comediennes working today, she most recently played Tina Carmello on the CBS sitcom The Class. Well-known to theatre audiences, she was last seen on Broadway in Hairspray after receiving rave reviews (and Drama Desk and Drama League nominations) for her performance in William Hamilton's White Chocolate. Other Broadway credits include Gypsy, The Women and The Man Who Came to Dinner. A founding member of Charles Busch's legendary theatre company, Theatre-in-Limbo, Julie so-starred with Mr. Busch in many of his plays, and received a Drama Desk nomination for her performance in Red Scare on Sunset. Ms. Halston's one woman show, Julie Halston's Lifetime of Comedy, ran Off-Broadway for six months and received an Outer Critics Circle Nomination for Best Comedy. Her film credits include The Juror, Joe Gould's Secret, Addams Family Values, Small Time Crooks, Celebrity, David Searching, and A Very Serious Person, which has been selected for the Tribeca Film Festival, and has appeared on television as Bitsy Von Muffling on Sex and the City, along with many other guest roles. This past year, Julie co-authored the well-received book of original monologues Monologues for Show-Offs.
Tuesdays, May 12 & 19 @ 7pm
($25 General Seating, $50 Premium Seating)
Heath Brothers Quartet
The Heath Brothers have been contributing mightily to the language of jazz since the 1940s. Jimmy Heath, contemplating his familys long-standing presence in jazz history, remarked, “We're lucky enough that [we] are still here. Among us, we've got more than 150 years of experience and more than 900 recordings. We've all played with the jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson, Miles and the Modern Jazz Quartet. Tthat seems to make us the elders of the surviving families of Jazz." Which in typical Heath Brothers fashion, is a cool and modest understatement. These are jazz's elder statesmen who are swinging hard and having fun, excited to be carrying on the legacy. Jimmy Heath (sax), Tootie Heath (drums), Jeb Patton (piano), David Wong (bass).
Wednesday-Saturday, May 13-16 @ 8:30 & 11pm
($30 General Seating, $40 Premium Seating)
GrooveLily: Sleeping Beauty Wakes
A Fractured Fairy Tale in Concert
Pop-rock band GrooveLily makes their Birdland debut with Sleeping Beauty Wakes. In this Ovation Award-winning hit musical from the authors of the hit Striking 12, band members Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda, and Gene Lewin perform the magical story in an unforgettable evening of song and laughter. The musical takes the well-known fairy tale and gives it a decidedly modern twist.
Monday, May 18 @ 7pm ($25)
Nicholas Payton
Since 1994 when Nicholas Payton made his recording debut as a leader with From This Moment, the trumpeter has been lauded as a significant, top-tier voice in jazz. Even though he started out as a young lion of jazz, heralded as one of the new-generation guardians of the hard bop flame, 34 year-old Payton devoted himself to discovering his voice outside of the strict confines of that rearview mirror approach to the music. Having grown up in a family of musicians in the jazz Mecca of New Orleans, Payton has built his unique voice by melding a post-bop foundation, a heavy emphasis on groove, his soulful history, and various experimental elements. The New York Times has called Payton abundantly gifted, and Music Direct describes his music as soulful, pensive and romantic.
Wednesday-Saturday, May 20-23 @ 8:30 & 11pm
($30 General Seating, $40 Premium Seating)
Carol Fredette with special guest Bob Dorough
Carol Fredette is everything you need in a jazz singer. She thinks, swings and phrases like a creative instrumentalist, yet her way with words captures the essence of a lyric, says critic and longtime fan Dan Morgenstern. Her deep expressive voice, strong sense of swing and charismatic presence have wowed audiences, critics and fellow musicians all over the world. Shes as good as they come, raved legendary jazz saxophonist Stan Getz. Carol will be joined on stage by jazz pianist, vocalist and composer Bob Dorough, who is best known as the voice and primary composer behind the popular animated educational series Schoolhouse Rock!
Monday, May 25 @ 7pm ($25)
Pharoah Sanders
Possessing one of the most distinctive tenor saxophone sounds in jazz, Pharoah Sanders is harmonically rich and heavy with overtones. Sanders' sound can be as raw and abrasive as it is possible for a saxophonist to be. Yet, at the same time, he is guided by grace. Highly regarded to the point of reverence by many jazz fans, Sanders has made a name for himself with his expressionistic, nearly anarchic free jazz in the Coltrane ensembles of the mid-60s. Having played with other jazz charmers such as Sun Ra, Don Cherry and John Hicks, Sanders continues to be one of the last gigging ambassadors of incisive lyricism.
Tuesday-Saturday, May 26-30 @ 8:30 & 11pm
($35 General Seating, $45 Premium Seating)
ANDY FARBER & HIS ORCHESTRA, Featuring Hilary Kole
Award winning composer/arranger and saxophonist Andy Farber leads his 17-piece jazz orchestra through a program of original compositions and new arrangements of standards. Featured with the big band is vocalist Hilary Kole, a star in the midst of a meteoric rise. The NY Observer calls her, “Hip and lovely...a musical marvel... sexy, charming and funny." While the NY Post raves, “Kole is drop dead gorgeous." And Time Out NY notes, “Kole has a sophisticated sex appeal...and presents her own distinctive style. She is the best at selling a song.
Sundays, May 3, 17, 24, 31 @ 6pm
($20; $25 on Mothers Day, 5/10)
CHICO OFARRILLS AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA
(directed by Arturo OFarrill, Jr.)
Arranger-bandleader Arturo Chico O Farrill, Sr. began introducing Afro-Cuban rhythms into jazz in the 1940s. The band bearing Chicos name (directed by his son Arturo) continues to showcase the most seamless blend of clav rhythm and bebop harmony anywhere. (Time Out)
Sundays, May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 @ 9 & 11pm
($25, $30 on Mothers Day, 5/10)
JIM CARUSOS CAST PARTY
No one can be called a true New Yorker until theyve been to the Cast Party, (2007 Nightlife Award Winner) which is to Broadway what the Conde-Nast cafeteria is to publishing. Divas and dapper-dans insouciantly sip cocktails while watching each other sing and perform at the open-mic event during Broadways dark night, says Next Magazine. Broadway impresario Jim Caruso hosts a combination open-mic, networking event and party in which the biggest stars on Broadway relax on their night off by performing their favorite songs in an informal setting.
Mondays, May 4, 11, 18, 25 @ 9:30pm
($10 $10 minimum)
THE MUSIC OF DUKE ELLINGTON
w/ The David Berger Jazz Orchestra
This Tuesday night residency has David Berger -- acclaimed bandleader, composer/arranger, and historical expert on all things Ellington leading his 16 piece Sultans of Swing Big Band in a program of authentic, swinging arrangements by Ellington, Basie and other big band icons.
Tuesdays, May 5, 12, 19 @ 9 & 11pm
(8:30 & 11pm on 5/5) ($25)
IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE NOTE:
Music charges vary by performer
At the tables, there is a $10 food/drink minimum per person in addition to the music charge.
At the bar, the music charge includes one complimentary drink, no additional minimum.
American Fare w/ a Cajun Accent served nightly from 5PMMid. & until 1am Fri. & Sat.
Discount parking garage across the street at 332 West 44th Street.
For further information and reservations call (212) 581-3080
Purchase tickets 24 hours a day at: www.birdlandjazz.com
PRE-THEATRE SPECIALS
EVERY WEDNESDAY, 5:30-7:30PM DAVID OSTWALDS LOUIS ARMSTRONG CENTENNIAL BAND $10 music charge
EVERY FRIDAY, 5:157:00PM THE BIRDLAND BIG BAND W/ TOMMY IGOE $20 music charge/$10 minimum
DISCOUNT ADMISSION SPECIALS (subject to availability) STUDENTS (with current ID): 50% off music charge, 11PM shows only.
50% off music charge for all 11PM shows with Broadway ticket stub (day of performance) when presented at door.
CONCERT GRAND PIANO BY: BOSENDORFER NEW YORK
For more information contact O&M Co..
