Yellowjackets, Anita Brown Orchestra, and More to Play Birdland This Month

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater have announced jazz programming running June 12 through June 25.

Performers appearing at Birdland Jazz Club include Yellowjackets, Anita Brown Orchestra, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra and Wagner High School Jazz Orchestra.

Downstairs at Birdland Theater, catch Loston Harris Duo, Steve Slagle Band and Frank Vignola Quartet. 

Repeat engagements include Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Frank Vignola's Guitar Night, Birdland Big Band and Arturo O'Farrill. 

Jazz Programming at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater June 12 through June 25

June 12 (Monday) 5:30 & 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
Catch Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks every Monday evening in June at Birdland Theater! 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 13 (Tuesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Loston Harris Duo
Loston Harris possesses a voice like the great big band singers and the consummate pianism of a Wynton Kelly or a Tommy Flanagan. This combination of outgoing performance and exuberant technical mastery is rare, but Harris has it in spades—and at Birdland Theater, accompanied by the brilliant Gianluca Renzi on bass, Loston will bring his one-two punch to the stage every Tuesday night in June. Harris's life in jazz has included tutelage with some of the music's greatest masters. He studied with Marsalis family patriarch, the pianist Ellis, on recommendation by the great Harry Connick Jr. after participating in the first Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in Washington, D.C. Indeed it was Marsalis who was responsible for Harris's decision to shift from his first instrument—drums—to piano. An artist with these three perspectives—rhythm of the drums, harmony of the piano, and melody of the voice—can only wow an audience.
$20 + $20 food/drink minimum


June 13-17 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (6/13-15); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (6/16-17) – Birdland Jazz Club 
Yellowjackets
The Yellowjackets are a household name for jazz fusion fans. The band's original flavor,  beloved for its long and whirling sing-song melodies and undeniable pocket, has been captivating listeners since the group first burst onto the scene in the late 1970s. Originally the rhythm section behind guitarist Robben Ford, the Yellowjackets became its own entity and—adding the then-trailblazing (and now-legendary) saxophonist Bob Mintzer—turned into one of the most original quartets of the last 40 years, recording 30 albums, winning 2 Grammys, and receiving 17 Grammy nominations. Currently, the lineup includes founding member Russell Ferrante on keys, Bob Mintzer on winds, the spectacular drummer Will Kennedy, and the band's newest member, a young Dane Alderson twisting out brilliant basslines.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

June 14 (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 14 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Frank Vignola's Guitar Night featuring 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, with special guest, guitar icon Mike Stern every week in June (6/7,14,21,28). *Guitar night streams live every week at YouTube.com/RadioFreeBirdland
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

June 16 (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 16-18 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Steve Slagle Band
Saxophonist Steve Slagle is storyteller whose robust, unique melodies and open-hearted sound have endeared audiences since the mid-70s, when he began working with legendary forces such as Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, McCoy Tyner, the Mingus Big Band, and Ray Barretto. He has been a saxophonist of choice for the Joe Lovano Nonet, Milton Nascimiento, and even the Beastie Boys, in addition to leading over 20 solo recording projects. A true proponent of the jazz tradition, Slagle's latest release, entitled Ballads: Into the Heart of It, features a swinging ensemble of his close compatriots, including Ugonna Okegwo, bass; Randy Brecker, trumpet; Bruce Barth, piano; and Jason Tiemann, drums. For this weekend engagement at the Birdland Theater, Brecker is replaced by Scott Wendholt, as is Barth by Gary Versace (on Friday and Sunday, with Saturday pianist TBA).
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


June 18 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Anita Brown Orchestra
In 2003, Anita Brown recorded and released her debut and her only large ensemble project, employing some of New York's finest to present her iconically beautiful work, 27 East. The beauty of maturity of Brown's large-scale tone poems have prompted NEA Jazz Master Lee Konitz to call her “an important writer” and trumpet icon Marvin Stamm to put her group “in the same category as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Maria Schneider.” For this engagement at Birdland, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of 27 East, the set of pieces that describe in sonic imagination the Montauk seaside.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


June 18 (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 19 (Monday) 5:30 & 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
Catch Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks every Monday evening in June at Birdland Theater! 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 20 (Tuesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Loston Harris Duo
Loston Harris possesses a voice like the great big band singers and the consummate pianism of a Wynton Kelly or a Tommy Flanagan. This combination of outgoing performance and exuberant technical mastery is rare, but Harris has it in spades—and at Birdland Theater, accompanied by the brilliant Gianluca Renzi on bass, Loston will bring his one-two punch to the stage every Tuesday night in June. Harris's life in jazz has included tutelage with some of the music's greatest masters. He studied with Marsalis family patriarch, the pianist Ellis, on recommendation by the great Harry Connick Jr. after participating in the first Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in Washington, D.C. Indeed it was Marsalis who was responsible for Harris's decision to shift from his first instrument—drums—to piano. An artist with these three perspectives—rhythm of the drums, harmony of the piano, and melody of the voice—can only wow an audience.
$20 + $20 food/drink minimum


June 20-24 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (6/20-22); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (6/23-24) – Birdland Jazz Club
Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra
The legendary, groundbreaking composer and arranger Maria Schneider returns to Birdland this June. Ms. Schneider's music, which has received 7 GRAMMY wins and 14 nominations across jazz, classical and arranging categories, is regarded as some of the most evocative work of our contemporary artistic world. Her latest album, Data Lords (2020)—called “the most daring work of Schneider's career” by esteemed critic Nate Chinen—was a Finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize. It pits the digital world against the natural one in musical form to warn listeners of the profound dangers of Big Data and reacquaint them with their essential lifeforce. A living icon of music, Ms. Schneider's week-long engagement is not to be missed.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


June 21 (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 21 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Frank Vignola's Guitar Night featuring 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, with special guest, guitar icon Mike Stern every week in June (6/7,14,21,28). *Guitar night streams live every week at YouTube.com/RadioFreeBirdland
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


June 23 (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 23-25 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Frank Vignola Quartet
With over 1000 engagements in the last five years alone, and performance credits in 14 countries on three continents, Frank Vignola—leader of Birdland Theater's regular Wednesday night classic, Guitar Night—has become one of the most popular and sought after guitarists on the international music scene. His genre-bending virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Wynton Marsalis, Tommy Emmanuel, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his “Five Most Admired Guitarists List: for the Wall Street Journal. Vignola's jaw-dropping technique explains why The New York Times deemed him “one of the brightest stars of the guitar.” For this weekend of performances, Vignola brings his celebrated quartet to the stage. With Ted Rosenthal (piano), Gary Mazzaroppi (bass), Vince Cherico (drums), plus special surprise guests.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


June 25 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Wagner High School Jazz Orchestra
Staten Island's Wagner High School Jazz Orchestra is a crop of dedicated young students led by Paul Corn. In May of this year, they will have competed in the prestigious Essentially Ellington competition at Lincoln Center—indeed, they are the first New York City high school that is not an arts school to place in the competition's 28 year history. Featuring drummer Zack O'Farill—son of Arturo O'Farill, the leader of the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra that performs every Sunday night at Birdland—the band will perform its material for Birdland audiences for one night only! Don't miss these next generation musicians in their Birdland debut.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum


June 25 (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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