Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, and More to Play Birdland This Month

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater have announced details on the jazz programming running March 6 through March 19.

Performers appearing at Birdland Jazz Club include Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, The Cookers and Jihye Lee.

Downstairs at Birdland Theater, catch Ted Firfth Trio, Hey Rim Jeon, Ornette Coleman Birthday Tribute (with Jimmy Greene, Ben Allison, EJ Strickland and Steve Cardeans), Alicyn Yaffee Band, Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks and Orrin Evans Quartet.

Repeat engagements include David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Frank Vignola's Guitar Night, Birdland Big Band and Arturo O'Farrill & The Latin Jazz Orchestra.

Jazz Programming at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater March 6 through March 19

March 6 (Monday) 8:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Tedd Firth Trio

Tedd Firth is a renowned pianist, musical director, arranger and orchestrator. The consummate accompanist, Firth has worked with superstars Barbara Cook, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Maureen McGovern, Marilyn Maye, Joshua Bell, and many others. He has performed and/or recorded with jazz luminaries John Pizzarelli, Houston Person, Frank Wess, Mark Whitfield, Red Holloway, Benny Golson and Joe Morello. Firth recently served as the musical director for the original Broadway cast of Into The Woods and for Michael Feinstein's "Jazz and Popular Song" concert series at Jazz at Lincoln Center. He is both a leader in his field and a truly humble music-maker. Appearances include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, Birdland, the Iridium, and the White House. Firth brings a sensitive, swinging trio to serenade the Birdland Theater.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 7 (Tuesday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Hey Rim Jeon

Described as a "brilliant pianist" by legendary saxophonist Benny Golson, Hey Rim Jeon returns to Birdland to celebrate her new album release "Groovitude." Featuring Multi-Grammy-Award-Winning drummer and producer Terri Lyne Carrington, "Groovitude" has been one of the Top 20 albums on the National Jazz Radio Chart for several consecutive weeks. Ms. Jeon has been featured on numerous TV and radio shows, including NBC's Weekend Today in New York, and KBN, Korea's National TV network channel. As leader of her own band, Hey Rim Jeon and Friends, she has performed both nationally and internationally. A recipient of Berklee's prestigious "Exemplary Mentorship Award" and a "Marquis Who's Who" acknowledgment (2021), Ms. Jeon is the first Korean faculty member at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, where she has served as an Associate Professor in the Piano Department since 2010.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 7-11 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (3/7-9); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (3/10-11) Birdland Jazz Club

Jane Bunnett and Maqueque

Maqueque is the brainchild of Canadian saxophone legend Jane Bunnett: an all-star, all-female group of Cuban musicians, propelled by virtuosic drumming, joyful vocals in harmony, and brilliant melodic improvisations. Bunnett grew her international fame over the course of many decades on recordings with legends Dewey Redman, Don Pullen, Jeanne Lee, Sheila Jordan, Paul Bley, and other masters, receiving the title of Officer of the Order of Canada in 2004 for her artistic and social contributions. Her love affair with Cuba and Cuban music began in 1982. Since then, Maqueque, which Bunnett founded in 2014, has won two GRAMMY nominations and a Juno Award. Their beautiful, intricate arrangements are unique in their ability to showcase unbridled technical brilliance while naturally connecting to, enlivening, and inspiring audiences.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 8 (Wednesday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Theater

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 18th 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!
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 8 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Frank Vignola's Guitar Night with special guest Dave Stryker

It's the best jazz guitar lover's show in the world. Frank Vignola's virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world's top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Les Paul, the Boston and New York Pops, and more. Every Wednesday at 8:30pm in the Birdland Theater, Frank leads "Frank Vignola's Guitar Night at Birdland." Inspired by journeyman jazz guitarist John Pisano's now famous Los Angeles Guitar Night, the Frank Vignola Trio, featuring bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Vince Cherico, will perform tunes from the standard repertoire, inviting up a rotation of special guest guitarists. This week it's Dave Stryker.
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 9-12 (Thursday-Sunday) 8:30 PM (3/9); 7:00 & 9:30 PM (3/10-12) - Birdland Theater

Ornette Coleman Birthday Tribute: Jimmy Greene, Ben Allison, EJ Strickland and Steve Cardeans

Saxophonist Jimmy Greene, bassist Ben Allison, drummer EJ Strickland, and guitarist Steve Cardenas come together to celebrate the birthday of one of American music's most beloved, controversial, and wildly brilliant artists: saxophone legend Ornette Coleman, whose natural, heartfelt melodies and fearless improvising broke open the jazz genre entirely in the late 1950s and early 60s. The group is led by powerful saxophonist Greene and innovative composer Allison - both of whom have dug deeply into Ornette's music. Together they pay tribute to the enigmatic icon whose Free Jazz (1961), The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959), Science Fiction (1972), Song X (1986) and many other recordings each brought jazz as was contemporaneously known down to its essence.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 10 (Friday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club

The Birdland Big Band

Every Friday, and for two headlining weeks a year, the "BBB" roars into action playing a thrilling and original mix of jazz, funk, Brazilian, Latin and world music for sold-out audiences. Featured weekly guest artists drop in from television bands (David Letterman, Saturday Night Live) and pop music touring bands (Rob Thomas, Rod Stewart). 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 why yelp.com proclaims, "If you hear one band in NYC make sure this is it... and prepare to be blown away!"
$30 + $20 food/drink minimum

March 12 (Sunday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club

Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra

Hot off of a GRAMMY win for Best Large Ensemble Album of 2023, Steven Feifke and Bijon Watson present the Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra! Recognized by GRAMMY.com as one of six big band composers pushing the format forwards and heralded a "masterful pianist" by JAZZIZ magazine, award-winning Yamaha Performing Artist, bandleader and composer Steven Feifke is one of the most in-demand artists of his generation. A two-time semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition, Feifke has been featured on stages around the world alongside premiere artists including Steve Tyrell, Randy Brecker, Chad LB and Veronica Swift, with an impressive performance history at internationally recognized venues and festivals. International tours across Europe, Africa and Asia along with an extensive discography of over 30 albums all before turning 30 have established Feifke's name as a formidable presence in jazz.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 12 (Sunday) 8:30 & 10:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club

Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

Pianist, composer and educator Arturo O'Farrill-leader of the "first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz" (The New York Times)-leads the GRAMMY award winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), who bring together the drama of big band jazz, the culture of Latin music, and the virtuosity of eighteen of the world's most accomplished solo musicians. Twelve years of critically-acclaimed performances internationally have firmly established the ALJO as the standard-bearer for creative interpretation of Latin jazz greats such as Tito Puente, Frank "Machito" Grillo, and Chico O'Farrill, as well as the driving force behind new commissions from Latin music's most talented composers and arrangers.
$30 + $20 food/drink minimum

March 13 (Monday) 8:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Alicyn Yaffee Band

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Alicyn Yaffee brings pensive lyrics, fretboard prowess, and lush vocals together with her electrifying contemporary jazz group. Part of the movement by millennial artists from Northern California to blend jazz and indie rock sensibilities, Yaffee represents a particularly intimate and authentic space in jazz music where the authentically modern meets the nostalgic and the reverential. Under her belt already are tours of Europe with Becca Stevens (Winner of Downbeat's prestigious "Rising Star Vocalist" award); acting and guitar roles in Bacchae at the Classical Theater of Harlem; and an endorsement by PRS Guitars. Her debut album, Someone Else, features appearances by music greats such as Cindy Blackman Santana, Pepe Jimenez, Jeff Cressman and Ronnie Foster. Catch her on this Monday night engagement at the Theater!
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 14-18 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (3/14-16); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (3/17-18) - Birdland Jazz Club

The Cookers

One of the longest-working supergroups in jazz history, the Cookers have for fifteen strong years brought together seven of the biggest names in jazz. Drummer Billy Hart, bassist Cecil McBee, pianist George Cables, saxophonists Billy Pierce and Donald Harrison, and trumpeters Eddie Henderson and David Weiss have each made powerful contributions to the history of the music and can be heard on no less than a collective 1,000 recordings. Together, they make robust, high-octane statements, bringing back to life the harmonic and melodic sensibilities of the 1960s explorations that made jazz music what it is today. With six full-length recordings to their name-including iTunes 2014 Jazz CD of the Year Time and Time Again-this group of jazz legends has headlined more than twenty major international festivals, including the Newport Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Playboy Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Jazz a Vienne, London Jazz Festival, San Sebastian Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, and Jazz in Marciac. Anyone looking to hear jazz masters hold the flame in fiery form should make a point to witness the Cookers, who hold court at Birdland for five nights.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 14 (Tuesday) 8:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks

Catch Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks for their final performance in a highly successful 7-week Tuesday night residency at the Birdland Theater. Giordano, the recipient of a GRAMMY Award for his work scoring the HBO show Boardwalk Empire, is a master composer and arranger whose 11-piece band, The Nighthawks, recreate the jubilant 1920s jazz sound with amazing definition, using violins, tubas, banjos, and collector's item drum sets. The band has provided soundtracks for film and television productions including The Cotton Club, The Aviator, Finding Forrester, Revolutionary Road, Cafe Society, Boardwalk Empire, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and many more. Not to be missed!
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 15 (Wednesday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Theater

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 18th 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!
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 15 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Frank Vignola's Guitar Night with special guest Ken Peplowski

It's the best jazz guitar lover's show in the world. Frank Vignola's virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world's top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Les Paul, the Boston and New York Pops, and more. Every Wednesday at 8:30pm in the Birdland Theater, Frank leads "Frank Vignola's Guitar Night at Birdland." Inspired by journeyman jazz guitarist John Pisano's now famous Los Angeles Guitar Night, the Frank Vignola Trio, featuring bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Vince Cherico, will perform tunes from the standard repertoire, inviting up a rotation of special guest guitarists. This week it's Ken Peplowski.
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 17 (Friday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club

The Birdland Big Band

Every Friday, and for two headlining weeks a year, the "BBB" roars into action playing a thrilling and original mix of jazz, funk, Brazilian, Latin and world music for sold-out audiences. Featured weekly guest artists drop in from television bands (David Letterman, Saturday Night Live) and pop music touring bands (Rob Thomas, Rod Stewart). 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 why yelp.com proclaims, "If you hear one band in NYC make sure this is it... and prepare to be blown away!"
$30 + $20 food/drink minimum

March 17-19 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM - Birdland Theater

Orrin Evans Quartet

Orrin Evans is a prolific modern jazz composer and performer, a Philadelphia powerhouse, a New York institution; the fearless leader of the Captain Black Big Band, the Eubanks-Evans-Experience (with Tonight Show bandleader Kevin Eubanks), Terreno Comun (featuring vocalist Alexia Bomtempo); one-third of Tar Baby (with the iconic Nasheet Waits and Eric Revis), and the second pianist in The Bad Plus. Twice Grammy-nominated for his two big band albums, and simply one of the top musicians in the jazz scene worldwide, Orrin Evans is one of the genre's most active, exuberant, and imaginative practitioners. His own quartet performs daring, contemporary, and virtuosic music on the front lines of the jazz tradition.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 19 (Sunday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club

Jihye Lee

The winner of BMI Foundation's Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize, Jihye Lee has a wild imagination which guides her in weaving lyrical melodies throughout her evocative arrangements. Indeed, arranging icon Jim McNeely praises her writing for the "exciting chances" that it takes. A rising voice in large ensemble music, Lee has written for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Carnegie Hall's NYO Jazz. Originally from South Korea, her work breaks traditional boundaries for the genre and fits into no easy boxes. Her 2017 album April responded to a 2014 ferry boat tragedy off the shores of Korea; and with her 2021 record Daring Mind, Lee paints portraits of her New York life. Daring Mind has received worldwide acclaim from the likes of the New York Times, NPR, Jazzwise, Jazz Times and more. Her ensemble performs for one special night at Birdland.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

March 19 (Sunday) 8:30 & 10:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club

Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

Pianist, composer and educator Arturo O'Farrill-leader of the "first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz" (The New York Times)-leads the GRAMMY award winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), who bring together the drama of big band jazz, the culture of Latin music, and the virtuosity of eighteen of the world's most accomplished solo musicians. Twelve years of critically-acclaimed performances internationally have firmly established the ALJO as the standard-bearer for creative interpretation of Latin jazz greats such as Tito Puente, Frank "Machito" Grillo, and Chico O'Farrill, as well as the driving force behind new commissions from Latin music's most talented composers and arrangers.
$30 + $20 food/drink minimum