[Dixielandjazz] OKOM IN NYC

[Steve barbone]

IF YOU THINK OKOM IS DEAD, CHECK OUT THESE NEW YORK CITY OFFERINGS. Sounds
like there must be a new audience out there. One with money, that actually
goes clubbing to experience "THE MUSIC".

The below music. coupled with Wynton Marsalis' "Holiday Stomp" last week at
Lincoln Center is proof enough that THE MUSIC is alive and well with heavy
hitters in the Big Apple. (many other lesser known venues with it there too)

Cheers,
Steve

PS To Elazar Brandt: Threw in that last listing to show you that there is a
niche for all kinds of jazz here. NYC is a happening music place.


BALLIN' THE JACK (Tonight) The clarinetist and saxophonist Matt Darriau
heads this midsize ensemble, which spikes its swing-era repertory with
madcap irreverence. 10 p.m., 55 Bar, 55 Christopher Street, near Seventh
Avenue South, West Village, (212) 929-9883; cover, $8.


MONTY ALEXANDER AND FRIENDS (Through Sunday) Mr. Alexander, an effervescent
pianist originally from Jamaica, focuses on Christmas songs and Sinatra
songs, with collaborators like the saxophonist Red Holloway, the trombonist
Wycliffe Gordon and the drummer Herlin Riley. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Blue Note,
131 West Third Street, West Village, (212) 475-8592; cover, $35 at tables
with a $5 minimum, or $20 at the bar, with a one-drink minimum.


VINCE GIORDANO WITH THE NIGHTHAWKS WITH SINGER DARYL SHERMAN 59E59 Theaters
festive Holiday celebration The Park Avenue Whirl. The Park Avenue Whirl
begins previews on Friday, December 16 for a limited engagement through
Saturday, December 31.

Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com. For more
information visit www.59E59.org.

The New Year's Eve performance on Saturday, December 31 begins at 7:00 PM
(and will cost you $400)

The Park Avenue Whirl. Starring acclaimed singer Daryl Sherman and Vince
Giordano, along with New York's most sought after jazz ensemble The
Nighthawks Orchestra and special guest star Marion Cowings with his son, tap
dancing prodigy Alexander Cowings, The Park Avenue Whirl evokes the elegant,
cosmopolitan cafe society with sparkling standards and enchanting holiday
melodies from the 1920s and 30s. A festive evening of high style joie de
vivre not to be missed!

Audiences embark on an Art Deco club hopping adventure when the Whirl kicks
off with Irving Berlin's ³Slumming On Park Avenue.² They revisit Bill
Bojangles Robinson with ³Doing the New Lowdown,² the Cotton Club for
³Raising The Rent² as well as ³Swingtime in Honolulu,² a rarely played Duke
Ellington obscurity. The Whirl also tips the hat to Bobby Short with ³Sand
In My Shoes² and features cherished songs from Great Britain, like ³Red
Sails In The Sunset,² ³Isle Of Capri,² and ³These Foolish Things.² Plus
many, many more. 

And no holiday Whirl would be complete without a little Bing Crosby!

³Like a classic navy blazer, a martini or champagne cocktail, this music
never goes out of style,² explains Daryl Sherman. ³Vince, Marion, Alexander
and I all share a passion for the music from this period. It is what
inspires us. And while the songwriters, musicians and bands all had
different approaches, they were all fused with elements of jazz. And they
were all graceful and witty and sophisticated and fun!²

A sparkling mainstay of Manhattan nightlife, Daryl Sherman regularly
performs on Cole Porter's Steinway at the Waldorf Astoria and has been
lauded for appearances at the Algonquin's Oak Room, Iridium Jazz Club and
most recently, Jazz At Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis. European tours
included a dazzling fourth return engagement at London's Pizza On The Park,
and concerts in Wales, Leeds and Scotland. She also made a stunning debut in
Berlin hailed by Jazz Radio 101.9 ³a magical night.² Equally at home in the
worlds of jazz and cabaret, Daryl Sherman's many recordings have received
high critical praise and airplay internationally. She has performed and
recorded with Bob Dorough, Dick Hyman, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Tommy
Flanagan, Ken Peplowski, Joe Cohn, Jay Leonhart, Kenny Davern, James
Chirillo, and Boots Maleson.

Vince Giordano is the leading authority on recreating the sounds of 1920s
and 30s jazz and popular music. With his band, New York's most sought after
jazz ensemble the Nighthawks Orchestra, he masterfully recreates both the
ample sound and good-time ambiance of a red-hot, swing-era band. Led by
Giordano on aluminum bass, tuba, and bass saxophone, the Nighthawks'
rousing, buoyant, and eminently danceable music has been featured in the
Academy Award-winning film The Aviator, as well as at black-tie galas at the
Waldorf Astoria, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and New York City Ballet and
gigs at the Rainbow Room, Times Square Grill, Carlyle Hotel, and Copacabana.


PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND (Tuesday through Dec. 31) The granddaddy of
traditional New Orleans revival ensembles, the Preservation Hall band plays
too seldom in these parts; this engagement closes out a tough year in
defiantly high spirits. 8 and 10 p.m. with an 11:45 p.m. set on Dec. 30;
sets at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th
Street, Manhattan, (212) 576-2232; cover, $30 to $35 ($125 and $175 on New
Year's Eve). 

DR. MICHAEL WHITE'S ORIGINAL LIBERTY JAZZ BAND (Tuesday through Jan. 1) The
New Year's Eve residency of this traditional New Orleans jazz outfit, led by
a knowledgeable clarinetist and scholar, is a hallowed tradition at the
Village Vanguard; this year it takes on a wrenching poignancy, but pointedly
swings on. 9 and 11 p.m. (9:30 and 11:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve), Village
Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th Street, West Village, (212)
255-4037; cover, $20 to $25, with a $10 minimum ($100, and a $25 minimum on
New Year's Eve).  

COLEMAN'S SEPHARDIC TINGE (Thursday) Mr. Coleman, a keyboardist with a
pan-everything sensibility, leads an ensemble inspired by Iberian Jewish
music as part of the Sephardic Music Festival; the following set, at 10
p.m., features a trio led by another fascinating pianist and conceptualist,
Uri Caine. 8 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street, near Delancey Street, Lower
East Side, (212) 358-7501; cover, $12 for each set.