Birdland Presents The Return Of Eric Comstock And Barbara Fasano For A Four-Show Residency, February 6-27

BIRDLAND THEATER will present the return of pianist and singer Eric Comstock and vocalist Barbara Fasano, hailed as “exhilarating” and “a hotbed of pleasure” by Stephen Holden in The New York Times, for four Tuesdays next month – February 6, 13, 20, and 27 – at 5:30 PM with their new show “The Songbook: From Sinatra to Sondheim to Sting.”

Drawing from eclectic influences, Sinatra and Cole Porter classics to singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Carole King, the married musical couple's electrifying combination of warmth, wit, swing, and sensuality have made them the nightclub world's most celebrated team. Their performances have taken them from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to Saratoga Jazz Festival, Music Mountain Twilight Jazz, London's Pizza Express, Italy's Monteverdi Tuscany, and nightclubs and music festivals across the country.

Their new CD, Painting the Town, featuring tenor saxophone legend Houston Person, drops this spring. There is a $30 music charge. Birdland is located at 315 West 44th Street in New York.

As they did in their Saturday Residency at Birdland, Comstock and Fasano will change their set weekly. Also, they plan to salute several musical heroes who were born 100 years ago: Henry Mancini, J.J. Johnson, Julie Wilson, Bobby Short, Sheldon Harnick, and others. “It's our life's passion to bring these songs & their creators to life, and we could not be more excited to be back at Birdland,” says Comstock. Fasano adds, “Later this year we'll celebrate our 20th anniversary, so this is terrific way to start the party!”

Joining them will be eminent bassist Sean Smith, known for his collaborations with Jacky Terrasson, Bill Charlap, Benny Carter, and Gerry Mulligan.

The New Yorker praises Comstock's “expert musicianship and joie de vivre in equal measure.” Fasano has been hailed by The New York Times as "a lyrically sensitive interpreter with a special affinity for Joni Mitchell" and by The New York Post as “a gorgeous, soulful singer who has an actor's intensity in whatever she sings.” Her albums Busy Being Free and Written in the Stars both won the MAC Award for Major Recording of the Year. Winners of eight MAC Awards, five New York Bistro Awards and the New York Nightlife Award, Comstock and Fasano recently received the Donald F. Smith Award from the Mabel Mercer Foundation, acknowledging their artistry.

Every bit as entertaining as they are musically savvy, they've been compared to Bobby Short and Lena Horne and Fred and Ginger, but Comstock and Fasano's style is all their own, with a wide choice of material that brings the generations together. They make all of it fresh, new, spontaneous, and fun — and their audiences feel they've been to a terrific party where the music and the stories have been equally great. In the words of the late jazz critic Ira Gitler, they “have it all, and then some … artistic, swinging, and superbly entertaining.”

 

BIRDLAND THEATER will present Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano in “The Songbook: From Sinatra to Sondheim to Sting” on February 6, 13, 20, and 27 at 5:30 PM. There is a $30 music charge and a $20 food and beverage minimum. Birdland is located at 315 West 44th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues) in Manhattan. For reservations, please call (212) 581-3080 or visit www.BirdlandJazz.com. 

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