NYC Events,”Only the Best” (11/02) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s 5th Avenue

“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:  “November 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.”

==============================================================

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

ECM Records at 50 (Nov.1-2)
Rose Theatre, Broadway at 60th St./ 8PM, $40+
Few recording labels are imprinted with the vision of one creator as indelibly as ECM Records has been with that of its founder, Manfred Eicher, by now an iconic figure. Having turned out more than a thousand jazz and classical albums since its inception, in 1969, ECM remains a blue-chip label. Though this gala event concentrates on jazz artists, including Bill Frisell, Jack DeJohnette, Wadada Leo Smith, and Joe Lovano, such important ringers as Egberto Gismonti and Meredith Monk also take part.” (Steve Futterman, NewYorker)

========================================================

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> New Masada Quartet
>> Paul Taylor American Modern Dance
>> New York Irish Whiskey Fest.
>> Target First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum:
Crossing Asian America

>> NYC Craft Beer Festival
>>Exploring Near-death Experiences

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

=======================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Art

New Masada Quartet (Oct. 29-Nov. 3)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S./ 8:30PM, +10:30PM, $35
“John Zorn’s long-running Masada project is a Hydra-headed endeavor that allows the composer and saxophonist to adapt his voluminous musical output for multiple ensembles. One such group, his Masada quartet—with Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, and Joey Baron—was an acclaimed acoustic outfit that wired together Jewish-themed music and free improvisation. This updated version includes the guitarist Julian Lage, the bassist Jorge Roeder, and the drummer Kenny Wollesen.” (Steve Futterman, New Yorker)

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance
NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 2PM, + 8PM, $
“Paul Taylor: Celebrate the Dancemaker, featuring the Paul Taylor Dance Company in a tribute to its founder, who died in 2018.

The engagement marks PTAMD’s first Lincoln Center Season under Artistic Director Michael Novak. Highlights include 19 Taylor masterworks and commissioned works created on PTDC by Mr. Abraham (World Premiere) and Guest Resident Choreographers Ms. Gillis and Ms. Tanowitz (Lincoln Center Premieres).”

=========================================================

Smart Stuff / Other NYC EventS

New York Irish Whiskey Fest.
Drink to Daylight Savings
Pier A Harbor House, 22 Battery Place / 1-4PM, 5:30-9PM $75
“Drink the best of Ireland with unlimited tastings from over 25 whiskey brands at the New York Irish Whiskey Fest. Hosted by the whiskey-soaked brains behind the Dead Rabbit — one of New York’s best Irish pubs — the Whiskey Fest will transform the Pier A Harbor House into Dublin on the Hudson with drinks, food, and live music. You’ll get an extra hour of sleep when we “fall back” on Sunday morning, so go ahead and get a little tipsy.” (Thrillist)

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour:

Target First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum:
Crossing Asian America
Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway (Washington Ave.) / 5-10PM, FREE
“Join us for engaging and eclectic free art and entertainment every month (except January and September). In addition to music, comedians, and film, you can tour the newly reopened Arts of China galleries.”
subway: easy #2,3 express from Time Square (30 min.)

NYC Craft Beer Festival (Nov.01-02)
Sip the harvest’s best beers
Union West, 535 W28th St./ 2-4:30PM, +7-9:30PM, $55
“The NYC Craft Beer Festival’s “Halloweekend Harvest” lets you taste brews from all over the country. A ticket gets you 2.5 hours of unlimited tastings of craft beer, cider, and spirits. With over 75 breweries serving up more than 150 beers, there should be plenty to keep your souvenir beer glass full. Just in case you need to take a break from all that beer, there’ll be food vendors, craft beer-themed shopping stalls, and a mixologist stirring up specialty drinks.” (thrillist.com)

Exploring Near-death Experiences
Anthroposophy NYC, 138 W. 15th St./ 3PM, +7PM, $35 for both lectures ($20 for one lecture)
“Robert and Suzanne Mays have studied the phenomena related to near-death experiences (NDEs) together for over 40 years. On Saturday, find them at Anthroposophy NYC giving two presentations on Exploring Near-death Experiences.”


Continuing Events

MM

===========================================================

COMING SOON (WFUV)

11/1-2 Railroad Earth, Bowery Ballroom
11/2 Live From Here with Chris Thile, Town Hall
11/2 Rosanne Cash and Ry Cooder, Carnegie Hall
11/2 The Fab Faux, Beacon Theatre
11/6 Little Stephen and the Disciples of Soul, Beacon Theatre

Fall Concerts (nycgo.com)

David Byrne’s American Utopia on Broadway
October 4­, 2019–January 19, 2020
Hudson Theatre
The Talking Heads frontman hits Broadway with a show based on his latest album—but you can expect some old favorites as well.

The New Pornographers
November 7
Brooklyn Steel
We love a good Canadian supergroup, of which the New Pornographers are one.

Slayer and Ministry
November 9
Madison Square Garden
It’s a metal show! Slayer is billing this as their last tour, so catch ’em while you’ve got the chance.

Ariana Grande
November 12
Barclays Center
Ariana Grande has a great voice; enjoy it at this show.

The Ergs
November 15
Brooklyn Bazaar
New Jersey pop punks the Ergs—fronted by a singing drummer—play their loud, fast, catchy songs live.

Taking Back Sunday
November 15–16
Terminal 5
These Long Island screamo practitioners are still at it.

==========================================================================
♦ 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 2019 – the ninth consecutive year. 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.

=========================================================

WHAT’S ON VIEW
These are My Fave Special Exhibitions @ MUSEUMS / Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue
(See the New York Times Arts Section for listings of all museum exhibitions,
and also see the expanded reviews of these exhibitions)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

‘ARTISTIC LICENSE: SIX TAKES ON THE GUGGENHEIM COLLECTION’  (through Jan. 12). “Displays that artists select from a museum’s collection are almost inevitably interesting, revealing and valuable. After all, artists can be especially discerning regarding work not their own. Here, six artists — Cai Guo-Qiang, Paul Chan, Richard Prince, Julie Mehretu, Carrie Mae Weens and Jenny Holzer — guided by specific themes, have chosen, which multiplies the impact accordingly. With one per ramp, each selection turns the museum inside out. The combination sustains multiple visits; the concept should be applied regularly.” (NYT-Roberta Smith)
212-423-3840, guggenheim.org

Neue Galerie

ERNST LUDWIG KIRCHNER (through Jan. 13).

“You could be forgiven for drawing a connection between Kirchner’s shocking color palette and his character. It would be understandable enough, considering his problems with morphine, Veronal and absinthe; the nervous breakdown precipitated by his artillery training in World War I; and his suicide in 1938, at the age of 58, after the Nazis had denounced him as a degenerate. But to linger on Kirchner’s lurid biography would be unfair to the mesmerizing technical genius of his style, amply on display in this exhibition. Surrounding more or less sober portrait subjects with backgrounds of flat but brilliant color, as Kirchner did, wasn’t just a youthful revolt against the staid academic painting he grew up with. It was also an ingenious way to articulate subjective experience in an increasingly materialist modern world. (NYT-Heinrich)
neuegalerie.org

‘SCENES FROM THE COLLECTION’

“After a surgical renovation to its grand pile on Fifth Avenue, the Jewish Museum has reopened its third-floor galleries with a rethought and refreshed display of its permanent collection, which intermingles modern and contemporary art, by Jews and gentiles alike — Mark Rothko, Lee Krasner, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, and the excellent young Nigerian draftswoman Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze — with 4,000 years of Judaica. The works are shown in a nimble, non-chronological suite of galleries, and some of its century-spanning juxtapositions are bracing; others feel reductive, even dilletantish. But always, the Jewish Museum conceives of art and religion as interlocking elements of a story of civilization, commendably open to new influences and new interpretations.” (Farago) 212-423-3200, thejewishmuseum.org

Museum of the City of New York

NY AT ITS CORE (ongoing)
“Ten years in the making, New York at Its Core tells the compelling story of New York’s rise from a striving Dutch village to today’s “Capital of the World.” The exhibition captures the human energy that drove New York to become a city like no other and a subject of fascination the world over. Entertaining, inspiring, important, and at times bemusing, New York City “big personalities,” including Alexander Hamilton, Walt Whitman, Boss Tweed, Emma Goldman, JP Morgan, Fiorello La Guardia, Jane Jacobs, Jay-Z, and dozens more, parade through the exhibition. Visitors will also learn the stories of lesser-known New York personalities, like Lenape chieftain Penhawitz and Italian immigrant Susie Rocco. Even animals like the horse, the pig, the beaver, and the oyster, which played pivotal roles in the economy and daily life of New York, get their moment in the historical spotlight. Occupying the entire first floor in three interactive galleries (Port City, 1609-1898, World City, 1898-2012, and Future City Lab) New York at Its Core is shaped by four themes: money, density, diversity, and creativity. Together, they provide a lens for examining the character of the city, and underlie the modern global metropolis we know today. mcny.org” (NYCity Guide)

and you should be sure to check out these special exhibitions at that little museum on Fifth Ave., The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(open 7 days /week, AND always Pay What You Wish for NewYorkers)

‘THE LAST KNIGHT: THE ART, ARMOR, AND AMBITION OF MAXIMILIAN I’ (through Jan. 5).

“Kaiser Max, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire in the years around 1500, anchors the Met’s largest show of arms and armor in decades: a gleaming showcase of heavy metal and Hapsburg propaganda. Maximilian I, who ruled a swath of Europe stretching from the Netherlands to Croatia, would have looked resplendent on the battlefield when he wore the tapered suit of ribbed and fluted steel here. What really broadcast his power were public spectacles of chivalric glory, in which he jousted with local noblemen and foreign champions in ritualized, but still dangerous, mock combat. He also embraced the hottest technology of the late 15th century: printmaking, which allowed the emperor to broadcast his military prowess through books and monumental woodcuts. The pen, or at least movable type, was for Maximilian even mightier than the sword.” (Farago-NYT)
212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

===========================================================
Museum Mile is a section of Fifth Avenue which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world. Eight museums can be found along this section of Fifth Avenue:
• 105th Street – El Museo del Barrio (closed Sun-Mon)*
• 103rd Street – Museum of the City of New York (open 7 days /week)
•  92nd Street – The Jewish Museum (closed Wed) (Sat FREE) (Thu 5-8 PWYW)
•  91st Street  –  Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (open 7 days /week)
•  89th Street –  National Academy Museum (closed Mon-Tue)
•  88th Street –  Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (closed Thu) (Sat 6-8 PWYW)
•  86th Street –  Neue Galerie New York (closed Tue-Wed) (Fri 6-8 FREE)
Last, but certainly not least, America’s premier museum
•  82nd Street – The Metropolitan Museum of Art (open 7 days /week)*
*always Pay What You Wish (PWYW) for NewYorkers

Although technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection (closed Mon) (Wed 2-6pm PWYW; First Friday each month (exc Jan+Sep) 6-9pm FREE) on the corner of 70th St. and Fifth Avenue and the The Morgan Library & Museum (closed Mon) (Fri 7-9 FREE) on Madison Ave and 37th St are also located near Fifth Ave.
Now plan your own museum crawl (info on hours & admission updated June 2, 2015).
==============================================================
For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 10/31 and 10/29.
============================================================

Bonus Live Music  – NYC Jazz Clubs:
Many consider NYCity the Jazz capital of the world. My favorite Jazz Clubs, all on Manhattan’s WestSide, feature top talent every night of the week.
Hit the Hot Link and check out who is playing tonight:

Greenwich Village:
(4 are underground, classic jazz joints. all 6 are within walking distance of each other):
Village Vanguard – UG, 178 7th Ave. So., villagevanguard.com, 212-255-4037 (1st 8:30)
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. bluenotejazz.com, 212-475-8592 (1st set 8pm)
55 Bar – basement @55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. 55bar.com, 212-929-9883 (1st 7pm)
Mezzrow – basement @ 163 W10th St. nr 7th Ave. mezzrow.com,646-476-4346 (1st 8)
Smalls – basement @ 183 W10th St. smallslive.com, 646-476-4346 (1st set 7:30pm)
The Stone at The New School – 55 w13 St. (btw 6/5 ave) – thestonenyc.com (8:30PM)

Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595 (1st set 7:30pm)
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080 (1st 8:30pm)
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com/ 212-864-6662 (7pm)
Jazz Standard – 116 E27 St. (btw Park/Lex) – jazzstandard.com – (1st set 7:30)

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 (1st 7pm)
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprised with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It was my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.
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.
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319
And more recently we have lost Cornelia Street Cafe. After 41 years, it too became another victim of an unreasonable rent increase.

I MEMORIALIZE THESE TWO WONDERFUL CLUBS AS A WARNING.
WE HAVE TO WORK HARDER TO SAVE THESE SPECIAL PLACES.

=======================================================

NYT Theater Reviews – Our theater critics on the plays and musicals currently open in New York City.

=======================================================

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

 

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s