BROADWAY FOR AFRICA Benefit, 'PHANTOM' Cast & More Set for Birdland, Week of 4/4

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for April 4-10, featuring Pharoah Sanders Quartet, Nick Adams Hosts "Broadway for Africa!", Joe Alterman Trio, and more!

April 4 (Monday) at 7:00PM
Nick Adams Hosts Broadway For Africa!
With Special Guest Stars Will Swenson, Tony Sheldon, Alison Luff, Julia Murney,
Eliseo Roman and The Skivvies

The Broadway at Birdland concert series is proud to announce that Nick Adams will host Broadway For Africa, a star-studded benefit, on Monday, April 4 at 7pm. Broadway star, Nick Adams, will host a benefit concert to support The International Theatre and Literacy Project's youth programs in Rwanda and South Africa. He will be joined onstage with performances by special guests Will Swenson and Tony Sheldon (his co-stars in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), Alison Luff (Matilda), Julia Murney (Wicked), Elisio Roman (On Your Feet) and The Skivvies. Musical director for the evening will be Tedd Firth and his trio.

All tickets $50-75, $10 food/drink minimum

April 4 (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, Billy Stritch 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 5-9 (Tuesday-Saturday) at 8:30PM and 11PM
Pharoah Sanders Quartet
William Henderson (piano) Nat Reeves (bass) Greg Bandy (drums)

Pharoah Sanders possesses one of the most distinctive tenor saxophone sounds in jazz, harmonically rich and heavy with overtones. Highly regarded to the point of reverence by many jazz fans, Pharoah made a name for himself playing expressionistic, nearly anarchic free jazz in John Coltrane's exploratory ensembles of the 1960s. He also had notable collaborations with Sun Ra, Don Cherry, and John Hicks. In the decades after those late-Coltrane recordings, Pharoah developed the ability to play convincingly in a variety of different contexts, from free to mainstream. As a mature artist he has discovered a hard-edged lyricism that has only furthered his iconic status in jazz history. Pharaoh recently celebrated his 75th birthday. On April 4th, 2016, he will be given the National Endowment for the Arts' Jazz Master Award at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

All tickets $40, $10 food/drink minimum

April 6 (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 tickets $25, $10 food/drink minimum

April 7 (Thursday) at 6:00PM
Joe Alterman Trio
Celebrated jazz pianist, Joe Alterman, make his Birdland debut on April 7 for one-night only.

All tickets $25, $10 food/drink minimum

April 8 (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 tickets $40, $10 food/drink minimum

April 9 (Saturday) at 6:00PM
Barbara Carroll
Barbara is an elegant jazz pianist, composer and vocalist, long recognized as one of the premier players of swinging jazz piano and expressive vocals.

All tickets $30, $10 food/drink minimum

April 10 (Sunday) at 6:00PM
The Cast of Broadway's Phantom of the Opera Sings the Music of Frank Wildhorn

The Broadway at Birdland concert series is proud to announce that the cast of Broadway's Phantom of the Opera will collaborate and sing the music of Frank Wildhorn on Sunday, April 10 at 6pm. The one-night-only event will be a benefit concert for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Scheduled to perform are James Barbour (Phantom), Julie Udine (Christine), Jeremy Hays (Raoul), Michelle McConnell, Laird Macintosh and Jeremy Stolle. (Cast subject to change.)

All tickets $25-35, $10 food/drink minimum

April 10 (Sunday) at 9PM & 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 tickets $30, $10 food/drink minimum