What's Coming Up At Birdland Jazz, March 22 - April 3
Artists appearing at Birdland Jazz Club include Monty Alexander, Holly Bean Trio, Emmet’s Place: Emmet Cohen Trio and more.
By: A.A. Cristi Mar. 18, 2022
Get full details on all jazz programming at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater running March 22 - April 3.
March 22-26 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (3/18-20); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (3/21-22) - Birdland Jazz Club / Thursday, March 24 at 9:30 - Livestream Event
Monty Alexander
A master pianist with 70 years in music, Monty Alexander is a jazz legend. Named the 5th greatest jazz pianist in history in Hal Leonard's Fifty Greatest Jazz Piano Players of All Time, Alexander's achievements have earned him the highest honors: native Jamaica granted the title of Commander in the Order of Distinction; Institute of Jamaica awarded him the Musgrave Medal; and the University of the West Indies bestowed upon him an honorary doctorate. What makes this 23-time guest of the Montreux Jazz Festival such a beloved figure? According to him, it is his insatiable capacity "to build up the heat and kick up a storm"-a joyful skill that has been recorded on over 70 discs as a leader. He is sure to uplift his listeners this week at Birdland.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
March 23 (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
March 23 (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
March 24-26 (Thursday-Saturday) 8:30 PM (3/24); 7:00 & 9:30 PM (3/25-6) - Birdland Theater
Chad Lefkowitz-Brown 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 latest release, Open World, features greats Lionel Loueke, Randy Brecker, and other stars.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
March 25 (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
March 27 (Sunday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club
Holly Bean Trio
Jazz pianist, vocalist and visual artist Holly Bean has been playing the piano since the age of three, though she was mostly self taught until meeting former Jazz Messenger and world-renowned pianist Donald Brown during her undergraduate studies at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. With years of classical voice experience and independent piano study under her belt, Holly's musical expression transformed and flourished rapidly under Brown's instruction, and after just two years of studying the jazz idiom she was performing at international jazz piano competitions and moving to New York City to pursue her music career as member of the rare breed of jazz singer-pianists. Holly has performed as artist in residence at venues such as the Woolworth Building and Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island). The up-and-coming artist is now performing regularly at venues in NYC.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
March 27 (Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM - Birdland Theater
Marissa Licata Quartet
Honduran-American violinist Marissa Licata has toured internationally with Alicia Keys, Jethro Tull, Wyclef Jean, H.E.R., Ringo Starr, Gloria Estefan, and many others. Active in pop, classical, theater and jazz circuits, she has appeared everywhere from Scullers Jazz Club to Good Morning America to the Latin Grammys. Licata's prodigious musicianship has allowed her to work in a wide variety of contexts: from American Repertory Theater's Alanis Morrisette musical (where she served as concertmistress) to the Radio City Music Hall "Christmas Spectacular" to performances at the BET Awards and on Jimmy Kimmel. And, in uniquely fusing world musical cultures-mixing Eastern European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern spheres-she has created a personal style quite unlike other violinists. Catch her with her own quartet performing her genre-defying compositions at the Birdland Theater for one night only.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
March 27 (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
March 28 (Monday) 8:30 PM - Birdland Theater
Dave Bennett Band
A clarinet virtuoso, Dave Bennett is steeped in early swing-but he finds genuine expression simply in music itself. Surely, his world tours with Benny Goodman alum Bucky Pizarrelli and his albums dedicated to classic stylings-Clarinet Is King (2010) and Don't Be That Way (2013)-showcase his love for the jazz clarinet tradition. But his most recent venture, 2017's Blood Moon, sees him authentically delivering a more contemporary approach. With selections such as The Beatles' "In My Life" or Glenn Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" pushing him and his band into modern stylings, what remains consistent is Bennett's pure tone, song-like delivery of melodic line, and uncompromising sincerity, evident in every note. A featured artist on NPR Radio's Jazz at Riverwalk, a guest artist at the Bern Jazz Festival, and a prestigious Mack Avenue recording artist, Bennet released Blood Moon to great success, with the album rising to No. 24 on the Billboard Jazz Chart in 2018. His music is sure to delight Birdland audiences.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
March 29-April 2 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (3/29-31); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (4/1-2) - Birdland Jazz Club / Thursday, March 31 at 9:30 - Livestream Event
Emmet's Place Live
Virtuoso pianist Emmet Cohen has taken the jazz world by storm. The Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association, Cohen made a name for himself as the 1st place winner in a number of the United States' most prestigious piano competitions, including the 2019 American Pianists Awards, the 2014 American Jazz Pianists Competition, and the 2011 Phillips Piano Competition at the University of West Florida-as well as placing as a finalist in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. More recently, however, Cohen became a pioneer of a new kind. When the pandemic caused a lockdown in March 2020, he began filming concerts from his Harlem apartment, calling them "Live From Emmet's Place" and featuring his trio of bassist Russell Hall and drummer Kyle Poole with special guest friends. The series became an instant hit; now, with over 1,000,000 views across more than 300 high-production videos, Emmet's Place is a (literal) household name in jazz. For this week in March, Cohen will bring Emmet's Place to Birdland.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
March 30 (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
March 30 (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
March 31-April 3 (Thursday-Sunday) 8:30 PM (3/31); 7:00 & 9:30 PM (4/1-3) - Birdland Theater
Harry Allen Quartet
The saxophonist that John Pizzarelli has called "Nothing less than perfect," Harry Allen is the consummate swinger. A veteran of jazz music, he has recorded over 70 discs as a leader, three of which won Gold Disc Awards from Japan's Swing Journal, with his album Tenors Anyone? winning both the Gold Disc and the New Star Award. Allen's work with Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Ray Brown, Hank Jones, Frank Wess, Flip Phillips, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Kenny Burrell, Herb Ellis, John Pizzarelli, Bucky Pizzarelli, Gus Johnson, Jeff Hamilton, Johnny Mandel, James Taylor, and Sheryl Crow-to name a few-places him in an elite class, but he is no snob: in fact, what makes Harry Allen so great is his down-to-earth playing, his love of the music. His off-the-cuff style needs no set-lists. For these three nights at Birdland, he is sure to start and end swinging. What happens along the way will undoubtedly be pure magic.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
April 1 (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 3 (Sunday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club
Ed Neumeister's Assembláge Jazz Orchestra
Trombonist Ed Neumeister's new project is a revolutionary and unique concept, with "a diverse and inclusive jazz orchestra called Assembláge. Speaking to the divisions of our time and how the jazz community can help to heal us as a nation, he explains that "in these days, more than ever, we need to come together as a humanity. Music can be the metaphor for life when people from different backgrounds and sensibilities come together to act as one voice with each of the individual voices contributing their own musical personality into the common goal of the music of the moment, whether in an improvisatory or notated context." He describes - perhaps tantalizingly so - the music he is preparing for the orchestra as "wide-scope: Schoenberg meets Monk meets Sun Ra, with a little Lutoslawski and James Brown thrown in for spice." By focusing on racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, Neumeister hopes his orchestra, with original compositions, will uniquely contribute to the healing so many desire. The orchestra started rehearsing in the summer of 2019, with one rehearsal in spring 2020 before the Coronavirus dented his plans. He is thrilled to bring this project to Birdland.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
April 3 (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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