Today’s “Fab 5”/ Selected NYCity Events – WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18, 2013
For other useful and curated NYCity event info for Manhattan’s WestSide check out:
♦ “Notable NYC Events-Dec.”, (because the holiday season kicks into high gear in December)
and also “on Broadway”, and “Top10 Free” in the header above.
♦ For NYCity trip planning see links in “Resources” and “Smart Stuff” in the header above.
Performance of early music
In the context of European classical music, which had its best-known pieces written in the 1700s & 1800s, the “early music” means earlier than that. In this way, early music usually designates the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods of Western music.
Juilliard musicians share their talent with the community in these free, hour-long lunchtime concerts on Wednesday afternoons throughout the season.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Central Park West & 65th St.
subway: #1 to 65th St.
At 1PM / FREE
1-212-877-6815
Optimizing and Sharing Photos With Lightroom 5 with Tim Grey
There can be tremendous satisfaction in sharing your favorite photographic images, but of course you want to be sure every image looks its best before sharing it with others. In this session you’ll learn how to use Lightroom, including the latest features in Lightroom 5, to truly make the most of your digital photos, and then how to share those images in various ways with others.
You’ll learn to optimize the tonal range and overall luminance values in your photos, how to ensure the most pleasing color possible, how to correct common image-quality issues, and much more. You’ll then see some of the ways you can quickly and easily share your photos with others through various online services, through printing, as slideshows, and more. The result is that you’ll be better able to optimize your photos, and then share those images quickly and easily in a variety of ways.
B&H Event Space, 9th ave @ 34 th St.
At 4:00 PM / FREE
Arielle Eckstut and Joann Eckstut – The Secret Language of Color
Arielle Eckstut and Joann Eckstut take the audience on a journey through time and space, visiting color past and present, and revealing along the way myriad surprising facets of color in both the natural and man-made worlds. Come learn how color colors nearly every aspect of our universe.
Why is the sky blue, the grass green, the rose red? Most of us have no idea, nor are we aware that color pervades all aspects of life, from the subatomic realm and the natural world to human culture and psychology. In this beautiful and thorough investigation, The Secret Language of Color explores everything from why and how we see color to the nature of rainbows; from why red is universally the first color named after black and white to why grass really does appear greener on the other side of the fence; from why purple is associated with royalty to how Starbucks got in trouble for using bugs to color its strawberry frappuccinos.
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Margaret Liebman Berger Forum (Map and directions)
At 6PM / FREE – Berger Forum doors open at 5:30 p.m.
GERI ALLEN
“Forming what amounts to a post-bop supergroup, the lauded pianist and composer stocks her quartet with the increasingly influential saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, as well as the drummer Jeff (Tain) Watts and the bassist James Genus, as rock solid a rhythm section as could be wished for.” (NewYorker mag)
Look for her solo piano version of Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a Clown”
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave South, at 11th St.
At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m./ $25 and $30, with a one-drink minimum.
255-4037, villagevanguard.com
Karrin Allyson (through Dec. 19)
“The cover of Karrin Allyson’s new “Yuletide Hideaway” shows a rather generic winter scene: a cozy looking house at twilight, surrounded by snow. While the image is strictly from Hallmark, the music itself cuts considerably deeper. “Yuletide Hideaway” does include a few well-known standards, but the emphasis is on new songs, mostly by keyboardist Chris Caswell, that render the season in a more melancholy mood. “Winter Oasis” is about using the end of the year as an excuse to stop and contemplate, take stock and conduct what amounts to an internal inventory. “Christmas Bells Are Ringing” is a minor key holiday waltz that encompasses a wordless episode in which Ms. Allyson’s notes fly in the air like reindeer and land like snow flakes or baubles upon the tree. Even “Winter Wonderland” and “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” seem darker and moodier than ever before.” (WSJ)
Birdland. 315 W. 44th St., (btw 8/9 ave)
At 11PM / $40
(212) 581-3080
Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm dates and check times, as schedules are subject to change.
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A PremierPub + 3 Good Eating places / 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.
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, 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; 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 some nights includes a sax player with a younger, trimmer piano man.
NYCity 1-2-3 : What's Happening / Manhattan's WestSide 