Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > WEDNESDAY/ JULY 31, 2019

“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.

For future NYC Events, check the tab above:  “July NYC Events”
It’s the most comprehensive list of top events this month that you will find anywhere.
Carefully curated from “Only the Best” NYC event info on the the web, it’s a simply superb resource that will help you plan your NYC visit all over town, all through the month.
OR to make your own after dinner plans TONIGHT, see the tab above;  “LiveMusic.”

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Have time for only one NYC Event today? Do this:

Maria Schneider Orchestra (July 30-31)
at Jazz Standard / 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.; $40
This year marks the 25th anniversary of “Evanescence,” Maria Schneider’s debut release with her orchestra. In the years since, her flocking and soaring compositions have become a kind of new gold standard among large-ensemble jazz composers. Earlier this year she accepted a Jazz Masters award from the National Endowment for the Arts, making her, at 58, the youngest woman to receive jazz’s premier honor. At the Standard, her orchestra will debut material that Schneider plans to include in an as-yet-untitled new album.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> AMARO FREITAS TRIO
>> Accordions Around the World
>> “The Motherlode”
>> Lillias White: Make Someone Happy
>> The New York Musical Festival 2019
>> Freddie Falls in Love – Al Blackstone
>> more coming soon

You may want to look at previous days posts for events that continue through today.

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Music, Dance, Performing Art

AMARO FREITAS TRIO
at Dizzy’s Club / 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.; $35
“A young pianist from Recife, Brazil, Freitas makes the keys dance and chatter, as if each note were ricocheting off all the others, taking on energy and momentum from the swarm around it. You can hear traces of the frevo dance tradition of his hometown, the contagious rhythms and layered compositions of Moacir Santos (who hailed from nearby Flores), and the influence of virtuoso American improvisers like Chick Corea. A rising star back home, Freitas is presented here in his New York debut as part of Brasil Summerfest. He will be joined by the members of his trio, the bassist Jean Elton and the drummer Hugo Medeiros.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Accordions Around the World
Bryant Park / 5:30PM, FREE
“Accordions Around the World is a weekly summer series featuring accordionists as well as bandoneon, bayan, concertina, and harmonium-players of different musical genres. Audiences have an opportunity to hear music from all over the world and to experience the wide range of this often overlooked and little-known instrument in an intimate performance setting. Choose to wander the park to explore different musical stylings or set up a picnic and the artists will rotate around the audience. The finale is Accordion Festival, a five-hour celebration of bands with at least one accordionist.” (nyc-arts.org)

“The Motherlode”
Damrosch Park, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza / 7:30PM, FREE
“NPR Music’s Turning the Tables initiative honors the voices of women and nonbinary musicians, functioning as both a critique of and a corrective to music’s male-centered canon. The series primarily lives online, as an ongoing dialogue of essays and listicles, but it comes alive in “The Motherlode,” a concert presented at Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors festival on July 31. Last year’s event, the “21st Century Edition,” highlighted artists of the present, but this year it trains its scope on the past, focussing on the groundbreaking and foundation-laying work of female musicians from the earliest recorded music up through the sixties. A group of striking performers, including Courtney Marie Andrews, Rhiannon Giddens, Xiomara Laugart, Ledisi, and Amina Claudine Myers, lend their talents to the show.” (Briana Younger, NewYorker)

Lillias White: Make Someone Happy (July 30-31)
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7PM, $50+
“Nobody stops a show like Broadway’s Lillias White, who has built a career out of superpowered numbers in Once on This Island, Dreamgirls, How to Succeed…, The Life, Fela! and more. In her latest set at F/54, she raises spirits—along with the roof—with a collection of joyful songs from the worlds of jazz, film and theater.” (TONY)

The New York Musical Festival 2019 (Until Aug 4, 2019)
Various locations, $32
“NYMFomaniacs, rejoice! The impressive annual feast of new musical theater takes over multiple venues on 42nd Street for its 16th annual edition. Selections include 30 productions, readings, concerts and other events. Among the full stagings: Riley Thomas’s My Real Mother, about the bond between a birth mother and the women who adopts her child; Cordelia O’Driscoll and Tom Williams’s Buried, a romantic comedy about serial killers; Leo Schwartz and DC Cathro’s Till, about the murder of a black teenager in 1955; and Yuri Worontschak and Paul Western-Pittard’s Illuminati Lizards from Outer Space, about exactly what it sounds like it’s about. Buried treasure could lie anywhere, so dig around.” (TONY)

Freddie Falls in Love – Al Blackstone (through Aug. 4).
at the Joyce Theater / 7:30PM; $50+
“Dance as long-form narrative storytelling tends to be the domain of ballet and Broadway, but Blackstone brings it to the contemporary dance stage in his Joyce debut, “Freddie Falls in Love.” Blackstone, known for his choreography in “So You Think You Can Dance,” infuses his work with humor, theatrical flair and sharp technique — a combo that has earned him many fans. Here, his wordless tale about two people losing and finding love proves an entertaining journey, thanks to his brisk staging and charming performances by the Broadway alumni Melanie Moore and Matt Doyle, as well as a stellar ensemble.” (NYT)

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Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

More smart stuff coming soon.

Continuing Events

“Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival will run from July 10 through August 10, 2019. Harnessing Mozart’s innovative spirit as its inspiration, this edition will feature groundbreaking, multidisciplinary, international productions and acclaimed artists from a variety of genres, introducing the audience to emerging creative voices, commissions and premieres.  The program will include performances from Mark Morris Dance Company, a panel discussion on Mozart’s Magic Flute, a screening of the film The Great Buster: A Celebration, and much more. For a full festival lineup, visit the Mostly Mozart Festival event page.” (nyc-arts.org)

NYC Restaurant Week 2019: Start making your reservations.

“The more than three-week-long promotion featuring two-course lunches ($26) and three-course dinners ($42) at some of the city’s best restaurants is back for its summer edition starting July 22. This time around, the celebration features prix-fixe meals at more than 380 eateries, with deals through Aug. 16.

You can find links to menus and the restaurants involved here, but check out our picks for some of the most enticing deals below.” (amNY)

MM

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COMING SOON (WFUV)

7/31 NPR’s Turning The Table live: The Motherlode, Lincoln Center Out Of Doors
7/31 Joan Osborne and special guests, City Winery

♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, plus dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.6 million, had a record 65 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2018 – awesome! BUT quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just earlier on the day of performance.
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Chelsea Art Gallery District*

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.

Here is one exhibition the New Yorker likes:

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.

*Now plan your own gallery crawl, but better plan your visits for Tuesday through Saturday; most galleries are closed Sunday and Monday.

TIP: After your gallery tour, stop in Ovest at 513W27th St. for Aperitivo Italiano (Happy Hour on steroids). Discuss all the great art you have viewed over a drink and a very tasty selection of FREE appetizers (M-F, 5-8pm). OR try this NYT recommendation: “When you’re done, adjourn to the newly renovated Bottino , the Chelsea art world’s unofficial canteen on 10th Avenue (btw 24/25 St.) “

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see recent posts in right sidebar dated 07/29 and 07/27.
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Bonus NYC Music Venues:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are my favorite non jazz 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
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St., beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
Town Hall – 123 W43rd St., thetownhall.org, 212-997-6661
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
and one more, not quite WestSide
Bowery Ballroom – 6 Delancey St. boweryballroom.com

For a comprehensive list of the best places to hear All Types of Live Music in Manhattan see the tab above “LiveMusic.”

In Memoriam:
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 discovery and enjoyment.
Alas, Caffe V is no more, another victim of a rapacious NYC landlord. Owner Ishrat fought the good fight and Caffe V will be sorely missed.

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