LEW TABACKIN & TOSHIKO AKIYOSHI QUARTET
Wednesday-Saturday, July 1-4 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charges: $30, general seating; $40, premium seating
Lew Tabackin is one of the few jazz musicians who maintains a dual musical personality. As a tenor saxophonist, he is a hard-driving, tough-toned player reminiscent of Sonny Rollins or Don Byas. But as a flutist, he can also sound like a highly expressive master of Asian classical music. Lew moved to New York in the mid 1960s, where he was involved with the big bands of Cab Calloway, Maynard Ferguson, Thad Jones & Mel Lewis among others. His distinctive sound has also graced various studio bands such as Dick Cavett's television orchestra. Tabackin met and married jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi in 1968 and co-founded the award winning Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, which had a New York residence at Birdland from 1996 until it disbanded in 2002.
DAVID OSTWALD'S LOUIS ARMSTRONG CENTENNIAL BAND
Every Wednesday from 5:15pm-7pm
Music Charge: $10
THE BIRDLAND BIG BAND directed by TOMMY IGOE
Every Friday from 5:15-7pm
Music Charge: $20
Featuring the finest musicians in New York! The BBB roars into action every Friday, playing the finest Jazz, Latin and Brazilian music from the world's best arrangers. After work or before a show, drinks or a great dinner, come hear one of the world's best drummers driving the hardest swinging band in New York. Experience why the BBB is fast becoming the must-see weekly jazz event in New York and kick off your weekend with what critics are calling “the best live music bargain in all of NYC!" Visit TOMMYIGOE.com for our surprise special guest line-up.
ANDY FARBER BIG BAND
featuring Vocalist Hilary Kole
Sundays: July 5,12,19,26 at 6pm -
Music Charge: $20 ($25, 7/5)
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, who the New York Observer hails as “a musical marvel." In reviewing Kole's performance in the New York Times, Stephen Holden wrote, “swinging...sultry....sexy with a sharp-edged hint of brass in her voice...Kole locates the desperation and impatience lurking in Cole Porter's besotted lyrics."
CHICO O'FARRILL'S AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Directed by Arturo O'Farrill:
Sundays July 5,12,19,26 - 9 & 11pm shows
Music Charge: $30
Arranger-bandleader Arturo 'Chico' O'Farrill, Sr. began introducing Afro-Cuban rhythms into jazz in the 1940's. The band that bears Chico's name (and is directed by his son Arturo) “continues to showcase the most seamless blend of clave rhythm and bebop harmony anywhere." (Time Out)
JIM CARUSO'S CAST PARTY
Hosted by Jim Caruso, with the Cast Party “Symphony Orchestra"
Mondays July 6,13,20,27
9:30pm until 1am, $10 admission + $10 minimum
“No one can call themselves a true New Yorker until they've been to the 'Cast Party,' 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 Broadway's dark night." (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.
DOMINICK FARINACCI
Dominick Farinacci (trumpet) with Dan Kaufman (piano) Carmen Intorre (drums) Keita Ogawa (percussion).
Monday, July 6 @ 7pm
Music Charge: $25
At the age of 15, jazz trumpeter Dominick Farinacci was discovered by Wynton Marsalis in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and was subsequently invited to appear as a featured soloist with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra PBSs Live from Lincoln Center. Since then he has performed and/or recorded with many high-profile jazz artists such as Joe Lovano, Wynton Marsalis, Ira Sullivan, Mulgrew Miller, Carl Allen, Jason Miles, and Joe Labarbera. Dominick's debut CD, “Lovers Tales & Dances" (E1 Entertainment) prompted Gary Walker of WBGO to dub it One of the most gorgeous, passionate and haunting recordings to cross my desk in some time, and Metro Santa Cruz to say Serious chops for serious jazz fans, this kid is making waves and hes barely out of the kiddie pool.
ECM Records CD Release Celebration:
“Mostly Coltrane"
with Steve Kuhn (piano) Joe Lovano (sax) David Finck (bass) Billy Drummond (drums)
Tuesday, July 7 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charge: $25
After making his mark as a sideman with John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, and others, pianist Steve Kuhn transcended the powerful influence of Bill Evans to become a unique stylist with incredible technique and sense of dynamics and lyricism. With a style built on the foundations of melodic variation and inventive improvisation, Kuhn visits Birdland to celebrate the release of a new ECM Records CD release, “Mostly Coltrane." With Saxophonist Joe Lovano, bassist David Finck and drummer Billy Drummond.
TIM HAGANS QUINTET
with JOHN ABERCROMBIE (guitar)MARC COPLAND (piano) BILL STEWART (drums, 7/8-9) BILLY HART (drums, 7/10-11) DREW GRESS (bass)
Wednesday-Saturday, July 8-11 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charges: $30, general seating; $40, premium seating
Composer and Trumpeter Tim Hagans is one of the most unique and influential modern voices on trumpet. His distinct tone was described by the Village Voice as “powerfully expressive" and Gary Giddins professed him to be a “swarming, spirited tour de force." Mr. Hagans performs and records with his own ensembles as well as with Joe Lovano, Blue Note All-Stars, Gary Peacock, Yellowjackets, Bob Mintzer, Marc Copland, Bob Belden and Maria Schneider. He was nominated for Grammy awards for Best Contemporary Jazz CD for his Animation*Imagination (1999 Blue Note) and Re: Animation (2000 Blue Note). He has performed with Thad Jones, Ernie Wilkins, Dexter Gordon, Ed Thigpen, Kenny Drew, Danish Radio Big Band, and Swedish Radio Jazz Group. For three years he was a member of the Stan Kenton Orchestra. He is the featured soloist on the soundtrack by Howard Shore for the movie The Score, starring Robert DeNiro and Marlon Brando. In 2001 he was the subject of an hour-long documentary made for Swedish television entitled Boogaloo Road. He recently won the Best Trumpet category in Brazil's 30th Annual Jazz Station poll published in Tribuna da Imprensa; Alone Together, his recent release on Pirouet, was also named as one of the top ten jazz recordings in 2008.
FRANK KIMBROUGH TRIO
featuring: Paul Motian (drums) Jay Anderson (bass)
Tuesday, July 14 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charge: $25
Pianist and composer Frank Kimbrough has been active on the New York jazz scene for 25 years. He is currently a Palmetto recording artist, having previously recorded as a leader for OmniTone, Soul Note, Igmod, and Mapleshade. Frank was a founding member and composer-in-residence of the Jazz Composers Collective (1992 - 2005). During the Collective's existence he played in nearly twenty of its groups, and his relationship with the musicians associated with the JCC is ongoing. Frank was a member of the legendary saxophonist Dewey Redman's quartet from summer '05 until Redman's passing in Sept. '06. Frank's playing has been recognized by his inclusion in the Downbeat Critics Poll each year since 2001, and his recordings are often included in jazz critics' years-end top-ten lists.
LOUIS HAYES QUINTET
“Cannonball Adderley Legacy"
Wednesday-Saturday, July 15-18 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charges: $30, general seating; $40, premium seating
For well over half a century, the exceptionally gifted hard-bop drummer Louis Hayes has been one of the most recorded jazz drummers in history, contributing to hundreds of records. His popular Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band is dedicated to playing and recording the jazz of the 1950s and 1960s, saluting his old boss, alto sax legend Julian “Cannonball" Adderley. All About Jazz calls Hayes “the perfect bandleader to mount a tribute to Adderley."
THE MARCY & ZINA SHOW
Monday, July 20 @ 7pm Music Charge: $30
The team voted “Best Knocking on Broadway's Door Songwriting Team" in the Village Voice, comprised of Award-winning songwriters Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich, will once again bring the intimate Marcy & Zina Show to Birdland! Goldrich and Heisler have recently been nominated for Drama Desk Awards (Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics). Come for an ever-changing night of song and story. Often accompanied by their Broadway and Off Broadway friends, it's an hour of original musical comedy you won't want to miss!
CATHY ROCCO
Tuesday, July 21 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charge: $25
Pittsburgh native Cathy Rocco began performing professionally at age 10 with “The Rocco Sisters." They toured and recorded for Sutra records for many years. Recently Cathy has focused on jazz singing. Her new release “You're Gonna Hear From Me" on Resonance Records features piano and arrangements from Kuno Schmid and Tamir Hendelman with Dave Carpenter (bass), Vic Stevens (drums) and Michael Higgins (guitar).
LEE KONITZ QUARTET
featuring PAUL MOTIAN (drums)
Wednesday-Saturday, July 22-25 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charges: $30, general seating; $40, premium seating
Saxophonist Lee Konitz has been playing jazz music for over six decades. Initially recognized for his work on Miles Davis' “Birth of the Cool" sessions, Konitz has also been associated with Lennie Tristano, Stan Kenton, Charles Mingus and Warne Marsh, among others. His experiments and personal expressions have touched a variety of different styles and Konitz has established himself as a major player in jazz history.
TITUSS BURGESS & The Tight-Ass Band
Monday, July 27 @ 7pm
Music Charge: $25
Tituss Burgess is currently starring as Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the Broadway company of Guys and Dolls. His past credits on Broadway include The Little Mermaid, Jersey Boys and Good Vibrations. Regionally, he was seen in The Wiz (Cowardly Lion, La Jolla), Songs For A New World w/ Jason Robert Brown, Brian D'arcy James and Alice Ripley. Tituss has also made several television appearances on programs such as “The View," The Today Show," “Good Morning America," and “Late Night with David Letterman."
LOU DONALDSON QUARTET
Wednesday-Saturday, July 29-August 1 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charges: $30, general seating; $40, premium seating
Alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson was known as a bebopper and disciple of Charlie Parker when he recorded with Thelonious Monk in 1952 before joining a distinctive version of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers along with trumpeter Clifford Brown. He began to forge a more personal path when he found commercial success and even a couple of jukebox hits with organ groups led by Big John Patton and others. Since the 1970's, Donaldson's signature has been that unique combination of bebop and funky soul that only his particular career path could have produced. “My first impulse is always to describe Lou Donaldson as the greatest alto saxophonist in the world," wrote Will Friedwald of the New York Sun in January, 2007.
LIMBSAKIMBO
Celebrates “What's Goin' On"
Monday, August 3 @ 7pm
Music Charge: $25
Limbsakimbo is Lindsay Mendez, Mike Aarons, and Chris Fenwick. Their creative energy and musical restlessness have marked their work on many Broadway and off-Broadway productions and now takes them into new territory as they recreate, reassemble, and reinvent classic albums in their entirety. For their premiere gig together, Limbsakimbo and special guests will celebrate the soul, activism and heat of Marvin Gaye.
TED NASH
“Mancini Project"
Tuesday, August 4 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charge: $25
Best known for his associations with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz Composers Collective, and his own inventive groups, composer and multi-instrumentalist Ted Nash enjoys an extraordinary career as a performer, conductor, composer, arranger, and educator, receiving high praise from both critics and audiences worldwide. Featuring Ted Nash (reeds), Frank Kimbrough (piano), Rufus Reid (bass), and Matt Wilson (drums), the Mancini Project celebrates the diversity of the great composer Henry Mancini, whose most memorable compositions include the theme for the “The Pink Panther" film series, the score for “Breakfast at Tiffany's," and the classic song “Moon River," along with various other songs and scores for film and television.
TRIO 3 + GERI ALLEN
Oliver Lake (sax) Reggie Workman (bass) Andrew Cyrille (drums) + Special Guest: Geri Allen (piano)
Wednesday-Saturday, August 5-8 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charges: $30, general seating; $40, premium seating
Experience musical symmetry as three world-renowned musicians, Oliver Lake (reeds) Reggie Workman (bass) and Andrew Cyrille (drums), merge to apply a sparse yet tight, rhythmic concept to the totally open harmonics of the reeds, bass and drums. Noted for their uncanny communication, TRIO 3 covers a broad spectrum, pushing the envelope while taking the audience gladly swingin' with them. Along with pianist Geri Allen, who is hailed by the New York Times as “a jazz pianist who dares to follow an unmarked road," the ensemble is sure to bring a revolutionary avant-garde edge to their foundations in the jazz tradition.
“The Queen of Bossa Nova"
LENY ANDRADE
Wednesday-Saturday, August 12-15 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charges: $30, general seating; $40, premium seating
Making the virtuosic and vigorous style of samba-jazz her main field of expression, Leny Andrade acquired a solid reputation as a singer and improviser, acknowledged by the many top musicians who have performed with her, such as Paquito D'Rivera (who considers Andrade his favorite singer), Luiz Ea, Dick Farney, Joo Donato, Eumir Deodato, and Francis Hime. Leny Andrade's eclectic style became better defined with the advent of bossa nova, through which she introduced jazz elements into her singing. Finally, she embraced a synthesis of samba-jazz that refutes much of the delicacy and attention to the lyrics as proposed by bossa nova, in favor of a more energetic interpretation.
RICHIE BEIRACH QUINTET
featuring: Joe Lovano (sax, 8/19 only) Randy Brecker (trumpet, 8/20-22) George Mraz (bass) Billy Hart (drums) Gregor Huebner (violin)
Wednesday-Saturday, August 19-22 @ 8:30 & 11pm
Music Charges: $30, general seating; $40, premium seating
Richie Beirach's career as a jazz pianist began at the Berklee College of Music, after having studied both classical and jazz piano. 1972 he began working with Stan Getz, and went on to collaborate with other great talents such as Chet Baker and French saxophonist Henrik Frisk, while maintaining an ongoing musical partnership with David Liebman from the 1970s to the 90s, in Lookout Farm, Quest and many duos. Richie's style is influenced by Art Tatum, Bill Evans, and his earlier classical training, yet is also unique with many qualities all its own. This blend of classic foundation and individual style has landed several of his compositions, such as “Leaving" and “Elm," into the jazz standard repertoire.
“Don't Stop Till You Get Enough"
Broadway Salutes The King of Pop
Monday, October 19 @ 7pm
Music Charge: $30, general seating; $40 premium seating
Jim Caruso's Cast Party, in association with Amy Birnbaum, is proud to announce that the Broadway community will pay musical tribute to Michael Jackson in DON'T STOP TILL YOU GET ENOUGH, on Monday, October 19 at 7pm at Birdland. A portion of the proceeds from the concert will benefit The VH1 Save The Music Foundation. DON'T STOP TILL YOU GET ENOUGH will feature an 8 piece band and the vocal stylings of Broadway top stars including Norm Lewis, Christine Ebersole, Capathia Jenkins, Darius De Haas, Marty Thomas, Destan Owens, Antonique Smith, Kendrick Jones, and others. (Cast subject to change.) DON'T STOP TILL YOU GET ENOUGH is a proud supporter of VH1 Save The Music - a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in American public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child's complete education.
Jazz landmark club established in New York in 1949, named after Charlie “Yardbird" Parker.
Birdland is located 315 West 44th Street
Between 8th & 9th Avenues, Manhattan NY
For Reservations call 212/ 581-3880
For more information contact All About Jazz.
