Every day is opening night.

Contact: Rick Miramontez/Richard Hillman
rick@oandmco.com / richard@oandmco.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

Birdland (315 West 44th Street – between 8th & 9th Aves.) is pleased to announce an exciting line-up of extraordinary entertainment for the month of September 2011. A detailed schedule follows:

• Gary Peacock/Marc Copland/Victor Lewis
Over the span of five decades, Gary Peacock has established himself as one of the most versatile and talented bass players in jazz. One of his earliest influences was avant-garde saxophonist Albert Ayler, with whom Peacock performed and recorded in the 1960s. His music has also been greatly affected by his studies of Eastern music and philosophy. Having cut his chops with the likes of Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Guiffre and Don Ellis on the West Coast, Peacock emerged as the true chameleon musician that he is. Since the 1980s, Peacock has been adding contemporary twists to old standards with pianist Keith Jarrett's trio, which also features Jack DeJohnette on drums. Peacock also continues to experiment in his collaborations with pianist Paul Bley, with whom he has worked since the 1960s. For this five-night run, Peacock will be joined on stage by Marc Copland (piano) & Victor Lewis (drums).
Tues.-Sat,, Aug. 30- Sept. 3 @ 8:30 & 11pm ($30 Side Seating, $40 Center Seating)

• Dave Liebman 65th Birthday Celebration
DL Group (9/6-7) DL Big Band (9/8-10)
Saxophonist Dave Liebman, a 2010 “NEA Jazz Master,” learned directly from jazz icons, spending extensive periods as a member of groups led by Miles Davis and Elvin Jones. As a leader, Liebman has been associated since 1970 with a succession of extraordinary groups from Open Sky Trio to Lookout Farm to Quest, each of whom has framed a distinct phase of his musical evolution. A 2011 Downbeat and Jazz Times Magazine Critic's Poll Winner for Soprano Saxophone, Liebman will celebrate his 65th year both with his longtime group featuring guitarist Vic Juris (also commemorating their 20th year together) and his Big Band which makes a rare NYC appearance.
Tues.- Sat., Sept. 6-10 @ 8:30 & 11pm ($30 Side Seating, $40 Center Seating)

• Lee Konitz & Tomasz Stanko Quintet
Featuring Lee Konitz (alto sax), Tomasz Stanko (trumpet), Dan Tepfer (piano), Thomas Morgan (bass), Jim Black (drums)
Inspired by early Ornette Coleman and the innovations of Coltrane, Miles Davis and George Russell, the group is often cited by music historians as the first European group to play free jazz, Tomasz Stanko's smouldering Slavic soul music and grainy-toned trumpet finds a new context on 'Dark Eyes.' Like his hero Miles Davis, the Polish jazz master also has an impressive record as talent scout and mentor, and his latest ensemble pools young players from the North of Europe.
“Stanko evokes the spirits of the finest trumpeters dead and living while creating a mood and a voice uniquely his own. Yes, you can hear the influences of Miles Davis and Chet Baker at their most introspective and profound, as well as hotter, more rasping traces of Lee Morgan and Clifford Brown's 'Soul of Things' stands shoulder to hiply-slumped shoulder with 'Kind of Blue', and has an even-better sound “ECM's deep and finely-burnished finest.” (Thomas Conrad, Stereophile)
Tues – Sat., Sept. 13-17 @ 8:30 & 11pm ($30 Side Seating, $40 Center Seating)

• “Coltrane Revisited”
Featuring Steve Kuhn (piano), Tom Harrell (trumpet), Vincent Herring (saxophone), Andrew Cyrille (drums), Lonnie Plaxico (bass)
Pianist Steve Kuhn first made his mark during a brief stint with John Coltrane's quartet and recently released a critically acclaimed ECM recording exploring Coltrane's repertoire. At Birdland, Kuhn leads annual all-star gathering in celebration of the legendary saxophonist and jazz innovator's birthday. Born in North Carolina in 1926, John Coltrane emerged on the jazz scene in the 1950s, playing tenor and soprano sax with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. A pioneer of “hard bop” in the 1960s, he led his own groups and reinvented jazz with experimentation and improvisation, his later recordings reflecting his belief that music was a form of spiritual expression. The all-star quintet, which this year explores some of Coltrane's late 1950's hard-bop repertoire recorded for the Blue Note and Atlantic labels, includes trumpeter Tom Harrell, saxophonist Vincent Herring, drummer Andrew Cyrille and bassist Lonnie Plaxico.
Tues.- Sat., Sept. 20-24 @ 8:30 & 11pm ($30 Side Seating, $40 Center Seating)

• The Music of Bud Powell
Featuring Ethan Iverson (piano), Tim Hagans (trumpet), Greg Osby (saxophone), Joey Baron (drums), Lonnie Plaxico (bass)
Along with our namesake, Charlie Parker, and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Earl Rudolph “Bud” Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) is considered to be one of the creators of the style of modern jazz known as bebop. Despite his tragically short life, including bouts of mental illness, alcoholism and a self-imposed period of exile in Paris, Powell helped to define modern jazz piano technique while his brutal life story went on to inspire the Oscar winning film “'Round Midnight.” However, the subjects of this all-star birthday tribute — featuring pianist Ethan Iverson, trumpeter Tim Hagans, saxophonist Greg Osby, drummer Joey Baron and bassist Lonnie Plaxico — are the many influential and oft-recorded bebop compositions that Powell left behind including “Bouncing with Bud,” “Dance of the Infidels,” “Budo,” “Tempus Fugit,” and “Un Poco Loco.”
Tues.- Sat., Sept 27- Oct. 1 @ 8:30 & 11pm ($30 Side Seating, $40 Center Seating)

• ARTURO O’FARRILL & THE AFRO-LATIN JAZZ ORCHESTRA (NEW ENGAGEMENT!)
Grammy Award winning pianist, composer and educator Arturo O'Farrill — leader of the “first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz” (NY Times) — was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. Son of the late, great composer Chico O'Farrill, Arturo was Educated at Manhattan School of Music, Brooklyn College Conservatory and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. He played piano in Carla Bley's Big Band from 1979 through 1983 and earned a reputation as a soloist in groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Turre, Freddy Cole, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis and Harry Belafonte. After leading his late father's orchestra for many years, Arturo formed his own band, The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra in order to explore his and other compositions in the panoply of Afro-Latin music. Birdland is pleased to welcome Arturo and the ALJO to a new residency beginning in September.
Sundays, September 4, 11, 18, 25 @ 9 & 11pm ($30 All Seating)

• THE BIRDLAND JAZZ PARTY (with Vocalist Hilary Kole)
John Hart (guitar), Yasushi Nakamura (bass), Carmen Intorre (drums), Jon Davis (piano)
Birdland's very own jazz quartet – with vocalist Hilary Kole – hits the stage every Sunday to wrap up the weekend with jazz classics!
Sundays, September 4, 11, 18, 25 @ 6pm ($25 tables. $20 bar)

• JIM CARUSO’S “CAST PARTY”
“No one can be called a true New Yorker until they’ve been to the ‘Cast Party,’ which is to Broadway what the Conde-Nast cafeteria is to publishing. Divas and dapper-dans insouciantly sip cocktails while watching each other sing and perform at the open-mic event during Broadway’s dark night,” says Next Magazine. Broadway impresario Jim Caruso hosts a combination open-mic, networking event and party in which the biggest stars on Broadway relax on their night off by performing their favorite songs in an informal setting.
Mondays, September 5, 12, 19, 25 @ 9:30pm ($20)

• THE LOUIS ARMSTRONG CENTENNIAL BAND
aka DAVID OSTWALD’S GULLY LOW JAZZ BAND
Inspired by the noble jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and their colleagues, David Ostwald’s Gully Low Jazz Band (also known as the Louis Armstrong Centennial Band) breathes life and passion into America’s own great art form. “There has never been a band quite like the Gully Low Jazz Band,” notes legendary record producer George Avakian. “Most groups, past and present, stick to one style. Some current groups attempt to recreate early recordings in their entirety. These guys do neither. Inspired by divergent bands of the 1920s and 30s, you’ll hear them swing a variety of styles in music by a wide range of composers, always try to the joy and heart of the music.” Now in its 11th 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!
Wednesdays, September 7, 14, 21, 28 from 5pm-7pm ($15 tables, $10 bar)

IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE NOTE:

• Music charges vary by performer
• At the tables, there is a $10 food/drink minimum per person in addition to the music charge.
• At the bar, the music charge includes one complimentary drink, no additional minimum.
• American Fare with a Cajun Accent is served nightly from 5PM–Midnight
and until 1AM on Friday and Saturday.
• Discount parking garage across the street at 332 West 44th Street.
• For further information and reservations call (212) 581-3080
• Purchase tickets 24 hours a day at: www.birdlandjazz.com

PRE-THEATRE SPECIALS

EVERY WEDNESDAY, 5:00-7:00PM “DAVID OSTWALD’S LOUIS ARMSTRONG CENTENNIAL BAND”
$10 music charge

EVERY FRIDAY, 5:00–7:00PM “THE BIRDLAND BIG BAND”
W/ TOMMY IGOE
$25 music charge at tables/$20 music charge at bar/$10 minimum

DISCOUNT ADMISSION SPECIALS (subject to availability)

STUDENTS (with current ID): 50% off music charge, 11PM shows only.

50% off music charge for all 11PM shows with Broadway ticket stub (day of performance) when presented at door.