Bill Cunliffe Trio to Play the Kitano, 1/25

Bill Cunliffe Trio will play on Fri., Jan. 25th at The Kitano, with sets at 8 & 10 PM. The Kitano is located at 66 Park Ave at 38th St., NYC. Call 212-885-7119. $25 cover, $15 minimum drink and food per person, per set. Featuring: Bill Cunliffe, piano, Todd Coolman, bass, John Riley, drums.

Five-time Grammy nominee and 2010 Grammy Award winning pianist, composer and arranger Bill Cunliffe emerged as arranger and pianist with the Buddy Rich Band. He then won the 1989 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition, and since then has performed in solo piano, trio, and sextet formats around the world.

Currently he is nominated for a Grammy for his piano concerto, "Overture, Waltz and Rondo", recorded with featured trumpeter Terell Stafford and the Temple University Symphony Orchestra.

He has written the music for a number of films, including a big band score for "On The Shoulders of Giants," a documentary produced by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about the legendary basketball team, the Harlem Rens. The soundtrack is currently available as a download on CD Baby and iTunes.

He has just arranged and produced legendary vocalist Freda Payne's first jazz release on Mack Avenue Records, with an all-star Los Angeles big band featuring drummer Joe La Barbera and tenor saxophonist Pete Christlieb.

His newest CD, "River Edge, New Jersey," soon to be released on Azica Records, was recorded with his long-time associates drummer Tim Horner and bassist Martin Wind at Manfred Knoop's studio in that town. Cunliffe's lyric and propulsive originals are combined with innovative looks at standards such as "You and the Night and the Music" and "The Girl from Ipanema." Bill also gives new life to the Three Dog Night tune "One (Is the Loneliest Number)" and Bjork's "All Is Full of Love," and his love of Brazilian sounds is captured in a movement, "Choro," from his classical suite "Nostalgia in Corcovado."

He is joined on this special gig with two of the greats of their respective instruments: former Horace Silver, Art Farmer and James Moody bassist Todd Coolman, and the well-known drummer for The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, John Riley.