Ravi Coltrane Quartet, Robert Edwards Big Band, and More to Play Birdland

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater have announced all jazz programming running June 26 through July 9.

Performers appearing at Birdland Jazz Club include Ravi Coltrane Quartet, Robert Edwards Big Band, Houston Person Quintet, Dave Stryker Organ Trio with special guest Bob Mintzer and Christina Wiggs.

Downstairs at Birdland Theater, catch Loston Harris Duo, Steve Smith Vital Information Trio, Ashley Pezzotti and Chad LB Quintet.

Repeat engagements include Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Frank Vignola's Guitar Night, Birdland Big Band and Arturo O'Farrill. 
 

Jazz Programming at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater June 26 through July 9

June 26 (Monday) 5:30 & 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
Catch Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks every Monday evening in June at 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


June 27 (Tuesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Loston Harris Duo
Loston Harris possesses a voice like the great big band singers and the consummate pianism of a Wynton Kelly or a Tommy Flanagan. This combination of outgoing performance and exuberant technical mastery is rare, but Harris has it in spades—and at Birdland Theater, accompanied by the brilliant Gianluca Renzi on bass, Loston will bring his one-two punch to the stage every Tuesday night in June. Harris's life in jazz has included tutelage with some of the music's greatest masters. He studied with Marsalis family patriarch, the pianist Ellis, on recommendation by the great Harry Connick Jr. after participating in the first Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in Washington, D.C. Indeed it was Marsalis who was responsible for Harris's decision to shift from his first instrument—drums—to piano. An artist with these three perspectives—rhythm of the drums, harmony of the piano, and melody of the voice—can only wow an audience.
$20 + $20 food/drink minimum


June 27 – July 1 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (6/27-29); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (6/30-7/1) – Birdland Jazz Club
Ravi Coltrane Quartet
Beloved saxophonist Ravi Coltrane honors the legacy of his parents John and Alice Coltrane with his powerful, free-thinking musical projects. With six albums as a leader, seven as a co-leader, and over 100 more as a sideman with jazz music's greatest innovators—included Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Jack DeJohnette, Terence Blanchard, Kenny Barron, Steve Coleman, and others—the GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist has made a powerful mark on contemporary jazz. His quartet features David Virelles (piano), Dezron Douglas (bass), and Johnathan Blake (drums).
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


June 28 (Wednesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater
David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band
Inspired by the noble jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and their colleagues, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band breathes life and passion into America's own great art form. Now in its 18th year of residency at Birdland, the weekly post-workday engagement is the city's best musical bargain! Tuba player David Ostwald leads a rotating lineup that features talents such as clarinetist Anat Cohen, trombonist/vocalist Wycliffe Gordon, pianist Ehud Asherie, drummer Marion Felder and more!
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


June 28 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Frank Vignola's Guitar Night featuring Mike Stern
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, with special guest, guitar icon Mike Stern every week in June (6/7,14,21,28). *Guitar night streams live every week at YouTube.com/RadioFreeBirdland
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


June 30 (Friday) 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


June 30 – July 2 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Steve Smith Vital Information Trio
A truly unique musician with a fabulous artistic path, the great drummer Steve Smith began playing in big bands in the 1970s as he studied with legendary teachers Alan Dawson and Freddie Gruber. His all-star group Vital Information has performed since the early 1970s, since before Smith joined the iconic rock band, Journey, with whom he rocketed to international fame. After decades of performances and the changing of group members over the years, Vital Information now includes the incredible Manuel Valera (Guggenheim Fellow and Grammy nominated pianist) and the world-class Janek Gwizdala (electric bassist for fusion jazz legends Mike Stern, Randy Brecker and Peter Erskine). Vital Information has, over the years, been a four-member ensemble. This new trio format allows for new possibilities in the group's miraculous combination of bebop, funk, South Indian traditional, and contemporary influences. And, in anticipation of Vital Information's 40th Anniversary celebration in 2023, Wounded Bird Records has recently released Steve Smith and Vital Information: The Complete Columbia Recordings, a four CD set of Vital Information's first 4 albums.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


July 2 (Sunday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club
Robert Edwards Big Band
Robert Edwards is a jazz trombonist and bandleader in New York City. Born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida, his schooling at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts exposed him to trombone giants Wycliffe Gordon and Bill Watrous, who helped peek his imagination of what's possible on trombone. 
Robert's university studies began at the University of North Florida in 2003, where he studied both undergraduate trombone and piano. In 2006, he transferred to New Jersey City University to continue his pursuit in trombone and studied under Pete McGuiness and Joe Magnarelli. After graduating from New Jersey City University in 2008, he obtained his master's degree at The Juilliard School in 2010, where he studied with Steve Turre. He brings his big band to Birdland for a special performance! 
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


July 2 (Sunday) 8:30 & 10:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Pianist, composer and educator Arturo O'Farrill—leader of the “first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz” (The New York Times)—leads the GRAMMY award winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), who bring together the drama of big band jazz, the culture of Latin music, and the virtuosity of eighteen of the world's most accomplished solo musicians. Twelve years of critically-acclaimed performances internationally have firmly established the ALJO as the standard-bearer for creative interpretation of Latin jazz greats such as Tito Puente, Frank “Machito” Grillo, and Chico O'Farrill, as well as the driving force behind new commissions from Latin music's most talented composers and arrangers.
$30 + $20 food/drink minimum


July 3-4 (Monday-Tuesday) 5:30 & 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
Catch Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks every Monday evening in June at 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


July 3 (Monday) 7:00 PM - Birdland Jazz Club
Houston Person Quintet
The 87 year-old jazz legend Houston Person has NOT slowed down. In fact, with one or two scattered exceptions, Person has continued to release at least one record per year as a leader for the past nearly 60 years. A jazz lover's jazzman, this great artist plays from his soul with a great mastery of affect, technique, and style. He has served as a sideman for Etta Jones (15 recordings), Joey Defrancesco, Ron Carter, Horace Silver, Richard “Groove” Holmes, and too many others to name. This engagement is sure to be as swinging, blues-soaked, and robust as ever.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


July 4 (Tuesday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Theater
Ashley Pezzotti
Called a “performer to watch” by DownBeat Magazine, Queens-born Ashley Pezzotti takes an early set on the Birdland Theater stage four consecutive Tuesdays in August to deliver her trademark renditions of American standards. This 25-year-old rising star has performed with jazz icon Wynton Marsalis (on his 2020 recording The Ever Fonky Lowdown), country legend Keith Urban, and piano prodigy Joey Alexander. On her debut recording, We've Only Just Begun, she was backed by the Emmet Cohen Trio and other young lions. A vocalist indebted to the great jazz singers like Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Carmen McRae, Pezzotti offers listeners a chance to relax into the music they know and love, while bringing a freshness of presence that enchants her audiences..
$20 + $20 food/drink minimum


July 4-8 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (7/4-6); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (7/7-8) – Birdland Jazz Club
Dave Stryker Organ Trio w/ Special Guest Bob Mintzer
“One of the most distinctive guitarists to come along in recent years,” states Village Voice, with “one of the most joyous feels around,” according to Pat Metheny. Dave Stryker is a fabulous guitarist who has served as the featured accompanist for Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and hundreds of others, as well as leading 30 recording projects of his own. Stryker's latest recording, 2022's As We Are, features Brian Blade, John Pattitucci, Julian Shore, Sara Caswell and others,was named one of DownBeat's top albums of the year. “The jazz gods have alighted on the guitarist and elevated his playing, his composing, his soloing, and his music,” says Jazz Times's Ken Micallef. Meanwhile, Stryker heads into the studio soon with his Organ Trio, this time featuring special guest Bob Mintzer, the world-class saxophonist of Yellowjackets fame. It is this ultra-swinging group, which opened twenty dates in 2022 for Steely Dan, that the guitarist will bring to his week at Birdland. They'll deliver gritty, soulful sounds for contemporary ears.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


July 5 (Wednesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater
David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band
Inspired by the noble jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and their colleagues, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band breathes life and passion into America's own great art form. Now in its 18th year of residency at Birdland, the weekly post-workday engagement is the city's best musical bargain! Tuba player David Ostwald leads a rotating lineup that features talents such as clarinetist Anat Cohen, trombonist/vocalist Wycliffe Gordon, pianist Ehud Asherie, drummer Marion Felder and more!
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


July 5 (Wednesday) 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,  *Guitar Night streams live every week at YouTube.com/RadioFreeBirdland
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


July 7 (Friday) 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


July 7-9 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM - Birdland Theater
Chad LB Quartet
Celebrated as a saxophone prodigy from a young age, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown is now an internationally-recognized musician, seen on world stages with Taylor Swift, Chris Botti, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, and his own groups. Performances at Carnegie Hall, the Super Bowl, and Madison Square Garden have been highlights in his star-studded career, and his albums have met great critical acclaim: critic Doug Ramsey named Lefkowitz-Brown's debut album, Image Manifesto, “Debut Album of the Year,” and DownBeat named Onward, his May 2017 release, an Editor's Pick for 2017. His two 2021 releases—Open World, featuring greats Lionel Loueke, Randy Brecker, and other stars, and Quartet Sessions featuring his brilliant peers—were released on La Reserve recordings.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


July 9 (Sunday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Theater
Christian Wiggs
One of the emergent male vocalists singing jazz today, Christian Wiggs possesses a striking technique reminiscent of superstar and Birdland favorite, Kurt Elling. Wiggs has released three recordings under his own name: 2015's Wonderful You Came By; 2017's From Dusk Till Dawn; and 2020's Between Love and Fascination. His work with top swingsters Benny Benack III, Chad LB, Steven Feifke, and Bryan Carter places him amongst a young jazz in-crowd, devoted to the old swing feeling and committed to developing a new generation of listenership. Sharp-suited and with clean delivery, the powerful Wiggs brings his Christian Wiggs Big Band to the Birdland stage.   
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


July 9 (Sunday) 8:30 & 10:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Pianist, composer and educator Arturo O'Farrill—leader of the “first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz” (The New York Times)—leads the GRAMMY award winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), who bring together the drama of big band jazz, the culture of Latin music, and the virtuosity of eighteen of the world's most accomplished solo musicians. Twelve years of critically-acclaimed performances internationally have firmly established the ALJO as the standard-bearer for creative interpretation of Latin jazz greats such as Tito Puente, Frank “Machito” Grillo, and Chico O'Farrill, as well as the driving force behind new commissions from Latin music's most talented composers and arrangers.
$30 + $20 food/drink minimum

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