Drummer Tommy Igoe's Birdland Big Band, which performs on Fridays at the landmark Manhattan jazz club for which it's named, has become one of New York City's most popular weekly attractions. Igoe and his fellow musicians recreate the excitement of an evening at the club when the band performs Live at Birdland at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium.

Tickets are available for the Feb. 20 concert, which marks the band's Penn State debut.

The Birdland Big Band, directed by Igoe since its creation in 2006, sets the standard for a 21st-century jazz orchestra. Igoe and company infuse American jazz with a fresh perspective by exploring music from across the planet.

"There isn't another band like this anywhere. … A music experience you simply must witness," wrote a Time Out New York critic. "Tommy Igoe's drumming defies the laws of physics," noted a reviewer for the International Jazz Herald.

"The world doesn't need another good big band," Igoe said. "It needs something unforgettable, spectacular—something to bring a brand-new audience to this incredible art form."

Igoe is scheduled to speak one hour before the concert at Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion in Eisenhower that's free for concert ticket holders. Seating for Artistic Viewpoints is limited and available on a first-arrival basis.