Staff Picks: The American Songbook Live

Benny Green Trio @ Birdland (New York, NY) - This week, the hard bop jazz pianist Benny Green and his Trio will be installed at Birdland. A one time member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Benny Green's played with the best in the business. Tuesday-Saturday he'll be joined by: David Wong (bass), Dezron Douglas (bass) & Rodney Green (drums). http://www.birdlandjazz.com/

Cassandra Wilson @ Blue Note (New York, NY) - Two-time Grammy award winning Cassandra Wilson takes the stage Thursday evening at Birdland. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre" - don't miss this show. Doors open at 9:45PM, show at 10:30PM. http://www.bluenote.net/

Tom Harrell's "Trip" @ Village Vanguard (New York, NY) - Tuesday through Sunday composer and jazz trumpeter Tom Harrell visits the Vanguard with the piano-less quartet TRIP (Mark Turner - sax, Ugonna Okegwo - bass, Adam Cruz - drums). The group will be playing work from their recently released self-titled album. http://villagevanguard.com/html/schedule.html#oct

On the Town @ Lyric Theatre (New York, NY) - The Broadway revival of On The Town is in previews this week and opening night is Thursday, October 16th. The show, featuring music by Leonard Bernstein, debuted in 1944 and now it's back. http://www.broadway.com/

Anat Cohen @ The Appel Room (New York, NY) - Friday night, Israeli multireedist (clarinet & saxophone) Anat Cohen leads an international community of jazz musicians in a celebration of early 19th Brazilian jazz. Doors open at 7PM - tickets are available online. http://lc.lincolncenter.org/handoff.

Jonathan Schwartz & Tierney Sutton @ NJPAC (New Jersey, NY) - Friday night, join Jonathan Schwartz and six-time Grammy nominated jazz vocalist Tierney Sutton for an evening of music and conversation at NJCPAC. Doors open at 8PM. http://www.njpac.org/

Simply Streisand @ 54 Below (New York, NY) - Sunday night, head to 54 below for a celebration of BARBRA. The evening will feature music from her expansive catalouge - music from the beginning of her career in the cabarets in Greenwich Village to  films such as Funny Girl. Simply Streisand promises to cover it all. Performers include: Carole J Bufford, Alexis Cole, Natalie Douglas and more. http://54below.com/artist/simply-streisand/