Tonight’s Music+ / Midtown West 

Linda Eder
54 Below, 254 W 54th st Cellar
8:30 pm/$75 &11:00 pm/$30; Doors 10:00pm
Food & Beverage Minimum $30

“One of the world’s most beloved and versatile voices, Linda Eder is forever linked to Broadway history via her Theatre World Award winning performance in Jekyll & Hyde. 54 Below is delighted to welcome this celebrated songstress to our stage for six very special performances only. She’s a best-selling recording artist with fourteen solo albums to her credit, but this April, get up close and personal with Linda in Broadway’s living room.”

Kevin Eubanks
Birdland, 315 West 44th Street (btw 8th and 9th Avenues)
8:30 and 11 p.m. , $30 and $40 cover, with a $10 minimum
(212) 581-308 / birdlandjazz.com

“On “The Messenger” (Mack Avenue), his most recent album, the versatile guitarist Kevin Eubanks lays out a well-considered mix of in-the-pocket funk, untroubled fusion and soulful ballads. It’s not only his strongest work since leaving “The Tonight Show”; it’s his most satisfying effort in more than a decade. And as with this engagement, it features Bill Pierce on saxophone and Rene Camacho on bass, along with a firecracker of a drummer (Nate Smith, in this case). — NATE CHINEN, NYT”

Museum of Arts and Design: ‘The Little Richard Story’
Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle, at 58th Street
7pm, $9, $7 for members and students
(212) 299-7737, madmuseum.org

“This 1980 documentary about the rock ’n’ roller who was born Richard Wayne Penniman is the first of three films to be shown this month in a tribute to the director William Klein, who turns 85 on April 19. Also on the lineup: “Muhammad Ali, the Greatest,” a 1974 documentary (April 19), and “Messiah,” a 1999 reflection on the Handel oratorio (on April 25).  — ANNE MANCUSO, NYT”

Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm dates and check times, as schedules are subject to change.

A PremierPub + 3 Good Eating places / Midtown West

“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, wine bars, cocktail lounges,  tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge.

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.

Those 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. 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 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 night 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; we eat, and we drink vodka ‘till it hurts (and it will hurt).

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

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; 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.

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