In April 2011, jazz scholar and conductor Ryan Truesdell thrilled the crowd at a packed Jazz Standard as he lead a star–studded big band through a breathtaking performance of Out Of The Cool, the 1961 Impulse! Records album by composer/arranger Gil Evans. This month marks Evans’ centennial (he was born 5/13/1912 in Toronto, Canada) and the release of a new ArtistShare CD by Ryan Truesdell and The Gil Evans Project, featuring previously unrecorded Evans compositions and arrangements. Ryan will lead a different Evans program on each of these four gala nights covering (a) Evans’ work for the Claude Thornhill big band in the 1940s on 5/17; (b) Evans’ music for his albums New Bottle Old Wine and Great Jazz Standards on 5/18; (c) the 1964 Verve album The Individualism of Gil Evans on 5/19; and (d) Evans’ beautiful arrangements for vocalists such as Astrud Gilberto and Helen Merrill on 5/20.  “Drawing from such distinctive composers as Kurt Weill, John Benson Brooks, George Russell and himself, Gil Evans fashioned a rich, delicate tapes­try of sound that becomes a work unto itself.” – Michael Cuscuna, from the liner notes to Out Of The Cool (1996 CD reissue)

All seating is on a first come, first seated basis. Ticket purchase guarantees you admission to the show. Serving award winning Blue Smoke Barbecue.