Ravi Coltrane Quartet, Mingus Big Band & More Upcoming at Birdland

Jazz programming has been announced at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater from April 4 - April 17. Artists appearing at Birdland Jazz Club include Ravi Coltrane Quartet, John Minnock with Dave Liebman, Mingus Big Band, and Jin Joo Trio. Downstairs at Birdland Theater, you'll find Francesco Cafisco Quartet, Roberta Gambarini and Steve Wilson Analog Band.

Regular events include David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Frank Vignola's Guitar Night, Birdland Big Band and Arturo O'Farrill & The Latin Jazz Ensemble.

See the schedule below!

April 4 (Monday) 8:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Francesco Cafiso Quartet
Once a child prodigy touring the world with Wynton Marsalis at age thirteen, saxophonist Francesco Cafiso has matured into a dazzlingly personal, heartbreakingly authentic artist. In his youth, he performed with such legends of American music as Hank Jones, Dave Brubeck, Cedar Walton, Jimmy Cobb, Ray Drummond, Joe Lovano, and Christian McBride, among many others. As a 19-year-old, he was named Artistic Director of the Vittoria Jazz Festival and has remained in this position since. And with 16 albums to his name as a leader alone (not to mention abundant recordings as a collaborator), Cafiso has shown himself a prodigious creator. Deservedly, he was named "Ambassador of Italian Jazz Music Around the World" by the Umbria Jazz Foundation and represented his native Italy for 2013's "Year of Italian Culture" in the US. Cafiso has released projects on record labels Verve and Venus, as well as on his own label, EFLAT Records. His 2020 release, Irene of Boston: Conversation avec Corto Maltese, features the London Symphony Orchestra.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

April 5-9 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (4/5-7); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (4/8-9) - Birdland Jazz Club / Thursday, April 7 at 9:30 - Livestream Event

Ravi Coltrane Quartet
The son of jazz's greatest trailblazers, 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 40 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 Gadi Lehavi (piano), Dezron Douglas (bass), and Elé Howell (drums).
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

April 6 (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

April 6 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Frank Vignola's Guitar Night - Livestream Event
One of the world's most exciting jazz guitarists for the last 25 years, Frank Vignola's virtuosity and pan-stylistic expertise has led to work with such stars as Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Tommy Emmanuel, and the Boston and New York Pops. Every Wednesday Frank takes the Birdland Theater stage with the guitar band featuring Jimmy Bruno and Ken Smith (guitars), Harvie S (bass), and Vince Cherico (drums). Join us on FlyMachine for a livestream set here.
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

April 8 (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 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

April 8-10 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Roberta Gambarini
Born in Turino, Italy, Roberta Gambarini's move to the United States in 1998 was all it took to launch her to stardom. Now a household name in swinging contemporary jazz, the award-winning vocalist and lyricist has appeared on over 20 albums, with 2007's Easy to Love and 2010's So In Love both nominated for the GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Gambarini has performed and recorded as a part of the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, the Roy Hargrove Big Band, The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band, the Heath Brothers Band, and in duo with piano legend Hank Jones. She counts among her mentors the great Jimmy Heath, Paquito D'Rivera, James Moody, Dave Brubeck, Chucho Valdes, and others in the family of jazz icons. Twice named Singer of the Year by the International Jazz Journalists Association, Gambarini is known for the dignity and sweetness of her tone, her sparkling improvisations, and her joyous stage presence.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

April 10 (Sunday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club

John Minnock CD Release Show
A special vocalist who contributes freshness and contemporaneity to the tradition, John Minnock possesses the street-smart sound of jazz vocalists past and maintains the forward-thinking attitude that has always uplifted the music. The recipient of the 2019 Hot House/Jazzmobile Best Male Vocalist Award, Minnock has become a fixture on both the jazz and cabaret circuits in New York City, playing the city's finest cabaret clubs, including Don't Tell Mama, the Triad Theater, and the Metropolitan Room, and receiving the 2016 Hot House Jazz Fans Decision Metropolitan Room Award." At Feinstein's/54 Below, he performed with legendary jazz saxophonist Dave Liebman, who will join him at this Sunday evening performance, along with pianist extraordinaire Mathis Picard, the excellent bassist Mark Lewandowki and creative drummer Pablo Eluchans to celebrate his new album Simplicity.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

April 10 (Sunday) 8:30 & 10:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club

Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble
Pianist, composer and educator Arturo O'Farrill-leader of the "first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz" (New York Times)-leads the GRAMMY® award winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) and the pared down, appropriately socially-distanced ensemble, 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

April 12-16 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (4/12-14); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (4/15-16) - Birdland Jazz Club / Thursday, April 7 at 9:30 - Livestream Event

Mingus Big Band: Celebrating 100 Years of Charles Mingus
For this special week, Birdland presents The Mingus Big Band celebrating the 100th birthday of its namesake, the inimitable composer, bassist, author and activist Charles Mingus. One of the longest working New York ensembles, the Big Band held weekly performances in New York for a whopping 17 years, changing to biweekly performances for another 11 years at the Jazz Standard, trading off weeks with the Mingus Dynasty band. Stopping for the pandemic, the band is now back, performing at the Roxy Hotel each week. They have recorded 12 albums-six nominated for Grammys. The band features striking arrangements of Mingus compositions played by the best jazz personalities in the business.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

April 13 (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

April 13 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Frank Vignola's Guitar Night - Livestream Event
One of the world's most exciting jazz guitarists for the last 25 years, Frank Vignola's virtuosity and pan-stylistic expertise has led to work with such stars as Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Tommy Emmanuel, and the Boston and New York Pops. Every Wednesday Frank takes the Birdland Theater stage with the guitar band featuring Jimmy Bruno and Ken Smith (guitars), Harvie S (bass), and Vince Cherico (drums). Join us on FlyMachine for a livestream set here.
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

April 14-17 (Thursday-Sunday) 8:30 PM (4/14); 7:00 & 9:30 PM (4/15-17) - Birdland Theater
Steve Wilson Analog Band

One of jazz's most celebrated figures on the alto saxophone, the ever inventive and endlessly passionate Steve Wilson-the leader on 7 acclaimed recordings and sideman on over 130-brings his Analog Band to Birdland Theater for four nights. In 2017, the GRAMMY-winning Wilson released Sit Back, Relax, and Unwind (JMI Recordings) on vinyl only, a totally "analog" session using no digital equipment, as was customary in earlier epochs of recording history. The band from that session, featuring pianist Ray Angry (The Roots, D'Angelo), drummer Willie Jones III (Roy Hargrove), and bassist Corcoran Holt (Kenny Garrett) joins Wilson for this engagement at the Theater. Wilson, who Jazz Times hails as "one of the finest alto and soprano saxophonists of our time," has served as an integral part of trailblazing bands by Maria Schneider, Chick Corea, George Duke, Dave Holland, Christian McBride, and so many more. Don't miss this great artist!
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

April 15 (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 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

April 17 (Sunday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club

Jin Joo Trio
The late, great jazz drummer Jimmy Wormworth exclaimed of pianist Jin Joo: "I LOVE her playing and compositions!!! I hear Thelonious, Bud, John Lewis from her," he stated. "Jinjoo does not show off. She tells a lot of big story with fewer notes than most young artists of her age." An internationally-regarded performer, she has played across the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, Spain, Poland, Hungary, and South Korea, and in 2017, the famed Baku Jazz Competition selected her as a Finalist. On her debut album, 2018's I'm Curious (Gut Strings Records), Joo is backed by the great Wormworth and revered bassist Neal Miner. She brings a swinging trio to Birdland playing songbook standards and inspired originals.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

April 17 (Sunday) 8:30 & 10:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club

Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble
Pianist, composer and educator Arturo O'Farrill-leader of the "first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz" (New York Times)-leads the GRAMMY® award winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) and the pared down, appropriately socially-distanced ensemble, 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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