The Pan-American Nutcracker Suite: Joe McCarthy's NY Afro Bop Alliance Big Band
Dizzy's Club102 Columbus Circle, New York 10107
Joe McCarthy’s New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band brings The Pan-American Nutcracker Suite to Dizzy’s Club: an 18-piece reading of Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic co-arranged by McCarthy and Vince Norman. McCarthy directs from the drums, with four trumpets, four trombones, five saxophones, piano, bass, guitar and percussion. The score recasts familiar Nutcracker material through Afro-Cuban grooves, Brazilian samba, and rhythms from across the Americas and Asia. The program includes “Waltz of the Flowers,” from the project that earned a 2023 Latin Grammy nomination for Best Arrangement.
Founded and led by drummer Joe McCarthy, the New York-based Afro Bop Alliance is an Afro-Cuban jazz big band whose sound joins bebop with African, Afro-Caribbean, Brazilian and other global traditions. Its members are described as first-call jazz and Afro-Cuban musicians, and the band has worked with guests including Paquito D’Rivera, Poncho Sanchez, Arturo O’Farrill and Dave Samuels. The ensemble won the 2008 Latin Grammy for Latin Jazz Album of the Year for Afro Bop Alliance featuring Dave Samuels. Its own description calls the music “without borders”; DownBeat calls the band “a torchbearer of the genre’s storied history and also one of its fiercest innovators,” while reviewers have termed this Nutcracker project “an aural tour de force” and a “new and inventive reimagining.”
Dizzy's Club offers a refined jazz experience with a seating capacity of about 140, where guests enjoy live performances from world-class musicians in a room that frames sweeping views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline. The venue features a full bar and a seasonal menu with sophisticated soul food, enhancing the evening beyond just the music. Shows are ticketed and typically run two sets per night, with late-night sessions available without reservation. The seating is generally first-come, first-served, encouraging early arrival for the best vantage points. The club’s location within Jazz at Lincoln Center places it in a lively cultural hub, making it ideal for a night that blends attentive listening with the pleasure of fine dining and cityscape views.