Top Events / WestSide

The Christmas Kid & Other Brooklyn Stories
92YTribeca
200 Hudson Street (corner of Hudson, Ground Floor)
212.601.1000
12 pm, from $21.00.

Join Pete Hamill for an afternoon of nostalgia as he talks about his new collection of stories about Brooklyn, the borough he grew up in, and the one closest to his heart.
Hear about the world after the war, the Dodgers and the Giants, and other stories of a New York almost gone, but never forgotten.

‘Lorca in New York: A Celebration’
Graduate Center, City University NY, Martin E. Segal Theater
365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street
April 17 at 7p.m., FREE
(212) 817-2005 / centerforthehumanities.org/events/interpreting-lorca

This celebration of the life and work of the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca — who was 38 when he was executed at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War  — continues with discussions and performances scheduled through July 20 at various locations.

“On April 17 at 7 p.m., a free book talk about “The Ingenious Gentleman and Poet Federico García Lorca Ascents to Hell,” with the book’s author, Carlos Rojas, and its translator, Edith Grossman, will take place at Instituto Cervantes E49th (B3/2ave #6 51st). The celebration is organized by the Federico García Lorca Foundation and Accion Cultural Espanola. A schedule of events is at lorcanyc.com”. — (ANNE MANCUSO, NYT)

Selected Shorts: Etgar Keret & Gary Shteyngart
Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space
2537 Broadway, (btw 95/94)
7:30 pm, $28; Member $24; 30 & Under $15

Strange situations, kooky misunderstandings, the world turned around and upside down and just the way it is. Stay tuned for some hilarity when these friends and fellow comic writers team up.

Readers include Willem Dafoe (The English Patient, Spider-Man 3), Parker Posey (Price Check, Louie), Denis O’Hare (American Horror Story, True Blood) and Alex Karpovsky (HBO’s Girls, Rubberneck). Hosted by BD Wong.

Live Ideas
New York Live Arts
219 West 19th Street, btw Seventh and Eighth Avenues
Various times, see Web site for details, various prices
(212) 924-0077, newyorklivearts.org

“New York Live Arts dedicates its inaugural festival of arts and ideas to the esteemed writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks, exploring notions of mind-body connection through the lens of his writings. The constellation of discussions and performances centers around theatrical, musical and choreographic adaptations of Dr. Sacks’s 1973 “Awakenings,” including a new dance by Donna Uchizono, which shares a program with her 1999 “State of Heads.” The full festival lineup is at newyorklivearts.org/liveideas. — (SIOBHAN BURKE, NYT)

John Scofield Hollowbody Band
Birdland
315 West 44th Street, (btw Eighth and Ninth Avenues)
at 8:30 and 11 p.m., $40 cover, with a $10 minimum
(212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com

“John Scofield is among the elite headliners appearing this weekend at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, which should be enough reason to trust his stature as a guitarist’s guitarist. But just in case, he’ll be working next week with his Hollowbody Band, featuring a fellow six-string specialist, Mike Stern, as a sparring partner. The group, anchored by the bassist Ben Street and the drummer Bill Stewart, has been on the road since the beginning of this month, which means they’ll be plenty warmed up”. — (NATE CHINEN, NYT)

Gerald Clayton Trio
Village Vanguard
178 Seventh Avenue South, at West 11th Street
at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., $25 cover, with a one-drink minimum
(212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com

“Gerald Clayton, a pianist of great touch and soulful exposition, just released “Life Forum” (Concord Jazz), an album ambitious in concept and texture, with a clear emphasis on his designs as a composer-bandleader. At the heart of the album is the excellent working trio he presents here, featuring the bassist Joe Sanders and the drummer Justin Brown”. — (NATE CHINEN, NYT)

Richard Galliano-Christian Howes Quintet
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, 
Broadway, at West 60th Street
April 16-21 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.
$30 to $45 cover, with a $10 minimum
(212) 258-9595, jalc.org

“The energetic violinist Christian Howes has a new album, “Southern Exposure” (Resonance), featuring Richard Galliano, the celebrated French accordionist, as a special guest. They revisit that terrain —  playing music inspired by a wealth of South American traditions —  in this run, with Josh Nelson on piano, George Delancey on bass and Cedric Easton on drums”. — (NATE CHINEN, NYT)