Jim Caruso's Cast Party Moves to BIRDLAND

Now in it's fifteen month run, Jim Caruso's CAST PARTY has become a New York tradition, winning the 2004 Nightlife Award and being honored by New York Magazine's "Best Of" issue. This social gathering, complete with impromptu performances, will re-open at BIRDLAND (315 West 44th Street, NYC - 212-581-3080 - http://www.birdlandjazz.com/ ) on Monday, July 5th at 9:30 pm. Joining Mr. Caruso will be Billy Stritch at the piano and Steve Doyle on bass. There is no cover charge - just a $10 food/drink minimum.

Performer and host Jim Caruso accidentally began the CAST PARTY phenomenon on a fateful Monday night in December, 2002. What started as a gathering of friends around a piano became the event for New York performers and theater-lovers. The move to BIRDLAND marks an exciting new chapter in the CAST PARTY saga, but the structure of the evening will remain the same. The doors open at 9:30 pm, and Caruso begins taking names on his clipboard. Those listed take their turns being called to the stage to entertain their peers, friends and fans until the wee hours. The CAST PARTY crowd celebrates show openings, show closings, and CD releases, but it remains above all else, an opportunity for the pros and the not-yet-discovered talents to relax and enjoy great music with friends.

Jim Caruso has won four MAC Awards and two Back Stage Bistro Awards for his shows in Manhattan nightclubs and concert halls. He guest-hosted "Broadway on Broadway 2000" in Times Square for 100,000 theater fans, hosted the 2000 MAC Awards at Town Hall, and co-hosted the 2003 Drama Desk Awards webcast. His debut recording, "Caruso Live and In Person" (LML Music), was number one on both the album and singles charts at Outvoice.com. Caruso was founding member of the award-winning jazz vocal and comedy trio, Wiseguys, which performed in concert at Carnegie Hall twice, and at President Clinton's first State Dinner at the White House. As a writer, Jim was consulting editor and writer for the largest selling InTheater Magazine in history, and he contributes regularly to Theatermania. Jim Caruso's Cast Party is now a weekly web-radio show on BroadwayWorld.com, celebrating the showbiz scene and featuring live musical performances and interviews.

An award-winning composer, arranger, vocalist and jazz pianist of extraordinary range and sophistication, Billy Stritch specializes in fresh and personal arrangements of Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Cy Coleman, Rodgers & Hart and the Gershwins. With the jazz vocal trio Montgomery, Plant & Stritch, he appeared with Mel Torme at Carnegie Hall. He has arranged for and performed with Liza Minnelli around the world, and recently spent two years performing as Oscar in the Broadway company of 42nd Street. As a composer, Stritch and Nashville composer Sandy Knox penned the 1994 Grammy Award-winning country song, "Does He Love You?," recorded by Reba McIntyre and Linda Davis, which has sold over four million copies nationwide. Bassist Steve Doyle was a semi-finalist in the 1997 Theloneous Monk Internatiional Jazz Bass Competition. Steve made New York his home in 1991, and has since been composing and working professionally on the Manhattan jazz scene, appearing solo, with his band "Transmittance," and his duo, the Miles Griffith/Steve Doyle Duo.

BIRDLAND has been a world-class music room on the Manhattan nightclub scene since 1949. Jazz superstars Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Dinah Washington, and more recently Diana Krall, John Pizzarelli and Tito Puente have all performed on the BIRDLAND stage. The room offers top-flight music in a world class setting, good sight lines and acoustics, elbow room, and a menu featuring award-winning Southern cuisine.

Visit Jim Caruso's Cast Party at http://www.jim-caruso.com/CastParty/index.html for more information.

 

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