Christian McBride News

Two jazz aficionados who know a thing or two about sports - two athletes who know their jazz? - are front and center on Sunday, March 2 when Christian McBride Presents ... Jazz Meets Sports in NJPAC's Victoria Theater. NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and former Yankee Bernie Williams - a Latin Grammy-nominated jazz guitarist - will be joined by a trio led by NJPAC Jazz Advisor, bassist and Eagles fan Christian McBride. Music and memories will ensue.

Stageworks Media just launched the LIVE FROM GRAMERCY PARK cabaret series at The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South). The series kicked-off last night, January 27th, 2014 with Tony nominee Euan Morton, backed by Grandpa Musselman & His Syncopators. Mr. Morton and the six-piece jazz ensemble performed a repertoire of turn of the century ragtime, 1920?s jazz and depression-era swing by composers such as Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington. Check out photos from the concert below!

Celebrity Series of Boston will present Newport Jazz Festival: NOW 60, on Thursday, February 13, 2014, at 8pm at Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Avenue Boston. Sponsored by Donna and Mike Egan. Media partner is Boston Public Radio 89.7 WGBH.

Martinis Above Fourth Table + Stage in San Diego is presenting an event featuring Janis Siegel, nine-time Grammy winner and founding member of The Manhattan Transfer on Thursday, January 16. Siegel makes her Martinis Above Fourth debut appearance with her new show and release of her new CD, NightSongs: A Late Night Interlude. This is Janis' first solo album in seven years and features interpretations of Randy Newman, Jobim, Jorge Drexler, Janelle Monae & more. Janis is joined on stage by album collaborator and pianist John DiMartino, Boris Koslov (bass) and Steve Hass (drums).

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 8:00 pm -Texas Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin presents Christian McBride Big Band at Bass Concert Hall (2350 Robert Dedman Dr.) A map of the campus:texasperformingarts.org/visit/maps_directions. Tickets ($30 / Limited $10 student tickets / discounted tickets available for UT faculty & staff, seniors and Military) are on sale now at authorized ticket outlets, which include the Bass Concert Hall Ticket Office and all Texas Box Office outlets, online at TexasPerformingArts.org, or by calling (512) 477-6060 or (800) 982-BEVO.

In January, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Angélique Kidjo will release both an autobiography and an album of all-new material.

Stageworks Media proudly announces the launch of the LIVE FROM GRAMERCY PARK cabaret series at The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South). The series will kick-off on Monday January 27th, 2014 with Tony nominee Euan Morton, backed by Grandpa Musselman & His Syncopators. Mr. Morton and the six-piece jazz ensemble will perform a repertoire of turn of the century ragtime, 1920?s jazz and depression-era swing by composers such as Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington. Show times are at 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM (doors open 45 minutes prior to show time). Tickets are priced at $25-$35 (cocktails and light fare will be available, but there is NO food or drink minimum). Tickets are available now at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/537761.

Music Director Alan Gilbert will lead the New York Philharmonic on the ASIA / WINTER 2014 tour, February 6-19, 2014. The two-week tour - the Philharmonic's seventh international concert tour under Alan Gilbert's leadership - will feature ten concerts in three countries, with performances in Seoul, South Korea; Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama, Japan; and Taipei, Taiwan.

The world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis arrives at Segerstrom Center for the Arts on Friday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Segerstrom Hall. The much admired and critically acclaimed orchestra performs the music of Count Basie and Duke Ellington for its return visit to the Center. "One rarely hears this music played with such technical brilliance, stylistic authenticity and tonal sheen...Here were the throaty reeds, percussive trumpet blasts and visceral sense of swing that have made the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra the greatest large jazz ensemble working today," notes Chicago Tribune.

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the world-renowned Newport Jazz Festival (August 1-3, 2014), clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen, vocalist/pianist Karrin Allyson, bassists Larry Grenadier and Ben Allison, pianist Peter Martin, guitarist Mark Whitfield, trumpeter Randy Brecker, and drummer Clarence Penn embark on the 17-city 'Newport Jazz Festival: Now 60' Tour, February 8 - March 30, 2014, with more dates during June, July and August in North America and Europe.

Nominations for the 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards were announced tonight by The Recording Academy and reflected one of the most diverse years for the best and brightest in music.

Jay Z tops the nominations with nine; Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Justin Timberlake, and Pharrell Williams each garner seven nods; Drake and mastering engineer Bob Ludwig are up for five awards.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Tony nominee Euan Morton, making his debut at the acclaimed Manhattan nightspot, on Thursday, December 12th, 2013. Show time is 9:30 PM; doors will open at 8:45 PM. Backed by Grandpa Musselman & His Syncopators, Morton, will perform repertoire of turn of the century ragtime, 1920?s jazz and depression era swing by composers such as Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington. There is a $25-$35 cover charge and a $25 food and beverage minimum. Visit 54Below.com for reservations and information.

Blue Note Jazz Club, the iconic Greenwich Village jazz and blues venue that offers live musical performances every night of the week, announces new show additions through February 2014.

Blue Note Jazz Club, the iconic Greenwich Village jazz and blues venue that offers live musical performances every night of the week, is proud to announce an impressive roster of acts this November. Each performer is scheduled for two shows per night, 8:00 pm and 10:30 pm, unless otherwise noted.

Angelique Kidjo, the Benin born, Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter has signed with 429 Records and is gearing up for an incredible 2014.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts kicks off the 2013-14 season of its Jazz series with Anat Cohen QUARTET tonight, October 12, 2013, 8:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street). Tickets: $25-$35; Students with valid ID: $15-$21.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond:

Martin Luther featuring Mark Kelley' Portable, Justin Brown and Ray Angry of The Roots will hit the Highline tonight, October 11 (tickets $20 in advance, $25 day of show).

Following in the success of the 2012 PBS TV special 'Keola Beamer: M?lama Ko Aloha' ('Keep Your Love') and Grammy-nominated CD, the key elements of that performance are being brought to the live stage at the Harris Center/Three Stages. Hawaiian slack key master Keola Beamer, Native American flutist/nine time Grammy-nominee R. Carlos Nakai, jazz pianist Geoffrey Keezer ('a musician's musician,' Sting), and kumu hula (hula master) Moanalani Beamer join together to share their unique talents.