Duke Ellington News

Every time I attend something in jazz pianist Ronny Whyte's estimable weekly series at the welcoming, modern Saint Peter's Church (619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street), I'm glad I came. The place is airy, peaceful, and sunny with spacious pew and tiered seating. Acoustics are splendid. The audience is respectful. And they have Billy Strayhorn's piano. Yesterday's easy-going hour featured Alex Leonard on piano and vocals (one forgets how fine a vocalist he is), David Kingsnorth on bass, and veteran Al Gafa on guitar.

Frank Sinatra Jr., son of the legendary singer Frank Sinatra, dies of a heart attack on Wednesday at the age of 72. The singer was on tour in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The Chicago Philharmonic Chamber Players (cp2) continue their residency at City Winery Chicago with a crossover performance of jazz standards.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its April 2016 schedule, featuring: Pharoah Sanders Quartet, Yellowjackets, Showbiz After Hours with Frank DiLella, The Birdland Big Band, Karrin Allyson, The Matt & Brian Show, Arturo O'Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more. Scroll down for details!

Tony, Emmy and two-time Golden Globe-nominee Matthew Morrison will join the Houston Symphony in a spectacular performance of Broadway hits and crooner classics at 8 p.m. March 24-26.

Giuseppe Verdi's opera classic NABUCCO - about Babylonian Jews in exile during Biblical times - will be presented April 6 to 17 at the Center for Jewish History (15 W. 16 St.) in Manhattan, it has been announced by the American Sephardi Federation, which is presenting a trio of Sephardic-themed production for the first time ever this year in its celebration of Sephardic history and culture.  NABUCCO follows the Center's acclaimed adaptation of MERCHANT OF VENICE earlier this year, and will be followed by a revival of OTHELLO in June.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its lineup for March 21-27, featuring The Tristano Project, Marcus Miller Allstars, Birdland Jazz Party and more. Scroll down for details!

The Disc Jockey Was A Lady, a new play with music written by, and starring Dolly Ellen Friedman will be presented at the Bruno Walter Auditorium (Lincoln Center Library of the Performing Arts), 40 Lincoln Plaza - Enter on Amsterdam at 65th Street) at 158 West 72nd Street (bet Broadway -Columbus Ave) on Thursday, April 14th at 6:00pm. Admission is Free for this delightful, fun, warm and heart-full show that features songs of the forties from such composers as Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and Rodgers and Hart and others.  The show also features musical theatre veteran actor Ross Hewitt. It is directed by Alyson Reim and staged by Broadway choreographer Sharon Halley. Phil Hall is the Musical director and arranger. 

Due to technical difficulties, a problem with the Trans-Atlantic feed between Lang Hall in New York City and the Drury Lane Theater in the West End, The Ziegfeld Society's THE TILLER GIRLS, which was scheduled for Saturday, March 12th, has been postponed.

Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Chicago's leader in New Art Music led by Stephen Burns, proudly presents "Proclamation! The Black Composer Speaks," a dynamic concert program showcasing the broad spectrum of new art music from the African American perspective at the Promontory Chicago, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave., in one performance only, Friday, April 29, at 7:30 pm.

The Ziegfeld Society of New York City will present their first Trans-Atlantic event, THE TILLER GIRLS OF LONDON, simulcast live between The Drury Lane Theater in London's West End and the stage of Lang Concert Hall in New York City, on Saturday, March 12th.

?VIVIAN REED, the two-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway star and concert artist called "remarkable and ferocious" by The New York Times, will return to New York with a four-performance run of her show "Standards and More." She will appear at The Metropolitan Room on April 2, May 23, June 17 and July 21, backed by a four-piece band led by Billy McDaniel. The evening will include unique arrangements of classic standards by Duke Ellington, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter and George Gershwin in a dazzling blend of pop, jazz, soul and R&B.

Music Hall celebrates the ingenuity of choreography with the study of the creative back and forth between Detroit and other dance capitals around the country with its 3rd annual 'Choreography Expo' featuring the best of Detroit and Los Angeles area dance companies including LA's edgy, Body Traffic on Saturday, April 2nd, 8:00 PM.

The Chicago Philharmonic Chamber Players (cp2) continue their residency at City Winery Chicago with a crossover performance of jazz standards.

Legendary jazz singer and lyricist Jon Hendricks, dubbed 'The Poet Laureate of Jazz,' celebrated jazz vocalist and actress Annie Ross, and acclaimed jazz singer Janis Siegel are among the artists who will be honored at the 31st Annual Bistro Awards gala tonight, March 8 at 6:30 pm at the Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W. 23rd St. As is the Bistro Awards tradition, the evening will feature performances by the winners.

Bar Thalia, a narrow, uber-casual bar/café adjacent to the Upper West Side arts hub Symphony Space, has become the musical pied-à-terre of vocalist Marcus Goldhaber. Each first Sunday of the month, the artist presents two loosey-goosey acoustic sets with a guest singer and guitarist. The past Sunday's show featured vocalist Tessa Souter with Tony Romano on guitar.

In her new show, Café Society at Feinstein's/54 Below, Christine Andreas doesn't so much sing “Puttin' On the Ritz” (Irving Berlin) as personify it, channeling the attitude and era in which it was conceived. With just a tad of hip action, tipping shoulders, and an elongated ssss, the artist shares a really good time. “So, where are we going after the show . . . to Harlem's Savoy or The Copa? (The Copacabana) . . . ” This evening is about the late 1920s to the early '60s “an ongoing party of glamour and excess . . . when everybody was listening to the same music.”