Gianni Valenti

Gianni Valenti had a vision of recreating the musical magic with an update Birdland in 1986. Since then, the room has been host to some of the best jazz on earth (some might argue THE best), welcome to its' legendary room musicians like Oscar Peterson, Pat Metheny, Diana Krall, Michel Legrand, Dave Brubeck, John Pizzarelli, Kurt Elling, Jon Hendricks, and George Shearing, as well as the most successful big bands in the business. For the past 18 years, Birdland has been also been home to the "Broadway at Birdland" concert series, shining a spotlight on superstars, creators, and the most prominent up-and-comers from the theatrical and cabaret scenes. Among the entertainers who have graced the stages of Birdland under Mr. Valenti's regime are Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Jason Robert Brown, Stephanie J. Block, Santino Fontana, Gavin Creel, Barbara Cook, Pasek & Paul, Laura Osnes, and Cheyenne Jackson, and that's before one even stops to consider all of the performers that have passed across the stage during the 17-year tenure of "Jim Caruso's Cast Party," a weekly open mic night where can be found jaw-dropping talent, some who have gone on to become big stars, like Erich Bergen, and those who are emerging as the stars of tomorrow, like The Drinkwater Brothers and Joseph C. Townsend. Not content to rest on their laurels, Valenti & co. constantly seek new ways to make Birdland a greater cultural center of Manhattan, leading to the creation of The Birdland Theater, beneath the main room of Birdland, where one can find the popular weekly series "The Lineup with Susie Mosher," as well as venerated nightclub stars like Linda Lavin and Marilyn Maye, or new talents like Hannah Jane Peterson and Ari Axelrod.