The debut album from the married musical team of Julie Benko and Jason Yeager, Hand in Hand will be celebrated with a concert at Birdland Jazz Club on Monday, August 29 at 7:00 PM. Benko is featured on vocals, with Yeager playing piano, plus Patrick Laslie—woodwinds, Michael O’Brien—bass and Jay Sawyer—drums.
Benko is a singer and actress who is currently appearing as Fanny Brice in Broadway’s Funny Girl until September 4, and then every Thursday starting on September 8. Yeager is a jazz pianist and composer who has played concert halls around the world.
Hand in Hand includes theater favorites such as “People” from Funny Girl, “All I’ve Ever Known” from Hadestown, “If I Were a Bell” from Guys and Dolls and Jason Robert Brown’s “Another Life” from The Bridges of Madison County. The couple also include jazz standards (“The Nearness of You,” “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?”) and pop hits (“Mercedes Benz”) in addition to Yeager’s original songs. The album’s first single is a take on “Louisiana Fairy Tale,” the 1935 jazz classic popularized by Fats Waller.
Benko has performed on stages on and Off-Broadway and across the country, including Broadway turns in Fiddler on the Roof and Les Misérables. She is a recipient of the Wilde Award for “Best Leading Actress in a Musical” for her performance as Girl in Once. She also received a BroadwayWorld Award nomination for “Best Leading Actress in a Musical” for her portrayal of Luisa in The Fantasticks, as well as Theatre Bay Area Awards and SF Critics Circle Awards “Best Featured Actress in a Musical” nominations for her turn as Bella in Rags.
Yeager has performed across five continents at such noteworthy venues as Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note, Panama Jazz Festival, Qintai Concert Hall and more. A two-time finalist at the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition, Yeager has released five albums as a bandleader, and will soon release Unstuck in Time: The Kurt Vonnegut Suite (Sunnyside Records), with his eponymous septet and special guest Miguel Zenón. Yeager is also Assistant Professor of Piano at Berklee College of Music, where he has taught since 2012.
Tickets are $40 with an additional $20 food/drink minimum. www.birdlandjazz.com
Birdland Jazz Club is located at 315 W 44th St., New York, NY
