Today’s TOP 10 – SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015
“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening,
primarily on 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
> Bugs Bunny at the Symphony (25th Anniversary)
New York Philharmonic, Lincoln center / 2PM +7:30PM, $55-$160
Philharmonic plays live scores while classic Looney Tunes cartoons play on a big screen.
> Guillermo Klein y Los Guachos (also Sunday)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave South, at 11th Street, 8:30PM +10:30PM,
maestro Klein has created some radical jazz and the audience is digging it.
> Odean Pope Saxophone Choir, With Ravi Coltrane (also Sunday)
Blue Note, 131 West Third St. / 8PM + 10:30PM, $20 + $35
like the sax? this tenor saxophonist brings 8 saxophonists with him to this gig.
> Wayne Shorter Festival (also Sunday)
Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th St. and Broadway / 8PM, $30-$120
jazz master who many consider the poet laureate of jazz.
FREE Shorter Festival in the Atrium (6PM) live music, truffle risotto, cocktail samples.
Smart Stuff / Other
(Lectures, Discussions, Book Talks, Literary Readings, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)
> Harlem EatUp! (also Sunday)
various locations and times
Taste the Best of this Neighborhood at Inaugural Harlem EatUp!
> Jud Süss: Introduced by Richard Brody, Film Editor, The New Yorker
Film Forum, 209 W Houston St. / 12:15PM, FREE
maybe the most notorious example of Nazi film propaganda.
> 9th Avenue International Food Festival (also Sunday)
9th Avenue from 42nd St. to 55th St. / 12-5PM
city’s largest food fest with lots of ethnic food & drink, and lots of folks, too.
> Texas Chili Cook-Off
at Hudson River Park’s Pier 84 / 12-5PM, $60
sample the best unlimited chili, Shiner beer, & Lambrusco wine.
Elsewhere, but these two sure look worth the detour:
> Frieze New York (also Sunday)
Randall’s Island Park
almost 200 global galleries. an annual art extravaganza, with great river views.
> 9th Annual Dance Parade and Festival
parade starts at 21st St. (btw Fifth Ave and Park Avenue South) / 1-7PM, FREE
more than 70 styles of dance, thousands of marchers head to Tompkins Sq. Park festival
Have time for only one event today? Do this:
> Wayne Shorter Festival
Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th St. and Broadway / 8PM, $30-$120
The musical influence of saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter is incalculable. From hard bop to fusion and beyond, his contributions are not merely supplemental, they are revolutionary. At 81, Shorter is ever-present, remaining one of the most transformative figures in music. May 14-16, he joins us to celebrate his career in Rose Theater, and musicians who he has influenced pay tribute to him in The Appel Room and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.
Please join us in the Atrium for the free Wayne Shorter Festival beginning at 6pm on Friday and Saturday evening with live music by Jovan Alexandre, truffle risotto and other tastings by Urbani Truffles, and cocktail samples from The Black Grouse Scotch Whisky and Snow Leopard Vodka.
Rose Theater: At 81 years old, NEA Jazz Master Wayne Shorter is ever-present, remaining one of the most transformative figures in music. Shorter will join the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in celebration of his unique and definitive compositions, which have placed him heir to modern jazz architect Thelonious Monk as the poet laureate of jazz.
The Appel Room: Saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Dave Douglas, prominent bandleaders with highly successful recording careers and distinguished honors, are two leading voices in jazz today. As part of our Wayne Shorter Festival, they will perform with Sound Prints, their Shorter-inspired quintet, conceptualized after their shared time in the SFJAZZ Collective in 2008. Joined by pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Linda Oh, and drummer Joey Baron, they have formed a unique, generationally-vast ensemble in direct collaboration with Shorter himself. A rare treat, this homage is a continuum of Shorter’s legacy as a vanguard of modern jazz, showcasing both new repertoire and Shorter compositions. Free pre-concert discussion nightly, 6pm & 8:30pm.
Bonus Jazz Picks:
Many consider NYCity the Jazz capital of the world. Here are my favorite Jazz clubs, all on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who is playing tonight:
Greenwich Village:
Village Vanguard – 178 7th Ave. South — villagevanguard.com / 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. — bluenotejazz.com / 212-475-8592
55 Bar – 55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. — 55bar.com / 212-929-9883
Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com / 212-864-6662
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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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 near the piano man; 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 now includes a sax player with a younger, trimmer piano man. “tiny” we miss you.
NYCity 1-2-3 : What's Happening / Manhattan's WestSide 