Jane Monheit, Marcello Pellitteri, and More to Play Birdland This Month

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater have announced all jazz programming running November 6th - November 19th.

Performers appearing at Birdland Jazz Club include Jane Monheit, Marcello Pellitteri, Underworld Orchestra: The Hadestown Band with special guests from the Cast, Django Reinhardt NY Festival and The Purchase Latin Jazz Orchestra Directed by David DeJesus.

Downstairs at Birdland Theater, catch Lakecia Benjamin, Duduka Da Fonseca and Quarteto Universal, Robin McKelle and Sheila Jordan Trio. 

Repeat engagements include Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Frank Vignola's Guitar Night, Birdland Big Band, Loston Harris and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (but not on 11/19).
 

Jazz Programming at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater November 6th - November 19th

November 6-7 (Monday-Tuesday) 5:30 & 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
Catch Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks every Monday evening in November at 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!
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 7-11 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (11/7-9); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (11/10-11) – Birdland Jazz Club
Jane Monheit
With a robust, sultry tone and an uplifting stage presence, Jane Monheit has become a household name among contemporary jazz fans over the last 15 years, who have come to identify her with the living tradition of swinging vocalists. Performing standards from the Great American Songbook in a way that is both all her own and yet deeply dedicated to the great achievements of the Master Singers, Monheit has been the vocalist of choice on recordings by the great Terence Blanchard (Let's Get Lost), Tom Harrell (Wise Children), Harold Mabern (Afro Blue), David Benoit (Two in Love and Believe) and others. As a leader, she has released 13 full-length albums; at a recent engagement at Birdland Jazz Club, she celebrated the release of her latest album on Club44 records, Come What May (2021). Her first recording in five years, Come What May captures Monheit at her peak. Her group features Michael Kanan on piano and Neal Miner on bass, and Joe Strasser on drums. Monheit will bring audiences into her world for this surely captivating week.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 8 (Wednesdays) 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
 

November 8 (Wednesdays) 8:30 PM - Birdland Theater
Frank Vignola's Guitar Night with special guest Nicole Zuraitis
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 Quartet, featuring pianist Ted Rosenthal, bassist Gary Mazzaroppi,Bri and drummer Vince Cherico, will perform tunes from the standard repertoire, bringing in special guests. This week, it's GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Nicole Zuraits.
Guitar night streams live every week at YouTube.com/RadioFreeBirdland
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 10 (Fridays) 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
 

November 10-12 (Friday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM - Birdland Theater
Lakecia Benjamin & Phoenix
New York native Lakecia Benjamin is one of the electric new voices in contemporary jazz. Long influenced by jazz, R&B, and hip-hop, Benjamin and her distinctive sound gained both inner clarity and public attention through work with music icons Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Macy Gray, and The Roots. Her mission to blend genres and dismantle musical boundaries developed on her critically-acclaimed solo albums “Retox” (2012), “Rise Up” (2018), and “Pursuance: The Coltranes” (2020), and she was voted 2020 Rising Star Alto Saxophonist in the Downbeat Critics Poll, as well as Up and Coming Artist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. When a near-fatal car accident in 2021 threatened her ability to perform, Benjamin persevered, recording and releasing her album “Phoenix” to rave reviews. Featuring special guests Dianne Reeves, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Patrice Rushen, Sonia Sanchez, Angela Davis and Wayne Shorter, it solidifies Benjamin's artistic presence as an indispensable voice in contemporary music culture. Benjamin, who graced the cover of DownBeat Magazine earlier this year, performs for three nights at Birdland Theater.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 11 (Saturday) 5:30 PM - Birdland Jazz Club
Loston Harris Duo with Gianluca Renzi
Loston Harris possesses a voice like the great big band singers and the consummate pianism of a Wynton Kelly or a Tommy Flanagan. This combination of outgoing performance and exuberant technical mastery is rare, but Harris has it in spades—and at Birdland, accompanied by the brilliant Gianluca Renzi on bass, Loston will bring his one-two punch to the stage for two swinging sets. His life in jazz has included tutelage with some of the music's greatest masters. He studied with Marsalis family patriarch, the pianist Ellis, on recommendation by the great Harry Connick Jr. after participating in the first Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in Washington, D.C. Since then, Harris has wowed many a special audience: besides tours with the legendary Wynton Marsalis, or an appearance with piano genius Marcus Roberts on the PBS special “Portraits in Blue,” he was also the featured singer at George Clooney's Birthday with John Mayer; Sarah Jessica Parker's private Sex and the City movie after-party; Tom Cruise's ICON Award Ceremony; and the Friar's Club Gala honoring Don Rickles. Harris performs for four consecutive Saturdays.
$30 + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 12 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Marcello Pellitteri: Benefit for The Veronica Pellitteri Memorial Fund
Drummer Marcello Pellitteri's long tenure in music has seen him perform on over 100 recordings; in concert at venues such as Radio City Music Hall, The White House, and Boston Symphony Hall; and with music luminaries Joe Henderson, Jon Hendricks, Miroslav Vitous, and Paquito D'Rivera. A teacher at the iconic Berklee College of Music for nearly 35 years, Pellitteri's record of service in music is vast. In this special engagement at Birdland, he plays in honor of his daughter, Veronica, who passed unexpectedly in October 2014. A Memorial Fund has been named in her honor at LaGuardia High School of Music and her Art in New York City—where she trained as a vocalist—to benefit young musicians in their studies. This benefit concert, from which proceeds are given to that fund, is dedicated to her.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

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

November 13 (Monday) 5:30 & 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
Catch Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks every Monday evening in November at 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!
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

November 13 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Underworld Orchestra: The Hadestown Band with special guests from the Cast
Drummer Ben Perowsky leads the Hadestown band, “Underworld Orchestra,” with special guest vocalist “Gods and Goddesses” from the cast of the hit Broadway show, through a program of their favorite Broadway songs, jazz standards, and more. Vocalists include Eva Noblezada, Amber Gray, Reeve Carney, and Jewelle Blackman.. The band features Ben Perowsky on drums, Brian Drye on trombone, Marika Hughes on cello, Dana Lyn on violin, Ilusha Tsinadze on guitar, Fima Ephron on bass, Nathan Koci on accordion and piano, and Cody Owen-Stine on accordion and piano.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 14-19 (Tuesday-Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (11/14-16); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (11/17-19) – Birdland Jazz Club
Django Reinhardt NY Festival
Gypsy Jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt's unmistakable sound has made him an icon for an unlikely range of luminaries from Carlos Santana to Eric Clapton to Jimi Hendrix to Willie Nelson. What began as a tribute performance at Birdland in 1999 has developed into the annual Django Reinhardt NY Festival, now in its 25th year. For this year's festival, legendary violinist/guitarist Dorado Schmitt brings his two sons—the virtuosos Samson and Amati Schmitt—to perform with him in what is sure to be a series of show-stopping performances. Joined by Francko Mehrstein on rhythm guitar and Gino Roman on bass, the group have performed across the world at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and 24 years at Birdland. They will be joined by an all-star list of special guests, including Anat Cohen (clarinet, 11/14), Edmar Castaneda (harp, 11/15), Madeleine Peyroux (vocals, 11/17 — 8:30 pm), Ken Peplowski (clarinet, 11/17 — 10:30 pm), Randy Brecker (trumpet, 11/18),  and Houston Person (saxophone, 11/19). This is a week not to miss!
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 15 (Wednesdays) 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
 

November 15 (Wednesdays) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Frank Vignola's Guitar Night with special guest Bria Skonberg 
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 8:30 pm 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 Quartet, featuring pianist Ted Rosenthal, bassist Gary Mazzaroppi,Bri and drummer Vince Cherico, will perform tunes from the standard repertoire, bringing in special guests. This week, it's Bria Skonberg.
*Guitar night streams live every week at YouTube.com/RadioFreeBirdland
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 16 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Duduka Da Fonseca and Quarteto Universal
Beloved for his work as a co-founder of the iconic Trio de Paz, which brought Brazilian music and jazz together in unprecedented ways, Duduka Da Fonseca is a legend of the international music scene. In his nearly six decades behind the drums, he has recorded and performed with Nancy Wilson, Phil Woods, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, John Scofield, Paquito D'Rivera, Bill Charlap, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Toninho Horta, and Milton Nascimento, among countless other masters. Da Fonseca continues to make waves in the international music scene: in 2022, he enlisted a top-tier group of Vinicius Gomes (g), Helio Alves (p) and Gili Lopes (b) to record Quarteto Universal's “Yes!!!”, a record that met much critical acclaim. It is this group that performs at Birdland Theater for a one night engagement. Don't miss!
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 17 (Fridays) 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
 

November 17-18 (Friday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Robin McKelle
Acclaimed vocalist Robin McKelle brings a wealth of experience to her latest project, a tribute to her greatest influence, Ella Fitzgerald. “My voice has matured,” muses the singer, “and I have grown so much as a woman. I felt like I was really at a point in my life where…I could sing these stories because I had lived them.” And so, to record “Impressions of Ella,” Robin McKelle decided to enlist the best of the best: Kenny Washington on drums, the pinnacle of straight-ahead swinging; Peter Washington on bass, renowned as one of jazz's most important low-end men; and the legend Kenny Barron, whose work with Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, and Freddie Hubbard is beloved. From “How High the Moon” to “I Won't Dance,” to Gershwin's “My One and Only,” to “April in Paris” and “Lush Life,” McKelle's new recording brings audiences both into the stylistic world of her idol Fitzgerald and into the idiosyncratic world of McKelle's contemporary voice, one which has traveled the world performing everything from R&B to country to jazz. She will deliver a performance of this new material and more at Birdland for two nights.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 18 (Saturday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Loston Harris Duo with Gianluca Renzi
Loston Harris possesses a voice like the great big band singers and the consummate pianism of a Wynton Kelly or a Tommy Flanagan. This combination of outgoing performance and exuberant technical mastery is rare, but Harris has it in spades—and at Birdland, accompanied by the brilliant Gianluca Renzi on bass, Loston will bring his one-two punch to the stage for two swinging sets. His life in jazz has included tutelage with some of the music's greatest masters. He studied with Marsalis family patriarch, the pianist Ellis, on recommendation by the great Harry Connick Jr. after participating in the first Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in Washington, D.C. Since then, Harris has wowed many a special audience: besides tours with the legendary Wynton Marsalis, or an appearance with piano genius Marcus Roberts on the PBS special “Portraits in Blue,” he was also the featured singer at George Clooney's Birthday with John Mayer; Sarah Jessica Parker's private Sex and the City movie after-party; Tom Cruise's ICON Award Ceremony; and the Friar's Club Gala honoring Don Rickles. Harris performs for four consecutive Saturdays.
$30 + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 19 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
The Purchase Latin Jazz Orchestra Directed by David DeJesus
Comprised of the top student musicians in SUNY Purchase's Conservatory of Music, this exciting large ensemble performs styles from all across Latin America, rendering the worlds of mambo, cha-cha, danzon, festejo, porro, and more with youthful verve. Director David DeJesus, a fixture on both jazz and Latin music scenes, will guide the orchestra as they bring to life the many flavors of Latin Jazz on the Birdland stage.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum
 

November 19 (Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Sheila Jordan Trio
Sheila Jordan stands as one of America's last living great jazz vocalists. After moving to New York in 1951, she befriended Charlie Parker; married Parker's pianist, Duke Jordan; studied with Lennie Tristano and Charles Mingus; and performed regularly with jazz royalty. Jordan was raised in poverty in Pennsylvania's coal-mining country, and she faced threats and violence as a white woman for working predominantly with black musicians. But her talent and love for the music allowed her to work with the top proponents of bebop and beyond. The 1970s saw Jordan venturing into innovative, adventurous musical forms with the likes of Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, and Bob Moses; in subsequent decades, she put forth 15 more records as a leader. Amazingly, in 2021, after a brilliant life in music, a lost album—which is now known to be her true first venture as a leader—was unearthed and finally released. The record, Come Love, precedes what was long considered Jordan's debut, Portrait of Sheila. Now—at 94 years young—Jordan continues to appear on major stages. This November, she brings her dazzling energy to Birdland, gracing us for one night only with her trio.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

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