George Gershwin called him "the greatest songwriter that has ever lived.” Jerome Kern said that he “has no place in American music—he is American music." In a 60-year career, Irving Berlin gave us a staggering 1,500 songs, 19 musicals and 18 Hollywood films. His songs have been recorded by every musician you’ve ever (and never) heard of, hitting the top of the charts time and time again, year after year, decade after decade.
The set list includes hits like "Blue Skies", Cheek to Cheek", “Always,” "What’ll I do?” and others, plus a few favored targets for jazz instrumentalists' creativity, including "How Deep is the Ocean,” tunes from "White Christmas" and "Annie Get Your Gun.“
Frank Ponzio is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger and teacher. He has performed and collaborated with a variety of well-known artists, including Ben Vereen, David Amram, Phil Donahue, Jacques d’Amboise, Joe Beck, Nancy LaMott, Baby Jane Dexter, Bob McGrath of Sesame Street, Rosemary Loar, and Aisha Morris (Stevie Wonder's daughter). He performs solo concerts and leads his own bands at the legendary Birdland, the Metropolitan Room, The Museum of Modern Art, Trinity Church, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and Town Hall. As a music director, composer, and arranger, Frank has worked on numerous productions, including shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and the Paramount Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Ed MacEachen got his start in 1977 in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio where he studied with Bill D'Arrango (sideman with Ben Webster and Dizzy Gillespie). Ed moved to New York in 1984 where he has worked in the bands of Jack McDuff, Chico Hamilton and Erestine Anderson among many others. He currently lives and performs in the New York City area and can be heard on Eliot Zigmund’s Starlight on Jazz Today Records and Bill Mobley’s Singularity on Space Time Records along with others. Ed teaches at The 92nd Street Y (since 1996) and in the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music (since 1989).
Tom Hubbard is a bassist, composer and arranger who lives and works in New York City. His teachers have included Arthur Gold and George Stahl of the Minnesota Orchestra and renowned jazz bassists Richard Davis and Dave Holland. He has performed with instrumentalists Kenny Barron, Jay McShann, Charlie Rouse, Dewey Redman, Beaver Harris, Dannie Richmond and Ron Affif among others. Tom has accompanied a long list of singers including Joe Williams, Mose Allison, Freddy Cole, Chris Connor, Sheila Jordan, Liza Minnelli, Michael Feinstein, Billy Stritch, Stacey Kent, Marilyn Maye and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. Mr. Hubbard performed on and wrote arrangements for seven of Freddy Cole’s CDs and contributed arrangements for recordings by Grover Washington, Jr., George Mraz, Archie Shepp and the Milestone All-Stars. He has performed in some of the top venues worldwide including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Philadelphia ’s Academy of Music, Kennedy Center, The Sydney Opera House, Tokyo ’s NHK Hall and Frankfurt ’s Alte Oper.