GoFundMe Campaign to Help Save Birdland Jazz Club Has Raised More Than $210,000 Thanks to Over 2800 Donors
The campaign was launched by Tom D'Angora, who also spearheaded the efforts to save the West Bank Cafe in December 2020.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jan. 11, 2021
A GoFundMe campaign was recently launched by Tom D'Angora to help save the iconic New York Venue, Birdland Jazz Club- D'Angora also spearheaded the efforts to save the West Bank Cafe in December 2020. The GoFundMe campaign has currently raised $210,285 thanks to the help of 2,800 donors.
"Shortly after the community pulled off the West Bank miracle, my longtime friends, Jim Caruso and Susie Mosher, reached out and let me know that Birdland, was also in danger of closing its doors for good in just a few weeks if something isn't done," D'Angora wrote in the campaign's description.
To learn more or to donate, click here.
Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979. A revival began in 1986 with the opening of the second nightclub by the same name that is now located in Manhattan's Theater District, not far from the original nightclub's location. The current location is in the same building as the previous headquarters of The New York Observer.
The club has hosted memorable sets by such musicians as Oscar Peterson, Pat Metheny, Diana Krall, Roy Haynes, Michel Legrand, Dave Brubeck, Pat Martino, Tony Williams, Hank Jones, Michel Petrucciani, Maynard Ferguson, Freddie Hubbard, Marian McPartland, John Pizzarelli, Kurt Elling, Joe Lovano, McCoy Tyner, Michael Brecker, Clark Terry, Ron Carter, Jon Hendricks, George Shearing, James Moody, Yellowjackets, John Scofield, Phoebe Snow, Dave Holland, and Tito Puente, as well as the big bands of Chico O'Farrill, Duke Ellington, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Maria Schneider. In addition, Birdland is home to such popular musical events as the Umbria Jazz Festival in NYC and the Annual Django Reinhardt NY Festival. The club has established itself as an essential part of New York jazz history.
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