Comedian Lewis Black, who appeared on Broadway earlier this season with his solo show Black to the Future, will host a March 12 concert by jazz pianist-composer Michael Wolff at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in the West Bank Café in New York City.
Black is a fan of Wolff, who will perform with an eight-piece band. Wolff says, “I met Lewis in the 80’s when he was running the downstairs at the West Bank. I was performing there with a singer, and during a break, I did a quick and humorous musical piece on piano that the audience had a really good time with. Lewis thought I was funny, and he invited me to perform again at their Saturday midnight free show…where I learned to be funnier. I remember it as one of those times where I found my ‘voice’ onstage—and an upbeat way to connect with my audience. Lewis and I have been friends ever since.”
The show will feature a combination of material from Wolff’s CD releases with the bands Impure Thoughts and Wolff & Clark Expedition. Wolff plans a mix of solo piano, piano duets with bass, sax, tablas, and other instruments. He will also preview tracks from his upcoming solo piano album, Zenith.
Tickets ($20 plus a $20 bar/food minimum) for the 7 PM concert can be ordered at westbankcafe.com.
The perpetually outraged Black, who also appeared on Broadway with his previous solo show Running on Empty in 2012, is currently in the midst of a national tour of his latest solo show, Rant, White and Blue—allegedly produced by the Frustrated Union of Cynical Kindreds Universal, which creates a provocative acronym.
Here are Black’s upcoming North American tour stops:
March 10-11 at the Music Box @ Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey
March 16 at the Historic Elsinore Theatre in Salem, Oregon
March 17 at the Mount Baker Theatre in Bellingham, Washington
March 18 at the Patages Theatre in Tacoma, Washington
Other stops are planned in St. Louis, Chicago, Cleveland, Omaha, and elsewhere. Click here for a complete list of Black’s upcoming shows.
Black has been a special guest performer on three of Playbill’s Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Playbill’s inaugural river cruise along the Rhône River in May 2017 is sold out, but cabins are available for the Rhine River cruise in August 2017, featuring Seth Rudetsky, Andréa Burns, Faith Prince, Terrence Mann, Charlotte d’Amboise, and more exciting talent to be announced. Visit PlaybillTravel.com for booking and information
