NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/26) + Today’s Featured Pub (Midtown West)

Posted on 03/26/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > TUESDAY/ MARCH 26, 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:  “March 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.
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:

Ballet Hispánico (Mar.26-31)
Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave., at 19th St./ 7:30PM, $45+
“For nearly fifty years, this troupe has examined Latinx identity and culture through dance. For its Joyce season this year, it shifts the angle of vision to the overlap between Latinx and Asian identities. In his piece “El Viaje,” the Taiwanese-American choreographer Edwaard Liang focusses on Chinese immigration and the China-to-Cuba diaspora. In “Homebound/Alaala,” the Filipino-American choreographer Bennyroyce Royon considers the idea of home in the culture of the Philippines, which was colonized by Spain. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “Sombrerísmo,” a stylish work originally made for six men that is as much about machismo as it is about sombreros, gets an all-female cast.” (Brian Seibert, NewYorker)

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Music & Conversation with The Zombies
>> Judy Carmichael Quartet
>> The Lineup with Susie Mosher
>> MAC Awards
>> ‘LAYING IT DOWN WITH CAROLYN & SHALEWA’
>> Tosca
>> How Safe Are We? Homeland Security Since 9/11 with Janet Napolitano

Continuing Events
>> STREB
>> NOCHE FLAMENCA
>> Make March Madness a slam dunk
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Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Music & Conversation with The Zombies – 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees
Cutting Room / 6PM, $29
“Join us as we talk with psychedelic pop legends, The Zombies, as they come into town to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! We’ll sit down with the four surviving members of the original Zombies, Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Chris White, and Hugh Grundy to share classic stories, new insights and how they feel about this latest accolade. Then we’ll enjoy a few songs as Rod and Colin perform a short set! This event includes live interview, audience Q&A and short performance.”

Judy Carmichael Quartet with special guest Harry Allen (Mar.26 – 27)
Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center / 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $35
“…astounding, flawless, captivating.” The New York Times.

“Judy Carmichael is a Grammy Award-nominated pianist, vocalist, and songwriter who has hosted Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired on NPR for 18 years and counting. For well over 30 years she has been a stride piano master (nicknamed “Stride” by Count Basie himself), and she has given performances for the likes of Rod Stewart, Robert Redford, and Bill Clinton. Her performance tonight features her longtime writing partner—the great tenor saxophonist Harry Allen—as special guest. Popular with jazz and cabaret audiences alike, Carmichael performs swinging interpretations of the Great American Songbook in addition to her own witty love songs.”

The Lineup with Susie Mosher
Birdland / 9:30PM, $25
“Mosher is one of those talents you need to see to believe: warm, funny, biting, ferociously committed. In her biweekly series at the brand-new Birdland Theater, she invites a gaggle of performers from Broadway and beyond to show their talents. Guests at the March 26 edition include BETTY, Nicolas King, Amy Toporek, Mark William, Gene Reed, Gracie and Rachel, Andrew Swackhamer and Kristi Ambrosetti.” (TONY)

MAC Awards
Sony Hall / 7PM, $70+
“The Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs celebrates small-scale local cabaret in an annual awards show and schmooze-athon.” (TONY)

‘LAYING IT DOWN WITH CAROLYN & SHALEWA’
at Madame X / 7:30 p.m.; $10
“The comedians Shalewa Sharpe, who recently appeared on HBO’s “2 Dope Queens,” and Carolyn Castiglia have joined forces to start a new live showcase about how to get the most out of life after 40. The debut lineup will feature Jaboukie Young-White and Dulcé Sloan from “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah,” as well as Ted Alexandro, Sam Morrison and Lillian DeVane. Expect tarot readings, burlesque performances and speed-dating games, too.” (NYT-Sean L. McCarthy)

Tosca (next Mar.29, 8PM)
Metropolitan Opera House / 7:30PM, $20+
“Met favorite Sondra Radvanovsky and rising star Jennifer Rowley share the title role of the volatile diva at the heart of Puccini’s operatic thriller. Joseph Calleja brings his stylish tenor to the role of Cavaradossi, Wolfgang Koch is the nefarious police chief Scarpia, and Carlo Rizzi conducts Sir David McVicar’s resplendent production.”

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Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

How Safe Are We? Homeland Security Since 9/11 with Janet Napolitano
National September 11 Memorial & Museum, 180 Greenwich St./ 7PM, FREE
“The Department of Homeland Security was created in the wake of 9/11 with a sweeping mandate to keep America safe. Made up of 22 federal agencies, the department now oversees issues ranging from terrorism to natural disasters to immigration. Former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will discuss her new book, “How Safe Are We?: Homeland Security Since 9/11,” and offer insights into the future of the department.”

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Continuing Events

STREB (weekends through May 12)
Streb Lab for Action Mechanics, 51 N. 1st St., Bklyn. / Sat.5PM, Sun.3PM; $25
“The shows that STREB Extreme Action puts on at its Williamsburg headquarters  have a carnival atmosphere, and not just because eating and drinking are encouraged. Will the Action Heroes, as the intrepid dancer-acrobats are styled, collide as they hurl themselves off a trampoline? Will they get whacked by swinging cinder blocks or huge metal contraptions? Probably not, but they want you to cringe. Their newest machine is the Molinette, a giant bar that revolves like the blade of a windmill.” (Brian Seibert, NewYorker)

The Streb performers are absolutely amazing and so worth the detour.
I try to see them every year, can’t get enough.

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NOCHE FLAMENCA (thru Mar.31, NO MON.)
at the Connelly Theater / Tue – Thu at 7:30pm; Fri & Sat at 8pm; Sundays at 3pm; $20+
“This splendid flamenco company, led by Martín Santangelo, its artistic director, and the dancer Soledad Barrio, presents “Entre Tú y Yo” (“Between You and Me”), an evening of solos, duets and ensemble works that includes “Refugiados” (“Refugees”), which has been recently added to the company’s repertoire. The piece transforms poems written by children in refugee camps into song and dance. The program also features the latest iteration of “La Ronde,” which is inspired by Max Ophüls’s 1950 film and spotlights the talents of a guitarist, a vocalist and a solo dancer.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)

If you like flamenco even a little, you must see Soledad’s performance.

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NCAA – Make March Madness a slam dunk
DeKalb Market Hall / Free to enter; standard menu prices
“Why celebrate the annual March Maddening from your sofa when you can make it an occasion at DeKalb Market Hall’s DeKalb Stage? See the tourney on the new venue’s 180” projection screen, sip cocktails, and snack on Ample Hills ice cream, Katz’s pastrami, and Chicks Isan’s wings.’ (thrillist.com)

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour and is an easy trip on the #2,3 express subway to Nevins St. (2 stops after Wall St.)

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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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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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NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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A PremierPub / Midtown West

Russian Vodka Room / 265 W 52nd St (btw 7th/8th ave)

Sure, you could travel to Minsk or even Brighton Beach, for an authentic Russian experience, but why bother. On those days when you feel you must wash down your dish of kasha with a few glasses of icy, cold vodka, the Russian Vodka Room will definitely satisfy your urge.

From the outside this place looks a bit drab, and with no windows, a bit mysterious. Midtown tourists walk right by on their way to see “Jersey Boys,” just down the block.
(Alas, no more. After 10 years, “Jersey Boys” finally closed, now it’s “Mean Girls.”)

lThose in the know enter a secret hideaway, a dimly lit front room with soft jazz playing – a perfect spot for an illicit late-night rendezvous, or maybe a meet-up with your Russian spy handler, but that’s later in the evening. Early in the evening the large U-shaped bar fills with the after work happy hour crowd, a group made very happy by the much reduced prices.

Their website says: “Welcome Comrades”. Of course, this welcome focuses on dozens of different vodkas, including their own special infusions, which marinate in giant, clear glass jugs visible around the room. The large vodka martinis ensure that you won’t confuse this place with your mother’s Russian Tea Room.

But man does not live by vodka alone. Eat some food, especially the tapa like appetizers. Be decadent and try the cheese blintzes with chocolate, or try a main dish like beef stroganoff with kasha.

Your best bet is to go on a night when the piano man is playing. This guy, who looks like he has eaten a lot of those cheese blintzes, plays five nights a week from 7 to 12 (no Mondays and Thursdays). When the piano man is playing American pop tunes, and you are at the crowded, dimly lit bar testing the horseradish infused vodka, that’s when the RVR shines.

It’s the kind of place where the noise gets louder and the crowd gets happier as the happy hour goes on. I’m generally a beer guy, but I like to come here with a group of friends. We find a table in the back room near the piano man; we eat, and we drink vodka ‘till it hurts (and it will hurt).
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Website: http://www.russianvodkaroom.com/
Phone #: 212-307-5835
Hours: 4pm-2am; Fri-Sun closes 4am (that could be trouble)
Happy Hour: 4-7pm every day
$4 shots infused vodka (2oz), $5 cosmos; $4 czech draft beer
Music: FR-SU; TU-WE / 7pm-12am
Subway: #1 to 50th St.
Walk 2 blk N. on B’way to 52nd St.; 1 blk W. to RVR
Confusingly, the Russian Samovar is right across the street, on the S. side of 52nd St.
The RVR, your destination, is on the N. side of 52nd St.
Update: music now includes a younger, trimmer piano man. “Tiny” we miss you.

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

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/25) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s 5th Avenue

Posted on 03/25/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > MONDAY/ MARCH 25, 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:  “March 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.
To make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

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

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

Broadway By The Year | Broadway Musicals of 1943 & 1951
Town Hall / 8PM, $
Act 1: 1943 – Oklahoma!, Something for the Boys, Artists and Models, Carmen Jones, and more!
Act 2: 1951 – The King and I, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Flahooley, Bagels & Yox, Paint Your Wagon, and more!

“Author/Critic Scott Siegel created the series for Town Hall, which he writes and hosts. Siegel takes audiences of all ages on a musical tour of the Great White Way, offering an entertaining verbal account of Broadway’s history. Each evening celebrates the songs from Broadway shows of a selected year, sung by a cast of talented cabaret and Broadway performers. This marvelous program not only highlights favorite show-stopping numbers, it also features lesser-known gems.”

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Mike Lee & Friends
>> ALTERNATIVE GUITAR SUMMIT
>> Jim Caruso’s Cast Party
>> The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
>> Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia with Christina Thompson
>> Monday Night Magic
>> Ian Frisch: Magic Is Dead

Continuing Events
>> STREB
>> NOCHE FLAMENCA
>> Make March Madness a slam dunk
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Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Mike Lee & Friends
Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center / 9:30PM, $35
“Saxophonist Mike Lee comes to Dizzy’s Club for a one-night-only celebration of his new album, Song for All of Us. On this latest record, Lee shows the full breadth of his musical pallet, weaving together a wide range of musical influences through new compositions and welcome standards. On top of leading his own band, Lee is one of the city’s most in-demand players, having recently worked in groups led by Dave Stryker, Wallace Roney, TS Monk, the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, Jimmy Heath, Oliver Lake, Josh Evans, and Roy Hargrove. Lenny White holds down the drums on the record and on the Dizzy’s Club stage, with additional band members to be added as the show approaches. Considering the record also features Ed Howard, Dave Stryker, Bruce Williams, and Julian Lee—Mike’s son and a favorite at Jazz at Lincoln Center—there’s plenty of talent from which to choose.”

ALTERNATIVE GUITAR SUMMIT (Mar.25, 27-28)
at various locations / 7:30 p.m.
“Organized by the guitarist Joel Harrison, the annual Alternative Guitar Summit gathers some of the most talented six-string improvisers in jazz, post-rock and world music. The summit’s second concert takes place on Monday, when Cline, Leni Stern and others will pay tribute to the esteemed guitarist (and multi-instrumentalist) Ralph Towner at Drom, in the East Village. It concludes on Wednesday and Thursday at Jazz Standard with solo shows from Towner himself. (On the last two nights, there will be second sets at 9:30 p.m.) (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Jim Caruso’s Cast Party (Cabaret)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St. (btw 8/9 ave) / 9:30PM, $30
the witty host attracts broadway stars on their night off, along with up and comers.
“Part cabaret, part piano bar and part social set, Cast Party offers a chance to hear rising and established talents step up to the microphone (backed by the slap and tickle of Steve Doyle on bass and Billy Stritch at the ivories, plus the bang of Daniel Glass on drums). The waggish Caruso presides as host.” (TONY)

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave. South (btw W11th/Perry St.) / 8:30Pm +10:30PM, $35
World class big band with 16 members on that small stage, a monday night institution.
“Almost exactly half a century ago, the trumpeter-composer-arranger Thad Jones and the drummer Mel Lewis began their Monday-night big band residency at the Village Vanguard, establishing what became a hallowed tradition.” (NYT)

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Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia with Christina Thompson
The Explorers Club, 46 E. 70th St./ 7PM, $25
Polynesians, the most closely related and widely dispersed of peoples, were the only pre-European humans to settle the vast circuit of Hawaii to New Zealand to Easter Island. How did they do it, without benefit of writing or metal tools? Christina Thompson, editor of the Harvard Review and author of Come on Shore and We Will Kill You and Eat You All, shares her discoveries into the epic explorations of ancient Polynesians. The talk at The Explorers Club draws on “history, geography, anthropology, and the science of navigation.” (ThoughtGallery)

Monday Night Magic
Players Theatre, West Village / 8PM, $37.50
“For 21 years, this proudly old-school series has offered a different lineup of professional magicians every week: opening acts, a headliner and a host, plus two or three close-up magicians to wow the audience at intermission. Housed for the past seven years at the unprepossessing Players Theatre, it is an heir to the vaudeville tradition.

Many of the acts incorporate comedic elements, and audience participation is common. (If you have young children, bring them; they make especially adorable assistants.) Shows cost just $37.50 in advance and typically last well over two hours, so you get a lot of value and variety for your magic dollar. In contrast to some fancier magic shows, this one feels like comfort food: an all-you-can eat buffet to which you’re encouraged to return until you’re as stuffed as a hat full of rabbits.” (TONY)

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour:

Ian Frisch: Magic Is Dead
Books Are Magic, 225 Smith St./ 7:30PM, FREE
“Enter the world of magic with author Ian Frisch, who describes his adventures with a mysterious society dedicated to revitalizing the art of deceit, and the personal insights that came with it.”

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Continuing Events

STREB (weekends through May 12)
Streb Lab for Action Mechanics, 51 N. 1st St., Bklyn. / Sat.5PM, Sun.3PM; $25
“The shows that STREB Extreme Action puts on at its Williamsburg headquarters  have a carnival atmosphere, and not just because eating and drinking are encouraged. Will the Action Heroes, as the intrepid dancer-acrobats are styled, collide as they hurl themselves off a trampoline? Will they get whacked by swinging cinder blocks or huge metal contraptions? Probably not, but they want you to cringe. Their newest machine is the Molinette, a giant bar that revolves like the blade of a windmill.” (Brian Seibert, NewYorker)

The Streb performers are absolutely amazing and so worth the detour.
I try to see them every year, can’t get enough.

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NOCHE FLAMENCA (thru Mar.31, NO MON.)
at the Connelly Theater / Tue – Thu at 7:30pm; Fri & Sat at 8pm; Sundays at 3pm; $20+
“This splendid flamenco company, led by Martín Santangelo, its artistic director, and the dancer Soledad Barrio, presents “Entre Tú y Yo” (“Between You and Me”), an evening of solos, duets and ensemble works that includes “Refugiados” (“Refugees”), which has been recently added to the company’s repertoire. The piece transforms poems written by children in refugee camps into song and dance. The program also features the latest iteration of “La Ronde,” which is inspired by Max Ophüls’s 1950 film and spotlights the talents of a guitarist, a vocalist and a solo dancer.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)

If you like flamenco even a little, you must see Soledad’s performance.

———————————————————————————–

NCAA – Make March Madness a slam dunk
DeKalb Market Hall / Free to enter; standard menu prices
“Why celebrate the annual March Maddening from your sofa when you can make it an occasion at DeKalb Market Hall’s DeKalb Stage? See the tourney on the new venue’s 180” projection screen, sip cocktails, and snack on Ample Hills ice cream, Katz’s pastrami, and Chicks Isan’s wings.’ (thrillist.com)

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour and is an easy trip on the #2,3 express subway to Nevins St. (2 stops after Wall St.)

==========================================================================
♦ 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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Bonus NYC events– 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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NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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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)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Hilma af Klint : Paintings for the Future (thru 04/23/19)

“Convinced that the world was not ready for her artistry in 1906, particularly as an underrepresented female in her field, af Klint of Sweden kept her work private. Her paintings anticipated by years “breakthroughs” by Kandinsky, Mondrian and others and were unseen before 1986. The Guggenheim rediscovers her.”

“Recognized as one of the art world’s earliest abstract painters, Hilma af Klint was a steadfast believer that her work was inspired by the spiritual. The new Guggenheim exhibition, “Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future,” showcases the work of this groundbreaking Swedish artist (1862-1944), whose work was rarely seen until the 1980s.” (Newsday)

See our art critic’s top pick of the year.
“Luckily, the number-one pick in Jerry Saltz’s best art shows of 2018 is still running. Hilma af Klint’s Paintings for the Future at the Guggenheim Museum examines the work of the unacknowledged Swedish visionary and makes a case for her being the first modernist abstract painter. Saltz is especially enamored with the first gallery, so make sure you spend some time there.” (NYMagazine)

GD: Definitely worth a visit. af Klint was like the original Kandinsky and it’s interesting to see both of their works in the same museum, even if not side-by-side.

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)

“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).
==============================================================
For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 03/23 and 03/21.
=============================================================

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/24) + Today’s Featured Pub (Greenwich Village)

Posted on 03/24/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > SUNDAY/ MARCH 24, 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:  “March 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.
To make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

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

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

Winter Festival IV
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Alice Tully Hall / 5PM, $32+
“CMS traverses the turbulent historical landscape of Russia through its vastly expressive music. From the glorious musical outpourings of the age of the tsars and the Russian Empire to the audaciously creative period between the wars, and into and beyond the Soviet era, Russian music has told the story of its country and people like no other. Each program concludes with one of Russia’s incomparable chamber music blockbusters, works of symphonic scale and excitement.

  • Myaskovsky Quartet No. 13 in A minor for Strings, Op. 86 (1949)
  • Shostakovich Quartet No. 13 in B-flat minor for Strings, Op. 138 (1970)
  • Borodin Quartet No. 2 in D major for Strings (1881)

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

7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> How to Listen to, Understand, and Enjoy Great Music
>> Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
>> The Bad Plus
>> JUDAH FRIEDLANDER
>> Princess Zhaojun
>> Coffee and Tea Festival
>> Death Becomes Us

Continuing Events
>> STREB
>> NOCHE FLAMENCA
>> Make March Madness a slam dunk
===================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

How to Listen to, Understand, and Enjoy Great Music
Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W. 67th St./ 4PM, $69
Presented by One Day University with Kaufman Music Center
“Enhance your concert-going experience with this fascinating class, which will introduce and explore some of the great composers and their works. Professor Orin Grossman (Fairfield University) will lead the audience through concepts of listening that transcend any one creator, style or genre. Performances will feature musically gifted students from Special Music School (P.S. 859) at Kaufman Music Center – a groundbreaking collaboration between the Center and the public school system of New York City.”

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (last day)
Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave., at 19th St./ 7:30PM, $55+
“It’s rare for a touring ensemble to perform to live music, and even rarer for a contemporary troupe to do so—it’s too expensive, too cumbersome. But Aspen Santa Fe has come up with a simple and elegant solution: a trio of piano ballets, all accompanied onstage by the excellent pianist Joyce Yang. In Jorma Elo’s high-spirited “Half/Cut/Split,” the dancers cavort, speedily, to Schumann’s “Carnaval.” The surrealism of Fernando Melo’s “Dream Play”—in which dancers appear to balance on tightropes and fly—is paired with the spare melodies of Satie and Chopin. And Philip Glass’s looping motifs set a moody atmosphere for Nicolo Fonte’s “Where We Left Off.” (Marina Harss, NewYorker)

The Bad Plus (LAST DAY)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S., at 11th St./ 8:30PM, +10:30PM, $35
“As momentous transitions go, it’s been a relatively smooth one for the epochal trio the Bad Plus, which replaced its pivotal pianist Ethan Iverson with the equally skilled player Orrin Evans in 2017. A fine subsequent studio album, “Never Stop II”—which incorporated original material from Evans—and absorbing live performances have proved that the future looks bright for this once iconoclastic and now firmly entrenched ensemble.” (Steve Futterman, NewYorker)

JUDAH FRIEDLANDER
at Carolines on Broadway / 7:30PM, $
“Since releasing the 2017 Netflix special “America Is the Greatest Country in the United States,” this comedian and actor, who co-starred on “30 Rock,” has assembled a new campaign of political satire, “Future President,” and he’s taking it out on the road. He’ll also field questions from the audience regarding his presidential platform for 2020 — if he were to actually run, that is.” (NYT-Sean L. McCarthy)

Princess Zhaojun (Mar.21-24)
NYS Theater, (at Lincoln Center) / 8PM, $117+
“China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater makes its New York debut with a dance-theater pageant directed and choreographed by Kong Dexin. The show, written by Yu Ping and composed by Zhang Qu, tells of Wang Zhaojun, a legendary beauty who helped bring peace to the Han Dynasty two thousand years ago. Fifty dancers bring the story to life, with help from opulent costumes and sets.” (TONY)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

Elsewhere, but for you coffee lovers this is surely worth the detour:
Coffee and Tea Festival (Mar.23-24)
Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint / 12-5PM, General admission $25; some seminars require additional fee; food available for purchase.
“Elevate your heart rate and your caffeine consumption vehicle with samples from dozens of purveyors at the two-day Coffee & Tea Festival: NYC. After you load up on brews and channel all that jittery energy into a tea selection lesson, equipment demonstration, or a crafting seminar.” (thrillist.com)

Death Becomes Us (last day)
Find your favorite murder.
Various locations, times
“The first NYC edition of this D.C.-based festival brings together crime authors, content creators, and their fans. Highlights include a talk with Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder of Serial and a panel on being falsely accused with Amanda Knox and Damien Echols, who spent 18 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.” (vulture.com)

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

Continuing Events

STREB (weekends through May 12)
Streb Lab for Action Mechanics, 51 N. 1st St., Bklyn. / Sat.5PM, Sun.3PM; $25
“The shows that STREB Extreme Action puts on at its Williamsburg headquarters  have a carnival atmosphere, and not just because eating and drinking are encouraged. Will the Action Heroes, as the intrepid dancer-acrobats are styled, collide as they hurl themselves off a trampoline? Will they get whacked by swinging cinder blocks or huge metal contraptions? Probably not, but they want you to cringe. Their newest machine is the Molinette, a giant bar that revolves like the blade of a windmill.” (Brian Seibert, NewYorker)

The Streb performers are absolutely amazing and so worth the detour.
I try to see them every year, can’t get enough.

————————————————————————————-

NOCHE FLAMENCA (thru Mar.31, NO MON.)
at the Connelly Theater / Tue – Thu at 7:30pm; Fri & Sat at 8pm; Sundays at 3pm; $20+
“This splendid flamenco company, led by Martín Santangelo, its artistic director, and the dancer Soledad Barrio, presents “Entre Tú y Yo” (“Between You and Me”), an evening of solos, duets and ensemble works that includes “Refugiados” (“Refugees”), which has been recently added to the company’s repertoire. The piece transforms poems written by children in refugee camps into song and dance. The program also features the latest iteration of “La Ronde,” which is inspired by Max Ophüls’s 1950 film and spotlights the talents of a guitarist, a vocalist and a solo dancer.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)

If you like flamenco even a little, you must see Soledad’s performance.

———————————————————————————–

NCAA – Make March Madness a slam dunk
DeKalb Market Hall / Free to enter; standard menu prices
“Why celebrate the annual March Maddening from your sofa when you can make it an occasion at DeKalb Market Hall’s DeKalb Stage? See the tourney on the new venue’s 180” projection screen, sip cocktails, and snack on Ample Hills ice cream, Katz’s pastrami, and Chicks Isan’s wings.’ (thrillist.com)

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour and is an easy trip on the #2,3 express subway to Nevins St. (2 stops after Wall St.)

==========================================================================
♦ 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.

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

Bonus NYC Events – Music Venues:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are my favorite non jazz music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Hit the Hot Link and 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. (btw 6/7), thetownhall.org, 212-997-6661
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
Sony Hall – 235 W 46th St. (btw 7/8), sonyhall.com, 212-997-5123
and one more, not exactly 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.

See Below.
———————————————————————————————————-

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):
=================================================================================

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.”

Website: http://caffevivaldi.com/
Phone #: (212) 691-7538
Hours: Music generally 7:30PM – 11PM, but varies
Lunch/Dinner 11AM-on
Subway: #1 to Christopher St.
Walk 1 blk S. on 7th ave S. to Bleecker St., 1 blk left on Bleecker to Jones St., 50 yards left on Jones St. to Caffe V.
==============================================================
“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.
========================================================

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.

========================================================
“3 Good Eating places” focuses on a quick bite, what I call “Fine Fast Food – NYCity Style”
No reservations needed.
========================================================
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 SUMMER 2019).
◊ Order before AUG. 31, 2019 and receive a bonus – 27 of my favorite casual dining places with free Wi-Fi.

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/23) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s WestSide

Posted on 03/23/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > SATURDAY/ MARCH 23, 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:  “March 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.
To make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

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

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

Elsewhere, but for you coffee lovers this is surely worth the detour:

Coffee and Tea Festival (Mar.23-24)
Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint / 12-5PM, General admission $25; some seminars require additional fee; food available for purchase.
“Elevate your heart rate and your caffeine consumption vehicle with samples from dozens of purveyors at the two-day Coffee & Tea Festival: NYC. After you load up on brews and channel all that jittery energy into a tea selection lesson, equipment demonstration, or a crafting seminar.” (thrillist.com)

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

7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> KAIA KATER AND KARINE POLWART
>> The Bad Plus
>> JUDAH FRIEDLANDER
>> Princess Zhaojun
>> Miho Hatori: Salon Mondialité
>> GARY CLARK JR.
>> History Makers: Chris Matthews Discusses Robert F. Kennedy

Continuing Events
>> STREB
>> NOCHE FLAMENCA
>> Make March Madness a slam dunk
===================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

KAIA KATER AND KARINE POLWART
at Carnegie Hall / 9 p.m.; $35+
“This double bill showcases a range of folk traditions, embraced by two distinctly contemporary artists. For Quebec-born Kater, the Canadian folk songs of her childhood and the Appalachian music she studied while attending college in West Virginia serve as touchstones; Polwart, meanwhile, draws from the musical heritage of her native Scotland. The noted political dimension in the songwriting of both women makes this a natural pairing: Kater has sung about the Black Lives Matter movement and political strife in her father’s home country of Grenada, and Polwart’s 2018 album, “Laws of Motion,” addresses Trumpism and the experiences of migrants.” (NYT-OLIVIA HORN)

The Bad Plus (Mar.19-24)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S., at 11th St./ 8:30PM, +10:30PM, $35
“As momentous transitions go, it’s been a relatively smooth one for the epochal trio the Bad Plus, which replaced its pivotal pianist Ethan Iverson with the equally skilled player Orrin Evans in 2017. A fine subsequent studio album, “Never Stop II”—which incorporated original material from Evans—and absorbing live performances have proved that the future looks bright for this once iconoclastic and now firmly entrenched ensemble.” (Steve Futterman, NewYorker)

JUDAH FRIEDLANDER
at Carolines on Broadway / m
“Since releasing the 2017 Netflix special “America Is the Greatest Country in the United States,” this comedian and actor, who co-starred on “30 Rock,” has assembled a new campaign of political satire, “Future President,” and he’s taking it out on the road. He’ll also field questions from the audience regarding his presidential platform for 2020 — if he were to actually run, that is.” (NYT-Sean L. McCarthy)
(Mar.23, 7:30 and 10 p.m.; Mar.24, 7:30 p.m.)

Princess Zhaojun (Mar.21-24)
NYS Theater, (at Lincoln Center) / 8PM, $117+
“China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater makes its New York debut with a dance-theater pageant directed and choreographed by Kong Dexin. The show, written by Yu Ping and composed by Zhang Qu, tells of Wang Zhaojun, a legendary beauty who helped bring peace to the Han Dynasty two thousand years ago. Fifty dancers bring the story to life, with help from opulent costumes and sets.” (TONY)

Miho Hatori: Salon Mondialité (Mar.22-23)
The Kitchen, 512 W. 19th St./
No stranger to the quixotic, the onetime Cibo Matto singer Miho Hatori spearheads a musical “imaginary, experimental TV talk show,” featuring the guitarists Smokey Hormel and Patrick Higgins. The concert is inspired by Édouard Glissant’s writings on global pastiche, which Hatori links to the New York she moved to in the nineties. Is the city evaporating in the face of extreme gentrification? Perhaps.” (Jay Ruttenberg, NewYorker)

GARY CLARK JR. (Mar.21-23)
at the Beacon Theater / 8 p.m.; $
“As a gifted blues guitarist, this Austin, Tex., native could easily stick to traditional sounds. But Clark continues to make songs that are expansive and forward-looking. He channels his remarkable technical ability toward hard-edge, political and genre-bending music that is nevertheless rooted in the blues, or at least its angst and earnestness. On his most recent album, “This Land,” he tackles racism and American politics through tunes that are anything but easy listening — and all the better for it.” (NYT-NATALIE WEINER)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

History Makers: Chris Matthews Discusses Robert F. Kennedy
Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont St./ 4PM, $15
“In his best-selling biography, Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit, Chris Matthews, anchor of MSNBC’s Hardball, pulls back the curtain on one of the great figures of 20th century America. Join him as he draws on extensive research and interviews for a look at the life and man.”

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

Continuing Events

STREB (starts w gala opening Mar.23 – weekends through May 12)
Streb Lab for Action Mechanics, 51 N. 1st St., Bklyn. / Sat.5PM, Sun.3PM; $25
“The shows that STREB Extreme Action puts on at its Williamsburg headquarters  have a carnival atmosphere, and not just because eating and drinking are encouraged. Will the Action Heroes, as the intrepid dancer-acrobats are styled, collide as they hurl themselves off a trampoline? Will they get whacked by swinging cinder blocks or huge metal contraptions? Probably not, but they want you to cringe. Their newest machine is the Molinette, a giant bar that revolves like the blade of a windmill.” (Brian Seibert, NewYorker)

The Streb performers are absolutely amazing and so worth the detour.
I try to see them every year, can’t get enough.

————————————————————————————-

NOCHE FLAMENCA (thru Mar.31, NO MON.)
at the Connelly Theater / Tue – Thu at 7:30pm; Fri & Sat at 8pm; Sundays at 3pm; $20+
“This splendid flamenco company, led by Martín Santangelo, its artistic director, and the dancer Soledad Barrio, presents “Entre Tú y Yo” (“Between You and Me”), an evening of solos, duets and ensemble works that includes “Refugiados” (“Refugees”), which has been recently added to the company’s repertoire. The piece transforms poems written by children in refugee camps into song and dance. The program also features the latest iteration of “La Ronde,” which is inspired by Max Ophüls’s 1950 film and spotlights the talents of a guitarist, a vocalist and a solo dancer.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)

If you like flamenco even a little, you must see Soledad’s performance.

———————————————————————————–

NCAA – Make March Madness a slam dunk
DeKalb Market Hall / Free to enter; standard menu prices
“Why celebrate the annual March Maddening from your sofa when you can make it an occasion at DeKalb Market Hall’s DeKalb Stage? See the tourney on the new venue’s 180” projection screen, sip cocktails, and snack on Ample Hills ice cream, Katz’s pastrami, and Chicks Isan’s wings.’ (thrillist.com)

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour and is an easy trip on the #2,3 express subway to Nevins St. (2 stops after Wall St.)

==========================================================================
♦ 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.

=====================================================
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.”

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

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

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)

Whitney Museum of American Art

‘ANDY WARHOL — FROM A TO B AND BACK AGAIN’  (through March 31) “Although this is the artist’s first full American retrospective in 31 years, he’s been so much with us — in museums, galleries, auctions — as to make him, like wallpaper, like the atmosphere, only half-noticed. The Whitney show restores him to a full, commanding view, but does so in a carefully shaped and edited way, with an emphasis on very early and late work. Despite the show’s monumentalizing size, supplemented by an off-site display of the enormous multipanel painting called “Shadows,” it’s a human-scale Warhol we see. Largely absent is the artist-entrepreneur who is taken as a prophet of our market-addled present. What we have instead is Warhol for whom art, whatever else it was, was an expression of personal hopes and fears.”  (Cotter)

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.” (

================================================================================
For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Posts in right Sidebar dated 03/21 and 03/13.
================================================================================
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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/22) + Today’s Featured Pub (Times Square / Theater District)

Posted on 03/22/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > FRIDAY/ MARCH 22, 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:  “March 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.
To make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

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

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

GARY CLARK JR. (Mar.21-23)
at the Beacon Theater / 8 p.m.; $
“As a gifted blues guitarist, this Austin, Tex., native could easily stick to traditional sounds. But Clark continues to make songs that are expansive and forward-looking. He channels his remarkable technical ability toward hard-edge, political and genre-bending music that is nevertheless rooted in the blues, or at least its angst and earnestness. On his most recent album, “This Land,” he tackles racism and American politics through tunes that are anything but easy listening — and all the better for it.” (NYT-NATALIE WEINER)

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

7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> TORRES
>> Princess Zhaojun
>> Miho Hatori: Salon Mondialité
>> José González and the String Theory
>> Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
>> Death Becomes Us
>> David Shields + Laura Kipnis: The Trouble with Men

Continuing Events
>> NOCHE FLAMENCA
===================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

TORRES
at Le Poisson Rouge / 8 p.m.; $20
“In the six years since she released her debut album, the Brooklyn-based singer Mackenzie Scott (a.k.a. Torres) has made the journey from quiet, confessional songwriter to adventurous, often boisterous rocker. On her most recent album, 2017’s “Three Futures,” Scott textured her guitar work with industrial and electronic sounds, aiming to create something that engaged all five senses. For her show at this Manhattan multimedia club, expect sensory engagement, beginning with her ritual preshow burning of palo santo sticks. Annie Hart, of the trio Au Revoir Simone, will open, setting the stage with lush, synth-driven pop songs.” (NYT-OLIVIA HORN)

Princess Zhaojun (Mar.21-24)
NYS Theater, (at Lincoln Center) / 8PM, $117+
“China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater makes its New York debut with a dance-theater pageant directed and choreographed by Kong Dexin. The show, written by Yu Ping and composed by Zhang Qu, tells of Wang Zhaojun, a legendary beauty who helped bring peace to the Han Dynasty two thousand years ago. Fifty dancers bring the story to life, with help from opulent costumes and sets.” (TONY)

Miho Hatori: Salon Mondialité (Mar.22-23)
The Kitchen, 512 W. 19th St./
No stranger to the quixotic, the onetime Cibo Matto singer Miho Hatori spearheads a musical “imaginary, experimental TV talk show,” featuring the guitarists Smokey Hormel and Patrick Higgins. The concert is inspired by Édouard Glissant’s writings on global pastiche, which Hatori links to the New York she moved to in the nineties. Is the city evaporating in the face of extreme gentrification? Perhaps.” (Jay Ruttenberg, NewYorker)

José González and the String Theory (Mar.21-22)
Apollo Theatre, 253 W. 125th St./ 8PM, $65
“Singer-songwriter José González first wowed listeners with devastating solo acoustic covers of hits by dance-music groups like Massive Attack. In these special appearances, he performs his best work in collaboration with the String Theory, an orchestra based in Sweden and Germany dedicated to bridging the pop-classical divide.” (vulture.com, Craig Jenkins)

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (Mar.20-24)
Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave., at 19th St./ 7:30PM, $55+
“It’s rare for a touring ensemble to perform to live music, and even rarer for a contemporary troupe to do so—it’s too expensive, too cumbersome. But Aspen Santa Fe has come up with a simple and elegant solution: a trio of piano ballets, all accompanied onstage by the excellent pianist Joyce Yang. In Jorma Elo’s high-spirited “Half/Cut/Split,” the dancers cavort, speedily, to Schumann’s “Carnaval.” The surrealism of Fernando Melo’s “Dream Play”—in which dancers appear to balance on tightropes and fly—is paired with the spare melodies of Satie and Chopin. And Philip Glass’s looping motifs set a moody atmosphere for Nicolo Fonte’s “Where We Left Off.” (Marina Harss, NewYorker)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

Death Becomes Us (Mar.20-24)
Find your favorite murder.
Various locations, times
“The first NYC edition of this D.C.-based festival brings together crime authors, content creators, and their fans. Highlights include a talk with Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder of Serial and a panel on being falsely accused with Amanda Knox and Damien Echols, who spent 18 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.” (vulture.com)

David Shields + Laura Kipnis: The Trouble with Men
The Strand, 828 Broadway / 7:30PM, $15+
“David Shields’s The Trouble with Men: Reflections on Sex, Love, Marriage, Porn, and Power is an immersion into the perils, limits, and possibilities of human intimacy. All at once a love letter to his wife, a nervy reckoning with his own fallibility, a meditation on the impact of porn on American culture, and an attempt to understand marriage (one marriage, the idea of marriage, all marriages), The Trouble with Men is exquisitely balanced between the personal and the anthropological, nakedness and restraint.”

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

Continuing Events

STREB (starts w gala opening Mar.23 – weekends through May 12)
Streb Lab for Action Mechanics, 51 N. 1st St., Bklyn. / Sat.5PM, Sun.3PM; $25
“The shows that STREB Extreme Action puts on at its Williamsburg headquarters  have a carnival atmosphere, and not just because eating and drinking are encouraged. Will the Action Heroes, as the intrepid dancer-acrobats are styled, collide as they hurl themselves off a trampoline? Will they get whacked by swinging cinder blocks or huge metal contraptions? Probably not, but they want you to cringe. Their newest machine is the Molinette, a giant bar that revolves like the blade of a windmill.” (Brian Seibert, NewYorker)

The Streb performers are absolutely amazing and so worth the detour.
I try to see them every year, can’t get enough.

NOCHE FLAMENCA (thru Mar.31, NO MON.)
at the Connelly Theater / Tue – Thu at 7:30pm; Fri & Sat at 8pm; Sundays at 3pm; $20+
“This splendid flamenco company, led by Martín Santangelo, its artistic director, and the dancer Soledad Barrio, presents “Entre Tú y Yo” (“Between You and Me”), an evening of solos, duets and ensemble works that includes “Refugiados” (“Refugees”), which has been recently added to the company’s repertoire. The piece transforms poems written by children in refugee camps into song and dance. The program also features the latest iteration of “La Ronde,” which is inspired by Max Ophüls’s 1950 film and spotlights the talents of a guitarist, a vocalist and a solo dancer.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)
If you like flamenco even a little, you must see Soledad’s performance.

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour and is an easy trip on the #2,3 express subway to Nevins St. (2 stops after Wall St.)

NCAA – Make March Madness a slam dunk
DeKalb Market Hall / Free to enter; standard menu prices
“Why celebrate the annual March Maddening from your sofa when you can make it an occasion at DeKalb Market Hall’s DeKalb Stage? See the tourney on the new venue’s 180” projection screen, sip cocktails, and snack on Ample Hills ice cream, Katz’s pastrami, and Chicks Isan’s wings.’ (thrillist.com)

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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.

===========================================================
Bonus NYC events– 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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NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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A PremierPub

Jimmy’s Corner / 140 W 44th St (btw B’way & 7th ave)

IMG_2083Jimmy’s Corner is right in the heart of Times Square, but you won’t find it on the corner, it’s mid-block. Enter this long narrow bar and you are struck by the walls covered with mostly black-and-white boxing photographs, and memorabilia. Soon enough you learn that “Corner” refers to proprietor Jimmy Glenn’s long career as a corner man for some of boxing greats – Liston, Tyson, even “the greatest,” Ali.

Jimmy’s is a sort of time machine, taking you back to a time and place that no longer exists. All around you Times Square has cleaned up, grown up, assumed a new identity. Jimmy’s probably hasn’t changed a bit since it first opened in 1971. Certainly the bar itself looks original and the prices haven’t changed much either. When I brought a friend, who owns her own bar, she was surprised when she got the small tab for a round of drinks. Figured there must be a mistake, that maybe they forgot to charge for all the drinks.

Times Square today is filled with neon glitz and wandering tourists from Dubuque, but not Jimmy’s. You’ll likely find some old timer’s at the bar nursing their drinks, some younger locals at tables in the back, and maybe a few adventuresome tourists clutching their trusty guidebooks. There’s no food served here because this is just a bar, and sometimes that’s all you need.

On nights when no local team is playing, it’s a fine place to sip some drafts and listen to a great old time jukebox, with a great selection of  40s& 50s R&B and soul. On sports nights this very narrow bar can get a bit claustrophobic, filled with excited fans watching their team on the TVs. Either way, Jimmy’s is the place to be if you are looking for an old time bar in the new Times Square.
————————————————————————————————————————
Website: are you kidding !
(although there is a facebook page with lots of photos –
facebook.com/jimmyscornernyc)
Phone #: 212-221-9510
Hours: 11am – 4 am, except Sunday they open 12 noon
Happy Hour: not necessary, low prices all day, every day
Subway: #1,2,3 to TimesSquare 42nd st
walk 2 blks N on 7th ave to 44th st; ½ blk E to Jimmy’s

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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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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/21) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 03/21/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > THURSDAY/ MARCH 21, 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:  “March 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.
To make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

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

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

The Music of Van Morrison
@ Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium / 8PM, $48+
“Van Morrison is the subject of Michael Dorf’s annual charity tribute show at Carnegie Hall, with The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon, Glen Hansard, Bettye LaVette, Josh Ritter, Marc Cohn and more singing his songs.” (brooklynvegan)

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

7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> José González and the String Theory
>> GARY CLARK JR.
>> CUNY DANCE INITIATIVE
>> The Bad Plus
>> Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
>> Death Becomes Us
>> more coming soon

Continuing Events
>> NOCHE FLAMENCA
===================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

José González and the String Theory (Mar.21-22)
Apollo Theatre, 253 W. 125th St./ 8PM, $65
“Singer-songwriter José González first wowed listeners with devastating solo acoustic covers of hits by dance-music groups like Massive Attack. In these special appearances, he performs his best work in collaboration with the String Theory, an orchestra based in Sweden and Germany dedicated to bridging the pop-classical divide.” (vulture.com, Craig Jenkins)

GARY CLARK JR. (Mar.21-23)
at the Beacon Theater / 8 p.m.; $
“As a gifted blues guitarist, this Austin, Tex., native could easily stick to traditional sounds. But Clark continues to make songs that are expansive and forward-looking. He channels his remarkable technical ability toward hard-edge, political and genre-bending music that is nevertheless rooted in the blues, or at least its angst and earnestness. On his most recent album, “This Land,” he tackles racism and American politics through tunes that are anything but easy listening — and all the better for it.” (NYT-NATALIE WEINER)

CUNY DANCE INITIATIVE (Mar.20-23)
at Baruch Performing Arts Center / 7:30 p.m.;
“Over the past five years, this expansive residency program has brought more than 100 dance artists to 13 CUNY campuses across the city. This annual showcase offers a sampling of that work, and this year it’s spread over two programs. Program A (on Wednesday and March 22) features the flamenco pair Sonia Olla and Ismael Fernandez, the tap dancer Andrew Nemr, the choreographer Loni Landon and a solo from Urban Bush Women. Program B (on Thursday and March 23) includes Pigeonwing Dance, a solo by Parijat Desai, a mix of dance and spoken word by MBDance and an excerpt from Ephrat Asherie Dance.” (NYT-Brian Schaefer)

The Bad Plus (Mar.19-24)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S., at 11th St./ 8:30PM, +10:30PM, $35
“As momentous transitions go, it’s been a relatively smooth one for the epochal trio the Bad Plus, which replaced its pivotal pianist Ethan Iverson with the equally skilled player Orrin Evans in 2017. A fine subsequent studio album, “Never Stop II”—which incorporated original material from Evans—and absorbing live performances have proved that the future looks bright for this once iconoclastic and now firmly entrenched ensemble.” (Steve Futterman, NewYorker)

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (Mar.20-24)
Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave., at 19th St./ 7:30PM, $55+
“It’s rare for a touring ensemble to perform to live music, and even rarer for a contemporary troupe to do so—it’s too expensive, too cumbersome. But Aspen Santa Fe has come up with a simple and elegant solution: a trio of piano ballets, all accompanied onstage by the excellent pianist Joyce Yang. In Jorma Elo’s high-spirited “Half/Cut/Split,” the dancers cavort, speedily, to Schumann’s “Carnaval.” The surrealism of Fernando Melo’s “Dream Play”—in which dancers appear to balance on tightropes and fly—is paired with the spare melodies of Satie and Chopin. And Philip Glass’s looping motifs set a moody atmosphere for Nicolo Fonte’s “Where We Left Off.” (Marina Harss, NewYorker)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

Death Becomes Us (Mar.20-24)
Find your favorite murder.
Various locations, times
“The first NYC edition of this D.C.-based festival brings together crime authors, content creators, and their fans. Highlights include a talk with Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder of Serial and a panel on being falsely accused with Amanda Knox and Damien Echols, who spent 18 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.” (vulture.com)

More smart stuff coming soon.

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

Continuing Events

NOCHE FLAMENCA (thru Mar.31, NO MON.)
at the Connelly Theater
“This splendid flamenco company, led by Martín Santangelo, its artistic director, and the dancer Soledad Barrio, presents “Entre Tú y Yo” (“Between You and Me”), an evening of solos, duets and ensemble works that includes “Refugiados” (“Refugees”), which has been recently added to the company’s repertoire. The piece transforms poems written by children in refugee camps into song and dance. The program also features the latest iteration of “La Ronde,” which is inspired by Max Ophüls’s 1950 film and spotlights the talents of a guitarist, a vocalist and a solo dancer.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)
(March 12-14, 7:30 p.m.; through March 31).
If you like flamenco even a little, you must see Soledad’s performance.

============================================================================
♦ 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.

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

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.”

Special Mention:
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.
===========================================================

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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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:

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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 03/19 and 03/17.

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

NYC Events, “Only the Best” (03/20) + Today’s Featured Pub (Tribeca)

Posted on 03/20/2019 by

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > WEDNSDAY/ MARCH 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:  “March 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.
To make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

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

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

CARLA BLEY TRIO
at Jazz Standard / 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.; $
“Unlike her compositions — a lovable admixture of American folk songs, avant-garde jazz, soft rock and Romanticism — Bley, at age 82, remains a rather inaccessible figure. She doesn’t tour often, and she has long preferred the scholarly remove of a composer’s identity to the more public one of a bandleader. All of which makes this appearance, featuring her longstanding trio (Bley on piano, Steve Swallow on bass and Andy Sheppard on saxophones), something especially worth seeking out.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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

7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> CUNY DANCE INITIATIVE
>> The Bad Plus
>> Rigoletto
>> Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
>> Central Park Celebrates Spring
>>An Evening with Music Director Jaap van Zweden
>> Death Becomes Us

Continuing Events
>> NOCHE FLAMENCA
===================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

CUNY DANCE INITIATIVE (Mar.20-23)
at Baruch Performing Arts Center / 7:30 p.m.;
“Over the past five years, this expansive residency program has brought more than 100 dance artists to 13 CUNY campuses across the city. This annual showcase offers a sampling of that work, and this year it’s spread over two programs. Program A (on Wednesday and March 22) features the flamenco pair Sonia Olla and Ismael Fernandez, the tap dancer Andrew Nemr, the choreographer Loni Landon and a solo from Urban Bush Women. Program B (on Thursday and March 23) includes Pigeonwing Dance, a solo by Parijat Desai, a mix of dance and spoken word by MBDance and an excerpt from Ephrat Asherie Dance.” (NYT-Brian Schaefer)

The Bad Plus (Mar.19-24)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S., at 11th St./ 8:30PM, +10:30PM, $35
“As momentous transitions go, it’s been a relatively smooth one for the epochal trio the Bad Plus, which replaced its pivotal pianist Ethan Iverson with the equally skilled player Orrin Evans in 2017. A fine subsequent studio album, “Never Stop II”—which incorporated original material from Evans—and absorbing live performances have proved that the future looks bright for this once iconoclastic and now firmly entrenched ensemble.” (Steve Futterman, NewYorker)

Rigoletto (next Apr.26, 8PM)
Metropolitan Opera House / 8PM, $20+
“Verdi’s tragic jester returns in Michael Mayer’s neon-bedecked, Las Vegas–themed production. Baritones Roberto Frontali and George Gagnidze share the title role, and soprano Nadine Sierra reprises her portrayal of Gilda, the role that helped launch her now-blossoming Met career. Tenors Vittorio Grigolo and Bryan Hymel share the role of the lascivious Duke, and Nicola Luisotti conducts.”

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (Mar.20-24)
Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Ave., at 19th St./ 7:30PM, $55+
“It’s rare for a touring ensemble to perform to live music, and even rarer for a contemporary troupe to do so—it’s too expensive, too cumbersome. But Aspen Santa Fe has come up with a simple and elegant solution: a trio of piano ballets, all accompanied onstage by the excellent pianist Joyce Yang. In Jorma Elo’s high-spirited “Half/Cut/Split,” the dancers cavort, speedily, to Schumann’s “Carnaval.” The surrealism of Fernando Melo’s “Dream Play”—in which dancers appear to balance on tightropes and fly—is paired with the spare melodies of Satie and Chopin. And Philip Glass’s looping motifs set a moody atmosphere for Nicolo Fonte’s “Where We Left Off.” (Marina Harss, NewYorker)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

Central Park Celebrates Spring
various locations in the park / 9AM- 6PM, FREE
“Ahh, it’s finally spring and the park is coming alive. There will be a full day of free programming at Central Park, including an introductory birding tour in the Ramble; pop-up readings by Mark Bittman, author of “How to Cook Everything” and “Dinner for Everyone,” and Nicole Krauss, author of “Forest Dark;” volunteer opportunities and gardening tips from Conservancy staff from Shakespeare and Conservatory Gardens; catch-and-release fishing at the Harlem Meer; games at Chess & Checkers House and more.” (amNY)

An Evening with Music Director Jaap van Zweden
Insights at the Atrium
Atrium at Lincoln Center / 7:30PM, FREE
“As he approaches the end of his inaugural season as music director of the New York Philharmonic, Jaap van Zweden discusses his path to the Philharmonic, the core values he brings to his musicianship and the Orchestra, and his views on the role of the symphony orchestra in the 21st century.”

Death Becomes Us (Mar.20-24)
Find your favorite murder.
Various locations, times
“The first NYC edition of this D.C.-based festival brings together crime authors, content creators, and their fans. Highlights include a talk with Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder of Serial and a panel on being falsely accused with Amanda Knox and Damien Echols, who spent 18 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.” (vulture.com)

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

Continuing Events

NOCHE FLAMENCA (thru Mar.31, NO MON.)
at the Connelly Theater
“This splendid flamenco company, led by Martín Santangelo, its artistic director, and the dancer Soledad Barrio, presents “Entre Tú y Yo” (“Between You and Me”), an evening of solos, duets and ensemble works that includes “Refugiados” (“Refugees”), which has been recently added to the company’s repertoire. The piece transforms poems written by children in refugee camps into song and dance. The program also features the latest iteration of “La Ronde,” which is inspired by Max Ophüls’s 1950 film and spotlights the talents of a guitarist, a vocalist and a solo dancer.” (NYT-Gia Kourlas)
(March 12-14, 7:30 p.m.; through March 31).
If you like flamenco even a little, you must see Soledad’s performance.

==========================================================================
♦ 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.

=====================================================
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.”

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

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

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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