Today’s “Fab 5″+1/ Selected NYCity Events – THURSDAY, JUNE 05, 2014.

Patty Griffin
“In her imaginative video for the single “Ohio,” the folk singer-songwriter used collage textures to conjure a lovely daydream of classic Americana imagery — and enlisted her beau, Robert Plant, for supporting harmonies. The track was found on “American Kid,” her contemplative disc released last year, which was inspired by her father, who died in 2009. Her album “Silver Bell” was also finally released last year, 13 years after it was initially shelved by her former record label.” (Anderson-NYT)
Town Hall, 123 West 43rd St.
800-982-2787, the-townhall-nyc.org
At 8 p.m. / $34.50 to $69.50

StarTalk Live!
with Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Eugene Mirman Feat. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Where science, pop culture and comedy collide

“Get ready to trip the solar system fantastic with celebrated astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and his able comedic sidekick, Eugene Mirman. Tyson, who you may recognize from the TV show Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey or his leading role at the Hayden Planetarium, is also host of StarTalk Live Radio, a show that bridges the intersection between pop culture and science with clarity, humor, and passion.

After several successful live recordings at the Bell House in Brooklyn, Tyson and Mirman have been traveling their act to larger venues. For this edition, the road show pulls in the Beacon, where the pair are joined by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., His Holiness The Gyalwang Drukpa and other special guests for what promises to be a rollicking discussion covering topics such as space travel, extra-terrestrial life, the Big Bang, the future of our Earth and more. You aren’t going to want to miss this most excellent adventure.” (Mindy Bond, Editor-FlavorPill)
Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway
8pm / $35

Dale Watson
“Watson, a veteran of the Grand Ole Opry, has little truck with what’s been coming out of Nashville in the past few decades, and has come up with his own name for the music he plays: Ameripolitan. With a voice as deep as his white pompadour is high, Watson keeps the sounds of the honky-tonk country-and-Western scene alive (both musically and financially—he owns a couple of old clubs in Texas where the music is played).

He’s also a creative ad-libber: a feature of his regular gigs at the Continental, in his home base of Austin, is to take suggestions for titles and keys from the audience and compose a tune on the fly. That’s how “I Lie When I Drink” came to be written—onstage. His most recent album, “El Rancho Azul,” includes the first studio recording of the funny and catchy song.” (NewYorker)
Hill Country Live, 30 W. 26th St.
212-255-4544

Mike Baggetta Quartet/Eivind Opsvik’s Overseas
“An agile guitarist with a decidedly modern approach, Mike Baggetta has a satisfying new album, “Thieves and Secrets,” featuring the same crew found here: Jason Rigby on saxophones, Eivind Opsvik on bass and George Schuller on drums. Mr. Opsvik works in the other half of this concert with his main outlet, Overseas, a song-oriented band with the tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, the guitarist Brandon Seabrook, the pianist Jacob Sacks and the drummer Kenny Wollesen.” (Nate Chinen-NYT)
Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow Street, West Village,
212-242-4770, greenwichhouse.org
At 7:30 p.m. / $20, $15 for students

Kate Davis, A Presentation of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook
Talented singer-songwriter and bassist Kate Davis has performed in venues ranging from the Kennedy Center to the Blue Note Jazz Club and Rockwood Music Hall. Beginning with piano and violin at a young age, Davis’s artistic range as a jazz musician, singer, and songwriter has been recognized with awards and scholarships for performing, writing, and arts advocacy.
Lincoln Center, David Rubenstein Atrium, Broadway btw 62nd and 63rd St.
At 7:30PM / FREE (get there early – free events in the Atrium are very popular)
1-212-875-5350

PlusOne
In Transit: A Production of the Modern-Day Griot Theatre Company
In this immersive theatrical performance six local playwrights will explore the inner lives of New Yorkers traveling through the city’s subway system. With the Museum’s vintage subway cars as the backdrop, these intimate performances will draw inspiration from past decades and provide an artistic interpretation of the personal lives of the anonymous passengers who ride the train every day.
New York Transit Museum, Corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn St.
At 7PM / $25
718-694-1600 /
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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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What’s on View:
Special Exhibitions @ 4 Museum Mile / Fifth Ave. Museums:

‘Tibet and India: Buddhist Traditions and Transformations’ (through June 8)
‘Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century’ (through July 27)
The Flowering of Edo Period Painting: Japanese Masterworks from the Feinberg Collection’ (through Sept. 7)
‘Early American Guitars: The Instruments of C.F. Martin’ (through Dec. 7)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave, at 82nd St.
(212) 535-7710 / metmuseum.org
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‘Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes From the Hill Collection’ (through June 15)
“This sensational, beautifully presented show of 33 late-15th- to early-18th-century bronzes reflects a taste for historically important, big-statement examples in exceptional condition. They vividly reflect the Renaissance’s new interest in antiquity and the human form while encouraging concentration on emotional expression, refined details (great hair!), struggling or relaxed figures and varied patinas. Works by the reigning geniuses Giambologna, Susini and the lesser-known Piamontini dominate, further enlivened by a handful of old master and late-20th-century paintings from the Hill collection.”
(Roberta Smith-NYT)
Frick Collection: 1 East 70th St.
212-288-0700 / frick.org.
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Guggenheim Museum: ‘Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe’ (through Sept. 1)
“This epic, beautifully designed exhibition may be one of the more thorough examinations of modernism’s most obnoxious and conflicted art movement that you are likely to see. Awash in the manifestoes that its members regularly fired off, it follows Futurism through to its end with the death of its founder, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, in 1944. It covers the Futurist obsessions with speed, war, machines and, finally, flight and the aerial views it made possible. And the show highlights relatively unknown figures like the delightful Fortunato Depero and Benedetta Cappa, Marinetti’s wife. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, 212-423-3500, guggenheim.org.“ (Smith-NYT)
Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th St.
(212) 423-3500 / guggenheim.org.
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‘Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937’ (through June 30)
Neue Galerie, 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th St.
212-628-6200 / neuegalerie.org.

========================================================== Museum Mile is a section of Fifth Avenue which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world. Ten museums can be found along this section of Fifth Avenue:

• 110th Street – Museum for African Art

• 105th Street – El Museo del Barrio

• 103rd Street – Museum of the City of New York

• 92nd Street – The Jewish Museum

• 91st Street – Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

• 89th Street – National Academy Museum

• 88th Street – Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

• 86th Street – Neue Galerie New York

• 83rd Street – Goethe-Institut

Last, but certainly not least, America’s premier museum
• 82nd Street – The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Additionally, though technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 70th St. and the The Morgan Library & Museum on Madison Ave and 37th St are also located near Fifth Ave. Now plan your own museum crawl. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar: “NYCity Events: Manhattan’s WestSide” dated 06/03 and 06/01.