Jazz great ready for Birdland gig
Noted jazz pianist and bandleader Monty Alexander is coming to New York’s famous Birdland Jazz Club, 315 W. 44th St., for a fivenight stint starting Tuesday — a perfect way to kickoff 2018 on a great note. The Jamaica-born musician (photo) has had an illustrious, five-decade-long career, performing with musical greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Tony Bennett, Milt Jackson and becoming an aquaintance of singer Frank Sinatra.
The Birdland show features plenty of Alexander — with performances Tuesday through Saturday, at 8:30 and and 11 each night.
Tickets to the Birdland show are $40. To purchase tickets, visit http://bit.ly/montyalexanderbirdland2018.
For more on the Monty Alexander, visit him on YouTube or at montyalexander.com.
Carnival goes to church
The West Indian American Day Carnival Association — producer of Brooklyn’s annual New York Caribbean Carnival — is hosting its annual church service on Jan. 14 in Brooklyn.
The service will be held at St. Mathews Roman Catholic Church, 1123 Eastern Parkway (between Utica and Schenectady Aves.), at 11:30 a.m.
The board of directors and members of association are presenting the church service and extending season’s greetings to the masqueraders, steel bands and the many others who make Brooklyn carnival happen each year.
The deadline to RSVP is Saturday. To RSVP, send email to wiadcainc@gmail.com or call (718) 467-1797.
Poet Derek Walcott tribute
A number of respected poets are featured in “A Celebration of Derek Walcott,” a presentation marking the many contributions of the late, great St. Luciaborn poet and playwright.
The tribute is coming to the 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. (between 91st and 92nd Sts.) in Manhattan on Jan. 18, at 7:30 p.m. Walcott, who won the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature, died last March, but his works and contributions will resonate for generations to come. At the 92nd St. Y event, poets and writers Elizabeth Alexander, Hilton Als, Robert Antoni, Carolyn Forché, Lorna Goodison, Jamaica Kincaid, Karl Kirchwey, Yusef Komunyakaa, Wendell Manwarren, Glyn Maxwell and Caryl Phillips will remember Walcott and his works.
For tickets, visit www.92y.org/event/acelebration-of-derek-walcott
'Choose' and donate
If you’re making last-minute tax-deductible donations, the American Friends of Jamaica have a set of institutions and organizations that need your help — and you can help through the not-for-profit organization’s Choose a Cause program.
The American Friends of Jamaica supports Jamaican charitable organizations and social initiatives in the areas of education, health care and economic development.
To learn more about the New Yorkbased organization, its causes and to donate, visit www.theafj.org/causes/