Benny Goodman News

Swingin' big band music is always alive at the Hershey Area Playhouse, with an unforgettable performance from the Unforgettable Big Band on April 1 and 2, 2022. 

At Birdland Jazz Club, catch The Cookers, Celebrating the Slide Hampton Octet, Maria Schneider Orchestra, Grace Fox Big Band, Maqueque, Sean Harkness Quartet, Monty Alexander, and Emmet’s Place Live.

The NEC Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Ken Schaphorst celebrates the centennial of Jaki Byard in a live concert on Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. at Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston. Byard was one of the cornerstones of the groundbreaking Afro-American Music and Jazz Studies Department assembled by Carl Atkins and Gunther Schuller at NEC in 1969. 

lduda@resnicow.com

What do Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, Tony Bennett, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson all have in common? Each of these legends once graced the stage of Palisades Amusement Park! Now a spectacular new musical is in the works celebrating the glory days of 'America's Amusement Park' and some very big names have already thrown their support behind the show. For over one hundred years, Palisades Amusement Park was the most popular amusement park in the entire world! It was immortalized in numerous movies and was the title of a #1 Billboard hit from Freddie Boom-Boom Cannon. Now the producers are inviting fans who love Palisades Amusement Park to be a part of the action!

Billie! Backstage with Lady Day, written and performed by Synthia L. Hardy, directed by Bryan Rasmussen, and produced by Gary Lamb, will open at the Sierra Madre Playhouse February 25-27, 2022. Fri. & Sat. at 8:00, Sun. at 2:30.

The Madison Theatre at Molloy College presents Swingtime Big Band: Love Notes, February 13, 2022.

Seattle Theatre Group starts the new year with an eclectic mix of three sensational performances at the Paramount and Moore Theatres.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents longtime Center favorites Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, a group of 15 of the finest soloists, ensemble players and arrangers in jazz music today on Friday, January 21 at 8:00pm at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents longtime Center favorites Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, a group of 15 of the finest soloists, ensemble players and arrangers in jazz music today.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts wants you to start your new year with some unforgettable experiences and extraordinary entertainment!  

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra has announced the return of celebrated jazz clarinetist and saxophonist Ken Peplowski for the return of VSO USA's annual Evening of Jazz live benefit concert and dinner, along with GRAMMY nominated guitarist Diego Figueiredo. The event will be held at 5:30 pm on Sunday, March 26th at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, WA.

From pop, rock and swing to Broadway hits, orchestra and opera, Queensland Performing Arts Centre's (QPAC) Concert Hall will be chockers with something for all music fans this March.

Returning for the sixth season, Repertory Dance Theatre presents an evening of choreography by the RDT dancers and Artistic Staff, along with the winner of REGALIA 2021. EMERGE: SOUNDS DELIGHTFUL, presented in the Leona Wagner Black Box Theatre, will feature all-new choreography using lively and upbeat music from the 1930s and 40s. 

Featuring GRAMMY-winning pianist Bill Charlap, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Kenny Washington, the Bill Charlap Trio was formed nearly 25 years ago in 1997 and earned GRAMMY nominations for Uptown Downtown (Impulse!/Verve), Somewhere: The Songs of Leonard Bernstein, and The Bill Charlap Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard (both on the Blue Note label). 

The NEC Jazz Orchestra presents Soul on Soul – The Music of Mary Lou Williams on Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. in NEC’s Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston. Joining the ensemble will be NEC alum and pianist Carmen Staaf ’05, 2009 winner of the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Pianist Competition.

Santa's gonna be  jumpin' and jivin' to the swingin' sounds of the George Gee Swing Orchestra as they spice up the season with big band versions of your favorite holiday music at Mayo Performing Arts Center on Sunday, December 12 at 3 pm.

Maggy, Marta, and Mary Moipei have dreamed of playing Manhattan and Birdland, and they got it done, with a little stop-off at Rose Hall, just to close the deal. The Moipei Triplets have arrived in NYC.

The Chicago Theatre will celebrate its 100th anniversary on October 26, 2021. In honor of this milestone anniversary, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot issued a proclamation recognizing tomorrow as Chicago Theatre Day.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has named Tong Chen its assistant conductor for the 2021–22 season. Chen will make her subscription series debut with performances of Jessie Montgomery's Starburst on a November classical program. She will share the podium with Music Director Xian Zhang for the Orchestra's annual Lunar New Year Celebration in January.