Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events – WEDNESDAY, JULY 02, 2014.
For other useful and curated NYCity event info for Manhattan’s WestSide check out:
♦ “9 Notable NYCity Events-June”, and also “on Broadway”, and “Top10 Free” in the header above.
♦ For NYCity Sights, Sounds and Stories visit out our sister site: nyc123blog.wordpress.com
♦ For NYCity trip planning see links in “Resources” and “Smart Stuff” in the header above. =========================================================================
Midsummer Night Swing (through July 12)
The New England-based Roomful of Blues has been slinging jazz, blues, and vintage R. & B. for decades, and it’s in town to pay tribute to one of the salient composers of classic rock and roll, Doc Pomus.
At 6:30 p.m. (dance lessons) and 7:30 p.m. (live music) / $17
Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center,
212-721-6500, midsummernightswing.org
PAUL LOREN
Leading the new generation of soul crooners, Paul Loren sings songs that will make you move. A talented songwriter and producer, he takes elements from classic R&B, Pop and Jazz, and makes them truly his own. With a dynamic and powerful stage show, Paul Loren evokes the great Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding at their prime.
Joe’s Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place
at 9:30PM / $16 cover, with a $12 minimum.
212.697.7555 / joespub.com
Declaration of Independence Display (also Thursday)
A copy of the historic document — handwritten by Thomas Jefferson, with his markings and passages that were excised from the ratified text — is on view at the New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
Wednesday from 2 to 10 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. / FREE
917-275-6975, nypl.org/locations/schwarzman
ARLO HILL: THE SONGS AND STORIES OF FRANK LOESSER
Arlo Hill (Bway: The Phantom of the Opera; Encores!: The Most Happy Fella), a winner of the 2014 Lotte Lenya Competition, shares the little-known songs and stories of Frank Loesser. I’ve Been In Love Before goes behind the scenes with the man who wrote Guys & Dolls, How to Succeed in Business, and much, much more.
A brash college dropout journeys from the back rooms of the Tin Pan Alley to the silver screen of Hollywood to the Great White Way – and through two marriages, five Broadway shows, and over 700 songs of life and love. Come to discover the joys of Loesser’s music, and to explore the little-known gems that are too rarely in the limelight. Music direction by Rick Hip-Flores. Special appearances by members of the cast of The Most Happy Fella at Encores!
54 Below, 254 W 54th St., btw Broadway and Eighth Ave
at 7pm / $25–$35. plus $25 food or drink minimum
(646) 476-3551 / 866-468-7619 / 54below.com
Jon Weber ~ Joplin to Jarrett
Joplin to Jarrett serves as a concise history of jazz piano with an emphasis on the earlier composers from the first half of the 20th Century. Over 100 years of music interspersed with musical excerpts with John Weber’s insights and anecdotes reveal a lifetime’s worth of impassioned research.
Weber’s extraordinary facility for recall and analysis allow him to form fascinating and unexpected connections between artists of different eras, their development and influences in jazz piano.
Jazz pianist Jon Weber has recorded and toured all over the world, winning numerous honors for performance and composition – scoring extensively for television since 1987. Gary Burton, Roy Hargrove, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and Avishai Cohen have all recorded Jon’s music, and his newest critically-acclaimed release, Simple Complex, rose to #1.
Metropolitan Room, 34 W 22nd St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves
Subway: F, M, N, R (all transfer from 1-2-3 at Times Sq.) to 23rd St
At 10PM / $20 + 2 drink minimum
212-206-0440 / metropolitanroom.com
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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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The Week That Was in NYCity
(courtesy NYPost, with the most unique front/back pages anywhere)
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A PremierPub / 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 