Duke Ellington News

Elio Villafranca brings an all-star band with special guest Jon Faddis into The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center on February 20-21 for the world premiere of 'Cinque - Music of the Caribbean.'

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its lineup for the week of February 2 - 8, including John Pizzarelli Quartet, The Noah Haidu Quartet, Jazz Party with Joelle Lurie, and more. Details below!

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestra's begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven- o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including: The Cast of IF/THEN Sings Kitt & Yorkey; David Michael Finkelstein's Bar Mitzvah: The Musical Comedy In Concert; Josh Canfield & Reed Kelly: From Broadway to Survivor; Ellyn Marie Marsh: INNAPPROPRIATE; and T Oliver Reid: Drop Me Off at Harlem.

In the second installment of the Columbus Symphony's American Roots Festival, guest bass-baritone Kevin Deas returns to perform some of George Gershwin's greatest music including extensive selections from his glorious opera Porgy and Bess, including “Summertime,” “It Ain't Necessarily So,” “Bess,” and “You Is My Woman Now.” Gershwin's brilliant and bluesy Piano Concerto and an orchestral suite by jazz legend Duke Ellington paying tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. completes the bill. Led by guest conductor John DeMain, the program will also feature guest pianist Xiayin Wang, soprano Jonita Lattimore, and the Columbus Symphony Chorus.

Good Noise Vancouver Gospel Choir presents its highly-anticipated annual gospel music workshop and concert Hallelujah Praise: Motown Meets Gospel - at Ryerson United Church (2195 W. 45th Avenue, Vancouver), February 28 - March 1, 2015.

In celebration of Black History Month, Associate Conductor for Education and Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras Artistic Director Ken Lam leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in a Family Concert Series program celebrating African-American Innovators, Saturday, February 21 at 11 a.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Featuring the music of Duke Ellington and Heitor Villa-Lobos, the Baltimore City College Choir led by Director Marcus Smith, lends their voices for a collection of African-American spirituals, honoring the impact of innovation on our collective history. Entertainer Shannan E. Johnson narrates. Please see below for complete program details.

Stacy Sullivan will reprise 'On the Air,' honoring the legacy of of Marian McPartland, harmonic genius and composer, who created 'Piano Jazz,' the longest running cultural program in the history of National Public Radio. The show will play one show only at Metropolitan Room on Friday, January 16th at 9:30pm. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the show below!

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for January 26 - February 1, featuring Steve Lippia Sinatra Centennial, Lindsay Mendez and Marco Paguia, Jazz Party with Natalie Douglas, and more. Details below!

Norwegian Cruise Line announced today that After Midnight will headline in the Escape Theatre on their newest and largest ship ever-Norwegian Escape.

Signature Theatre presents Signature in the Schools 20th Anniversary Festival. Over the past 20 years, Signature Theatre has helped cultivate a deeper understanding of history, current events and civility through the Signature in the Schools program with the students of Arlington County. The program has explored complex issues including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, PTSD, the Arab Spring, immigration, Hurricane Katrina, the Holocaust, cyberbullying and more.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced the launch of a new series, Jazz Party with Natalie Douglas, on Sundays at 6pm, beginning January 18.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its February 2015 schedule, featuring John Pizzarelli Quartet, Marilyn Maye, Sarah Gazarek, Billy Childs Jazz Quartet, The 5th Annual Broadway Belts for PFF, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more. Details below!

Stacy Sullivan, will reprise 'On the Air,' honoring the legacy of of Marian McPartland, harmonic genius and composer, who created 'Piano Jazz,' the longest running cultural program in the history of National Public Radio. The show will play one show only at Metropolitan Room tonight, January 16th at 9:30pm.

Grammy and Oscar award-winning vocalist ?Patti Austin returns to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for a performance devoted to the brilliance of Washington, DC native Duke Ellington and 'The First Lady of Song,' Ella Fitzgerald, Thursday, February 19 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore, and Friday, February 20 at 8 p.m. Saturday, February 21 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 22 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

Celebrate this Valentine's Day weekend WITH LOVE FROM DEEDS AND DIVA - a very special three-night engagement where two-time Grammy winning legendary jazz vocalist Diane Schuur takes to the stage with New York's own magnetic tour-de-force Diva Jazz Orchestra, led by the extraordinary talented drummer Dr. Sherrie Maricle.

The Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart will showcase the extraordinary range of 'America's Orchestra' in five Florida cities from February 3-9, presenting a program focused on our country's most celebrated composers, including Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin, as well as film music favorites from the incomparable Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams. The orchestra will also perform crowd-pleasing orchestrations of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and ABBA's Dancing Queen, and a new Beatles sing-along including 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,' 'Twist and Shout,' and 'Hey Jude.'

Grammy-Award winning soprano Jessye Normanreturns to Carnegie Hall on Saturday, February 14 at 8:00 p.m. with pianist Mark Markham for a special Valentine's Day program entitled Hooray for Love! The concert features classics from musical theater and the Great American Songbook including selections by Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, and Duke Ellington, plus songs by Satie, Weill, Poulenc, Bizet, and others. This performance marks Miss Norman's first solo recital in Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage since May 2008.

As part its 10th Anniversary Spring 2015 season, Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) proudly presents the New York Premiere of Carmen de Lavallade's As I Remember It, February 19-21 and 24 at 8PM, and February 25 at 1PM in the Jerome Robbins Theater. This intimate autobiographical performance combines movement and storytelling to weave a poignant memoir of Carmen de Lavallade's extraordinary career, highlighting the legendary artist's singular place in cultural history.

An historical one-of-a-kind gallery exhibit highlighting the legacy of Asbury Park's West Side African-American music scene – from Count Basie to Billy Brown – has opened at Heaven Art Gallery, 721 Cookman Ave., as part of Light of Day Foundation's LIGHT OF DAY WINTERFEST 2015.

'The King of Swing' will be celebrated in high fashion this month as the Benny Goodman Tribute by the Stan Rubin Orchestra kicks off the annual January Jazz Fest at the Centenary Stage on tonight, January 10th at the Centenary Stage Company.