Mercer Ellington

Birdland Jazz To Present Emmet Cohen Trio, Svetlana's Big Band And More This Month
by A.A. Cristi - Nov 29, 2024

Get all the details on jazz programming at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater running December 2nd - December 15th.

Photos: Broadway Stars Turn Out Save the West Bank Cafe and Laurie Beechman Theatre
by A.A. Cristi - Oct 15, 2024

On Tuesday, October 8th, many Broadway notables joined forces to raise funds for the historic West Bank Cafe and its famed downstairs venue, The Laurie Beechman Theatre. See photos from inside the event.

Video: Kurt Elling Releases Video For 'A Wish (Valentine)' Feat. Cécile McLorin Salvant & Sullivan Fortner
by Josh Sharpe - Sep 16, 2024

Multi-grammy award-winning vocalist Kurt Elling has released a video for his rendition of Fred Hersch and Norma Winstone’s “A Wish (Valentine),” featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant. The song is taken from Wildflowers, Vol. 1, a brand new, spur-of-the-moment album spontaneously created with pianist Sullivan Fortner.

Ken Peplowski Quartet & Orchestra with Terell Stafford, Yardbird Big Band, and More to Play Birdland
by Blair Ingenthron - Aug 19, 2023

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater have announced jazz programming running August 21 - September 3rd.

Cindy Blackman Santana Band, Champian Fulton and Hide Tanaka, and More to Play Birdland This Month
by Blair Ingenthron - Aug 12, 2023

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater have announced jazz programming running from August 14 - August 27, celebrating Charlie Parker's birthday all month long! 

Vintage Theatre to Present SOPHISTICATED LADIES Beginning Next Month
by Blair Ingenthron - Dec 27, 2022

Vintage Theatre will present Duke Ellington's 'Sophisticated Ladies,' January 27 - March 5 2023. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

Photos: Susan Mack 'Yesterdays' at Birdland Jazz Club
by Kevin Alvey - Nov 18, 2022

Susan Mack debuted her new show at Birdland Jazz Club. Susan brought her jazz vocals to American Songbook and Popular songs from the 1930's to the 1990's. Directed by Lina Koutrakos and backed by Susan's trio of musicians including Tedd Firth (Piano), David Finck (Bass), Eric Halvorson (Drums), with guest appearance by Trumpeter Benny Benack III.

American Symphony Orchestra Salutes The Great Duke Ellington at Carnegie Hall, March 24
by A.A. Cristi - Feb 22, 2022

Music Director Leon Botstein will lead the American Symphony Orchestra on March 24 in a tribute to the genre-defying genius of the great Duke Ellington with an all-Ellington symphonic concert at Carnegie Hall, where the composer played a series of annual concerts and premiered many of his greatest works, including Black, Brown, and Beige and New World A-Comin'.

Pacific Symphony Presents THE LANGSTON HUGHES PROJECT
by A.A. Cristi - Feb 17, 2022

Pacific Symphony presents “The Langston Hughes Project,” a multimedia concert performance of the poet's jazz poem suite titled, Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz. This is Hughes' homage in verse and music to the struggle for artistic and social freedom at home and abroad at the beginning of the 1960s.

American Symphony Orchestra Announces 60th Anniversary Season Lineup
by A.A. Cristi - Nov 11, 2021

The American Symphony Orchestra celebrates its return to the stage and its 60th anniversary season in 2021-22 with four full-orchestra programs at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, and a free opening concert titled Mahler in New York at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on December 16. The opening program focuses on composers whom Mahler had championed during his years in New York.

Progressive Theater Will Host The 1st Annual Black & Blue Fundraising Gala
by Stephi Wild - Nov 6, 2019

On Friday, November 22nd, 2019, Progressive Theater in Maplewood, NJ will host the 1st Annual Black & Blue Fundraising Gala at The Woodland: Great Hall from 6:00pm to 11:00pm.

SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE Comes to BroadwayHD Next Month
by Stephi Wild - Aug 27, 2019

BroadwayHD, the premiere streaming service for theater fans, is kicking off September with everyone dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock. Making its streaming premiere exclusively on BroadwayHD, Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller, an infectiously fun and riotous rock and roll time capsule of top 40 hits captured live-in-performance on Broadway will debut September 12 . Grammy Award winners Jerry Leiber and Michael Stoller wrote hit songs for great artists such a King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley, The Drifters, The Coasters and Peggy Lee. Subscribers can dance and sing-along to classics including: 'Jailhouse Rock,' 'Love Potion #9,' 'Hound Dog', 'On Broadway', 'Stand By Me' and other favorites. If swiveling your hips to the music of Smokey Joe's Cafe has you wanting more, continue your musical journey through the 1950s with the Best Musical Tony Award-winning performance of Memphis, featuring Tony Award-nominees Chad Kimball and Montego Glover, beginning September 26.

theSpaceUK Brings Cabaret, Magic and Mayhem to The Edinburgh Fringe
by Stephi Wild - Jul 23, 2019

From a huge eyeball doing magic, to bubbles covering less than they need to, there's plenty of sensational publicity shots to go along with these sensational shows.

DC Jazz Festival Adds Cassandra Wilson, Kenny Garrett & Joshua Redman To Great Masters of Jazz Celebration
by Tori Hartshorn - May 30, 2019

Celebrating 15 years as the only citywide jazz festival in the Mid-Atlantic region, DC Jazz Festival (DCJF) is proud to announce the addition of acclaimed genre-bending vocalist Cassandra Wilson, perennial poll-winning alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, and tenor sax titan Joshua Redman to its already stellar lineup celebrating Great Masters of Jazz, Sunday, June 16 in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The DC JazzFest presented by Events DC takes place throughout the District from June 7-16.

Fulton Theatre Presents SOPHISTICATED LADIES And THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA
by A.A. Cristi - Apr 24, 2019

The nationally regarded Fulton Theatre, in association with Maine State Music Theatre is proud to present the dance and music-filled Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, May 2 through May 25, with Previews April 30 and May 1. Three acclaimed choreographers, Broadway's Mark Stuart, Broadway's Kenny Ingram and Lancaster's own Marc Robin, have joined to make this one memorable celebration! 

SOPHISTICATED LADIES Coming to Maine State Music Theatre This June!
by Alan Henry - Mar 5, 2019

Duke Ellington's SOPHISTICATED LADIES is playing at Maine State Music Theatre from June 5 to 22, 2019.

Steve Blum's Molecular Organ Trio Comes to The Palace Theater
by Stephi Wild - Feb 26, 2019

On Friday March 29th, the brilliant guitarist Steve Blum and his Molecular Organ Trio will open the Jazz at the Poli Spring Series at the Palace Theater Poli Club (100 E. Main St, Waterbury, CT). A pioneering fusion guitarist, a lifelong admirer of Wes Montgomery, and a very versatile player who has been a major asset on a countless number of sessions since the early 1970s, Blum heads a group that also features organist Akiko and drummer McClenty Hunter.

NJPAC Presents Duke Ellington's SOPHISTICATED LADIES
by A.A. Cristi - Nov 14, 2018

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies starting Thursday, March 21, 2019 - Saturday, March 23, 2019.

Columbus State University To Honor Mercedes Ellington With Lifetime Achievement Award In Dance
by Stephi Wild - Feb 28, 2018

Columbus State University 's College of the Arts will present renowned dancer/choreographer/actress Mercedes Ellington with its 2017 "Lifetime Achievement Award in Dance" at CSU's annual BROADWAY BALL on Friday, December 1 in Columbus, GA. The announcement was made by Karyn Tomsczak, the Viki Jiles Flanagan Distinguished Chair in Dance in CSU's Department of Theatre.

Mercedes Ellington To Receive Lifetime Achievement in Dance Award from Columbus State University
by Stephi Wild - Nov 28, 2017

Columbus State University 's College of the Arts will present renowned dancer/choreographer/actress Mercedes Ellington with its 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award in Dance at CSU's annual BROADWAY BALL on Friday, December 1 in Columbus, GA. The announcement was made by Karyn Tomczak, the Viki Jiles Flanagan Distinguished Chair in Dance in CSU's Department of Theatre.