Broadway Sings their Favorites with Eden Espinosa & Jenn Colella, Steve Kuhn & More Set for Birdland, 4/28-5/4

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for April 28 - May 4, featuring the Steve Kuhn Trio, Broadway Sings Their Favorites - Celebrating the Tenth Season of Broadway Artists Alliance, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more!

April 28 (Monday) at 7PM
Broadway at Birdland
"Broadway Sings their Favorites"
Celebrating the Tenth Season of Broadway Artists Alliance

Starring Eden Espinosa, Jenn Colella, Andréa Burns, Michelle Federer & David Ayers

Broadway Artists Alliance, a New York City-based musical theatre training program for ages 8-21, is proud to kick off their 10th season at Birdland! Performers will sing their all-time favorite show tunes, and will include instructors, alumni, and staff. Eden Espinosa (Wicked), Jenn Colella (If/Then), Andréa Burns (In the Heights), Michelle Federer (Wicked), and David Ayers (Wicked) will be joined by BAA Alumni Liz Byrne (Baby It's You), Kyle Taylor Parker (Kinky Boots), Ruby Rakos (Billy Elliot), Bethany Tesarck (Bye Bye Birdie), and Clay Thomson (Matilda) for an evening of song and anecdotes. Alexander Rovang will serve as musical director with additional arrangements by Kelly Thomas. Proceeds from this event will benefit the BAA scholarship fund, which provides over $10,000 in scholarships each year.
All seats $35, $10 food/drink minimum

April 28 (Monday) at 9:30PM
Jim Caruso's Cast Party

Jim Caruso's Cast Party is a wildly popular weekly soiree that brings a sprinkling of Broadway glitz and urbane wit to the legendary Birdland in New York City every Monday night. It's a cool cabaret night-out enlivened by a hilariously impromptu variety show. Showbiz superstars, backed by Steve Doyle on bass, Tedd Firth on piano and Daniel Glass on drums, hit the stage alongside up-and-comers, serving up jaw-dropping music and general razzle-dazzle.
All tickets $25, $10 food/drink minimum

April 29-May 3 (Tuesday - Saturday) at 8:30PM & 11PM
Steve Kuhn Trio
Steve Swallow (bass) Joey Baron (drums)

After making his mark as a sideman with John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Art Farmer and others, pianist Steve Kuhn moved beyond the powerful influence of Bill Evans to become a unique stylist with incredible technique, sense of dynamics and lyricism. Over the last fifteen years Steve has released critically acclaimed CDs marking a well-deserved career renaissance. Bass guitar master and composer Steve Swallow joined the Paul Bley Trio in 1960, subsequently playing in groups led by Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Art Farmer, Stan Getz and Gary Burton. Since the late 1970s, Swallow has been closely associated with his wife Carla Bley's groups while also touring and recording with other top jazz artists including John Scofield and Lee Konitz. Rounding out the trio, drummer Joey Baron combines technical acuity with a deep sense of groove. Best known for his work with Bill Frisell, Stan Getz, John Zorn and guitarists John Scofield, John Abercrombie and Jim Hall, Joey has also performed with musicians outside of jazz including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, David Bowie, Tony Bennett, Laurie Anderson and Al Jarreau. The trio's recent ECM CD, "Wisteria," takes a fresh look at several pieces heard on Kuhn's orchestral, "Promises Kept," alongside the driving hard bop of "A Likely Story," Swallow's "Dark Glasses," Carla Bley's gospel-tinged "Permanent Wave" and the Brazilian flavored "Romance," by Dori Caymmi.
All seats $40, $10 food/drink minimum

April 30 (Wednesday) at 5:30PM
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 14th 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!
All seats $25, $10 food/drink minimum

May 1 (Thursday) at 6:00PM
T.K. Blue "A Warm Embrace"
Blujazz Records CD Release Celebration
T.K. Blue (sax/flute)
James Weidman (piano)
Essiet Essiet (bass)
Sylvia Cuenca (drums)
Ron Jackson (guitar)
Roland Guerrero (percussion)
All seats $30, $10 food/drink minimum

May 2 (Friday) at 5:15PM
The Birdland Big Band
With Guest Conductor Rob Middleton

Founded by drummer and musical director Tommy Igoe, the Birdland Big Band features the finest musicians in New York! The BBB roars into action every Friday, playing the finest Jazz, Latin and Brazilian music from the world's best arrangers. After work or before a show, drinks or a great dinner, come hear one of the world's best drummers driving the hardest swinging band in New York. Experience why the BBB is the must-see weekly jazz event in New York and kick off your weekend with what critics are calling "the best live music bargain in all of NYC!"
All seats $30, $10 food/drink minimum

May 3 (Saturday) at 6:00PM
Barbara Carroll

Her "jazz pianism is the subtlest and most intricate New York has to offer." (New Yorker) Barbara Carroll's inventive piano playing and unique vocal sound transforms any composition into something hip and urbane. In a sixty-year career she has gone from being dubbed "the first girl ever to play bebop piano" by Leonard Feather in 1947, to today being dubbed a "singer who turns song lyrics into personal dramatic monologues." (Stephen Holden, New York Times)
All seats $30, $10 food/drink minimum

May 4 (Sunday) at 6:00PM
The Birdland Jazz Party
Featuring Hilary Gardner
Birdland's very own jazz quartet hits the stage every Sunday to wrap up the weekend with jazz classics.

May 4 (Sunday) at 9:00PM & 11PM
Arturo O'Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

Grammy Award winning pianist, composer and educator Arturo O'Farrill -- leader of the "first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz" (NY Times) -- was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. Son of the late, great composer Chico O'Farrill, Arturo was Educated at Manhattan School of Music, Brooklyn College Conservatory and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. He played piano in Carla Bley's Big Band from 1979 through 1983 and earned a reputation as a soloist in groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Turre, Freddy Cole, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis and Harry Belafonte.
All seats $30, $10 food/drink minimum