Tommy Igoe to Direct The Birdland Big Band in Jorgensen's Popular Cabaret, 1/31

You don't have to go far to experience the ambience of New York City's iconic Birdland Jazz Club, when Live at Birdland, featuring the Birdland Big Band directed by Tommy Igoe, appears in Jorgensen's award-winning Cabaret on Thursday, January 31, at 7:30 p.m. The audience will be transported back to a time when a number of illustrious jazz musicians, including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, MiLes Davis, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, and Lester Young, to name just a few, made Birdland their New York home.

The 15-piece American Birdland Big Band, created by Tommy Igoe in 2006, provides an unforgettable musical event that goes beyond the traditional and sets the standard for the 21st-century jazz orchestra. World music is explored from every corner of the globe while infusing the best of American jazz with excitement that hasn't been seen in decades. BBB concerts feature fresh treatments of Charlie Parker compositions as well as innovative arrangements from contemporary composers such as Chick Corea, Arturo Sandoval, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Lennon/McCartney and Leonard Bernstein. The band also maintains a rare selection of renowned pieces from the Buddy Rich, Count Basie, Stan Kenton and Woody Herman Orchestras.

The band's newest recording, Eleven, has been glowingly received with numerous 5-star reviews and is currently in the Grammy conversation for three separate awards. Featuring New York's finest musicians and directed by one of the world's greatest drummers, the BBB has been the most popular weekly music event in New York City, maintaining its Friday residency at the Birdland Jazz Club. "A completely unique NYC experience. There isn't another band like this anywhere... a music experience you simply must witness." - Time Out New York

"Totally Blown Away!" - Jazz Improv Magazine

Tommy Igoe began drumming at the age of two and has gone on to craft a unique and diverse career, traveling the world with Art Garfunkel, Blood Sweat and Tears, Dave Grusin, Stanley Jordan, and the New York Voices, among many others. In 1997, he created the drumset book for The Lion King on Broadway, also serving as principal drummer and conductor. Igoe is dedicated to world-class music education, writing some of the world's best-selling books and DVDs and is a globally in-demand clinician. "Tommy Igoe's drumming defies the laws of physics and his band sets the new standard for what a big band can be in the 21st-century." - The International Jazz Herald

The Birdland Big Band takes place in Jorgensen's Cabaret, winner of the "Best Cabaret" designation in Connecticut Magazine's 2011 and 2012 "Best of Connecticut" issue. Jorgensen was also named Best College/University Performing Arts Center in the Hartford Advocate Best of Hartford Readers' Poll for 2012, and was recently named a Reader's Choice Winner by the Mansfield-Storrs Patch.

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is located at 2132 Hillside Road on the UConn campus in Storrs. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Sandwiches, dessert, alcohol and other beverages can be purchased before the show (cash only). Or pre-orders can be placed atwww.jorgensen.uconn.edu. Ticket prices are $47/42, $37 and $32, with some discounts available. For tickets and information, call the Box Office at 860.486.4226, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., or order online at jorgensen.uconn.edu. Convenient, free parking is available across the street in the North Garage.