NYC Events,”Only the Best” (05/20) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 05/20/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > MONDAY/ MAY 20, 2019

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.

For future NYC Events, check the tab above:  “May NYC Events”
It’s the most comprehensive list of top events this month that you will find anywhere.
Carefully curated from “Only the Best” NYC event info on the the web, it’s a simply superb resource that will help you plan your NYC visit all over town, all through the month.
OR to make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

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Have time for only one NYC Event today? Do this:

Broadway Sings Rihanna: Unplugged
The Green Room 42 / 7PM, +9:30PM, $20+
“Seven Broadway vocalists perform new arangements of hits by the pride of Barbados, backed by an acoustic band led by arranger and piano man Joshua Stephen Kartes, in this spinoff of the Broadway Sings concert series. Singers include Angela Birchett, Caroline Bowman, Joanna Jones, Kristolyn Lloyd, Mary Kate Morrissey, Christiani Pitts and Nasia Thomas.” (TONY)

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Broadway by the Year: Broadway Musicals of 1965 and 1978
>> American Ballet Theatre
>> Natalie Douglas: Tributes – Elvis Presley
>> Jim Caruso’s Cast Party
>> ‘SWEET ABSURDITY’
>> The Physical, Psychological, Social, and Environmental Benefits of Urban Cycling
>>Pint of Science Festival | Our Bodies: Inside Out

You may want to look at previous days posts for events that continue through today.

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Music, Dance, Performing Art

Broadway by the Year: Broadway Musicals of 1965 and 1978
The Town Hall / 8PM, $57
“Scott Siegel’s valuable concert series opens time capsules to some of the Great White Way’s most memorable seasons. The May edition devotes its first act to shows from 1965 (such as Do I Hear a Waltz?, Man of La Mancha and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever) and its second act to shows that opened in 1978 (including On the Twentieth Century, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas). The cast includes Corbin Bleu, Ethan Slater, Betsy Wolfe, Danny Gardner, Nicole Henry, Douglas Ladnier and Rick Faugno.” (TONY)

American Ballet Theatre (through July 6)
Metropolitan Opera House / 2PM, +8PM, $25+
“What hasn’t Alexei Ratmansky choreographed? For the time being, his ballets monopolize the repertory — and that’s not a bad thing. Friday and Saturday feature the final presentations of his staging of “Harlequinade,” a comic ballet in the commedia dell’arte tradition, inspired by the archival notes of Marius Petipa. On Monday, the company’s spring gala, which celebrates his 10th anniversary as the artist in residence, offers his “Serenade After Plato’s Symposium” and the premiere of “The Seasons.” The following day showcases a Ratmansky triple bill with “Seasons” and more new works: “Songs of Bukovina” and “On the Dnieper.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)
Tonight: 2019 Spring Gala

Natalie Douglas: Tributes – Elvis Presley
Birdland / 7PM, $35
“In her monthly Tributes series, MAC Award collector Douglas has previously plumbed the catalogs of Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Shirley Bassey, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Cher among many others. The May show pays homage to Elvis Presley; upcoming subjects include Judy Garland (June 24) and Roberta Flack (July 29).” (TONY)

Jim Caruso’s Cast Party
Birdland, / 9:30PM, $30
Jim Caruso’s Cast Party is a wildly popular weekly soiree that brings a sprinkling of Broadway glitz and urbane wit to the legendary Birdland in New York City every Monday night. It’s a cool cabaret night-out enlivened by a hilariously impromptu variety show. Showbiz superstars, backed by Steve Doyle on bass, Billy Stritch on piano and Daniel Glass on drums, hit the stage alongside up-and-comers, serving up jaw-dropping music and general razzle-dazzle.” (broadwayworld)

‘SWEET ABSURDITY’
at Chelsea Music Hall / 7 p.m.; $20
“Seth Herzog’s comedy showcase, normally held on a Tuesday, moves to Monday for this special edition, which is preceded by a live reading of “Giraffes on Horseback Salad,” from a graphic novel by Josh Frank, adapted with Tim Heidecker and illustrated by Manuel Pertega. The book has brought to life the screenplay that Salvador Dalí wrote for the Marx Brothers and was somehow never made into a movie. Comedians including Aasif Mandvi, Greg Barris and Harrison Greenbaum will join Herzog and Frank in the reading. A stand-up showcase follows.” (NYT-Sean L. McCarthy)

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Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

Speaking of Science: The Physical, Psychological, Social, and Environmental Benefits of Urban Cycling
New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 W. 64th St./ 6:30PM, FREE
Speaker: David Vassar, cyclist, cycling activist, and Ethical NYC member

“David will describe his own experience as a cyclist and cycling activist in NYC over the years, beginning with the exhilarating realization that in this unique American place he could live car-free (if far from care-free) and get to so many locales in our region by bicycle. Then on to different types of bicycling infrastructure: Protected lanes, standard lanes, mixed use lanes; with descriptions and assessments of each. He’ll talk about his experiences with participating in town halls, community board meetings, leafleting and petitioning events, Citibike demo rides, 5-borough group tours, community breakfasts with council members, and other activism-related events in promotion of safer, human-friendlier streets.”

Pint of Science Festival | Our Bodies: Inside Out
The Atwood, 986 Second Ave./ 7PM, $5
“Have you ever wondered how our genes affect our behavior? How the outside world affects our health? Or even how the internal environment of our bodies affects our health? To explain this web of relationships, we will be hearing from professors from NYU School of Medicine, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Columbia University. Get ready for a night of exploring the role of our bodies’ internal and external environments on health and behavior!”

AND The Statue of Liberty Museum opened just last week!

Continuing Events

NYCxDESIGN (May 10-22)
“New York City’s annual celebration of design, attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees and designers from across the globe. Taking place each May, the event celebrates a world of design and showcases over a dozen design disciplines through events taking place across the city’s five boroughs.”

What to See – Times Square transforms into a design paradise for NYCxDESIGN

“Here’s a reason for New Yorkers to head to Times Square: there are sixteen installations to check out at DESIGN PAVILION, the hub of NYCxDESIGN, the annual city-wide celebration of design.  Stretching from 42nd Street to 47th Street across five plazas (kiosks will show maps to aid your journey), there is everything from an “ecocapsule,”, a tiny house, a carousel of creative chairs, to an iconic Eastern European bloc kiosk shown in the United States for the first time.” (untapped cities)

Design Pavilion in Times Square. Explore the future at this free annual public design happening. Design Pavilion serves as the public hub for NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s annual celebration of international design. Open daily 11am-9pm between West 42nd and West 47th, bounded by Broadway and Seventh Avenue, highlights of the Design Pavilion include a 50,000 pound yacht, an interactive tiny house sculpture, FutureHAUS (the world’s best solar home), and a sound and vision exhibition. (cityguideny)

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COMING SOON (WFUV)

5/21 Passion Pit, The Rooftop At Pier 17
5/19-20 Nils Lofgren, City Winery
5/21 Jimmy Webb, City Winery
5/22 St. Lucia, Irving Plaza
5/22 Positively Bob Dylan 78th Birthday Tribute, City Winery

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, plus dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.6 million, had a record 65 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2018 – awesome! BUT quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just earlier on the day of performance.
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Chelsea Art Gallery District*

Chelsea is the heart of the NYCity contemporary art scene. Home to more than 300 art galleries, the Rubin Museum, the Joyce Theater and The Kitchen performance spaces, there is no place like it anywhere in the world. Come here to browse free exhibitions by world-renowned artists and those unknowns waiting to be discovered in an art district that is concentrated between West 18th and West 27th Streets, and 10th and 11th Avenues. Afterwards stop in the Chelsea Market, stroll on the High Line, or rest up at one of the many cafes and bars and discuss the fine art.

Here is one exhibition the New Yorker likes:

And from New York Magazine:

Nadav Kander (thru May 25)
A dark line.
“Known for his landscapes, the British photographer’s latest work brings the viewer to a particular point in the U.K.: the Thames Estuary, where the river meets the North Sea. The results are visually arresting and somewhat haunting.” (NYMag)
Flowers Gallery, 529 West 20th Street.

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For a listing of 25 essential galleries in the Chelsea Art Gallery District, organized by street, which enables you to create your own Chelsea Art Gallery crawl, see the Chelsea Gallery Guide (nycgo.com) Or check out TONY magazine’s list of the “Best Chelsea Galleries” and click through to see what’s on view.

*Now plan your own gallery crawl, but better to plan your visits for Tuesday through Saturday; most galleries are closed Sunday and Monday.

TIP: After your gallery tour, stop in Ovest at 513W27th St. for Aperitivo Italiano (Happy Hour on steroids). Discuss all the great art you have viewed over a drink and a very tasty selection of FREE appetizers (M-F, 5-8pm). OR try this NYT recommendation: “When you’re done, adjourn to the newly renovated Bottino , the Chelsea art world’s unofficial canteen on 10th Avenue (btw 24/25 St.) “

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see recent posts in right sidebar dated 05/18 and 05/16.
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Bonus NYC Music Venues:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are my favorite non jazz music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:

City Winery – 155 Varick St., citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St., joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St., beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
Town Hall – 123 W43rd St., thetownhall.org, 212-997-6661
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
and one more, not quite WestSide
Bowery Ballroom – 6 Delancey St. boweryballroom.com

For a comprehensive list of the best places to hear All Types of Live Music in Manhattan see the tab above “LiveMusic.”

In Memoriam:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. caffevivaldi.com, 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening discovery and enjoyment.
Alas, Caffe V is no more, another victim of a rapacious NYC landlord. Owner Ishrat fought the good fight and Caffe V will be sorely missed.

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NYT Theater Reviews – Our theater critics on the plays and musicals currently open in New York City.

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NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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NYC Events, “Only the Best” (05/19) + Today’s Featured Pub (Tribeca)

Posted on 05/19/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > SUNDAY/ MAY 19, 2019

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.

For future NYC Events, check the tab above:  “May NYC Events”
It’s the most comprehensive list of top events this month that you will find anywhere.
Carefully curated from “Only the Best” NYC event info on the the web, it’s a simply superb resource that will help you plan your NYC visit all over town, all through the month.
OR to make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

==========================================================

Have time for only one NYC Event today? Do this:

Bill Charlap Trio (May 14-26)
Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center/ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $40-$45
“Charlap approaches a song the way a lover approaches his beloved…when he sits down to play, the result is an embrace, an act of possession. The tune rises, falls, disappears, and resurfaces in new forms as Charlap ranges over the keyboard with nimble, crisply swinging lines, subtly layered textures, dense chords, and spiky interjections.” TIME Magazine
One of the world’s premier jazz pianists, Bill Charlap has performed and recorded with modern masters ranging from Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis to Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. Since 1997 he has led the Grammy Award-nominated Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, long recognized as a leading group in jazz. Veterans of all the top jazz venues, including, this trio is exemplary for its jaw-dropping level of chemistry and on-the-fly interactivity, made possible by both technical chops and hard-earned experience.”

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Parsons Dance Company
>> Ben Wendel
>> NEW YORK CITY BALLET
>> THE GIL EVANS PROJECT
>> 9th Avenue International Food Festival
>> World’s Fare 2019
>> Say “Happy Birthday!” to Walt Whitman

You may want to look at previous days posts for events that continue through today.

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Music, Dance, Performing Art

Parsons Dance Company (May14-26)
Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave./ 2PM, $55+
“David Parsons got his start in Paul Taylor’s company. Now the acolyte honors his mentor, who died last year, by presenting “Runes,” a powerfully strange ritual that Taylor made in 1975 and which later served as a breakout piece for Parsons. Also on the program is the New York première of “Eight Women,” by Trey McIntyre, set to songs by Aretha Franklin, who died the same month as Taylor. McIntyre has a strong track record making dances to pop music. Here, some of the women are played by men.” (Brian Seibert, NewYorker)

Ben Wendel (May 14-19)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S./ 8:30PM, +10:30PM, $35
“Ben Wendel, a saxophonist and bassoonist (and a member of the popular band Kneebody), created his “Seasons” project as a series of online video duets that sprang from programmatic piano pieces by Tchaikovsky. It took on a new life as both an album and a band. Here four partners from those duets—the guitarist Gilad Hekselman, the pianist Aaron Parks, the bassist Matt Brewer, and the drummer Eric Harland—join Wendel to give ample voice to his adventurously inviting music.” (Steve Futterman, NewYorker)

NEW YORK CITY BALLET (through June 2)
at the NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 3PM, $35+
“This weekend coincides with the return of the principal Amar Ramasar, one of two dancers who was fired for sharing sexually explicit photos of female dancers and was then reinstated to his position at City Ballet by an arbitrator. He appears opposite Sara Mearns in George Balanchine’s “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet” (the matinees on Saturday and Sunday). On Friday night, a relatively fresh cast of Jerome Robbins’s “Dances at a Gathering” takes the stage with debuts by four of the finest dancers in the company: Unity Phelan, Anthony Huxley, Russell Janzen and Joseph Gordon. The coming week affords more chances to see Robbins’s masterpiece, along with Balanchine’s “Stars and Stripes.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)
tonight: BALANCHINE BIG & BOLD

  • Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet
  • Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3

Balanchine evokes two distinct atmospheres in the ballets sharing this program, each boasting a cast of over 50 dancers.

THE GIL EVANS PROJECT (May 16-19)
at Jazz Standard / 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.; $35
“Evans is the rare composer whose music doesn’t need any refurbishing or newfangled interpretation to sound contemporary. Ryan Truesdell, a young composer and arranger, has made it his mission to prove that point: He goes directly to Evans’s original big-band manuscripts — including some charts that haven’t been played in over 50 years — and restages them to full effect. On Thursday and Friday, Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project ensemble will perform selections from Evans’s tenure with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra in the 1940s. On Saturday and Sunday, the focus will fall on Evans’s better-known work of the 1950s and ’60s.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

9th Avenue International Food Festival (May18-19)
“The streets between 42nd and 57th are filled with the smell of smoke and oil from gyro carts, empanada stands, and donut shops at the 9th Avenue International Food Festival. Come hungry and without a destination in mind: The crowd’s shoulder to shoulder, but that’s easily forgotten while sipping a cold beer as you walk down the street. Pause to take in some live music, then follow your nose to the fried Oreos, Kobe beef hot dogs, and bacon-topped cocktails.
Cost: Free to enter, but bring cash for street food.” (thrillist)

Elsewhere, but these sure look worth the detours:

Say “Happy Birthday!” to Walt Whitman (May18-19)
The Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library / 12PM-1:30PM, FREE
“Mark the 200th birthday of Brooklyn’s own Walt Whitman with a series of lectures, readings, and workshops inspired by the Leaves of Grass poet himself. The Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library at Grand Army Plaza is hosting scholars, poets, and artists to celebrate Walt Whitman’s legacy. Stop by to get inspired and remember that Whitman’s family believed his poems were, and I quote, not “worth reading.” So there’s still hope for your Avengers fanfiction!”

World’s Fare 2019 (May 18-19)
“Taking inspiration from the 1964 World’s Fair, World’s Fare 2019 will offer authentic foods and wares for purchase, served up by more than 100 vendors representing cultures from around the globe. ($23, with beer garden entry: $49; children age 9 and younger: $9; Noon to 8 p.m.; Citi Field, 123-01 Roosevelt Ave., Flushing, Queens; theworldsfare.nyc)” (amNY)

AND The Statue of Liberty Museum opened just this week!

Continuing Events

NYCxDESIGN (May 10-22)
“New York City’s annual celebration of design, attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees and designers from across the globe. Taking place each May, the event celebrates a world of design and showcases over a dozen design disciplines through events taking place across the city’s five boroughs.”

What to See – Times Square transforms into a design paradise for NYCxDESIGN

“Here’s a reason for New Yorkers to head to Times Square: there are sixteen installations to check out at DESIGN PAVILION, the hub of NYCxDESIGN, the annual city-wide celebration of design.  Stretching from 42nd Street to 47th Street across five plazas (kiosks will show maps to aid your journey), there is everything from an “ecocapsule,”, a tiny house, a carousel of creative chairs, to an iconic Eastern European bloc kiosk shown in the United States for the first time.” (untapped cities)

Design Pavilion in Times Square. Explore the future at this free annual public design happening. Design Pavilion serves as the public hub for NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s annual celebration of international design. Open daily 11am-9pm between West 42nd and West 47th, bounded by Broadway and Seventh Avenue, highlights of the Design Pavilion include a 50,000 pound yacht, an interactive tiny house sculpture, FutureHAUS (the world’s best solar home), and a sound and vision exhibition. (cityguideny)

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COMING SOON (WFUV)

5/19 & 21 Passion Pit, The Rooftop At Pier 17
5/19 Anthony De Costa, Mercury Lounge
5/19-20 Nils Lofgren, City Winery
5/21 Jimmy Webb, City Winery
5/22 St. Lucia, Irving Plaza
5/22 Positively Bob Dylan 78th Birthday Tribute, City Winery

==========================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, plus dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.6 million, had a record 65 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2018 – awesome! BUT quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just earlier on the day of performance.
================================================================================

A PremierPub / Tribeca

B-Flat / 277 Church St. (btw Franklin/White St)

b_flat4There are some places that are tough to find, then add a layer of mystery when you do find them. B-Flat has a nondescript, almost unmarked door at street level – today’s speakeasy vibe. Open this door and you face a dimly lit stairway down to their basement location. It almost takes a leap of faith to follow the stairs down to their interior door.
But open that door and a pleasant surprise awaits you.

It’s a basement jazz spot all right, but not like any traditional jazz joint you may have been to before. This place looks as fresh as today, probably because it’s only been open for 6 years. Even though it hasn’t had a chance to age gracefully, the cherry wood accents and low lighting make this small space very inviting.

There is always jazz, often progressive jazz, playing over their very discrete, stylish bose speakers, setting just the right tone as you find a seat at the bar, or one of the small tables. There is wine and beer available, but this place has some expert mixologists making some very creative cocktails, which I’m told change seasonally, a nice touch.

Come at happy hour and tasty cocktails like the el Diablo or the lychee martini are $8 – not bad. I am a sucker for any drink made with lychee and how can you not try a tequila drink named el Diablo. There is also nice selection of small bites available at happy hour and a food menu that is as innovative as the cocktail menu, so this does not have to be a happy hour only stop.

It wasn’t surprising to find a tasty prosciutto and arugula salad with yuzu dressing, but I did not expect to find such a good version of fried chicken breast on the apps menu. Here it’s called “Tatsuta.” Best bet is to sample happy hour, then dinner on a Monday or Wednesday night, when you can finish with no cover live jazz that starts around 8.

This place is tough to find (look for a small slate sandwich board on the sidewalk out front advertising happy hour) and on some nights when there is no live music it may be a little too quiet for some. But I think it’s worth searching out if you want a place with good music, food, and especially drinks, away from the maddening crowd.

Website: http://http://www.bflat.info/index.html
Phone #: 212-219-2970
Hours: Mo-Wed 5pm-2am; Th-Sat 5pm-3am; no Sun
Happy Hour: 5-7pm every day; $8 cocktails + special prices on apps
Music: Mon/Wed 8pm
Subway: #1 to Franklin; walk E 1 blk to Church; N 1 blk to bFlat

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“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
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Bonus: Nifty 9 – Best Cabarets / Piano Bars NYCity
These are my favorite places for an after dinner night on the town – music and drinks.
Hit the Hot Link and check out what’s happening tonight:

Feinstein’s/54 Below – 254 W 54th St.

The Green Room 42 – 570 Tenth Ave.

Don’t Tell Mama – 343 W 46th St.

The Rum House, in the Hotel Edison – 228 W. 47th St.

Laurie Beechman Theatre – 407 W 42nd St.

Marie’s Crisis – 59 Grove St.

The Duplex – 61 Christopher St.

Sid Gold’s Request Room – 165 W 26th St.

Cafe Carlyle, in the Carlyle Hotel – 35 E. 76th St.
This is the only one not located on Manhattan’s WestSide, and it ain’t cheap, but it has some of the finest singers.

For a comprehensive list of the best places to hear All Types of Live Music in Manhattan see the tab above “LiveMusic.”

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NYT Theater Reviews – Our theater critics on the plays and musicals currently open in New York City.

===========================================================================

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (05/18) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s 5th Avenue

Posted on 05/18/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > SATURDAY/ MAY 18, 2019

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.

For future NYC Events, check the tab above:  “May NYC Events”
It’s the most comprehensive list of top events this month that you will find anywhere.
Carefully curated from “Only the Best” NYC event info on the the web, it’s a simply superb resource that will help you plan your NYC visit all over town, all through the month.
OR to make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

==========================================================

Have time for only one NYC Event today? Do this:

9th Avenue International Food Festival (May18-19)
“The streets between 42nd and 57th are filled with the smell of smoke and oil from gyro carts, empanada stands, and donut shops at the 9th Avenue International Food Festival. Come hungry and without a destination in mind: The crowd’s shoulder to shoulder, but that’s easily forgotten while sipping a cold beer as you walk down the street. Pause to take in some live music, then follow your nose to the fried Oreos, Kobe beef hot dogs, and bacon-topped cocktails.
Cost: Free to enter, but bring cash for street food.” (thrillist)

====================================================

7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> JOEY DEFRANCESCO WITH THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA
>> American Ballet Theatre
>> THE GIL EVANS PROJECT
>> 13th Annual Dance Parade.
>> World’s Fare 2019
>> Essex Market
>> Taste of Tribeca

You may want to look at previous days posts for events that continue through today.

=======================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Art

JOEY DEFRANCESCO WITH THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA (May 17-18)
at Rose Theater / 8 p.m.; $40+
“DeFrancesco, a virtuoso soul-jazz organist, recently put out an album in a more mystical mode, “In the Key of the Universe” — inching closer than ever to the late-career sound of Dr. Lonnie Smith, jazz’s other premier organ player. The record features a few entrancing tunes recorded with Pharoah Sanders as a special guest, and it affirms DeFrancesco’s versatility and sensitivity as a bandleader. More evidence of that adaptability will be on display at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he will be joined by the resident orchestra, performing selections from Duke Ellington’s “New Orleans Suite” and Oliver Nelson’s arrangement of “Peter and the Wolf” — two of the rare works in jazz that blend the Hammond B3 with a full orchestra.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

American Ballet Theatre (through July 6)
Metropolitan Opera House / 2PM, +8PM, $25+
“What hasn’t Alexei Ratmansky choreographed? For the time being, his ballets monopolize the repertory — and that’s not a bad thing. Friday and Saturday feature the final presentations of his staging of “Harlequinade,” a comic ballet in the commedia dell’arte tradition, inspired by the archival notes of Marius Petipa. On Monday, the company’s spring gala, which celebrates his 10th anniversary as the artist in residence, offers his “Serenade After Plato’s Symposium” and the premiere of “The Seasons.” The following day showcases a Ratmansky triple bill with “Seasons” and more new works: “Songs of Bukovina” and “On the Dnieper.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)

THE GIL EVANS PROJECT (May 16-19)
at Jazz Standard / 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.; $35
“Evans is the rare composer whose music doesn’t need any refurbishing or newfangled interpretation to sound contemporary. Ryan Truesdell, a young composer and arranger, has made it his mission to prove that point: He goes directly to Evans’s original big-band manuscripts — including some charts that haven’t been played in over 50 years — and restages them to full effect. On Thursday and Friday, Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project ensemble will perform selections from Evans’s tenure with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra in the 1940s. On Saturday and Sunday, the focus will fall on Evans’s better-known work of the 1950s and ’60s.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

13th Annual Dance Parade.
“The celebration will begin at 12:35pm at 21st Street & Broadway with a Ceremonial Native American Circle Dance, led by Grand Marshal Louis Mofsie of the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers. Joining Mofsie as Grand Marshals are Bill T. Jones, Baayork Lee, and DJDara.The parade of approximately 10,000 dancers representing over 100 styles of dance will then dance its way down Broadway and through Union Square to Astor Place, where some of the groups will perform in front of a grandstand.All will continue east on St. Marks Place and settle in Tompkins Square Park. From approximately 3 to 7pm, activities in the Park will include performances by many of the companies on 5 stages, along with free lessons.” (cityguideny)

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Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

Elsewhere, but this sure looks worth the detour:

World’s Fare 2019 (May 18-19)
“Taking inspiration from the 1964 World’s Fair, World’s Fare 2019 will offer authentic foods and wares for purchase, served up by more than 100 vendors representing cultures from around the globe. ($23, with beer garden entry: $49; children age 9 and younger: $9; Noon to 8 p.m.; Citi Field, 123-01 Roosevelt Ave., Flushing, Queens; theworldsfare.nyc)” (amNY)

Taste of Tribeca (May 18)
various venues / 11:30AM-3PM, $45+
“This outdoor food festival will showcase dishes from more than 60 of Tribeca’s highest-rated restaurants and wine and beer from local shops and pubs. There will be a Kids’ zone and live entertainment as well. Proceeds go toward local public schools P.S. 150 and P.S. 234.” (amNY)

AND The Statue of Liberty Museum opened just this week!

Continuing Events

NYCxDESIGN (May 10-22)
“New York City’s annual celebration of design, attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees and designers from across the globe. Taking place each May, the event celebrates a world of design and showcases over a dozen design disciplines through events taking place across the city’s five boroughs.”

What to See – Times Square transforms into a design paradise for NYCxDESIGN

“Here’s a reason for New Yorkers to head to Times Square: there are sixteen installations to check out at DESIGN PAVILION, the hub of NYCxDESIGN, the annual city-wide celebration of design.  Stretching from 42nd Street to 47th Street across five plazas (kiosks will show maps to aid your journey), there is everything from an “ecocapsule,”, a tiny house, a carousel of creative chairs, to an iconic Eastern European bloc kiosk shown in the United States for the first time.” (untapped cities)

Design Pavilion in Times Square. Explore the future at this free annual public design happening. Design Pavilion serves as the public hub for NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s annual celebration of international design. Open daily 11am-9pm between West 42nd and West 47th, bounded by Broadway and Seventh Avenue, highlights of the Design Pavilion include a 50,000 pound yacht, an interactive tiny house sculpture, FutureHAUS (the world’s best solar home), and a sound and vision exhibition. (cityguideny)

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COMING SOON (WFUV)

5/18 Rodrigo y Gabriela, Beacon Theatre
5/19 & 21 Passion Pit, The Rooftop At Pier 17
5/19 Anthony De Costa, Mercury Lounge
5/19-20 Nils Lofgren, City Winery
5/21 Jimmy Webb, City Winery
5/22 St. Lucia, Irving Plaza
5/22 Positively Bob Dylan 78th Birthday Tribute, City Winery

==========================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, plus dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.6 million, had a record 65 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2018 – awesome! BUT quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just earlier on the day of performance.
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WHAT’S ON VIEW
These are My Fave Special Exhibitions @ MUSEUMS / Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue
(See the New York Times Arts Section for listings of all museum exhibitions,
and also see the expanded reviews of these exhibitions)

New-York Historical Society

‘BETYE SAAR: KEEPIN’ IT CLEAN’  (through May 27).

“Saar has been making important and influential work for nearly 60 years. Yet no big New York museum has given her a full retrospective, or even a significant one-person show, since a 1975 solo at the Whitney Museum of American Art. As this exhibition demonstrates, the institutional oversight is baffling, as her primary themes — racial justice and feminism (her 1972 breakthrough piece, “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima,” merges the two by transforming the racist stereotype of the smiling black mammy into an armed freedom fighter) — are exactly attuned to the present.” (Cotter-NYT)
212-873-3400, nyhistory.org

Jewish Museum

‘SCENES FROM THE COLLECTION’

“After a surgical renovation to its grand pile on Fifth Avenue, the Jewish Museum has reopened its third-floor galleries with a rethought and refreshed display of its permanent collection, which intermingles modern and contemporary art, by Jews and gentiles alike — Mark Rothko, Lee Krasner, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, and the excellent young Nigerian draftswoman Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze — with 4,000 years of Judaica. The works are shown in a nimble, non-chronological suite of galleries, and some of its century-spanning juxtapositions are bracing; others feel reductive, even dilletantish. But always, the Jewish Museum conceives of art and religion as interlocking elements of a story of civilization, commendably open to new influences and new interpretations.” (Farago) 212-423-3200, thejewishmuseum.org

Museum of the City of New York

NY AT ITS CORE (ongoing)
“Ten years in the making, New York at Its Core tells the compelling story of New York’s rise from a striving Dutch village to today’s “Capital of the World.” The exhibition captures the human energy that drove New York to become a city like no other and a subject of fascination the world over. Entertaining, inspiring, important, and at times bemusing, New York City “big personalities,” including Alexander Hamilton, Walt Whitman, Boss Tweed, Emma Goldman, JP Morgan, Fiorello La Guardia, Jane Jacobs, Jay-Z, and dozens more, parade through the exhibition. Visitors will also learn the stories of lesser-known New York personalities, like Lenape chieftain Penhawitz and Italian immigrant Susie Rocco. Even animals like the horse, the pig, the beaver, and the oyster, which played pivotal roles in the economy and daily life of New York, get their moment in the historical spotlight. Occupying the entire first floor in three interactive galleries (Port City, 1609-1898, World City, 1898-2012, and Future City Lab) New York at Its Core is shaped by four themes: money, density, diversity, and creativity. Together, they provide a lens for examining the character of the city, and underlie the modern global metropolis we know today. mcny.org” (NYCity Guide)

and you should be sure to check out these special exhibitions at that little museum on Fifth Ave., The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(open 7 days /week, AND always Pay What You Wish for NewYorkers)

“The Tale of Genji” (Through June 16)

“To detail the rich history of a Japanese literary epic, this stunning exhibition assembles artifacts and art works spanning nearly a millennium. Written in the early eleventh century by the noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu, the fifty-four-chapter tale—a mix of entertainment, social commentary, and Buddhist philosophy—recounts the misadventures of an emperor’s son, who, excluded from the line of succession, seeks restitution through romantic liaisons. Colorful episodes describe the opulence of the Heian period and introduce iconic female characters. The fascinating objects on view include paired calligraphic texts and paintings drawn from the oldest-known complete “Genji” album, from 1510; an ornate, portable lacquered-wood cabinet, from the Edo period, made to house the tale’s many volumes; and a wedding palanquin (or covered litter), from the same era, whose exquisitely painted interior features motifs from the story. The visual literary tradition instigated by Murasaki’s classic was not just for the élite: modern translations, as well as books and popular prints, disseminated it to a wide audience. The show concludes with original drawings by the contemporary manga artist Yamato Waki, from his updated adaptation “Asaki Yume Mishi” (thirteen years in the making)—a testament to the saga’s enduring legacy.” (Johanna Fateman, NewYorker)

‘THE WORLD BETWEEN EMPIRES: ART AND IDENTITY IN THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST’ (through June 23).

“The Met excels at epic-scale archaeological exhibitions, and this is a prime example. It brings together work made between 100 B.C. and A.D. 250 in what we now know as Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. In the ancient world, all were in the sphere of two competing superpowers — Rome to the west and Parthia to the east — and though imperial influence was strong, it was far from all-determining. Each of the subject territories selectively grafted it onto local traditions to create distinctive new grass-roots cultural blends. Equally important, the show addresses the fate of art from the past in a politically fraught present.” (NYT-Cotter)

“In Praise of Painting” (thru Oct.4, 2020)

“How great are the Met’s holdings in the Dutch golden age? Very. This long-term installation rings the lower level of the Lehman Wing with scores of lesser-known gems from the mid-seventeenth century, many of them rarely on view before, amid masterworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, and Ruisdael. The period, vivified here, began in 1648, when the end of the Eighty Years’ War with Spain brought a boom in wealth and morale, expressed by genre paintings that exalt the national ideal of gezelligheid—social warmth, comfort, belonging. A key figure was Gerard ter Borch, who had travelled widely and worked at the court of Philip IV, in company with Velázquez. Ter Borch’s lustrous, ineffably witty domestic scenes inspired a generation of masters, notably Vermeer, whose genius rather eclipsed his elder’s. The pictures often star ter Borch’s younger sister Gesina, preening in satins or enigmatically musing. Herself a painter, she is cutely funny-looking—pointy nose, weak chin—and desperately lovable. There’s much to be said for a world with such a family in it.”

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Museum Mile is a section of Fifth Avenue which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world. Eight museums can be found along this section of Fifth Avenue:
• 105th Street – El Museo del Barrio (closed Sun-Mon)*
• 103rd Street – Museum of the City of New York (open 7 days /week)
•  92nd Street – The Jewish Museum (closed Wed) (Sat FREE) (Thu 5-8 PWYW)
•  91st Street  –  Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (open 7 days /week)
•  89th Street –  National Academy Museum (closed Mon-Tue)
•  88th Street –  Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (closed Thu) (Sat 6-8 PWYW)
•  86th Street –  Neue Galerie New York (closed Tue-Wed) (Fri 6-8 FREE)
Last, but certainly not least, America’s premier museum
•  82nd Street – The Metropolitan Museum of Art (open 7 days /week)*
*always Pay What You Wish (PWYW) for NewYorkers

Although technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection (closed Mon) (Wed 2-6pm PWYW; First Friday each month (exc Jan+Sep) 6-9pm FREE) on the corner of 70th St. and Fifth Avenue and the The Morgan Library & Museum (closed Mon) (Fri 7-9 FREE) on Madison Ave and 37th St are also located near Fifth Ave.
Now plan your own museum crawl (info on hours & admission updated June 2, 2015).
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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 05/16 and 05/14.
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Bonus Live Music  – NYC Jazz Clubs:
Many consider NYCity the Jazz capital of the world. My favorite Jazz Clubs, all on Manhattan’s WestSide, feature top talent every night of the week.
Hit the Hot Link and check out who is playing tonight:

Greenwich Village:
(4 are underground, classic jazz joints. all 6 are within walking distance of each other):
Village Vanguard – UG, 178 7th Ave. So., villagevanguard.com, 212-255-4037 (1st 8:30)
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. bluenotejazz.com, 212-475-8592 (1st set 8pm)
55 Bar – basement @55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. 55bar.com, 212-929-9883 (1st 7pm)
Mezzrow – basement @ 163 W10th St. nr 7th Ave. mezzrow.com,646-476-4346 (1st 8)
Smalls – basement @ 183 W10th St. smallslive.com, 646-476-4346 (1st set 7:30pm)
The Stone at The New School – 55 w13 St. (btw 6/5 ave) – thestonenyc.com (8:30PM)

Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595 (1st set 7:30pm)
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080 (1st 8:30pm)
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com/ 212-864-6662 (7pm)
Jazz Standard – 116 E27 St. (btw Park/Lex) – jazzstandard.com – (1st set 7:30)

For a comprehensive list of the best places to hear All Types of Live Music in Manhattan see the tab above “LiveMusic.”

In Memoriam:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. — caffevivaldi.com / 212-691-7538 (1st 7pm)
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprised with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It was my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.
Alas, Caffe V is no more, another victim of a rapacious NYC landlord. Owner Ishrat fought the good fight and Caffe V will be sorely missed.
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319
And more recently we have lost Cornelia Street Cafe. After 41 years, it too became another victim of an unreasonable rent increase.

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NYT Theater Reviews – Our theater critics on the plays and musicals currently open in New York City.

===========================================================================

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

 

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (05/17) + Today’s Featured Pub (Greenwich Village)

Posted on 05/17/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > FRIDAY/ MAY 17, 2019

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.

For future NYC Events, check the tab above:  “May NYC Events”
It’s the most comprehensive list of top events this month that you will find anywhere.
Carefully curated from “Only the Best” NYC event info on the the web, it’s a simply superb resource that will help you plan your NYC visit all over town, all through the month.
OR to make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

==========================================================

Have time for only one NYC Event today? Do this:

THE GIL EVANS PROJECT (May 16-19)
at Jazz Standard / 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.; $35
“Evans is the rare composer whose music doesn’t need any refurbishing or newfangled interpretation to sound contemporary. Ryan Truesdell, a young composer and arranger, has made it his mission to prove that point: He goes directly to Evans’s original big-band manuscripts — including some charts that haven’t been played in over 50 years — and restages them to full effect. On Thursday and Friday, Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project ensemble will perform selections from Evans’s tenure with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra in the 1940s. On Saturday and Sunday, the focus will fall on Evans’s better-known work of the 1950s and ’60s.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> NEW YORK CITY BALLET
>> NEW YORK COMEDY MUSIC FESTIVAL
>> JOEY DEFRANCESCO WITH THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA
>> Parsons Dance Company
>> NICOLE MITCHELL
>> Essex Market
>> Springtoberfest

You may want to look at previous days posts for events that continue through today.

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Music, Dance, Performing Art

NEW YORK CITY BALLET (through June 2)
at the NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 7:30PM, $35+
“This weekend coincides with the return of the principal Amar Ramasar, one of two dancers who was fired for sharing sexually explicit photos of female dancers and was then reinstated to his position at City Ballet by an arbitrator. He appears opposite Sara Mearns in George Balanchine’s “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet” (the matinees on Saturday and Sunday). On Friday night, a relatively fresh cast of Jerome Robbins’s “Dances at a Gathering” takes the stage with debuts by four of the finest dancers in the company: Unity Phelan, Anthony Huxley, Russell Janzen and Joseph Gordon. The coming week affords more chances to see Robbins’s masterpiece, along with Balanchine’s “Stars and Stripes.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)
tonight: CLASSIC NYCB II

  • Judah
  • Dances at a Gathering
  • Stars and Stripes

Paying tribute to the wide-ranging reach of our repertory, Gianna Reisen’s Fall 2018 premiere Judah joins audience favorites from Robbins and Balanchine.

NEW YORK COMEDY MUSIC FESTIVAL (May 17-19).
“A generation inspired by Dr. Demento celebrates their love of making and performing funny songs with shows in bars, clubs and theaters across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Highlights include a “50 Funny Songs” competition on Friday at 9:30 p.m. at the Friars Club, and a free musical parade on Saturday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., starting at John V. Lindsay East River Park, weather permitting.” (NYT-Sean L. McCarthy)

JOEY DEFRANCESCO WITH THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA (May 17-18)
at Rose Theater / 8 p.m.; $40+
“DeFrancesco, a virtuoso soul-jazz organist, recently put out an album in a more mystical mode, “In the Key of the Universe” — inching closer than ever to the late-career sound of Dr. Lonnie Smith, jazz’s other premier organ player. The record features a few entrancing tunes recorded with Pharoah Sanders as a special guest, and it affirms DeFrancesco’s versatility and sensitivity as a bandleader. More evidence of that adaptability will be on display at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he will be joined by the resident orchestra, performing selections from Duke Ellington’s “New Orleans Suite” and Oliver Nelson’s arrangement of “Peter and the Wolf” — two of the rare works in jazz that blend the Hammond B3 with a full orchestra.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Parsons Dance Company (May14-26)
Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave./ 8PM, $55+
“David Parsons got his start in Paul Taylor’s company. Now the acolyte honors his mentor, who died last year, by presenting “Runes,” a powerfully strange ritual that Taylor made in 1975 and which later served as a breakout piece for Parsons. Also on the program is the New York première of “Eight Women,” by Trey McIntyre, set to songs by Aretha Franklin, who died the same month as Taylor. McIntyre has a strong track record making dances to pop music. Here, some of the women are played by men.” (Brian Seibert, NewYorker)

NICOLE MITCHELL (May 14-18)
The Stone at the New School / 8:30 p.m.; $20
“Mitchell, a flutist who was recently selected to head the University of Pittsburgh’s prestigious jazz program, has friends in many high places. One of the most esteemed performers and composers on the jazz avant-garde, she will gather a different group of collaborators every night during this five-day run. Highlights will include the trio appearing on Tuesday, with Val Jeanty on electronics and Chad Taylor on drums; Mitchell’s team-up with the Matthew Shipp Trio on Wednesday; and a group she’s calling Funkish — with André Lassalle, known as Dre Glo, on guitar, Jared Nickerson on bass and Calvin Gantt doing spoken word, on May 18.” (GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO-NYT)

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Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

Elsewhere, but these look worth the detour:

Essex Market
Celebrate the grand reopening
Weekend-long
“Essex Market, which began as a hub for herring-hustling pushcart peddlers in the 1880s, has seen a lot of changes in the last 131 years. The latest iteration opened this week in the shiny Essex Crossing development, its pushcarts having been replaced with vendors like the Arancini Bros. (known for their fried arborio rice balls), the L.E.S. Ice Cream Factory (from the purveyors behind the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory), and the strange, beloved Shopsin’s. And if you’re in the market for herring after all these years, there’s still plenty of smoked fish to be found.”
Cost: Free to enter, prices for groceries and prepared foods vary.” (thrillist.com)

Springtoberfest
at MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave., LICity, Queens; / 8PM-12AM; $15
“You may know MoMA PS1 for its collection of contemporary art, but come spring it throws a stellar shindig, Night at the Museum: Springtoberfest, that takes place in a one-night-only beer garden. Queens-based food and drink will be presented for purchase while outdoor screenings run, DJ Jadalareign spins beats and guests can enjoy after-hours access to the galleries.” (amNY)

AND The Statue of Liberty Museum opened yesterday!

Continuing Events

NYCxDESIGN (May 10-22)
“New York City’s annual celebration of design, attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees and designers from across the globe. Taking place each May, the event celebrates a world of design and showcases over a dozen design disciplines through events taking place across the city’s five boroughs.”

What to See – Times Square transforms into a design paradise for NYCxDESIGN

“Here’s a reason for New Yorkers to head to Times Square: there are sixteen installations to check out at DESIGN PAVILION, the hub of NYCxDESIGN, the annual city-wide celebration of design.  Stretching from 42nd Street to 47th Street across five plazas (kiosks will show maps to aid your journey), there is everything from an “ecocapsule,”, a tiny house, a carousel of creative chairs, to an iconic Eastern European bloc kiosk shown in the United States for the first time.” (untapped cities)

Design Pavilion in Times Square. Explore the future at this free annual public design happening. Design Pavilion serves as the public hub for NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s annual celebration of international design. Open daily 11am-9pm between West 42nd and West 47th, bounded by Broadway and Seventh Avenue, highlights of the Design Pavilion include a 50,000 pound yacht, an interactive tiny house sculpture, FutureHAUS (the world’s best solar home), and a sound and vision exhibition. (cityguideny)

===================================================

COMING SOON (WFUV)

5/16-18 Broken Social Scene, Webster Hall
5/18 Rodrigo y Gabriela, Beacon Theatre
5/19 & 21 Passion Pit, The Rooftop At Pier 17
5/19 Anthony De Costa, Mercury Lounge
5/19-20 Nils Lofgren, City Winery
5/21 Jimmy Webb, City Winery
5/22 St. Lucia, Irving Plaza
5/22 Positively Bob Dylan 78th Birthday Tribute, City Winery

==========================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, plus dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.6 million, had a record 65 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2018 – awesome! BUT quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just earlier on the day of performance.

=====================================================

A PremierPub and 3 Good Eating Places – Greenwich Village

Caffe Vivaldi / 32 Jones Street (btw. Bleecker St./W4th St.)

Café Vivaldi is a classic, intimate club located in Greenwich Village on Jones Street, the street featured on the cover of Bob Dylan’s second album, “Freewheelin’. ”

maxresdefaultEach night Ishrat, the long time proprietor and impresario, carefully curates and schedules an eclectic series of musicians. You can often see him at his table in the corner, hard at work reviewing music videos and listening to cd demos on his laptop, scouting out future bookings. Musicians come from all over to play and sing in a club in Greenwich Village. Some are local New Yorkers, others are just passing through, in town for a few days.

There is a small bar, seating maybe 10. It’s close to the stage and I find it’s a perfect spot to sip a glass of red wine while listening to the music. The room itself has the performance area at one end and a cozy fireplace at the other. The performance area here is small, dominated by a large black Yamaha Grand piano. Tables are bunched together and most people at the tables are eating lite meals or sampling the wonderful desserts.

There is also a good selection of fairly priced wines,  but you are here because of the music. You can never be quite sure what you’re going to find, and that’s half the charm of this place. It’s not a home run every night, but many nights it’s pretty special.

I remember the night I saw the most talented bossa nova group, just in from San Paulo. As I listened, I wondered if there was any better music playing anywhere else in New York City that night. And at Caffé Vivaldi there is never a cover charge. Their recently redesigned web site does give you a better idea of the type of music playing each night.

At one time Greenwich Village was filled with clubs just like this, but times change. Real estate interests have impacted the village, and not for the better. Even Caffé Vivaldi had a rough time recently, when a new landlord raised the rent exorbitantly. Fortunately, Ishrat has built a loyal following over the years, and a fund raiser and slightly more reasonable rent has kept Café Vivaldi in business.

When Woody Allen and Al Pacino wanted to make movies featuring the timeless quality of Greenwich Village they came to Vivaldi. It’s important that we keep this special place alive, for if we lose Cafe Vivaldi, NYCity will have lost a piece of it’s soul.

CAFFE VIVALDI HAS CLOSED, VERY SAD.
I HAVE LEFT THIS REVIEW ON MY SITE AS A KIND OF MEMORIAL.
As reported in the “Gothamist”:
“Caffe Vivaldi, one of the last bohemian bastions of the West Village, is set to close this weekend. During its 35 years on Jones Street, the casual cafe won the hearts of locals and celebs alike, including Oscar Isaac, Bette Midler, and Al Pacino.

Despite that friendly communal atmosphere, the owners ultimately struggled to survive under their notorious vulture landlord Steve Croman, who they say waged a harassment campaign against the restaurant, and eventually tripled their rent.”
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“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge.

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
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3 Good Eating places

It’s not difficult to find a place to eat in Manhattan.
Finding a good, inexpensive place to eat is a bit harder.
Here are a few of my faves in this neighborhood:

Fish – 280 Bleecker St. (just a bit S. of 7th ave South)
This was an easy pick – the best raw bar special in town. $9 gets you 6 of the freshest oysters or clams + a glass of wine or beer. Don’t know how they can do it, but I tell everyone I know about this place. And it’s located right in the heart of some of the best no cover music in town.

Bleecker Street Pizza – 69 7th ave S. (corner of Bleecker St.)
The place is tiny and not much to look at, but this is one good slice. They like to brag that they have been voted “Best pizza in NY” 3 years in a row by the Food Network. I believe them. I would have voted for them.

Num Pang – 21 E 12th St. (btw. University Place/5th ave.)
This is a Cambodian banh mi sandwich shop that kept me well fed while I was in class nearby recently. It’s cramped, even for NYCity, but usually there is room up the spiral staircase to sit down and eat. In good weather carry your sandwich a few blocks to Union Square park. You may have to wait a few minutes, because everything is freshly made, but it’s worth it. Can you believe – an unheard of 26 food rating by Zagat.

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“3 Good Eating places” focuses on a quick bite, what I call “Fine Fast Food – NYCity Style”
No reservations needed.
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NYCity is the most diverse and interesting place to find a meal anywhere in the world. With more than 24,000 eating establishments you might welcome some advice.

◊ For all my picks of 54 Good Eating places, and essays on my favorite 18 PremierPubs in 9 Neighborhoods on Manhattan’s WestSide, order a copy of my e-book:
“Eating and Drinking on NYCity’s WestSide” ($4.99, available FALL 2019).
◊ Order before NOV. 30, 2019 and receive a bonus – 27 of my favorite casual dining places with free Wi-Fi.

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Bonus: Nifty 9 – Best Cabarets / Piano Bars NYCity
These are my favorite places for an after dinner night on the town – music and drinks.
Hit the Hot Link and check out what’s happening tonight:

Feinstein’s/54 Below – 254 W 54th St.

The Green Room 42 – 570 Tenth Ave.

Don’t Tell Mama – 343 W 46th St.

The Rum House, in the Hotel Edison – 228 W. 47th St.

Laurie Beechman Theatre – 407 W 42nd St.

Marie’s Crisis – 59 Grove St.

The Duplex – 61 Christopher St.

Sid Gold’s Request Room – 165 W 26th St.

Cafe Carlyle, in the Carlyle Hotel – 35 E. 76th St.
This is the only one not located on Manhattan’s WestSide, and it ain’t cheap, but it has some of the finest singers.

For a comprehensive list of the best places to hear All Types of Live Music in Manhattan see the tab above “LiveMusic.”

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NYT Theater Reviews – Our theater critics on the plays and musicals currently open in New York City.

===========================================================================

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (05/16) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s WestSide

Posted on 05/16/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > THURSDAY/ MAY 16, 2019

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.

For future NYC Events, check the tab above:  “May NYC Events”
It’s the most comprehensive list of top events this month that you will find anywhere.
Carefully curated from “Only the Best” NYC event info on the the web, it’s a simply superb resource that will help you plan your NYC visit all over town, all through the month.
OR to make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

==========================================================

Have time for only one NYC Event today? Do this:

Summer Kickoff Yacht Party
Pier 40, West Village / 6:30PM, $39-$49
“If your idea of a perfect summer shindig involves watching the sunset over the New York skyline, drink in hand, then we’ve got excellent news: We’re bringing the summer vibes a little early this year with an epic celebration of boats, booze and views. We’ve teamed up with Hornblower Cruises & Events to throw the summer kickoff yacht party of your dreams on Thursday, May 16—and it involves three hours of delicious light bites, a fantastic DJ playing across the 210-foot yacht’s four floors and jaw-dropping views of the skyline and the Statue of Liberty. Best of all, it’s a completely open bar (yes, you read that right!). Party cruises don’t get much better than this. So grab your friends and book your tickets now before they sell out—then get ready to sail in style.” (TONY)

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Midday Jazz: Kendra Shank, vocalist;
>> American Ballet Theatre
>> Michael Feinstein: Great American Crooners
>> Parsons Dance Company
>> Ben Wendel
>> Bill Charlap Trio
>> Confronting Hate

You may want to look at previous days posts for events that continue through today.

=======================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Art

Midday Jazz: Kendra Shank, vocalist; Frank Kimbrough, piano; Dean Johnson, bass.
St. Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Ave. @ E.54th St. / 1PM, FREE
Hailed by Downbeat magazine as a top female vocalist (1999, 2006, 2007), Kendra Shank has been featured on National Public Radio’s JazzSet and Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland.

Post-bop jazz pianist Frank Kimbrough currently plays in the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra. Bassist Dean Johnson has performed with symphony orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

American Ballet Theatre (through July 6)
Metropolitan Opera House / 7:30PM, $25+
“The city enters peak ballet season this week, with its two major companies facing off across the plaza at Lincoln Center. A.B.T. begins eight weeks at the Metropolitan Opera House with a kind of Alexei Ratmansky retrospective—the choreographer has been at the company for a decade. It begins with his charming rendition of Marius Petipa’s 1900 commedia-dell’arte ballet “Harlequinade” (May 13-18). After that comes a trio of shorter Ratmansky works, including a new ballet set to Alexander Glazunov’s rich and danceable suite “The Seasons.” A Twyla Tharp program, two weeks later (May 30-June 3), includes an exciting company première, “Deuce Coupe,” from 1973, a playful, all-American romp to music by the Beach Boys, originally made for the Joffrey. For those who like their ballet with a heavy dose of drama, there is another company première, “Jane Eyre,” by the British choreographer Cathy Marston. The work, which is set to a selection of nineteenth-century music, premièred at Northern Ballet, in 2016, to good reviews.” (Marina Harss-NewYorker)

Michael Feinstein: Great American Crooners (May 15-16)
The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center / 7PM, +9PM, $80+
“The Jazz & Popular Song series continues its ninth consecutive season with a celebration of great American crooners. Michael Feinstein, known as the “Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” returns as director, host, performer, and all-around entertainer in this favorite concert series. With effortless charm, the Tedd Firth Big Band, and special guest vocalists Milton Suggs and Nick Ziobro, Feinstein sets a glamorous scene in The Appel Room and shines new light on America’s most beloved artists. Tonight’s performance focuses on quintessential crooners Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Bobby Darin, whose velvety voices and sentimental serenades made them superstars on stage and on screen. Relive classics like “Hello Young Lovers,” “When I Fall In Love,” and “It Had To Be You,” and enjoy incredible true stories about these legends. It’s going to be a stylish evening of timeless tunes, world-class talent, and an unbeatable view.”

Parsons Dance Company (May14-26)
Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave./ 8PM, $55+
“David Parsons got his start in Paul Taylor’s company. Now the acolyte honors his mentor, who died last year, by presenting “Runes,” a powerfully strange ritual that Taylor made in 1975 and which later served as a breakout piece for Parsons. Also on the program is the New York première of “Eight Women,” by Trey McIntyre, set to songs by Aretha Franklin, who died the same month as Taylor. McIntyre has a strong track record making dances to pop music. Here, some of the women are played by men.” (Brian Seibert, NewYorker)

Ben Wendel (May 14-19)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S./ 8:30PM, +10:30PM, $35
“Ben Wendel, a saxophonist and bassoonist (and a member of the popular band Kneebody), created his “Seasons” project as a series of online video duets that sprang from programmatic piano pieces by Tchaikovsky. It took on a new life as both an album and a band. Here four partners from those duets—the guitarist Gilad Hekselman, the pianist Aaron Parks, the bassist Matt Brewer, and the drummer Eric Harland—join Wendel to give ample voice to his adventurously inviting music.” (Steve Futterman, NewYorker)

Bill Charlap Trio (May 14-26)
Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center/ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $40-$45
“Charlap approaches a song the way a lover approaches his beloved…when he sits down to play, the result is an embrace, an act of possession. The tune rises, falls, disappears, and resurfaces in new forms as Charlap ranges over the keyboard with nimble, crisply swinging lines, subtly layered textures, dense chords, and spiky interjections.” TIME Magazine
One of the world’s premier jazz pianists, Bill Charlap has performed and recorded with modern masters ranging from Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis to Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. Since 1997 he has led the Grammy Award-nominated Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, long recognized as a leading group in jazz. Veterans of all the top jazz venues, including, this trio is exemplary for its jaw-dropping level of chemistry and on-the-fly interactivity, made possible by both technical chops and hard-earned experience.”

=========================================================

Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

Confronting Hate
National September 11 Memorial & Museum, 180 Greenwich St./ 7PM, FREE
“Emmy Award–winning documentarian Deeyah Khan has long explored how people are drawn to extremist ideologies. She has spent years filming Islamist extremists, convicted terrorists, and former jihadis, as well as current and former neo-Nazis for her documentaries “Jihad” and “White Right: Meeting the Enemy.” Khan will discuss what she has seen and learned, and how we can forge a path forward to combat extremism.” (ThoughtGallery)

AND The Statue of Liberty Museum opens today!

Continuing Events

NYCxDESIGN (May 10-22)
“New York City’s annual celebration of design, attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees and designers from across the globe. Taking place each May, the event celebrates a world of design and showcases over a dozen design disciplines through events taking place across the city’s five boroughs.”

What to See – Times Square transforms into a design paradise for NYCxDESIGN

“Here’s a reason for New Yorkers to head to Times Square: there are sixteen installations to check out at DESIGN PAVILION, the hub of NYCxDESIGN, the annual city-wide celebration of design.  Stretching from 42nd Street to 47th Street across five plazas (kiosks will show maps to aid your journey), there is everything from an “ecocapsule,”, a tiny house, a carousel of creative chairs, to an iconic Eastern European bloc kiosk shown in the United States for the first time.” (untapped cities)

Design Pavilion in Times Square. Explore the future at this free annual public design happening. Design Pavilion serves as the public hub for NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s annual celebration of international design. Open daily 11am-9pm between West 42nd and West 47th, bounded by Broadway and Seventh Avenue, highlights of the Design Pavilion include a 50,000 pound yacht, an interactive tiny house sculpture, FutureHAUS (the world’s best solar home), and a sound and vision exhibition. (cityguideny)

===================================================

COMING SOON (WFUV)

5/16-18 Broken Social Scene, Webster Hall
5/18 Rodrigo y Gabriela, Beacon Theatre
5/19 & 21 Passion Pit, The Rooftop At Pier 17
5/19 Anthony De Costa, Mercury Lounge
5/19-20 Nils Lofgren, City Winery
5/21 Jimmy Webb, City Winery
5/22 St. Lucia, Irving Plaza
5/22 Positively Bob Dylan 78th Birthday Tribute, City Winery

==========================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, plus dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.6 million, had a record 65 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2018 – awesome! BUT quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just earlier on the day of performance.
===============================================================================

WHAT’S ON VIEW
My Fave Special Exhibitions – MUSEUMS / Manhattan’s WestSide
(See the New York Times Arts Section for listings of all museums,
and also to see their expanded reviews of exhibitions)

Museum of Modern Art

“The Value of Good Design” (through June 15)

“The simple flask of the Chemex coffeemaker, the austere fan of aluminum tines on a garden rake, and the airtight allure of first-generation Tupperware exemplify the democratic promise of the Good Design movement in this edifying survey, which highlights (although not exclusively) the museum’s role in its history. Also on view—and among the winners of MOMA’s first design competition, held in 1940-41—is a molded plywood chair by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen; it’s a classic design, but, owing to technological limitations in its day, it wasn’t mass-produced until 2006. Starting in 1938, MOMA mounted an annual exhibition called “Useful Objects,” which championed the inexpensive and doubled as recommendations for holiday gifts. No item had a value of more than five dollars the first year; a decade later, the limit was a hundred dollars. By the fifties, the museum had established partnerships with national retailers for the exhibited products, from textiles to appliances, and, in the eighties, it opened its own design store. In the current show, the most compelling items are the everyday gems: Timo Sarpaneva’s cast-iron and teak casserole, from 1959; the original Slinky, from 1945; and a collapsible wire basket, from 1953, as graceful as a Ruth Asawa sculpture.” (

“Joan Miró”  (through June 15)

“This enchanting show draws on the museum’s immense holdings of Miró’s work, along with a few loans. Its star attraction is “The Birth of the World,” painted in 1925, while the artist was under the spell of the Surrealist circle of André Breton. It presents drifting pictographic elements—a black triangle, a red disk, a white disk, an odd black hook shape, and some skittery lines—on an amorphous ground of thinned grayish paint that soaks here and there into the unevenly primed canvas. It’s large—more than eight feet high by more than six feet wide—but feels larger: cosmic. There had never been anything quite like it in painting, and it stood far apart from the formally conservative, lurid fantasizing of the other Surrealist painters. Today, we are ever less apt to base valuations on precedence—who did what first. Art of the past seems not so much a parade as a convocation, subject to case-by-case assessments. Never unsettling in the ways of, say, Matisse or, for heaven’s sake, Picasso, Miró is a modernist for everybody. He earns and will keep his place in our hearts.” (

American Museum of Natural History

‘T. REX: THE ULTIMATE PREDATOR’  (through Aug. 9, 2020).
“Everyone’s favorite 18,000-pound prehistoric killer gets the star treatment in this eye-opening exhibition, which presents the latest scientific research on T. rex and also introduces many other tyrannosaurs, some discovered only this century in China and Mongolia. T. rex evolved mainly during the Cretaceous Period to have keen eyes, spindly arms and massive conical teeth, which could bear down on prey with the force of a U-Haul truck; the dinosaur could even swallow whole bones, as affirmed here by a kid-friendly display of fossilized excrement. The show mixes 66-million-year-old teeth with the latest 3-D prints of dino bones, and also presents new models of T. rex as a baby, a juvenile and a full-grown annihilator. Turns out this most savage beast was covered with — believe it! — a soft coat of beige or white feathers.” (Farago-NYT)

================================================================================
For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Posts in right Sidebar dated 05/14 and 05/12.

=====================================================

Bonus: Nifty 9 – Best Cabarets / Piano Bars NYCity
These are my favorite places for an after dinner night on the town – music and drinks.
Hit the Hot Link and check out what’s happening tonight:

Feinstein’s/54 Below – 254 W 54th St.

The Green Room 42 – 570 Tenth Ave.

Don’t Tell Mama – 343 W 46th St.

The Rum House, in the Hotel Edison – 228 W. 47th St.

Laurie Beechman Theatre – 407 W 42nd St.

Marie’s Crisis – 59 Grove St.

The Duplex – 61 Christopher St.

Sid Gold’s Request Room – 165 W 26th St.

Cafe Carlyle, in the Carlyle Hotel – 35 E. 76th St.
This is the only one not located on Manhattan’s WestSide, and it ain’t cheap, but it has some of the finest singers.

For a comprehensive list of the best places to hear All Types of Live Music in Manhattan see the tab above “LiveMusic.”

========================================================

NYT Theater Reviews – Our theater critics on the plays and musicals currently open in New York City.

===========================================================================
m

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (05/15) + Today’s Featured Pub (Upper West Side)

Posted on 05/15/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > WEDNESDAY/ MAY 15, 2019

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.

For future NYC Events, check the tab above:  “May NYC Events”
It’s the most comprehensive list of top events this month that you will find anywhere.
Carefully curated from “Only the Best” NYC event info on the the web, it’s a simply superb resource that will help you plan your NYC visit all over town, all through the month.
OR to make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

==========================================================

Have time for only one NYC Event today? Do this:

Gordon Lightfoot
80 Years Strong Tour
the Town Hall / 8:00pm; $39+
“Celebrating his 80th birthday, this year is special for the legendary artist, who has announced plans for a cross-country USA tour entitled “GORDON LIGHTFOOT: 80 YEARS STRONG TOUR”. The tour will feature his well-known hits as well as some deep album cuts for the die-hard fanatics. All of which are woven together with some of Lightfoot’s own behind the scenes stories and personal anecdotes about his historic 50-plus-years musical career and his 80 years of life. The event is sure to be a great thrill for live audiences and anyone who enjoys hearing great music and seeing a living legend in person.”

====================================================

7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Parsons Dance Company
>> Michael Feinstein: Great American Crooners
>> Ryan Shaw – Imagining Marvin
>> NEW YORK CITY BALLET
>> NICOLE MITCHELL
>> Ben Wendel
>> Bill Charlap Trio
You may want to look at previous days posts for events that continue through today.

=======================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Art

Parsons Dance Company (May14-26)
Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave./ 7:30PM, $55+
“David Parsons got his start in Paul Taylor’s company. Now the acolyte honors his mentor, who died last year, by presenting “Runes,” a powerfully strange ritual that Taylor made in 1975 and which later served as a breakout piece for Parsons. Also on the program is the New York première of “Eight Women,” by Trey McIntyre, set to songs by Aretha Franklin, who died the same month as Taylor. McIntyre has a strong track record making dances to pop music. Here, some of the women are played by men.” (Brian Seibert, NewYorker)

Michael Feinstein: Great American Crooners (May 15-16)
The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center / 7PM, $80+
“The Jazz & Popular Song series continues its ninth consecutive season with a celebration of great American crooners. Michael Feinstein, known as the “Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” returns as director, host, performer, and all-around entertainer in this favorite concert series. With effortless charm, the Tedd Firth Big Band, and special guest vocalists Milton Suggs and Nick Ziobro, Feinstein sets a glamorous scene in The Appel Room and shines new light on America’s most beloved artists. Tonight’s performance focuses on quintessential crooners Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Bobby Darin, whose velvety voices and sentimental serenades made them superstars on stage and on screen. Relive classics like “Hello Young Lovers,” “When I Fall In Love,” and “It Had To Be You,” and enjoy incredible true stories about these legends. It’s going to be a stylish evening of timeless tunes, world-class talent, and an unbeatable view.”

Ryan Shaw – Imagining Marvin
feat/Valerie Simpson
The Cutting Room / 7PM, $35
“Three-time GRAMMY® nominated artist Ryan Shaw performs an evening inspired by the iconic singer, songwriter and composer, Marvin Gaye in his 80th birthday year.

Ryan reflects that in life we have “what ifs.” Some lead to regret, others lead to possibilities. What if Marvin Gaye were still alive today? Would his iconic recordings have evolved with his musicianship? Would he still be writing from his ever-evolving perspective? We will never have a definitive answer. But maybe the next best thing is to imagine.

Performing songs from the legendary artist, the show will also include original soul-inspired songs by Ryan. Very special guest, Valerie Simpson, who wrote songs for Marvin with her partner Nick Ashford, will join in this fitting tribute.

NEW YORK CITY BALLET (through June 2)
at the NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 7:30PM, $35+
“For the first time, the work of City Ballet’s founding choreographer, George Balanchine, and that of its current resident choreographer, Justin Peck, are on a program together (Friday, Tuesday and Thursday), cementing Peck’s status as the heir apparent and the shaper of the company’s modern identity. In between, spread over two shows and mixed in with other Balanchine classics, Peck’s latest piece and new dances by Pam Tanowitz and Gianna Reisen enjoy a few encores. On Wednesday, Balanchine gets his own program that comprises the large-scale “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet” and “Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3.” (NYT-Brian Schaefer)

Tonight: BALANCHINE: BIG & BOLD
Balanchine evokes two distinct atmospheres in the ballets sharing this program, each boasting a cast of over 50 dancers.

NICOLE MITCHELL (May 14-18)
The Stone at the New School / 8:30 p.m.; $20
“Mitchell, a flutist who was recently selected to head the University of Pittsburgh’s prestigious jazz program, has friends in many high places. One of the most esteemed performers and composers on the jazz avant-garde, she will gather a different group of collaborators every night during this five-day run. Highlights will include the trio appearing on Tuesday, with Val Jeanty on electronics and Chad Taylor on drums; Mitchell’s team-up with the Matthew Shipp Trio on Wednesday; and a group she’s calling Funkish — with André Lassalle, known as Dre Glo, on guitar, Jared Nickerson on bass and Calvin Gantt doing spoken word, on May 18.” (GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO-NYT)

Ben Wendel (May 14-19)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S./ 8:30PM, +10:30PM, $35
“Ben Wendel, a saxophonist and bassoonist (and a member of the popular band Kneebody), created his “Seasons” project as a series of online video duets that sprang from programmatic piano pieces by Tchaikovsky. It took on a new life as both an album and a band. Here four partners from those duets—the guitarist Gilad Hekselman, the pianist Aaron Parks, the bassist Matt Brewer, and the drummer Eric Harland—join Wendel to give ample voice to his adventurously inviting music.” (Steve Futterman, NewYorker)

Bill Charlap Trio (May 14-26)
Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center/ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $40-$45
“Charlap approaches a song the way a lover approaches his beloved…when he sits down to play, the result is an embrace, an act of possession. The tune rises, falls, disappears, and resurfaces in new forms as Charlap ranges over the keyboard with nimble, crisply swinging lines, subtly layered textures, dense chords, and spiky interjections.” TIME Magazine
One of the world’s premier jazz pianists, Bill Charlap has performed and recorded with modern masters ranging from Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis to Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. Since 1997 he has led the Grammy Award-nominated Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, long recognized as a leading group in jazz. Veterans of all the top jazz venues, including, this trio is exemplary for its jaw-dropping level of chemistry and on-the-fly interactivity, made possible by both technical chops and hard-earned experience.”

=========================================================

Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

More Smart Stuff coming soon.

Continuing Events

NYCxDESIGN (May 10-22)
“New York City’s annual celebration of design, attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees and designers from across the globe. Taking place each May, the event celebrates a world of design and showcases over a dozen design disciplines through events taking place across the city’s five boroughs.”

Times Square transforms into a design paradise for NYCxDESIGN: What to See

“Here’s a reason for New Yorkers to head to Times Square: there are sixteen installations to check out at DESIGN PAVILION, the hub of NYCxDESIGN, the annual city-wide celebration of design.  Stretching from 42nd Street to 47th Street across five plazas (kiosks will show maps to aid your journey), there is everything from an “ecocapsule,”, a tiny house, a carousel of creative chairs, to an iconic Eastern European bloc kiosk shown in the United States for the first time.” (untapped cities)

===================================================

COMING SOON (WFUV)

==========================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, plus dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.6 million, had a record 65 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2018 – awesome! BUT quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just earlier on the day of performance.
================================================================================

A PremierPub / Upper West Side

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que / 700 W125th St. @ 12th ave.

Walk only five minutes from the 125th St. station on the #1 line to find this authentic honky-tonk barbecue joint. Some folks think Dinosaur is just a place to eat ribs. Au contraire. With 24 carefully selected taps, this is a place to drink beer, and eat ribs.

HarlHostStandNo food goes better with American craft ales than American barbecue. Dinosaur may be the best combo of good beer drinking and hearty eating in town, which makes the trip uptown to West Harlem totally worthwhile.

This second incarnation of Dinosaur in Harlem is in a two story, old brick warehouse near the Hudson River. Don’t let that run down exterior fool you. Inside it’s a large space with huge, rough wooden columns and unfinished wooden floors and brick walls – just right for a bbq joint. As soon as you open the front door you are hit with that tantalizing aroma of barbecue coming from the large open kitchen. Reminds me of those great rib joints I frequented when stationed in North Carolina all those years ago. If your stomach wasn’t grumbling before, it is now.

Head to the bar, sit down and try to decide on a beer. It’s not an easy decision – a good problem to have. This is a pretty damn good beer list to choose from, one that most beer bars should be jealous of. I love that they feature NY craft beers. You may want to try the four beer sampler, which is always fun, and in this place may be necessary.

The blues music playing in the background will get you in the mood for their North Carolina style barbecue, and even when it’s a full house your order shouldn’t take too long (assuming you snagged a table). The food is all slow smoked, so it’s already mostly done and ready to go. I always start with an order of their giant, spice rubbed wings, so good they may make you give up Buffalo wings.

Unfortunately, a place this good does not fly under the radar. There can be some long waits for a table at dinnertime. So you need a strategy – avoid prime time, and try not to arrive with your entire posse, which will limit your seating options.

A seat at the bar, a small table in the bar area, or in the summer, an outside table underneath what’s left of the elevated West Side Highway, all may open before a table inside the main dining room. Otherwise, try Dinosaur for lunch, or come very late for dinner, maybe after a show at the nearby Cotton Club nightclub.

Website: http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/
Phone #: 212-694-1777
Hours: Mo-Th 11:30am-11:00pm; Fr-Sa 11:30am-12:00am;
Su 12:00pm-10:00pm
Happy Hour: 4-7pm every day; $1 off all drinks
Music: Fri / Sat 10:30pm
Subway: #1 to 125th St.
Walk 2 blk W on 125th St. to Dinosaur Bar-B-Q,
just past the elevated highway.
========================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a  comment. 

============================================================

Bonus Live Music  – NYC Jazz Clubs:
Many consider NYCity the Jazz capital of the world. My favorite Jazz Clubs, all on Manhattan’s WestSide, feature top talent every night of the week.
Hit the Hot Link and check out who is playing tonight:

Greenwich Village:
(4 are underground, classic jazz joints. all 6 are within walking distance of each other):
Village Vanguard – UG, 178 7th Ave. So., villagevanguard.com, 212-255-4037 (1st 8:30)
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. bluenotejazz.com, 212-475-8592 (1st set 8pm)
55 Bar – basement @55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. 55bar.com, 212-929-9883 (1st 7pm)
Mezzrow – basement @ 163 W10th St. nr 7th Ave. mezzrow.com,646-476-4346 (1st 8)
Smalls – basement @ 183 W10th St. smallslive.com, 646-476-4346 (1st set 7:30pm)
The Stone at The New School – 55 w13 St. (btw 6/5 ave) – thestonenyc.com (8:30PM)

Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595 (1st set 7:30pm)
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080 (1st 8:30pm)
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com/ 212-864-6662 (7pm)
Jazz Standard – 116 E27 St. (btw Park/Lex) – jazzstandard.com – (1st set 7:30)

For a comprehensive list of the best places to hear All Types of Live Music in Manhattan see the tab above “LiveMusic.”

In Memoriam:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. — caffevivaldi.com / 212-691-7538 (1st 7pm)
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprised with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It was my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.
Alas, Caffe V is no more, another victim of a rapacious NYC landlord. Owner Ishrat fought the good fight and Caffe V will be sorely missed.
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319
And more recently we have lost Cornelia Street Cafe. After 41 years, it too became another victim of an unreasonable rent increase.

========================================================

NYT Theater Reviews – Our theater critics on the plays and musicals currently open in New York City.

=======================================================

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):
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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (05/14) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 05/14/2019 by

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events > TUESDAY/ MAY 14, 2019

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.

For future NYC Events, check the tab above:  “May NYC Events”
It’s the most comprehensive list of top events this month that you will find anywhere.
Carefully curated from “Only the Best” NYC event info on the the web, it’s a simply superb resource that will help you plan your NYC visit all over town, all through the month.
OR to make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

==========================================================

Have time for only one NYC Event today? Do this:

Bill Charlap Trio (May 14-26)
Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center/ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $40-$45
“Charlap approaches a song the way a lover approaches his beloved…when he sits down to play, the result is an embrace, an act of possession. The tune rises, falls, disappears, and resurfaces in new forms as Charlap ranges over the keyboard with nimble, crisply swinging lines, subtly layered textures, dense chords, and spiky interjections.” TIME Magazine
One of the world’s premier jazz pianists, Bill Charlap has performed and recorded with modern masters ranging from Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis to Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. Since 1997 he has led the Grammy Award-nominated Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, long recognized as a leading group in jazz. Veterans of all the top jazz venues, including, this trio is exemplary for its jaw-dropping level of chemistry and on-the-fly interactivity, made possible by both technical chops and hard-earned experience.”

====================================================

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> NEW YORK CITY BALLET
>> NICOLE MITCHELL
>> Ben Wendel
>> American Ballet Theatre
>> “Kwame Brathwaite: Black Is Beautiful”
>> Jackie Robinson: The Personal and Political

You may want to look at previous days posts for events that continue through today.

=======================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Art

NEW YORK CITY BALLET (through June 2)
at the NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 7:30PM, $35+
“For the first time, the work of City Ballet’s founding choreographer, George Balanchine, and that of its current resident choreographer, Justin Peck, are on a program together (Friday, Tuesday and Thursday), cementing Peck’s status as the heir apparent and the shaper of the company’s modern identity. In between, spread over two shows and mixed in with other Balanchine classics, Peck’s latest piece and new dances by Pam Tanowitz and Gianna Reisen enjoy a few encores. On Wednesday, Balanchine gets his own program that comprises the large-scale “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet” and “Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3.” (NYT-Brian Schaefer)

Tonight: BALANCHINE MEETS PECK
Principia (New Peck 1)
Symphony in Three Movements
The Times Are Racing
Works by our Founding Choreographer and our current Resident Choreographer come together for the first time in a single program.

NICOLE MITCHELL (May 14-18)
The Stone at the New School / 8:30 p.m.; $20
“Mitchell, a flutist who was recently selected to head the University of Pittsburgh’s prestigious jazz program, has friends in many high places. One of the most esteemed performers and composers on the jazz avant-garde, she will gather a different group of collaborators every night during this five-day run. Highlights will include the trio appearing on Tuesday, with Val Jeanty on electronics and Chad Taylor on drums; Mitchell’s team-up with the Matthew Shipp Trio on Wednesday; and a group she’s calling Funkish — with André Lassalle, known as Dre Glo, on guitar, Jared Nickerson on bass and Calvin Gantt doing spoken word, on May 18.” (GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO-NYT)

Ben Wendel (May 14-19)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S./
“Ben Wendel, a saxophonist and bassoonist (and a member of the popular band Kneebody), created his “Seasons” project as a series of online video duets that sprang from programmatic piano pieces by Tchaikovsky. It took on a new life as both an album and a band. Here four partners from those duets—the guitarist Gilad Hekselman, the pianist Aaron Parks, the bassist Matt Brewer, and the drummer Eric Harland—join Wendel to give ample voice to his adventurously inviting music.” (Steve Futterman, NewYorker)

American Ballet Theatre (through July 6)
Metropolitan Opera House / 7:30PM, $22
“The city enters peak ballet season this week, with its two major companies facing off across the plaza at Lincoln Center. A.B.T. begins eight weeks at the Metropolitan Opera House with a kind of Alexei Ratmansky retrospective—the choreographer has been at the company for a decade. It begins with his charming rendition of Marius Petipa’s 1900 commedia-dell’arte ballet “Harlequinade” (May 13-18). After that comes a trio of shorter Ratmansky works, including a new ballet set to Alexander Glazunov’s rich and danceable suite “The Seasons.” A Twyla Tharp program, two weeks later (May 30-June 3), includes an exciting company première, “Deuce Coupe,” from 1973, a playful, all-American romp to music by the Beach Boys, originally made for the Joffrey. For those who like their ballet with a heavy dose of drama, there is another company première, “Jane Eyre,” by the British choreographer Cathy Marston. The work, which is set to a selection of nineteenth-century music, premièred at Northern Ballet, in 2016, to good reviews.” (Marina Harss-NewYorker)

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Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

“Kwame Brathwaite: Black Is Beautiful”
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture / 6:30PM, donation requested
“The photographer Kwame S. Brathwaite celebrates the start of his monograph, “Kwame Brathwaite: Black Is Beautiful,” with a conversation at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Manhattan.” (NYT-Today)

Jackie Robinson: The Personal and Political
Museum of the City of New York / 6:30PM, $20
“Jackie Robinson’s daughter Sharon Robinson, historian Jonathan Eig, and journalist Budd Mishkin reflect on the unlikely hero who helped to launch the modern civil rights era. In conjunction with the exhibition “In the Dugout With Jackie Robinson: An Intimate Portrait of a Baseball Legend”

Continuing Events

NYCxDESIGN (May 10-22)
“New York City’s annual celebration of design, attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees and designers from across the globe. Taking place each May, the event celebrates a world of design and showcases over a dozen design disciplines through events taking place across the city’s five boroughs.”

Times Square transforms into a design paradise for NYCxDESIGN: What to See

“Here’s a reason for New Yorkers to head to Times Square: there are sixteen installations to check out at DESIGN PAVILION, the hub of NYCxDESIGN, the annual city-wide celebration of design.  Stretching from 42nd Street to 47th Street across five plazas (kiosks will show maps to aid your journey), there is everything from an “ecocapsule,”, a tiny house, a carousel of creative chairs, to an iconic Eastern European bloc kiosk shown in the United States for the first time.” (untapped cities)

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COMING SOON (WFUV)
5/14 My Brightest Diamond, Rough Trade NYC
5/14 Moby & John Hodgman, National Sawdust
5/15 Gordon Lightfoot, Town Hall

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, plus dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.6 million, had a record 65 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2018 – awesome! BUT quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just earlier on the day of performance.
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Chelsea Art Gallery District*

Chelsea is the heart of the NYCity contemporary art scene. Home to more than 300 art galleries, the Rubin Museum, the Joyce Theater and The Kitchen performance spaces, there is no place like it anywhere in the world. Come here to browse free exhibitions by world-renowned artists and those unknowns waiting to be discovered in an art district that is concentrated between West 18th and West 27th Streets, and 10th and 11th Avenues. Afterwards stop in the Chelsea Market, stroll on the High Line, or rest up at one of the many cafes and bars and discuss the fine art.

Here is one exhibition the New Yorker likes:

And from New York Magazine:

Nadav Kander (thru May 25)
A dark line.
“Known for his landscapes, the British photographer’s latest work brings the viewer to a particular point in the U.K.: the Thames Estuary, where the river meets the North Sea. The results are visually arresting and somewhat haunting.” (NYMag)
Flowers Gallery, 529 West 20th Street.

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For a listing of 25 essential galleries in the Chelsea Art Gallery District, organized by street, which enables you to create your own Chelsea Art Gallery crawl, see the Chelsea Gallery Guide (nycgo.com) Or check out TONY magazine’s list of the “Best Chelsea Galleries” and click through to see what’s on view.

*Now plan your own gallery crawl, but better to plan your visits for Tuesday through Saturday; most galleries are closed Sunday and Monday.

TIP: After your gallery tour, stop in Ovest at 513W27th St. for Aperitivo Italiano (Happy Hour on steroids). Discuss all the great art you have viewed over a drink and a very tasty selection of FREE appetizers (M-F, 5-8pm). OR try this NYT recommendation: “When you’re done, adjourn to the newly renovated Bottino , the Chelsea art world’s unofficial canteen on 10th Avenue (btw 24/25 St.) “

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see recent posts in right sidebar dated 05/12 and 05/10.
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Bonus NYC Music Venues:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are my favorite non jazz music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:

City Winery – 155 Varick St., citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St., joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St., beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
Town Hall – 123 W43rd St., thetownhall.org, 212-997-6661
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
and one more, not quite WestSide
Bowery Ballroom – 6 Delancey St. boweryballroom.com

For a comprehensive list of the best places to hear All Types of Live Music in Manhattan see the tab above “LiveMusic.”

In Memoriam:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. caffevivaldi.com, 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening discovery and enjoyment.
Alas, Caffe V is no more, another victim of a rapacious NYC landlord. Owner Ishrat fought the good fight and Caffe V will be sorely missed.
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NYT Theater Reviews – Our theater critics on the plays and musicals currently open in New York City.

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NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):
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