CAP21 Graduating Class, Curtis Stigers and More Coming Up This Spring at Birdland

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for May 8-May 14, featuring Curtis Stigers, The Graduating Class of CAP21, Mari Koga, and more. Scroll down for details!

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Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with the following acts:

May 8 (Monday) at 7:00PM

The Graduating Class of CAP21 presents "All These Things: The Pop/Rock Project"

Collaborative Arts Project 21, a.k.a. CAP21, is dedicated to developing new talent, creating new work, and building new audiences. CAP21 replenishes the American musical theatre by training the next generation of performers and infusing the entertainment industry at large with talent and source material. The goal is to create programs that achieve substantial and lasting contributions to the future of the arts.

All tickets $30, $10 food/drink minimum

May 8 (Monday) at 9:30PM

Jim Caruso's Cast Party

Jim Caruso's Cast Party is a wildly popular weekly soiree that brings a sprinkling of Broadway glitz and urbane wit to the legendary Birdland in New York City every Monday night. It's a cool cabaret night-out enlivened by a hilariously impromptu variety show. Showbiz superstars, backed by Steve Doyle on bass, Billy Stritch on piano and Daniel Glass on drums, hit the stage alongside up-and-comers, serving up jaw-dropping music and general razzle-dazzle.

All tickets $30, $10 food/drink minimum

May 9-13 (Tuesday-Saturday)

Curtis Stigers

Singer, songwriter and saxophonist Curtis Stigers has been bringing the timeless cool of Frank Sinatra and the robust swing of the Count Basie Orchestra together in his own music for the last three decades (along with touches of nearly every other genre one could call to mind), which makes him an ideal candidate to reinterpret Ol' Blue Eyes' cherished repertoire for modern ears. On his twelfth album and ninth release for Concord Records, One More for the Road, Stigers captures the rare alchemy of hipness, elegance, playfulness and feeling that made Sinatra's renditions of these songs immortal while adding his own unique twist.

All tickets $40, $10 food/drink minimum

May 10 (Wednesday) at 5:30PM

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 14th 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!

All tickets $30, $10 food/drink minimum

May 11 (Thursday) at 6:00PM

John Yao

Experimental, melodic and unpredictable. The John Yao Quintet features the unique compositions of Trombonist John Yao, which are firmly rooted in the jazz tradition but not afraid to step out into the free-rider zone at times. Yao's music gives the players free rein to let loose all the while exploring the concepts of opposing forces-of chaos and order, together and apart, individual and group.

All tickets $25, $10 food/drink minimum

May 12 (Friday) at 5:15PM

The Birdland Big Band

With Guest Conductor Rob Middleton

Founded by drummer and musical director Tommy Igoe, the Birdland Big Band features the finest musicians in New York! Celebrating 10 years at the club, 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 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!"

All tickets $30, $10 food/drink minimum

May 13 (Saturday) at 6:00PM

Eric Comstock and Sean Smith

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. Join them at Birdland for a cool spring party where the music and stories are equally great.

All tickets $30, $10 food/drink minimum

May 14 (Sunday) at 6:00PM

Mari Koga

A Japanese born New Yorker, Mari Koga, has been singing professionally since her early 20's. Audiences have been delighted by her unique repertoire, which includes original songs and unusual arrangements of jazz standards with a touch of Afro-Latin, and by her throaty horn-like improvisational scatting style.

All tickets $25, $10 food/drink minimum

May 14 (Sunday) at 9PM & 11PM

Arturo O'Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

Grammy Award winning pianist, composer and educator Arturo O'Farrill -- leader of the "first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz" (NY Times) -- was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. Son of the late, great composer Chico O'Farrill, Arturo was Educated at Manhattan School of Music, Brooklyn College Conservatory and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. He played piano in Carla Bley's Big Band from 1979 through 1983 and earned a reputation as a soloist in groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Turre, Freddy Cole, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis and Harry Belafonte.

All tickets $40, $10 food/drink minimum

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Purchase tickets at www.BirdlandJazz.com. For more information and reservations call 212-581-3080. Ticket prices will 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 will include one complimentary drink with no additional minimum.

Named for alto saxophonist and jazz pioneer Charlie "Bird" Parker who dubbed it "The Jazz Corner of the World," Birdland opened on December 15th 1949. For 60 years it has been home to jazz legends, from Parker, John Coltrane Duke Ellington and Count Basie to Oscar Peterson, Hank Jones, Diana Krall and everyone in between. The original 52nd street location was a cultural barometer and meeting place, inspiring the songs "Birdland" and "Lullaby of Birdland," and serving as a regular haunt for celebrities and cultural figures. The modern incarnation is a state of the art nightclub featuring award winning Southern and Cajun cuisine, first rate sound and lighting and a who's who of contemporary musical artists, 7 nights a week.

Birdland is located at 315 West 44th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues), New York, NY 10036. Students (with current ID) & Broadway Theatre-Goers (with Broadway ticket stub from same day of performance): 50% off music charge at 11PM shows only. Birdland serves American Fare with a Cajun Flair nightly from 5PM until Midnight and until 1AM on Friday and Saturdays.Parking is available across the street at 332 West 44th Street. Concert Grand Piano By: Yamaha.

For more information, visit www.BirdlandJazz.com, or follow BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB on Twitter: @birdlandjazz, Facebook, Instagram, and on Pinterest.

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