Event Details
Monty Alexander: Jamaican Jazz Pianist at Birdland
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Members Who Went Said:
I had a really good time. I had great seating and ordered a meal that was delicious. My only "complaint" is that at the end of the performance, Monty left the stage rather abruptly - I would have liked to have been able to have him autograph my cd. It was my first time at Birdland and it's intimate enough where you are guaranteed a good seat and view of the performer(s).
Alex D. Not only was the performance and food wonderful...Mr. Tony Bennett was in the audience celebrating his birthday...do you think Mr. Bennett got his tickets through Goldstar?
Esinek Closet musician... Had a fabulous time!!! Great, intimate setting, food/drinks were good and reasonably priced. And Monty Alexander and his band were really jammin'. They played a mixture of jazz and reggae. Oh, and I got to meet Tony Bennett, who was sitting at the table next to mine! |
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Event Highlights
More Details About This Event: July 30-31, 2008: Monty Alexander Jazz Trio (with Herlin Riley on drums and Hassan Shakur on bass)
August 1-2, 2008: Monty Alexander's Caribbean Sextet Birdland welcomes Monty Alexander. The acclaimed jazz pianist blends American and Jamaican musical styles, drawing on jazz, ska, big band, swing and reggae influences. His unique abilities have enabled him to work with a diverse assortment of talented artists including Frank Sinatra, Ray Brown, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Ernest Ranglin, Quincy Jones, Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar and Natalie Cole. Alexander explains, "My goal is to uplift. The piano, to me, is a vehicle for connecting to other human beings. I'm very open to all forms of music. I'm not a bebop musician, I'm not a calypso musician, I'm not a reggae musician. I'm a musician who loves it all." About Birdland: It was Charlie Parker, familiarly known to his fans and fellow musicians as "Bird," who served as the inspiration for Birdland. Opened in 1949, the club became a locus for the hot jazz scene in New York druing the 30's and 40's. In addition to Parker, many other jazz greats graced the Birdland stage over the years: Count Basie and his smokin' big band made Birdland their New York headquarters, John Coltrane's classic Quartet regularly appeared at the club in the early 1960s, and Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bud Powell, Stan Getz, Lester Young, Erroll Garner, and many, many others played to sold-out audiences. Regulars to the nightly festivities included such household names as Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Joe Louis, Marlene Dietrich, Ava Gardner, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Sugar Ray Robinson.Now, half a century later, the Birdland banner has been reborn in midtown. After a decade of neighborhood success on the Upper West Side, Birdland owner John Valenti decided to move the club back to Midtown after a decade of neighborhood success on the Upper West Side. The new Birdland offers top-flight jazz in a world class setting, good sight lines and acoustics, elbow room, and a menu ripe with award-winning Southern Cuisine. Since the reemergence of the club, midtown Manhattan has been treated to some of the best jazz on the planet, including memorable sets by such musicians as Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, Lee Konitz, Tony Williams, Mark Murphy, Diana Krall, Michel Petrucciani, John Scofield, Kevin Mahogany, Dave Holland, and Tito Puente, as well as the big bands of Chico O'Farrill, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Maria Schneider. |
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M Phillips