The High Society New Orleans Jazz Band

The High Society New Orleans Jazz Band brings its seven-piece New Orleans-style jazz lineup to Birdland: co-leaders Conal Fowkes on piano and vocals and Simon Wettenhall on trumpet and vocals, with Tom Abbott on clarinet, Harvey Tibbs on trombone, Josh Dunn on banjo, Brian Nalepka on bass and vocals, and Kevin Dorn on drums. Expect the group’s driving take on the early-jazz tradition, delivered by musicians who have worked together across long-running New York engagements, concert tours, and film work.

The band’s hometown is not established by the available material, but its New York record is substantial. The Syncopated Times called it “the only seven-piece New Orleans-style jazz band with a steady gig in New York City.” For decades, the group was Woody Allen’s band of choice for movies, tours, and weekly performances; members appeared in or provided music for films including Wild Man Blues, Sweet and Lowdown, Midnight in Paris, Blue Jasmine, Cafe Society, Magic in the Moonlight, and A Rainy Day in New York. During a 20-year Cafe Carlyle residency, Chick Corea, Marian McPartland, and Diana Krall sat in. The Front Row Center found audiences “bouncing and clapping and sitting forward,” writing that the band “brings the heart of jazz from its roots to your table.”