Richard Cortez, The Hot Sardines, and More to Play Birdland This Month

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater have announced jazz programming running September 11th - September 24th.

Performers appearing at Birdland Jazz Club include Richard Cortez, The Hot Sardines,  Livio Almeida Big Band Feat. Jamile, Coltrane Revisited and Grace Fox Big Band.

Downstairs at Birdland Theater, catch Gabrielle Stravelli, Champian Fulton, Michael Kanan Trio, Lucy Yeghiazaryan Quintet and Margot Sergent.

Repeat engagements include Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Frank Vignola's Guitar Night, Birdland Big Band and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. 

Jazz Programming at Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater September 11th - September 24th

September 11 (Monday) 5:30 & 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
Catch Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks every Monday evening in September 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

September 11 (Monday) 7:00 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Richard Cortez
A leader in the new crop of vocal talents emerging from the New York City jazz scene, Richard Cortez's golden voice handles the Great American Songbook with a deep emotional intelligence, an unbridled passion for song, and—rare and moving—an activist's relationship to both his material and his audience. Cortez's openly gay renderings of timeless treasures by Cole Porter, Billie Holiday, Jerome Kern, and so many others deliver sweetness, self-assuredness and disarming vulnerability with a well-timed wit. Splitting his time between a number of weekly residencies at iconic gay venues across the city—among them Club Cumming, Metropolitan Bar, and Rebar—Cortez has focused and refined his artistry while growing his wide fan-base. Recent performances in distinguished productions such as Live at Emmet's Place with the Emmet Cohen Trio, or Jazz at Lincoln Center's Jazz at Pride with drummer/bandleader Bryan Carter, have marked the vocalist's career for success. Don't miss this already legendary new voice.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 12 (Tuesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Gabrielle Stravelli
Award-winning vocalist Gabrielle Stravelli takes over Tuesday nights at Birdland Theater in September with her trademark vocal style and her trio featuring Pat O'Leary (bass) and a rotation of New York's most captivating pianists. Together, they will explore both familiar classics and lesser-known gems of the canon, highlighting a diverse repertoire that will show the Great American Songbook is for everyone. Stravelli's clear tone, gutsy rhythm, impeccable scat-singing and contagious joy have delighted audiences the world over; recent honors include the Bistro Award for Outstanding Recording (2020); the Broadway World Cabaret Award for Best Jazz Vocalist (2019); the MAC Award for Best Female Vocalist (2015); and the Bistro Award as a Jazz Vocalist (2015). Expect a swinging, engaging month of music.
$30 + $20 food/drink minimum

September 12-16 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (9/12-14); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (9/15-16) – Birdland Jazz Club
The Hot Sardines
Stars of the trad-jazz world, The Hot Sardines bring early jazz into the modern day. With their love of classic jazz—jazz that feeds the heart and soul—bandleader Evan Palazzo, lead singer Elizabeth Bougerol and a New York-based ensemble have brought their music across the globe for years. Their brassy horn arrangements, rollicking piano melodies, smooth vocals and love for audience engagement earned them the respect of Downbeat Magazine, who called the group “one of the most delightfully energetic bands on New York's 'hot' music scene.” The Hot Sardines have released eight records since 2011 to critical acclaim. “Everything in our DNA is about connecting with the audience,” says Bougerol. Make sure not to miss this exciting night!
$45 tables / $35 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 13 (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

September 13 (Wednesday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Frank Vignola's Guitar Night with special guest Sara Caswell
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 bassist Gary Mazzaroppi, drummer Vince Cherico, and pianist Ted Rosenthal, will perform tunes from the standard repertoire. Tonight, Sara Caswell is the special guest. 
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 14-17 (Thursday-Sunday) 8:30 PM (9/14); 7:00 & 9:30 PM (9/15-17) – Birdland Theater
Champian Fulton
A great jazz singer is something special, and something special indeed is Champian Fulton. Daughter of trumpeter Stephen Fulton, Champian grew up inside the world of jazz, and as she grew she developed a swinging sound on the piano and a voice beyond her years—a sound reminiscent of the old master vocalists. Named the Hot House Readers Poll 2019 Pianist and Vocalist of the Year, and with 14 albums to her name, she is understandably a Birdland fan favorite. And with Birdland as her home, it was only fitting for her to record her latest album at the club: 2023's Meet Me At Birdland. Fulton returns to her favorite jazz club with drummer Fukushi Tainaka and bassist Hide Tanaka.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 15 (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

September 17 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Livio Almeida Big Band Feat. Jamile: The Sounds of Brazil
Prolific saxophonist Livio Almeida crosses effortlessly between American and Brazilian stylings. A Grammy-nominee and the 2015 winner of the International Saxophone Competition Victor Assis Brasil, Almeida has made a stamp on both the New York and global scenes, performing at Carnegie Hall, Birdland, The Iridium, Dizzy's Coca-Cola Club, The Jazz Gallery, and many other iconic venues. His work with Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, the Birdland Big Band, Mike Holober, Boris Koslov, Ari Hoenig, Helio Alves, and other luminaries has thrust him further into the limelight. Almeida brings his 10-piece big band to Birdland's stage, where he will feature the brilliant and popular young vocalist, Jamile—herself also a cross pollinator between Brazilian and American jazz idioms. Enjoy a beautiful night of music.
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 17 (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

September 18 (Monday) 5:30 & 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks
Catch Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks every Monday evening in September 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

September 19 (Tuesday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Gabrielle Stravelli
Award-winning vocalist Gabrielle Stravelli takes over Tuesday nights at Birdland Theater in September with her trademark vocal style and her trio featuring Pat O'Leary (bass) and a rotation of New York's most captivating pianists. Together, they will explore both familiar classics and lesser-known gems of the canon, highlighting a diverse repertoire that will show the Great American Songbook is for everyone. Stravelli's clear tone, gutsy rhythm, impeccable scat-singing and contagious joy have delighted audiences the world over; recent honors include the Bistro Award for Outstanding Recording (2020); the Broadway World Cabaret Award for Best Jazz Vocalist (2019); the MAC Award for Best Female Vocalist (2015); and the Bistro Award as a Jazz Vocalist (2015). Expect a swinging, engaging month of music.
$30 + $20 food/drink minimum

September 19-23 (Tuesday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM (9/19-21); 8:30 & 10:30 PM (9/22-23) – Birdland Jazz Club
Coltrane Revisited
A special all-star tribute to the saxophonist that many have called the greatest musician in American history. “Coltrane Revisited”—now in its 22nd consecutive year—has brought sold out audiences to Birdland Jazz Club for over two decades and counting. This year, the great Jimmy Greene and Greg Osby lead a saxophone frontline, with pianist James Weidman, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, and drummer Billy Drummond forming the rhythm section. A hard-hitting, spiritually-inclined event, this week of performances is not to be missed.
$40 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 20 (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

September 20 (Wednesday except 9/6) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Frank Vignola's Guitar Night and special guest Peter Bernstein
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 bassist Gary Mazzaroppi, drummer Vince Cherico, and pianist Ted Rosenthal, will perform tunes from the standard repertoire, with special guests. Tonight it's guitarist Peter Bernstein. *Guitar night streams live every week at YouTube.com/RadioFreeBirdland
$30 tables; $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 21 (Thursday) 8:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Michael Kanan Trio
Consummate jazz pianist Michael Kanan has established himself as a voice in modern jazz with his versatility, his gorgeous touch, and his melodic sensibility. A student of the bebop masters, Kanan grew a reputation not only as a modern voice—performing extensively with peers Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Ben Street, and Jorge Rossy—but also as a vocal accompanist, touring the world with contemporary jazz vocal star, Jane Monheit. His own recordings on prominent Barcelona-based label, Fresh Sound New Talent, include The Gentleman Is a Dope and Convergence. He has performed on nearly 50 albums, including several with jazz vocal giant “Little” Jimmy Scott. He brings his swinging trio to Birdland Theater for one night. Don't miss!
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 22 (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

September 22-23 (Friday-Saturday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Lucy Yeghiazaryan Quintet
One of the finest vocalists to emerge from New York City in recent times, the Armenian-born Lucy Yeghiazaryan has received the ringing endorsement of her peers and elders. Master pianist Johnny O'Neal is effusive: “Lucy possesses an engaging tone with a warm flair of musical diplomacy. As smooth as maple syrup on pancakes!” and trumpet great Joe Magnarelli calls her “A breath of fresh air.” A finalist in the 2015 Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition, Yeghiazaryan has gone on to release three critically-appraised albums under her name: Blue Heaven (2019), In Her Words with Vanisha Gould (2021) and Lonely House (duo with Michael Kanan) (2023). The La Reserve artist is a frequent guest in the trio of Birdland favorite, Emmet Cohen, and performs regularly at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, Mezzrow, Symphony Space, and other venues across the country.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 24 (Sunday) 5:30 PM – Birdland Jazz Club
Grace Fox Big Band
In March of 2022, Grace Fox—a precocious talent then only 19 years old—celebrated the release of her debut album, and premiered her compositions at Birdland with her 17-piece all-female jazz ensemble. On her the recording, Eleven O' Seven (Next Level), Fox assembled a brilliant, multiethnic and multigenerational cast of jazzwomen from across the country that deftly represented her originals and arrangements—like “Sterile,” which Fox penned to illustrate the deadening effects of early pandemic quarantine, or “Strasbourg St. Denis,” the Roy Hargrove anthem which Fox orchestrated for large ensemble. “I had the opportunity to get this band together and I couldn't say no,” the trumpeter stated in an interview with Jazz Philadelphia. “It's my dream, as corny as that may sound.” Now she brings the group back to the Birdland stage for Round 2. Come enjoy what this special ensemble has in store!
$30 tables / $30 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 24 (Sunday) 7:00 & 9:30 PM – Birdland Theater
Margot Sergent
Transport yourself back to the 1920 and 30s with Margot Sergent. In her native French, the exquisite vocalist and harpist brings you right into the world of romance, despair, and Bohemian grandeur which characterize the favorite songs of Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, and Charles Trenet. Sergent's trio, So French Cabaret, features double bass and guitar, and together they invite you on a storyteller's journey, performing classics like “La Vie en Rose,” “Non, je ne regrette rien,” and “l'Hymne à l'Amour.” Sergent has performed across Paris and at France's legendary l'Olympia. As saxophone legend Archie Shepp describes: “What she does is pure poetry. No doubt she is one of the most captivating artists of her generation.” She makes her second appearance at Birdland Theater this summer, after a successful debut in January.
$30 tables / $20 bar + $20 food/drink minimum

September 24 (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

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