Today’s TOP 10 – THURSDAY, MAY 07, 2015
“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening,
primarily Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to. We make it as easy as 1-2-3.
(click on links for complete event info)

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
> Stanley Clarke Band (through May 10)
Blue Note, 131 West Third St., Greenwich Village / 8PM and 10:30PM,
>The Claudia Quintet  (through May 8)
Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St. / 8:30+10:30PM, $10
> Global Beat Festival With the Libyans + The Feedel Band
Winter Garden, Brookfield Place, 230 Vesey St. / 8PM, FREE
>The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra Guest Vocalist Carmen Bradford
Birdland, 315 W. 44th St. / 8:30PM + 11PM, $45

Smart Stuff / Other
(Lectures, Discussions, Book Talks, Literary Readings, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)
> PEN World Voices Festival (through May 10)
Today’s Highlight: “Writing Gender”
Albertine Books in French and English, 972 Fifth Avenue (at 79th St.) /  7PM, FREE
> Grand Gourmet, The Flavor of Midtown (fundraiser for homeless programs)
Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal, 89 East 42nd St. / 7PM, $125
> Le Conversazioni: Films of My Life (Joyce Carol Oates & Stephen Sondheim)
The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave. / 7PM, $20
>Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival  (through May 9)
Today’s Highlight: Jazz and the Spirit: Freedom Now, Again
Union Theological Seminary, James Chapel, 3041 Broadway at 121st St. / 4PM, FREE
> Jackie Robinson’s Brooklyn
Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Ave. / 6:30PM, FREE
Elsewhere, but looks worth the detour:
> RadioLoveFest (through May 10)
Tonight: “Wait Wait. . .Don’t Tell Me!”
Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave / 7:30PM, $35

Have time for only one event? Do this:
Global Beat Festival With the Libyans + The Feedel Band
Experience the hottest bands from around the world in a global explosion of music and dance in the magnificent Winter Garden at Brookfield Place!

“Tonight kicks off a wide-ranging three-day festival of music from around the globe that puts a contemporary, largely beat-conscious spin on traditional styles. This evening’s bands are from North and East Africa. One of the bands, the Libyans, though based in neighboring Israel, offers rollicking music that mixes Arabic and Turkish influences with the enduring spirit of the Jews who settled in Libya. The Feedel Band is a fiery ensemble that recalls what happened when hot jazz and funk came to Ethiopia back in the ’60s.” (seniorplanet.org)

Global Beat Festival explores music from around the world befitting the stunning acoustics of the magnificent glass-vaulted Winter Garden. Each night pairs two groups from different traditions for an unforgettable 3-day experience from May 7–9, 2015.
Thursday, May 7: The Libyans, Feedel Band
Friday, May 8: Niyaz, Emel Mathlouthi
Saturday, May 9: Flavia Coelho, Guayo Cedeño + Coco Bar

The Libyans give new life to the fascinating, sacred music of the Jews of Libya. Based in Israel, the six-member ensemble’s sound gains influence from Arabic, African and Turkish culture. Accompanied by guest dancers, The Feedel Band performs music inspired by the golden age of Ethiopia merged with 1960s jazz and R&B.
Winter Garden, Brookfield Place, 230 Vesey St
8:00PM – 10:00PM / FREE
artsbrookfield.com

Bonus Music Picks:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are a few of my favorite music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:
City Winery – 155 Varick St., citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St. joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34W22ndSt., metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St. lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St., beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237W42nd dSt. bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. caffevivaldi.com, 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

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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, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  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
My Fave Special Exhibitions – MUSEUMS / Manhattan’s WestSide
(See the New York Times Arts Section for listings of all museums,
and also to see the expanded reviews of these exhibitions)

Museum of Modern Art:
‘One-Way Ticket: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series and Other Visions of the Great Movement North’ (through Sept. 7)
“In the early 20th century, tens of thousands of African Americans left the rural South for the industrial North in search of jobs, homes and respect. Officially, this MoMA show is meant to mark the centennial of that immense population shift, though it also marks another anniversary: the first time in two decades that all 60 paintings in Jacob Lawrence’s great “Migration Series,” now divided between New York and Washington, D.C., have been shown together at the museum. Here they are surrounded by period photographs, books and fabulous music in a display as stimulating to the mind and the ear as it is to the eye. 212-708-9400, moma.org.” (Cotter)

American Folk Art Museum:
‘When the Curtain Never Comes Down’ (through July 5)
“A sprawling, cacophony of objects, audiotapes, photographs and films is here orchestrated into a curatorial marvel. Strange and wonderful in numerous ways, the show sheds new light on the performance aspects of much outsider art while reminding us how eccentricity is not only basic to creativity but to personal liberty and democracy itself. 2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue at 66th Street, 212-595-9533, folkartmuseum.org.” (Roberta Smith)

Museum of Arts and Design:
‘Richard Estes: Painting New York City’ (through Sept. 20)
“The core of this show is a selection of vivid, Photorealist paintings of urban subjects like glass and chrome storefronts, movie theater marquees, cars and trucks, subways, the Brooklyn Bridge, views from the Staten Island Ferry and idyllic images of Central Park made between 1965 and 2015. The exhibition also includes didactic sections about the craft and technique that go into Mr. Estes painting and prints, but that aspect doesn’t fully deliver what it promises. 2 Columbus Circle, Manhattan, 212-299-7777,madmuseum.org.”(Johnson). I LOVE THIS ONE.

Museum of Biblical Art:
‘Sculpture in the Age of Donatello: Renaissance Masterpieces From Florence Cathedral’ (through June 14) “This terrific 23-piece show features three major works by the early Renaissance sculptor Donatello (1386-1466), including the life-size statue of a bald prophet known as “lo Zuccone” or “Pumpkin Head,” which is widely considered the sculptor’s greatest work. Along with a half-dozen other works by or attributed to Donatello are sculptures by Nanni di Banco (circa 1386-1421), Donatello’s main competitor, including his monumental representation in marble of St. Luke. With the addition of a series of octagonal marble reliefs by Luca della Robbia and wooden models of the Florence Cathedral’s enormous dome attributed to its designer, Filippo Brunelleschi, the exhibition amounts to a tightly cropped snapshot of the birth of the Renaissance. 1865 Broadway, at 61st Street, 212-408-1500, mobia.org.”(Johnson)

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 05/05 and 05/03.