Birdland to Present Birdland Big Band, Sean Harkness Duo & More, Week of 8/11

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for August 11 - August 17, including The Birdland Big Band, Sean Harkness Duo, Jim Caruso & Billy Stritch, Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano, with Special Guest Warren Vache, and more!

August 11 (Monday) at 7:00PM
Jim Caruso & Billy Stritch

For the first time in their eleven-year association with Birdland, Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch will storm the historic stage with an evening of swinging standards, special guests and wry conversation. The two performers, who have performed extensively on their own, gained national exposure together as the host and musical director of the wildly popular open mic, Cast Party, which celebrates talent every Monday at Birdland, tours nationally, and was part of this season's Lincoln Center American Songbook. For the past two years, they have been headlining at Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle Hotel, where they are constantly in the news when showbiz heavy-hitters like Liza Minnelli, Bono and Michael Feinstein join them in impromptu performances.
All seats $30-$40, $10 food/drink minimum

August 11 (Monday) at 9:30PM
Jim Caruso's Cast Party

"No one can call themselves a true New Yorker until they've been to the 'Cast Party,' which is to Broadway what the Conde Nast cafeteria is to publishing. Divas and dapper-dans insouciantly sip cocktails while watching each other sing and perform at the open-mic event during Broadway's dark night." (Next Magazine) Broadway impresario Jim Caruso hosts a combination open-mic, networking event and party in which the biggest stars on Broadway relax on their night off by performing their favorite songs in an informal setting.
All seats $25, $10 food/drink minimum
August 12-16 (Tuesday - Saturday) at 8:30 & 11:00PM

The Birdland Big Band
With Special Guest James Genus
Directed by Tommy Igoe and featuring Special Guest James Genus, from SNL and Herbie Hancock!

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!"
All seats $30, $10 food/drink minimum

August 13 (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

August 14 (Thursday) at 6:00PM
Sean Harkness Duo

Sean Harkness, a jazz guitarist, is best known for his incredible technique and virtuosic playing. Starting at the early age of eleven, Harkness soon had a weekly theater engagement in Bridgeport, CT months after first picking up his instrument. After high school bands and studies with Brian Keane and Sal Salvador [Stan Kenton Band], Harkness studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston. After hearing Sean perform, Randall B. Plourde invited him to study guitar technique. Randall helped Harkness develop a signature touch on the instrument that caught the ears of Windham Hill Records and other producers. At home in New York City, Harkness most recently garnered the Outstanding Instrumentalist of 2011 Backstage Bistro Award, then two MAC Awards [Manhattan Association of Clubs and Cabarets] for his solo shows and most recent CD with duo partner, Canadian trumpeter, Mike Herriot. Harkness has been featured Walden Guitars' cover of their 2011 and 2012 catalogs and the Cabaret Scenes Magazine. Jazz Inside New York proclaims Harkness as, "...a technical virtuoso whose Joe Pass/Tommy Emmanuel fingerstyle approach is always in service to telling a story or creating a feeling within the song; [Harkness] transcends many genres and can touch listeners of many backgrounds."
All seats $25, $10 food/drink minimum

August 15 (Friday) at 5:15PM
The Birdland Big Band

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 fast becoming 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

August 16 (Saturday) at 6:00PM
Jay Leonhart Duo

Combining the skills of an old school entertainer and virtuoso jazzman, bassist, vocalist and composer Jay Leonhart has been a fixture of the New York scene for over forty years. When Jay was fourteen he started playing the bass in The Pier Five Dixieland Jazz Band in Baltimore and never looked back. After studying at The Peabody Institute, Jay attended The Berklee School of Music and The Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, before leaving school to start touring with the traveling big bands of the late 50's and early 60's. Upon moving to New York, Jay eventually began playing for many of the great jazz musicians, big bands, and singers who were to be found in New York - artists like Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Tony Bennett, Marian McPartland, and Jim Hall. Jay became a very busy studio musician in New York City, visiting every musical genre from James Taylor to Ozzy Osbourne and Queen Latifah. Between 1975 and 1995 he was named The Most Valuable Bassist in the recording industry three times by the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences. Jay has now recorded 15 solo albums. His first one-man show "The Bass Lesson" is being received warmly by critics and audiences. Jay's next show "Nukular Tulips" is in the works.
All seats $30, $10 food/drink minimum

August 17 (Sunday) at 6:00PM
Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano
"On the Sunny Side"

These married musical partners -- pianist/vocalist Eric Comstock and vocalist Barbara Fasano ("Exhilarating" - The New York Times) -- are as entertaining as they are musically savvy. The award-winning artists celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary later this summer, so expect lots of laughs and love songs. Sultry, swinging and surprising, they'll turn Sunday supper at Birdland into a fabulous party where the stories are as great as the music. "MASTERFUL AND ENDLESSLY APPEALING ... THEY TAKE IT TO A WHOLE OTHER LEVEL" (Will Friedwald, Wall Street Journal)
All seats $30, $10 food/drink minimum

August 17 (Sunday) at 9:00PM & 11:00PM
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