Today’s “Fab 5”/ Selected NYCity Events – FRIDAY, MAR. 21, 2014.

Bettye LaVette
“A former touring mate of James Brown and Otis Redding, Ms. LaVette has the steamroller charisma to invigorate a night at Carnegie Hall. “Thankful N’ Thoughtful,” released in 2012, celebrated her 50th anniversary in entertainment.” (Anderson-NYT)
At 10 p.m., / $43 to $50
Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall,
212-247-7800, carnegiehall.org

Spring Night
Enjoy a night of free programs and activities when The Frick Collection opens its doors to the public for an after-hours celebration of the museum’s special exhibitions.
Hear a gallery talk, sketch in the Garden Court and listen to live music.
The Frick Collection, 1 E. 70th St., New York
at 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm / FREE
212-288-0700

The Allman Brothers Band (also other dates through Mar. 29)
“Like a New York version of the Santa Ana winds, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers’ residency at the Beacon Theater is a proud annual affair. (Your individual tolerance for guitar solos, however, determines the concurrent bluster.)

Last year they celebrated the 40th anniversary of their Southern rock staple “Brothers and Sisters,” and the set list for this iteration should still skew with according reverence to that album, the first the group recorded after the death of its leader Duane Allman”.(Stacey Anderson-NYT)

If you have been meaning to catch this band, better do it this year. Gregg Allman, the band’s singer, keyboardist, and nominal leader, announced that the group as a whole would stop its regular touring after 2014.
Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, at 74th St.,
212-465-6500, beacontheatre.com
At 8 p.m. / $50.99 to $150.99.

Lady Rizo’s Fourth Annual Nina Simone Tribute
“Dr. Nina Simone (1933-2003) is quite possibly the most “tributed” female icon in recent history, but of all of her contemporary disciples, the one who most keeps alive the late Simone’s confrontational, take-no-prisoners attitude is downtown diva and “Sea Lion Woman” Lady Rizo. No less than Simone herself, Mrs. Rizo is a master of the art of keeping a crowd riveted, engaging audiences with ingenious forms of participation, guest stars, puppets, talking animals, choreography, genre-bending and unpredictable mashups, like interlacing Simone’s spiritual “Sinnerman” with Merle Travis’s country classic “16 Tons” and Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” (WSJ)
Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St.
(212) 228-4854

The Observant Eye: Shaping Memory – Ancestral Objects from Oceania
The Observant Eye is a series of interactive discussions focusing on one work of art. These unscripted sessions offer the opportunity for close looking and audience-propelled discussion on an object selected from one of the seventeen curatorial departments. Please register for any of our sessions online through the Reservation Request Form.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
at 7pm / Free with museum admission, RSVP required
212-535-7710

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

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 – my fave is Ovest on W 27th St., where the aperitivo is like Happy Hour on steroids.

WHAT’S ON VIEW:
Here’s one gallery exhibition that the NYT art critic really liked:

 ‘Re-View: Onnasch Collection’ (through April 12)
This show more faithfully simulates the experience of seeing art in a modern art museum than any private gallery exhibition in recent memory. Installed in a sequence of 11 whitewall rooms in a gymnasium-size space, the show’s 57 works dating mainly from the 1950s to the ’80s are from a collection assembled by Reinhard Onnasch, a German art dealer. All of the 27 artists — from the Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline to the Minimalist Richard Serra — will be known to anyone familiar with post-World War II art. Nearly all are represented by choice examples.” (Johnson-NYT)
Hauser & Wirth, 511 West 18th Street,
212-790-3900, hauserwirth.com.

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. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (03/19) and (03/17).