The Peperoncino Jazz Festival with Russell Ferrante, John Patitucci, and More to Play Birdland

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater have announced the jazz programming running May 29 through June 11.

Performers appearing at Birdland Jazz Club include The Peperoncino Jazz Festival with Russell Ferrante, John Patitucci, Brian Blade, and Joe Lovano, Jay Leonhart's J7, Stacey Kent and Brian Krock Big Heart Machine Ensemble. 

Downstairs at Birdland Theater, catch The Anderson Brothers, Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, Scott Robinson Quartet, Esteban Castro Trio and Senri Oe. 

Repeat engagements include David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Frank Vignola's Guitar Night, Birdland Big Band and Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. 

Jazz Programming at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater May 29 through June 11

May 29 (Monday) 5:30 & 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
Vince 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

May 30 (Tuesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater
The Anderson Brothers Play Ellington
Juilliard-trained identical twins Peter and Will Anderson have been hailed as “virtuosos on clarinet and saxophone” by The New York Times. Their passion for classic jazz shines through each time they perform. Having shared the stage with some of the music's biggest straight-ahead jazz acts—including Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Paquito D'Rivera, and Wynton Marsalis—the brothers constitute a formidable force. They've headlined shows at Carnegie Hall, The Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and live on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion Radio Program. Birdland welcomes them every Tuesday in May as they deliver their no-funny-business, straight-down-the-middle, jazz-lover's type of jazz: this month paying tribute to the great Duke Ellington.
$20 + $20 food/drink minimum

May 30 – June 3 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (5/30-6/1); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (6/2-3) – Birdland Jazz Club
Peperoncino Jazz Festival at Birdland: Italianitry 2.0 with Russell Ferrante, John Patitucci, Brian Blade (5/30,31); Remembrance Trio with Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, Brian Blade (6/1,2,3)
The Peperoncino Jazz Festival's New York Session is a new venture by the Italian jazz festival to connect the Italian and New York jazz scenes. The first New York session had John Patitucci as its Artistic Director; for seven days, it celebrated jazz, Italy, and the cultural nexus of the two, with artists such as Marco Panascia, Elio Coppola, and Jerry Weldon. For this second season of the New York festival, Birdland will host two trios led by bassist John Patitucci: Italianitry 2.0 with pianist Russell Ferrante, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade (5/30,31); Remembrance Trio with saxophonist Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade (6/1,2,3). Join the New York Session #2 for your favorite artists as they pay tribute to the beauty of jazz and Italian culture.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

May 31 (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

May 31 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Frank Vignola's Guitar Night with Pasquale Grasso and Jimmy Bruno 
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, inviting up a rotation of special guests. 
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

June 2 (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 2-4 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM - Birdland Theater
Scott Robinson Quartet
Virtuoso multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson is widely hailed for his unique, eccentric approach and his powerful improvisations. The top call man for baritone saxophone, Robinson has worked with orchestras led by Maria Schneider, Frank Mantooth, Bob Mintzer and John Fedchock, but his skills on tenor sax, trumpet, clarinets, and even the mysterious sarrusophone are well-known. Having appeared on over 275 recordings to date—20 as a leader—Robinson's music draws from a wide range of traditions. His playing at once wry, humorous, magnetic, and profound, this is the rare musician from whom you don't know what to expect—and it's precisely that joy of surprise which makes Robinson so assuredly a wonder to watch perform. He brings a quartet to Birdland for this engagement.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

June 4 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Jay Leonhart's J7
Bassist, singer and songwriter Jay Leonhart is both a veteran instrumentalist and an inspiring, storied vocal performer. With decades of accomplishments on his musical resume just as a bassist—including acts so varied as Tony Bennett, Ozzy Osbourne, James Taylor, Thad Jones, and Queen Latifah—Leonhart surprises many a musician with his disarming vocals and his smart, often humorous original songs, which he has recorded to critical acclaim since 1983's Salamander Pie. An uncanny artist who has recorded nearly 20 records as a leader and appeared on some 250 as a sideman, Leonhart was named The Most Valuable Bassist in the recording industry three times by the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences between 1975 and 1995. He is sure to move and entertain his audience—this time with a larger ensemble in tow.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

June 4 (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

June 5 (Monday) 5:30 & 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
Vince 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 6 (Tuesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater
The Anderson Brothers Play Ellington
Juilliard-trained identical twins Peter and Will Anderson have been hailed as “virtuosos on clarinet and saxophone” by The New York Times. Their passion for classic jazz shines through each time they perform. Having shared the stage with some of the music's biggest straight-ahead jazz acts—including Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Paquito D'Rivera, and Wynton Marsalis—the brothers constitute a formidable force. They've headlined shows at Carnegie Hall, The Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and live on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion Radio Program. Birdland welcomes them every Tuesday in May as they deliver their no-funny-business, straight-down-the-middle, jazz-lover's type of jazz: this month paying tribute to the great Duke Ellington.
$20 + $20 food/drink minimum

June 6-10 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (6/6-8); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (6/9-10) – Birdland Jazz Club
Stacey Kent
A singer of marvelous talent, Stacey Kent's beautiful voice and natural musicality have been the feature of 11 studio albums, including Platinum, Double-Gold and Gold records that have garnered her a much-deserved worldwide audience. With performances in over 55 countries during her stellar career, Kent's global fandom makes perfect sense because of her miraculous fluency singing in French, Italian, German, Portuguese and English. Over the course of two decades as a recording artist, Kent's vision has broadened beyond the Great American Songbook: French and Brazilian classics also feature prominently in her contemporary work. Her latest album, Songs From Other Places, was released September of 2021. Her new studio album, Summer Me, Winter Me, is set for 2023 release, and her recent collaboration with Danilo Caymmi, Um Tom Sobre Jobim, is set for 2023 and 2024 tour. For this special week at Birdland, Kent is backed by a group of her veteran collaborators.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

June 7 (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 7 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Frank Vignola's Guitar Night with 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, inviting up a rotation of special guests. This month, guitar legend Mike Stern joins every Wednesday! 
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

June 9 (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 9-10 (Friday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Esteban Castro Trio
A force of indomitable technique, extraordinary passion, and expansive imagination, the 19 year-old Esteban Castro is a jaw-dropping pianist whose capacities on his instrument defy categorization. A Finalist in the American Pianists Awards 2023; the First Prize winner at the 2019 MSM Precollege Philharmonic Concerto Competition; the 2017 Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition; and the 2016 Montreux Jazz Piano Solo Competition; as well as the recipient of 15 Downbeat Student Music Awards; Castro's maturity comes from experience, with performances to sold-out audiences at The Blue Note, The Montreux Jazz Club, The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, as well as in Switzerland, Italy, France, Peru, Canada, and Puerto Rico. He is a Young Steinway artist.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

June 11 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Brian Krock Big Heart Machine Ensemble
Nate Chinen puts Brian Krock's Big Heart Machine “near the center of…a new big band resurgence in New York.” Indeed, the release of the group's self-titled debut album in 2018 caught the attention of critics and fans alike, receiving the prestigious Aaron Copland Recording Grant as well as being included in year-end best-of lists, critics polls, and publications like The New York Times, Atlantic, Village Voice, Downbeat Magazine, Stereogum, and WBGO. The music is virtuosic and spacious, filled with a creeping avant-garde dread, riveting experimental passages, dangerous new sounds, and moments of titanic overwhelm. With the 2020 release of Live at The Jazz Gallery, fans around the world have the opportunity to experience the band's live show, featuring a cast of Brooklyn's most innovative musicians and fronted by saxophonist Krock. Don't miss Krock's adventurous compositions!
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

June 11 (Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Senri Oe “Class of 88” Album Release in the Theater
Celebrated pianist Senri Oe is a long-time legend of Japanese pop music—a pop star who, in 2012, began releasing jazz records with his band. Since 2012, he has offered 7 diverse recordings: from a two-horn quintet release (Boys Mature Slow, his 2012 stateside debut), to a full big band recording (2013's Spooky Hotel), to a straight-ahead trio release (2015's Collective Scribble), to a vocal showcase (2016's Answer July featuring Sheila Jordan, Theo Blackmann, Becca Stevens, and Lauren Kinhan of New York Voices), to his 2019 trio release, Hmmm, with bassist Matt Clohesy and drummer Mark Ferber. Oe's new trio sees Ross Pederson on drums joining Senri in the deeply evocative, lively performance of this original material: jazz versions of the songs from his seminal 1988 J-POP recording 1234.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

June 11 (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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