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Check out what's happening: February | March - Download this month's calendar (PDF)

SETS NIGHTLY AT 7:30 & 9:30
FRI & SAT, THIRD SET AT 11:30

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DAVID SANCHEZ QUARTET

In late 1991, the great Dizzy Gillespie spoke glowingly of his latest protege in the United Nation Orchestra: "There's a young tenor player from Puerto Rico - David Sanchez, good, very reserved mind, very old mind, knows his changes, knows where he's going and knows where he's coming from." Over the next two decades, David Sanchez has worked to fulfill the promise that Dizzy saw within him. Sanchez weaves the multicultural threads of North and Latin American cultures into a colorful musical tapestry, the common ground being the spirit of the drum. His robust sound, taut melodic focus, and stirring rhythmic articulation reflect a talent wise beyond his years, searching for fresh ways to enrich the jazz vocabulary. David has recorded eight albums as a leader, beginning in 1994 with The Departure. His 2004 CD Coral earned him a Latin Grammy Award (he's a four-time Grammy nominee) and in 2008 he released the stirring Cultural Survival (2008), recorded with a piano-less quartet featuring guitarist Lage Lund.

Tickets: $25/$30 Friday & Saturday - PURCHASE NOW

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Jazz STANDARD CLOSEd

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MINGUS ORCHESTRA

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Our acclaimed "Mingus Monday" residency continues this month, dedicated to the legacy of the late great Charles Mingus (1922-1979). With its singular blend of "jazz" and "non-jazz" instrumentation, "the ten-piece Mingus Orchestra has all the depth and muscle needed to render the master bassist-composer's tempestuous fantasias." (Time Out New York)

Tickets: $25 - PURCHASE NOW

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YES! TRIO featuring ALI JACKSON | AARON GOLDBERG | OMER AVITAL

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Avital, Goldberg and Jackson have performed for years in many combinations and under the aegis of different leaders - going back to 1995, when they played together in Omar Avital's first quintet, with saxophonists Myron Walden and Greg Tardy. But the trio's new CD Yes! (due out 1/17 on Sunnyside) is their first studio collaboration. The tunes range from Abdullah Ibrahim's gospel-inflected "Maraba Blue" to the jazz classicism of Thelonious Monk's "Epistrophy" and Mercer Ellington's "Way Way Back," alongside such accomplished originals as Ali Jackson's "Aziel Dance" and Avital's "Homeland." Yes! is a special recording that captures a longstanding friendship and the musical riches which that friendship has brought forth.

Tickets: $20 - PURCHASE NOW

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BENNY GOLSON QUARTET with repertoire and intriguing stories of the past (7:30pm & 9:30pm Only)

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JAZZ STANDARD is extremely proud to present legendary saxophonist and composer Benny Golson in a rare NYC club appearance - his first on our stage! Born 1929 in Philadelphia, Benny came up through the bands of Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Earl Bostic and Art Blakey. By 1959, Benny and trumpeter Art Farmer were co-leading The Jazztet. It became one of the most successful small groups of the early Sixties, thanks to the strength of Golson's original material including the all-time jazz classics "Killer Joe," "I Remember Clifford," "Along Came Betty," "Stablemates," "Whisper Not," "Blues March," and "Five Spot After Dark." Beyond the jazz world, Benny has composed, arranged, and/or produced music for Sammy Davis Jr., Mama Cass Elliott, Mickey Rooney, Diana Ross, and Dusty Springfield; his prolific Hollywood studio resume includes scores for numerous films and television series. Benny Golson's 2009 Concord Music CD, New Time, New 'Tet, is "an excellent set of straight-ahead jazz from one of the true masters who needs to reclaim or affirm nothing in his decades as one of the true legends in American music." (Michael G. Nastos, AllMusic.com)

Tickets: $30 - PURCHASE NOW

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MINGUS BIG BAND

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Winners of the 2010 Grammy Award in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for their blazing Live at Jazz Standard CD, the Mingus Big Band returns to our stage for two sets of creative music. "The Mingus Big Band - musician for musician - is one of the most spirited and technically gifted bands in the country." (Seattle Examiner) "An astonishingly telepathic ensemble!" (NY Daily News)

Tickets: $25 - PURCHASE NOW

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SACHAL VASANDANI

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The career of Sachal Vasandani has gone from strength to strength in the decade since he was named the DownBeat 1999 Collegiate Jazz Vocalist of the Year. In 2011, the young singer performed for Jon Hendricks' 90th birthday celebration at Jazz At Lincoln Center - and Hendricks returned the compliment when he appeared on Sachal's latest Mack Avenue CD Hi-Fly. The album received a laudatory review in DownBeat from Yoshi Kato, who wrote: "It plays like a thoughtfully prepared live set...showcasing the restraint and practiced nimbleness of Vasandani's working trio" along with special guests John Ellis (saxophone) and Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet). This week's engagement includes two very special Valentine's Day sets on February 14 - make your reservations now!

Tickets: $25 Tuesday / $20 Wednesday & Thursday - PURCHASE NOW

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MINGUS BIG BAND

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The Grammy Award-winning Mingus Big Band returns this week in a series of special performances honoring the 2012 Mingus High School Competition & Festival - one of the year's most important events in jazz education. The weekend includes a day of workshops run by seasoned Mingus musicians and music educators; a full day devoted to the Competition; and special concerts including the Mingus Orchestra performing at St. Bart's Church on Park Avenue. Outstanding high school soloists from the Competition will be invited to sit in with the Mingus Big Band on Sunday night (2/19) - and the winning soloist will be eligible for a full tuition scholarship at Manhattan School Of Music.

Tickets: $30 Friday & Saturday / $25 Sunday - PURCHASE NOW

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MINGUS ORCHESTRA

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"Charles Mingus was a pre-Bird musician...in his love of pure emotion as exemplified in the blues, the church, and the polyphony of New Orleans; in his willingness to embrace the full panoply of jazz styles; in his absorption of the colors, styles, subtleties, and charms of Ellington and Tatum. He brought all of that into the modern era with individuality and a startling magnanimity of expression." (Gary Giddins, Riding On A Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop)

Tickets: $25 - PURCHASE NOW

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AMIR ELSAFFAR: TWO RIVERS ENSEMBLE

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The Iraqi-American musician Amir ElSaffar is at the forefront of that group of creative thinkers - including pianist Vijay Iyer and saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa - who are incorporating the traditional musical styles of their cultural backgrounds with modern sensibilities. Whether playing trumpet in a jazz context, or singing and playing the 70-string santur in an Iraqi setting, ElSaffar brings a depth of emotion and authenticity to his music that has intrigued fellow musicians and enchanted audiences around the world. His latest recording, Inana (Pi Recordings), "avoids the sensationalistic and touristic in favor of the sincere and investigatory, searching for a common or at least consonant elements of the vocabularies of jazz and classical Arabic music." (John Corbett, DownBeat, four and a half stars)

Tickets: $20 - PURCHASE NOW

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WARREN WOLF GROUP

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Although best known as a superb vibraphonist in the Milt Jackson/Bobby Hutcherson tradition, Warren Wolf is a multi–instrumentalist who started out on drums and performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the precocious age of nine. The 2001 Berklee graduate went on to perform with Nicholas Payton, Mulgrew Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Bobby Watson, Roy Haynes and is a member of Christian McBride and Inside Straight.  He’s been a shining guest star with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the George Coleman/Joey DeFrancesco Quartet.  Warren, who made his Mack Avenue label debut in 2011 with a fine self–titled CD says “I’m trying to bring forth what most cats did back in the day – coming out right at you swinging, nice and hard, not a lot of tricky melodies or weird time signatures…I like to take it to a whole other level!”

Tickets: $20 - PURCHASE NOW

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LUIS PERDOMO TRIO

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The prodigal pianist Luis Perdomo was appearing on radio and TV in his native Venezuela by the age of twelve. Since moving to New York and obtaining degrees from Manhattan School of Music and Queens College, Luis has established himself as an in-demand player whose performing and recording resume includes work with John Patitucci, Ray Barretto, Brian Lynch, Butch Morris, and Alice Coltrane, to name a few. As a longstanding member of groups led by saxophonists Miguel Zenón and Ravi Coltrane, Luis was a vital contributor to Coltrane's Grammy-nominated CD Blending Times and Miguel Zenón's critically acclaimed album Esta Plena. This JAZZ STANDARD engagement celebrates the February 2011 release of Universal Mind - Luis Perdomo's fourth career CD as a leader and his third for Ravi Coltrane's RKM Music. This exceptional trio recording features bassist Drew Gress and drummer extraordinaire Jack DeJohnette, and tonight he'll have the dynamic rhythm section of Hans Glawischnig and Johnathan Blake.

Tickets: $20 - PURCHASE NOW

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BENNY GREEN TRIO

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JAZZ STANDARD is proud to present Benny Green in his debut as a leader on our stage! It's a rare East Coast appearance by the Bay Area resident of whom Joanne Brackeen said: "Benny Green could be the monster pianist of the 21st century." Benny was still in his teens when he began working with trumpeter Eddie Henderson; after moving to NYC in 1982, he worked with singer Betty Carter, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, and Freddie Hubbard. In 1993, Oscar Peterson chose Benny as the first recipient of the City of Toronto's Glen Gould International Protégé Prize in Music. That same year, Green replaced Gene Harris in the Ray Brown trio, working with the veteran bass player until 1997. Since that time, Benny has maintained a freelance career, leading his own trios and honing his beautifully expressive solo piano performances. He has participated in over 100 recording sessions, including Betty Carter's Grammy Award-winning Look What I Got; his collaboration with Oscar Peterson entitled Oscar & Benny; and his own albums as a leader including seven discs for Blue Note and his swinging 2011 release Source (JLP Productions), his first trio album in 10 years! 

Tickets: $25/$30 Friday & Saturday - PURCHASE NOW

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MINGUS BIG BAND

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"Mingus is always probing. He speaks in his music of the same fundamental problems, ambiguities, satisfactions, and frustrations that he talks about when he's telling you about his own life...Always his music is intensely, thrustingly palpable—a persistent personal witnessing, questioning, exulting, despairing, raging, and sometimes laughing." (Nat Hentoff, from liner notes to The Art of Charles Mingus: The Atlantic Years, Atlantic LP 2-302)

Tickets: $25 - PURCHASE NOW

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MATTHEW SHIPP TRIO

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Matthew Shipp is one of the most daring and most acclaimed musical explorers of his jazz generation. The pianist reached a new plateau of creative expression in 2011 with the double-disc live set Art of the Improviser (solo and trio). Now comes Elastic Aspects (Thirsty Ear), a work developed as a suite for the trio of Shipp, bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Whit Dickey. Elastic Aspects is given to vast complexities, spiked with moments of sheer beauty against lightning transitions to polyphonic figures; the group's collective sonic voice is both metaphysical and arresting. "...A true original, incorporating not only the history of jazz piano but also the hypnotic repetition of minimalism. He is an 'idea man,' but not merely a musical intellectual - his music offers challenges aplenty while demonstrating wit and passion." (Bill Tilland, BBC.com)

Tickets: $20 - PURCHASE NOW

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