NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/27) + Today’s Featured Pub (Times Square / Theater District)

Posted on 03/27/2018 by GregD

Today’s Sweet 6 NYC Events >TUESDAY/ MARCH 27, 2018

“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, better check the tab above: “NYC Events-March”
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.

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

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

Così fan tutte (Mar 15 – Apr 19)
Metropolitan Opera House / 7:30PM, $
“A winning cast comes together for Phelim McDermott’s clever vision of Mozart’s comedy about the sexes, set in a carnival-esque, funhouse environment inspired by 1950s Coney Island—complete with bearded ladies, fire eaters, and a Ferris wheel. Manipulating the action are the Don Alfonso of Christopher Maltman and the Despina of Tony Award–winner Kelli O’Hara, with Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Ben Bliss, and Adam Plachetka as the pairs of young lovers who test each other’s faithfulness. David Robertson conducts.”

=========================================================
5 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>Rosanne Cash
>> BOBBY MCFERRIN SPIRITYOUALL
>>Ravi Coltrane
>> Astronomy Live: Mars in Focus
>>Intelligence Squared Debates | The More We Evolve, The Less We Need God
Continuing Events
>>STREB EXTREME ACTION
>>Macy’s Flower Show
========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Rosanne Cash
Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center / 8PM, $
“An extraordinary songwriter, a witty storyteller, a fiercely loving activist, and a sensitive interpreter of songs, Rosanne Cash explores the impressive arc of her artistry during this special evening. An heir to country music royalty, she is a revolutionary that has never lost reverence for the traditions she inherited, a literary songwriter who has never lost sight of her role as plainspoken American storyteller. Cash helped create and master the “new country” of the 1980s only to transcend it once more with a series of deeply personal, critically acclaimed albums, the last of which—2013’s The River & the Thread—won three Grammy Awards. Experience Cash’s one-of-a-kind show, an honest reflection of a one-of-a-kind life, at the beautiful Rose Theater.”

Ravi Coltrane  (Mar.27-31)
Jazz Standard / 7:30pm, 9:30pm; $30
Expect plenty of inside-outside postbop intrigue here, as the subtly commanding sax star distills the innovative spirit from his jazz-royalty legacy into a distinctly modern style with a killer trio. Keep an eye for a rotating bill of special guests: Pharaoh Sanders’s son Tomoki Sanders (Mar 28), Brandee Younger (Mar 30), and Ralph Alessi (April 1).”(TONY)

BOBBY MCFERRIN SPIRITYOUALL (March 23-April 1)
at the Blue Note / 8 and 10:30PM, $55-$75
“Since the 1980s, audiences have known Mr. McFerrin as a virtuoso vocalist who can deliver entire captivating sets without any accompaniment. But when he’s with his Spirityouall band, Mr. McFerrin discovers untold possibilities in the rootsy, molten arrangements of Gil Goldstein, the ensemble’s pianist and musical director. Spirityouall has a smartly tailored aesthetic, but Mr. McFerrin complicates and provokes it — sounding shots of vocal percussion, modulating the flow, coaxing kinetics out of languor. Here Mr. Goldstein helms a five-piece band, and Mr. McFerrin is joined on vocals by his daughter, Madison, a notable talent in her own right.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC Events
(Lectures/Discussions, Book Talks, Film, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)

Astronomy Live: Mars in Focus
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street – Hayden Planetarium Space Theater/ 7PM, $15
“Get closer to Mars than ever before! Join Carter Emmart and Irene Pease on a tour of the red planet and examine multiple iconic locations in exquisite detail. View the latest high-resolution imagery of rocky terrain assembled from NASA and the European Space Agency, and immerse yourself in the magnificent Martian landscape.”

Intelligence Squared Debates | The More We Evolve, The Less We Need God
Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, 695 Park Ave./ 7PM, $40
“Is God dead? Or perhaps obsolete? Intelligence Squared Debates brings in powerful thinkers to question the role of spirituality in our evolving future. Cognitive neuroscientist Heather Berlin and Skeptics Society founder Michael Shermer square off against emergency physician Dr. Anoop Kumar and integrative medicine advocate Dr. Deepak Chopra.” (ThoughtGallery.org)

===========================================================================
♦ 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 63 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017 – 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.
===========================================================================

Continuing Events

Visit the Macy’s Flower Show
“It’s a floral fairy tale at Macy’s for the store’s annual spring flower show, “Once Upon a Springtime.” Flowers, plants and trees take over windows and countertops, are featured in gardens and on bridges on multiple floors. Events range from a family fun day and breakfast with the Easter bunny to a sip-and-paint class and a men’s grooming and beer tasting.”
WHEN | WHERE Sunday, March 25, through April 8 at Macy’s Herald Square, 151 W. 34th St.
INFO Free (events range up to $24), 212-494-4495, macys.com/social/flower-show/new-york  (Newsday)

This is not Manhattan’s WestSide, but it is Brooklyn’s WestSide. If you have never seen these crazy, fearless performers, they are well worth the detour:

STREB EXTREME ACTION (March 2- April 8, Friday-Sunday at various times)
at SLAM, 51 N 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Elizabeth Streb’s cavernous Brooklyn space is known as SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics), which is also a frequent move that occurs at one of her shows. For the month of March, her fearless team of action heroes, as they’re called, will navigate intimidating industrial contraptions and fling themselves from unnatural heights, seemingly defying physics with the pep of cheerleaders. The hourlong show, “S.E.A.” (“Singular Extreme Actions”), encapsulates all the thrill, humor and energizing fun that makes this company so singular.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

===========================================================
Bonus NYC events– Jazz Clubs:
Many consider NYCity the Jazz capital of the world. Here are my favorite Jazz clubs, all on Manhattan’s WestSide. Hit the Hot Link and check out who is playing tonight:

Greenwich Village:
(5 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)
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319 (6pm)

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)

Special Mention:
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 surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

========================================================================
NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

A PremierPub

Jimmy’s Corner / 140 W 44th St (btw B’way & 7th ave)

IMG_2083Jimmy’s Corner is right in the heart of Times Square, but you won’t find it on the corner, it’s mid-block. Enter this long narrow bar and you are struck by the walls covered with mostly black-and-white boxing photographs, and memorabilia. Soon enough you learn that “Corner” refers to proprietor Jimmy Glenn’s long career as a corner man for some of boxing greats – Liston, Tyson, even “the greatest,” Ali.

Jimmy’s is a sort of time machine, taking you back to a time and place that no longer exists. All around you Times Square has cleaned up, grown up, assumed a new identity. Jimmy’s probably hasn’t changed a bit since it first opened in 1971. Certainly the bar itself looks original and the prices haven’t changed much either. When I brought a friend, who owns her own bar, she was surprised when she got the small tab for a round of drinks. Figured there must be a mistake, that maybe they forgot to charge for all the drinks.

Times Square today is filled with neon glitz and wandering tourists from Dubuque, but not Jimmy’s. You’ll likely find some old timer’s at the bar nursing their drinks, some younger locals at tables in the back, and maybe a few adventuresome tourists clutching their trusty guidebooks. There’s no food served here because this is just a bar, and sometimes that’s all you need.

On nights when no local team is playing, it’s a fine place to sip some drafts and listen to a great old time jukebox, with a great selection of  40s& 50s R&B and soul. On sports nights this very narrow bar can get a bit claustrophobic, filled with excited fans watching their team on the TVs. Either way, Jimmy’s is the place to be if you are looking for an old time bar in the new Times Square.
————————————————————————————————————————
Website: are you kidding !
(although there is a facebook page with lots of photos –
facebook.com/jimmyscornernyc)
Phone #: 212-221-9510
Hours: 11am – 4 am, except Sunday they open 12 noon
Happy Hour: not necessary, low prices all day, every day
Subway: #1,2,3 to TimesSquare 42nd st
walk 2 blks N on 7th ave to 44th st; ½ blk E to Jimmy’s

================================================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).
If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
================================================================================
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/26) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 03/25/2018 by GregD

Today’s Sweet 6 NYC Events >MONDAY/ MARCH 26, 2018

“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, better check the tab above: “NYC Events-March”
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.

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

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

Broadway by the Year
The Town Hall / 8PM, $57-$67
“Scott Siegel’s valuable concert series opens time capsules to some of the Great White Way’s most memorable seasons. The March edition devotes its first act to shows from 1947 (such as Brigadoon, Finian’s Rainbow) and its second act to shows from 1966 (such as Cabaret and Sweet Charity). The cast includes Lesli Margherita, Tony Yazbeck, Emily Skinner, Jenny Lee Stern, Brian Charles Rooney and Mia Gerachis.” (TONY)

=========================================================
5 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>Broadway Sings Rihanna
>> BOBBY MCFERRIN SPIRITYOUALL
>>Miscast 2018
>> k.d. lang: North American Ingénue Redux Tour
>>Historians on Hamilton
Continuing Events
>>STREB EXTREME ACTION
>>Macy’s Flower Show
========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Broadway Sings Rihanna
Highline Ballroom / 8PM, $30+
“More than a dozen Broadway vocalists perform new arangements of hits by the pride of Barbados, backed by orchestrator Joshua Stephen Kartes and a 14-piece jazz orchestra. Singers include Alysha Deslorieux, Lexi Lawson, Ciara Renée, Caroline Bowman, Lilli Cooper, Kathryn Gallagher, Alexa Green, Joanna A. Jones, Kristolyn Lloyd, Anastacia McCleskey, Abby Mueller, Bryonha Marie Parham, Christina Sajous, Hannah Shankman, Jessica Vosk and Raena White.” (TONY)

Miscast 2018
Hammerstein Ballroom (at the Manhattan Center) / 9PM, $125+
“Performers sing numbers that they should never sing anywhere else in this popular annual gala benefit for MCC Theater. The typically fancy lineup includes Sara Bareilles, Raúl Esparza, Jayne Houdyshell, James Monroe Iglehart, Robert Fairchild, Keala Settle, Jordan Fisher, Katrina Lenk, Alex Newell, and the gorgeous voice of Moana, Auli’I Cravalho.” (TONY)

k.d. lang: North American Ingénue Redux Tour
Beacon Theatre / 7:30PM, $49+
“The superb Canadian avant-roots chanteuse doesn’t come around here very often, so don’t miss the chance to see her celebrate the 25th anniversary of her cabaret-inflected breakthrough album Ingénue. Alongside the entirety of that yearning LP—including the hits “Constant Craving” and “Miss Chatelaine”—expect a few songs from later efforts.” (TONY)

BOBBY MCFERRIN SPIRITYOUALL (March 23-April 1)
at the Blue Note / 8 and 10:30PM, $55-$75
“Since the 1980s, audiences have known Mr. McFerrin as a virtuoso vocalist who can deliver entire captivating sets without any accompaniment. But when he’s with his Spirityouall band, Mr. McFerrin discovers untold possibilities in the rootsy, molten arrangements of Gil Goldstein, the ensemble’s pianist and musical director. Spirityouall has a smartly tailored aesthetic, but Mr. McFerrin complicates and provokes it — sounding shots of vocal percussion, modulating the flow, coaxing kinetics out of languor. Here Mr. Goldstein helms a five-piece band, and Mr. McFerrin is joined on vocals by his daughter, Madison, a notable talent in her own right.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC Events
(Lectures/Discussions, Book Talks, Film, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)

Historians on Hamilton
The New School, 66 W. 12th St./ 7PM, FREE
“In February 2015, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton: An American Musical debuted to critical acclaim and became an instant hit. But just how historically accurate is it? Does Miranda’s hip-hop take on the Founding Fathers offer a bold and positive vision for our nation’s future, or does it misrepresent the past? Can a musical so unabashedly contemporary still communicate historical truths about American culture and politics? And is Hamilton as revolutionary as its creators and many commentators claim?

Please join us for a special performance and a night of lively discussion with editors Claire Bond Potter and Renee C. Romano, contributors Brian Eugenio Herrera, Jim Cullen, Elizabeth Wollman, Lyra Monteiro, and William Hogeland, moderated by Parsons Professor of Art History and Lafayette biographer Laura Auricchio.”

===========================================================================
♦ 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 63 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017 – 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.
===========================================================================

Continuing Events

Visit the Macy’s Flower Show
“It’s a floral fairy tale at Macy’s for the store’s annual spring flower show, “Once Upon a Springtime.” Flowers, plants and trees take over windows and countertops, are featured in gardens and on bridges on multiple floors. Events range from a family fun day and breakfast with the Easter bunny to a sip-and-paint class and a men’s grooming and beer tasting.”
WHEN | WHERE Sunday, March 25, through April 8 at Macy’s Herald Square, 151 W. 34th St.
INFO Free (events range up to $24), 212-494-4495, macys.com/social/flower-show/new-york  (Newsday)

This is not Manhattan’s WestSide, but it is Brooklyn’s WestSide. If you have never seen these crazy, fearless performers, they are well worth the detour:

STREB EXTREME ACTION (March 2- April 8, Friday-Sunday at various times)
at SLAM, 51 N 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Elizabeth Streb’s cavernous Brooklyn space is known as SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics), which is also a frequent move that occurs at one of her shows. For the month of March, her fearless team of action heroes, as they’re called, will navigate intimidating industrial contraptions and fling themselves from unnatural heights, seemingly defying physics with the pep of cheerleaders. The hourlong show, “S.E.A.” (“Singular Extreme Actions”), encapsulates all the thrill, humor and energizing fun that makes this company so singular.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

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

Bonus NYC Events – 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
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237W42nd St., bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
and one more, not exactly WestSide
Bowery Ballroom – 6 Delancey St. boweryballroom.com,

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 discovery and enjoyment.
===========================================================

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

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 an exhibition the New Yorker likes:

“The Shadow Archive: An Investigation Into Vernacular Portrait Photography”

Walther Collection, 526 W. 26th St. (thru Mar.31)

“The first in a multiyear series of shows about photographs made for commercial or practical purposes, curated by Brian Wallis, considers the portrait. Most of the images date to the nineteenth century; all of them fit into typologies. Fifteen tintypes of “workers with tools of their trade” include a barber, a piano tuner, and a sword swallower; several mug shots attributed to the California sheriff Thomas Cunningham are so picturesque that they could be mistaken for stills from a Hollywood period piece. Passport photographers across Africa take full-length portraits and cut out the heads, leaving behind accidental studies of fashion. A mesmerizing series of such discards, shown here, were taken against a red background in Gulu, Uganda, and collected by the Italian-born journalist Martina Bacigalupo. A found group of forty-eight color snapshots of migrant farmworkers, each holding up a paper number—their source is unknown—takes the idea of identifying documents in a more chilling direction.”

 

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

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 to 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 the 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.) “

=======================================================
For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see recent posts in right sidebar dated 03/22 and 03/24.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/25) + Today’s Featured Pub (Tribeca)

Posted on 03/25/2018 by GregD

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events >SUNDAY/ MARCH 25, 2018

“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, better check the tab above: “NYC Events-March”
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.

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

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

Sondheim Unplugged
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7pm; $40+,
“Talented singers from the Broadway and cabaret worlds sing side by side in this monthly tribute to the master of musical theater that has often featured former cast members of Sondheim shows” (TONY)

“Sondheim Unplugged is hosted by series creator Phil Geoffrey Bond, who will fill the audience in on Sondheimien facts, history & assorted tidbits of theatrical lore! Come join the party!”
Special Guests:
Sarah Rice (Sweeney Todd’s original Johanna)
Jim Walton (Merrily We Roll Along‘s original Franklin Shepard)

=========================================================
 6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE
>> BOBBY MCFERRIN SPIRITYOUALL
>>BILL FRISELL
>> 2018 Food Truck Fest
>>The AD Design Show, Architectural Digest Show
>> The Affordable Art Fair
Continuing Events
>>STREB EXTREME ACTION
>>Whiteout
========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

BOBBY MCFERRIN SPIRITYOUALL (March 23-April 1)
at the Blue Note / 8 and 10:30PM, $55+
“Since the 1980s, audiences have known Mr. McFerrin as a virtuoso vocalist who can deliver entire captivating sets without any accompaniment. But when he’s with his Spirityouall band, Mr. McFerrin discovers untold possibilities in the rootsy, molten arrangements of Gil Goldstein, the ensemble’s pianist and musical director. Spirityouall has a smartly tailored aesthetic, but Mr. McFerrin complicates and provokes it — sounding shots of vocal percussion, modulating the flow, coaxing kinetics out of languor. Here Mr. Goldstein helms a five-piece band, and Mr. McFerrin is joined on vocals by his daughter, Madison, a notable talent in her own right.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE (LAST DAY)
at the NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 2PM, +8PM, $10+
“Paul Taylor’s spring season continues at Lincoln Center, featuring works from his ample repertory from the 1960s to today, plus newly commissioned work by choreographers Doug Varone and Bryan Arias, and guest appearances by Trisha Brown Dance Company, performing the 1983 postmodern classic “Set and Reset.” This week also sees Sara Mearns, a top ballerina with New York City Ballet, channeling the free-spirited modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan in “Dances of Isadora,” reconstructed by the Isadora Duncan Dance Company.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)
2 PM Changes | Continuum | Gossamer Gallants
 8 PM Dances of Isadora* | Banquet of Vultures | Esplanad

BILL FRISELL (LAST DAY)
at the Village Vanguard / 8:30 and 10:30PM, $35
“Last Friday, the guitarist, an eminence on New York’s greater improvised music scene, released “Music Is,” his first solo album in almost 20 years. Mr. Frisell has exerted his influence gently, funneling inspiration from 1960s folk rock and 1970s free jazz into a sound that’s hearthlike and imperturbable, whether spinning through reverb-drenched runs or caressing its way through a slow, major-chord progression. This weekend he’s at the Village Vanguard with his trio, featuring the bassist Thomas Morgan and the drummer Rudy Royston. He takes a break on Monday, then returns for six more nights with the violist Eyvind Kang joining the group.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC Events
(Lectures/Discussions, Book Talks, Film, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)

2018 Food Truck Fest
at Grand Bazaar, 100 W77th St. / 10AM-5:30PM
Join this year’s NYC Food Truck Fest, organized by Grand Bazaar NYC, a weekly curated market on the Upper West Side. This Sunday you’ll find 12 of the best gourmet food trucks in NYC in addition to the market’s 100+ vendors. Trucks will be coming together to serve up everything from fresh lobster sandwiches to freshly made pizza, hot mac ‘n’ cheese to sweet crepes, to award-winning empanadas and stuffed French toast.” (cityguideny)

The AD Design Show, Architectural Digest Show
at Pier 92 & 94 / 10AM-6PM, $30
“Vignettes, book signings, design seminars, cooking demos, special events, and more.” (cityguideny.com)

The Affordable Art Fair
Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W. 18th St./ $10-$80
Kicked off Thursday, featuring contemporary works, ranging from paintings and prints to sculptures and photographs. Workshops and talks will also be taking place throughout the day at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea.
If you love art and want to buy some but have limited amounts to shell out, this is the fair for you. Choose from thousands of works of contemporary art priced between $100 and $10,000.
Observer Editors Discuss Affordable Art Fair Favorites

===========================================================================
♦ 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 63 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017 – 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.
===========================================================================

Continuing Events

This is not Manhattan’s WestSide, but it is Brooklyn’s WestSide. If you have never seen these crazy, fearless performers, they are well worth the detour:

STREB EXTREME ACTION
at SLAM, 51 N 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Elizabeth Streb’s cavernous Brooklyn space is known as SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics), which is also a frequent move that occurs at one of her shows. For the month of March, her fearless team of action heroes, as they’re called, will navigate intimidating industrial contraptions and fling themselves from unnatural heights, seemingly defying physics with the pep of cheerleaders. The hourlong show, “S.E.A.” (“Singular Extreme Actions”), encapsulates all the thrill, humor and energizing fun that makes this company so singular.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

Let there be light! (LAST DAY)
Erwin Redl’s Whiteout, a newly commissioned public art project, will light up in Madison Square Park. It consists of hundreds of transparent white spheres, each embedded with a white LED light, and suspended from a square grid of steel poles.

=====================================================
Bonus: Nifty 9 – Best Cabarets / Piano Bars NYCity
These are my favorite places for an after dinner night on the town – music and drinks.
Hit the Hot Link and check out what’s happening tonight:

Feinstein’s/54 Below – 254 W 54th St.

The Green Room 42 – 570 Tenth Ave.

Don’t Tell Mama – 343 W 46th St.

Marie’s Crisis – 59 Grove St.

The Rum House, in the Hotel Edison – 228 W. 47th St.

Laurie Beechman Theatre – 407 W 42nd St.

The Duplex – 61 Christopher St.

Sid Gold’s Request Room – 165 W 26th St.

Cafe Carlyle, in the Carlyle Hotel – 35 E. 76th St.
This is the only one not located on Manhattan’s WestSide, and it ain’t cheap, but it has some of the finest singers.

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

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

A PremierPub / Tribeca

B-Flat / 277 Church St. (btw Franklin/White St))

b_flat4There are some places that are tough to find, then add a layer of mystery when you do find them. B-Flat has a nondescript, almost unmarked door at street level – today’s speakeasy vibe. Open this door and you face a dimly lit stairway down to their basement location. It almost takes a leap of faith to follow the stairs down to their interior door.
But open that door and a pleasant surprise awaits you.

It’s a basement jazz spot all right, but not like any traditional jazz joint you may have been to before. This place looks as fresh as today, probably because it’s only been open for 6 years. Even though it hasn’t had a chance to age gracefully, the cherry wood accents and low lighting make this small space very inviting.

There is always jazz, often progressive jazz, playing over their very discrete, stylish bose speakers, setting just the right tone as you find a seat at the bar, or one of the small tables. There is wine and beer available, but this place has some expert mixologists making some very creative cocktails, which I’m told change seasonally, a nice touch.

Come at happy hour and tasty cocktails like the el Diablo or the lychee martini are $8 – not bad. I am a sucker for any drink made with lychee and how can you not try a tequila drink named el Diablo. There is also nice selection of small bites available at happy hour and a food menu that is as innovative as the cocktail menu, so this does not have to be a happy hour only stop.

It wasn’t surprising to find a tasty prosciutto and arugula salad with yuzu dressing, but I did not expect to find such a good version of fried chicken breast on the apps menu. Here it’s called “Tatsuta.” Best bet is to sample happy hour, then dinner on a Monday or Wednesday night, when you can finish with no cover live jazz that starts around 8.

This place is tough to find (look for a small slate sandwich board on the sidewalk out front advertising happy hour) and on some nights when there is no live music it may be a little too quiet for some. But I think it’s worth searching out if you want a place with good music, food, and especially drinks, away from the maddening crowd.

Website: http://http://www.bflat.info/index.html
Phone #: 212-219-2970
Hours: Mo-Wed 5pm-2am; Th-Sat 5pm-3am; no Sun
Happy Hour: 5-7pm every day; $8 cocktails + special prices on apps
Music: Mon/Wed 8pm
Subway: #1 to Franklin; walk E 1 blk to Church; N 1 blk to bFlat

==================================================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
============================================================

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/24) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s 5th Avenue

Posted on 03/24/2018 by GregD

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events >SATURDAY/ MARCH 24, 2018

“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, better check the tab above: “NYC Events-March”
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.

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

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

Frances Ruffelle Live(S) in New York
The Green Room 42 / 7PM, $30
“Ruffelle has a place of her own in the hearts of musical-theater fans for her performance as sacrificial waif Éponine in the original London and Broadway casts of Les Misérables. Having recently relocated to New York City, she returns to the nightclub stage with a charmingly game and gamine monthly set at the Green Room 42.” (TONY)

Eponine has all grown up and she puts on one hot show – don’t miss it.

=========================================================
7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Jimmy Webb
>>PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE
>> BOBBY MCFERRIN SPIRITYOUALL
>>BILL FRISELL
>> Billy Childs
>>The AD Design Show, Architectural Digest Show
>> The Affordable Art Fair
Continuing Events
>>STREB EXTREME ACTION
>>Whiteout
========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Jimmy Webb
at the Cutting Room / 8PM, $50+
“The sophisticated lyrics and smooth vocals will flow like all that sweet green icing from a certain cake left out in the rain when Bayville singer-songwriter Webb takes the stage. He’ll be performing many of the classics he penned — “Up, Up and Away,” “The Worst That Could Happen” — and no doubt pay tribute to his friend Glen Campbell, who died last year.” (Newsday)

PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE (through March 25)
at the NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 2PM, +8PM, $10+
“Paul Taylor’s spring season continues at Lincoln Center, featuring works from his ample repertory from the 1960s to today, plus newly commissioned work by choreographers Doug Varone and Bryan Arias, and guest appearances by Trisha Brown Dance Company, performing the 1983 postmodern classic “Set and Reset.” This week also sees Sara Mearns, a top ballerina with New York City Ballet, channeling the free-spirited modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan in “Dances of Isadora,” reconstructed by the Isadora Duncan Dance Company.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)
2 PM Changes | Continuum | Gossamer Gallants
 8 PM Dances of Isadora* | Banquet of Vultures | Esplanad

BOBBY MCFERRIN SPIRITYOUALL (March 23-April 1)
at the Blue Note / 8 and 10:30PM, $55+
“Since the 1980s, audiences have known Mr. McFerrin as a virtuoso vocalist who can deliver entire captivating sets without any accompaniment. But when he’s with his Spirityouall band, Mr. McFerrin discovers untold possibilities in the rootsy, molten arrangements of Gil Goldstein, the ensemble’s pianist and musical director. Spirityouall has a smartly tailored aesthetic, but Mr. McFerrin complicates and provokes it — sounding shots of vocal percussion, modulating the flow, coaxing kinetics out of languor. Here Mr. Goldstein helms a five-piece band, and Mr. McFerrin is joined on vocals by his daughter, Madison, a notable talent in her own right.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Billy Childs (March 22-25)
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St./ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“Having won the 2018 Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Album, the pianist Childs can place the award alongside his previous four. Although he broke into public view by way of his broad work with such luminaries as Freddie Hubbard and J. J. Johnson, Childs quickly sidestepped categorization as an intrepid hard bopper by investigating diverse hybrid projects, including classical composition and Laura Nyro covers. The most recent Grammy-winning album, “Rebirth,” casts a fond glance back toward his small-group beginnings.” (NewYorker)

BILL FRISELL (through March 25)
at the Village Vanguard / 8:30 and 10:30PM, $35
“Last Friday, the guitarist, an eminence on New York’s greater improvised music scene, released “Music Is,” his first solo album in almost 20 years. Mr. Frisell has exerted his influence gently, funneling inspiration from 1960s folk rock and 1970s free jazz into a sound that’s hearthlike and imperturbable, whether spinning through reverb-drenched runs or caressing its way through a slow, major-chord progression. This weekend he’s at the Village Vanguard with his trio, featuring the bassist Thomas Morgan and the drummer Rudy Royston. He takes a break on Monday, then returns for six more nights with the violist Eyvind Kang joining the group.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC Events
(Lectures/Discussions, Book Talks, Film, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)

The AD Design Show, Architectural Digest Show (also Mar.25)
at Pier 92 & 94 / 10AM-6PM, $30
“Vignettes, book signings, design seminars, cooking demos, special events, and more.” (cityguideny.com)

The Affordable Art Fair
Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W. 18th St./ $10-$80
Kicked off Thursday, featuring contemporary works, ranging from paintings and prints to sculptures and photographs. Workshops and talks will also be taking place throughout the day at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea.
If you love art and want to buy some but have limited amounts to shell out, this is the fair for you. Choose from thousands of works of contemporary art priced between $100 and $10,000.
Observer Editors Discuss Affordable Art Fair Favorites

===========================================================================
♦ 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 63 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017 – 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.
===========================================================================

Continuing Events

This is not Manhattan’s WestSide, but it is Brooklyn’s WestSide. If you have never seen these crazy, fearless performers, they are well worth the detour:

STREB EXTREME ACTION (March 2-25 at various times)
at SLAM, 51 N 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Elizabeth Streb’s cavernous Brooklyn space is known as SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics), which is also a frequent move that occurs at one of her shows. For the month of March, her fearless team of action heroes, as they’re called, will navigate intimidating industrial contraptions and fling themselves from unnatural heights, seemingly defying physics with the pep of cheerleaders. The hourlong show, “S.E.A.” (“Singular Extreme Actions”), encapsulates all the thrill, humor and energizing fun that makes this company so singular.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

Let there be light!
Erwin Redl’s Whiteout, a newly commissioned public art project, will light up in Madison Square Park. It consists of hundreds of transparent white spheres, each embedded with a white LED light, and suspended from a square grid of steel poles. The swaying sequence of light will be on display until April 2018.

===========================================================
Bonus NYC events– Jazz Clubs:
Many consider NYCity the Jazz capital of the world. Here are my favorite Jazz clubs, all on Manhattan’s WestSide. Hit the Hot Link and check out who is playing tonight:

Greenwich Village:
(5 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)
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319 (6pm)

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)

Special Mention:
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 surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

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

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

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)

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)

Frick Collection

Veronese in Murano: Two Venetian Renaissance Masterpieces Restored (thru Mar.25)

“In between jobs for doges and popes, the sixteenth-century Italian painter, who was born Paolo Caliari in Verona, completed two large paintings for a chapel in a convent graveyard on the Venetian island of Murano. One portrayed St. Jerome during his stint as a hermit in the Syrian desert; the other showed St. Agatha, imprisoned by a Roman consul for resisting his advances. Recently restored and leaving Italy for the first time, the canvases are remarkable for the subtlety of their color. Under matte and powdery surfaces, Jerome’s cardinal-red loincloth shimmers like real silk, the dark-green leaves of an overhead laurel branch look waxy, and a line of clouds at the bottom of the sky are simultaneously pink and orange. Agatha, sharing her cell with an apparition of St. Peter and a small blond angel, is perfectly distinct in every detail while still chromatically at home in a dim prison. Equally remarkable is Veronese’s understated insight into the ambivalent humanity of his saintly characters. Jerome has stopped mortifying his flesh with a rock to gaze up at a crucifix, but the way he holds his arm suggests that he might suddenly toss the stone at his distant Saviour instead. Agatha turns her head only halfway, as if unwilling to withdraw full attention from her own suffering merely on the strength of St. Peter’s promises.” (NewYorker)

Zurbarán’s Jacob and His Twelve Sons: Paintings from Auckland Castle (thru April 22)

Francisco de Zurbarán was the second-best painter in seventeenth-century Spain—no disgrace when the champion, his Seville-born near-exact contemporary, happened to be Diego Velázquez, who arguably remains better than anybody, ever. In this room-filling show, thirteen life-size imagined portraits, painted by Zurbarán circa 1640-45, constitute a terrific feat of Baroque storytelling: the movies of their day. Each character has a distinct personality, uniquely posed, costumed, and accessorized, and towering against a bright, clouded sky. All appear in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, in which the dying Jacob prophesies the fates of the founders-to-be of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. After nearly four centuries, the canvases sorely need cleaning. The brilliance of their colors has dimmed, notably in passages of brocade and other sumptuous fabrics—a forte of Zurbarán, whose father was a haberdasher. But most of the pictures retain power aplenty. Spend time with them, half an hour minimum. Their glories bloom slowly, as you register the formal decisions that practically spring the figures from their surfaces into the room with you, and as you ponder, if you will, the stories that they plumb. (NewYorker)

Jewish Museum

‘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

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)

‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER: JOSEPH CORNELL’S HOMAGE TO JUAN GRIS’ (through April 15). “This small, hyper-specialized, stunning exhibition brings together a grand total of only 13 works — a dozen shadow boxes by Joseph Cornell, the Queens-based assemblage artist, and a Cubist masterwork that he cited as their direct inspiration. Gris’s “Man at the Café” (1914) might seem like a surprising obsession for Cornell, who was not a painter nor a Frenchman. He and Gris never met. But Cornell was deeply moved by Gris, the overlooked, tagalong third in the Cubist movement that also included Picasso and Braque, and the show succeeds in tracking the fluttery ways of artistic inspiration.”
(Deborah Solomon)
212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

‘THE FACE OF DYNASTY: ROYAL CRESTS FROM WESTERN CAMEROON’ (through Sept. 3). “Upstairs, the Michelangelos continue to knock ‘em dead; downstairs, in the African wing, a show of just four commanding wooden crowns constitutes a blockbuster of its own. These massive wooden crests — in the form of stylized human faces with vast vertical brows — served as markers of royal power among the Bamileke peoples of the Cameroonian grasslands, and the Met’s recent acquisition of an 18th-century specimen is joined here by three later examples, each featuring sharply protruding cheeks, broadly smiling mouths, and brows incised with involute geometric patterns. Ritual objects like these were decisive for the development of western modernist painting, and a Cameroonian crest was even shown at MoMA in the 1930s, as a “sculpture” divorced from ethnography. But these crests had legal and diplomatic significance as well as aesthetic appeal, and their anonymous African creators had a political understanding of art not so far from our own.” (Farago)

===========================================================
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)

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 03/22 and 03/20.
=============================================================

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/23) + Today’s Featured Pub (Greenwich Village)

Posted on 03/23/2018 by GregD

Today’s Sweet 6 NYC Events >FRIDAY/ MARCH 23, 2018

“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, better check the tab above: “NYC Events-March”
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.

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

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

BOBBY MCFERRIN SPIRITYOUALL (March 23-April 1)
at the Blue Note / 8 and 10:30PM, $55+
“Since the 1980s, audiences have known Mr. McFerrin as a virtuoso vocalist who can deliver entire captivating sets without any accompaniment. But when he’s with his Spirityouall band, Mr. McFerrin discovers untold possibilities in the rootsy, molten arrangements of Gil Goldstein, the ensemble’s pianist and musical director. Spirityouall has a smartly tailored aesthetic, but Mr. McFerrin complicates and provokes it — sounding shots of vocal percussion, modulating the flow, coaxing kinetics out of languor. Here Mr. Goldstein helms a five-piece band, and Mr. McFerrin is joined on vocals by his daughter, Madison, a notable talent in her own right.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

=========================================================
5 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE
>>BILL FRISELL
>> Billy Childs
>>The Library After Hours: Starry Messengers
>> The Affordable Art Fair
Continuing Events
>>STREB EXTREME ACTION
>>Whiteout
========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE (through March 25)
at the NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 7PM, $10+
“Paul Taylor’s spring season continues at Lincoln Center, featuring works from his ample repertory from the 1960s to today, plus newly commissioned work by choreographers Doug Varone and Bryan Arias, and guest appearances by Trisha Brown Dance Company, performing the 1983 postmodern classic “Set and Reset.” This week also sees Sara Mearns, a top ballerina with New York City Ballet, channeling the free-spirited modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan in “Dances of Isadora,” reconstructed by the Isadora Duncan Dance Company.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)
Tonight: Dances of Isadora* | Bryan Arias New Work* | Piazzolla Caldera

BILL FRISELL (through March 25)
at the Village Vanguard / 8:30 and 10:30PM, $35
“Last Friday, the guitarist, an eminence on New York’s greater improvised music scene, released “Music Is,” his first solo album in almost 20 years. Mr. Frisell has exerted his influence gently, funneling inspiration from 1960s folk rock and 1970s free jazz into a sound that’s hearthlike and imperturbable, whether spinning through reverb-drenched runs or caressing its way through a slow, major-chord progression. This weekend he’s at the Village Vanguard with his trio, featuring the bassist Thomas Morgan and the drummer Rudy Royston. He takes a break on Monday, then returns for six more nights with the violist Eyvind Kang joining the group.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Billy Childs (March 22-25)
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St./ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“Having won the 2018 Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Album, the pianist Childs can place the award alongside his previous four. Although he broke into public view by way of his broad work with such luminaries as Freddie Hubbard and J. J. Johnson, Childs quickly sidestepped categorization as an intrepid hard bopper by investigating diverse hybrid projects, including classical composition and Laura Nyro covers. The most recent Grammy-winning album, “Rebirth,” casts a fond glance back toward his small-group beginnings.” (NewYorker)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC Events
(Lectures/Discussions, Book Talks, Film, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)

The Library After Hours: Starry Messengers
New York Public Library—Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
476 Fifth Ave./ 7PM, FREE
“Astronomy may be the oldest human science—bones marked to track the phases of the moon date back 35,000 years. This month’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building Library After Hours takes an interstellar theme, with examples of the art, culture, and history of astronomy from the collection, plus cosmic lectures from Astronomy on Tap, including Jana Grcevich speaking about travel to other worlds.” (ThoughtGallery.org)

The Affordable Art Fair kicked off Thursday, featuring contemporary works, ranging from paintings and prints to sculptures and photographs. Workshops and talks will also be taking place throughout the day at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea.
Observer Editors Discuss Affordable Art Fair Favorites

===========================================================================
♦ 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 63 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017 – 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.
===========================================================================

Continuing Events

This is not Manhattan’s WestSide, but it is Brooklyn’s WestSide. If you have never seen these crazy, fearless performers, they are well worth the detour:

STREB EXTREME ACTION (March 2-25 at various times)
at SLAM, 51 N 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Elizabeth Streb’s cavernous Brooklyn space is known as SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics), which is also a frequent move that occurs at one of her shows. For the month of March, her fearless team of action heroes, as they’re called, will navigate intimidating industrial contraptions and fling themselves from unnatural heights, seemingly defying physics with the pep of cheerleaders. The hourlong show, “S.E.A.” (“Singular Extreme Actions”), encapsulates all the thrill, humor and energizing fun that makes this company so singular.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

Let there be light!
Erwin Redl’s Whiteout, a newly commissioned public art project, will light up in Madison Square Park. It consists of hundreds of transparent white spheres, each embedded with a white LED light, and suspended from a square grid of steel poles. The swaying sequence of light will be on display until April 2018.

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

Bonus NYC Events – Music Venues:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are my favorite non jazz music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Hit the Hot Link and 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
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237W42nd St., bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
and one more, not exactly WestSide
Bowery Ballroom – 6 Delancey St. boweryballroom.com,

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 discovery and enjoyment.
See Below.

———————————————————————————————————-

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):
=================================================================================

A PremierPub and 3 Good Eating Places – Greenwich Village

Caffe Vivaldi / 32 Jones Street (btw. Bleecker St./W4th St.)

Café Vivaldi is a classic, intimate club located in Greenwich Village on Jones Street, the street featured on the cover of Bob Dylan’s second album, “Freewheelin’. ”

maxresdefaultEach night Ishrat, the long time proprietor and impresario, carefully curates and schedules an eclectic series of musicians. You can often see him at his table in the corner, hard at work reviewing music videos and listening to cd demos on his laptop, scouting out future bookings. Musicians come from all over to play and sing in a club in Greenwich Village. Some are local New Yorkers, others are just passing through, in town for a few days.

There is a small bar, seating maybe 10. It’s close to the stage and I find it’s a perfect spot to sip a glass of red wine while listening to the music. The room itself has the performance area at one end and a cozy fireplace at the other. The performance area here is small, dominated by a large black Yamaha Grand piano. Tables are bunched together and most people at the tables are eating lite meals or sampling the wonderful desserts.

There is also a good selection of fairly priced wines,  but you are here because of the music. You can never be quite sure what you’re going to find, and that’s half the charm of this place. It’s not a home run every night, but many nights it’s pretty special.

I remember the night I saw the most talented bossa nova group, just in from San Paulo. As I listened, I wondered if there was any better music playing anywhere else in New York City that night. And at Caffé Vivaldi there is never a cover charge. Their recently redesigned web site does give you a better idea of the type of music playing each night.

At one time Greenwich Village was filled with clubs just like this, but times change. Real estate interests have impacted the village, and not for the better. Even Caffé Vivaldi had a rough time recently, when a new landlord raised the rent exorbitantly. Fortunately, Ishrat has built a loyal following over the years, and a fund raiser and slightly more reasonable rent has kept Café Vivaldi in business.

When Woody Allen and Al Pacino wanted to make movies featuring the timeless quality of Greenwich Village they came to Vivaldi. It’s important that we keep this special place alive, for if we lose Cafe Vivaldi, NYCity will have lost a piece of it’s soul.

Website: http://caffevivaldi.com/
Phone #: (212) 691-7538
Hours: Music generally 7:30PM – 11PM, but varies
Lunch/Dinner 11AM-on
Subway: #1 to Christopher St.
Walk 1 blk S. on 7th ave S. to Bleecker St., 1 blk left on Bleecker to Jones St., 50 yards left on Jones St. to Caffe V.
==============================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge.

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
========================================================

3 Good Eating places

It’s not difficult to find a place to eat in Manhattan.
Finding a good, inexpensive place to eat is a bit harder.
Here are a few of my faves in this neighborhood:

Fish – 280 Bleecker St. (just a bit S. of 7th ave South)
This was an easy pick – the best raw bar special in town. $9 gets you 6 of the freshest oysters or clams + a glass of wine or beer. Don’t know how they can do it, but I tell everyone I know about this place. And it’s located right in the heart of some of the best no cover music in town.

Bleecker Street Pizza – 69 7th ave S. (corner of Bleecker St.)
The place is tiny and not much to look at, but this is one good slice. They like to brag that they have been voted “Best pizza in NY” 3 years in a row by the Food Network. I believe them. I would have voted for them.

Num Pang – 21 E 12th St. (btw. University Place/5th ave.)
This is a Cambodian banh mi sandwich shop that kept me well fed while I was in class nearby recently. It’s cramped, even for NYCity, but usually there is room up the spiral staircase to sit down and eat. In good weather carry your sandwich a few blocks to Union Square park. You may have to wait a few minutes, because everything is freshly made, but it’s worth it. Can you believe – an unheard of 26 food rating by Zagat.

========================================================
“3 Good Eating places” focuses on a quick bite, what I call “Fine Fast Food – NYCity Style”
No reservations needed.
========================================================
NYCity is the most diverse and interesting place to find a meal anywhere in the world. With more than 24,000 eating establishments you might welcome some advice.

◊ For all my picks of 54 Good Eating places, and essays on my favorite 18 PremierPubs in 9 Neighborhoods on Manhattan’s WestSide, order a copy of my e-book:
“Eating and Drinking on NYCity’s WestSide” ($4.99, available FALL 2018).
◊ Order before NOV.30, 2018 and receive a bonus – 27 of my favorite casual dining places with free Wi-Fi.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/22) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s WestSide

Posted on 03/22/2018 by GregD

Today’s Sweet 6 NYC Events > THURSDAY/ MARCH 22, 2018

“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, better check the tab above: “NYC Events-March”
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.

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

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

Billy Childs (March 22-25)
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St./ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“Having won the 2018 Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Album, the pianist Childs can place the award alongside his previous four. Although he broke into public view by way of his broad work with such luminaries as Freddie Hubbard and J. J. Johnson, Childs quickly sidestepped categorization as an intrepid hard bopper by investigating diverse hybrid projects, including classical composition and Laura Nyro covers. The most recent Grammy-winning album, “Rebirth,” casts a fond glance back toward his small-group beginnings.” (NewYorker)

=========================================================
5 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>Molly Pope: Polly Mope
>>PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE
>>BILL FRISELL
>> Rex Sorgatz: The Encyclopedia of Misinformation
>> The Affordable Art Fair
Continuing Events
>>STREB EXTREME ACTION
>>Whiteout
========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Molly Pope: Polly Mope
Greenwich House Music School/ 8PM, $15
“Pope’s viscerally thrilling alto is a rich gusher of sound that emerges like a full-on blast from the past. Now the neo-retro belter takes a step in a new direction, performing a self-exploratory solo show with original songs she has written with composers including musical director Matt Aument.” (TONY)

PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE (through March 25)
at the NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 7PM, $10+
“Paul Taylor’s spring season continues at Lincoln Center, featuring works from his ample repertory from the 1960s to today, plus newly commissioned work by choreographers Doug Varone and Bryan Arias, and guest appearances by Trisha Brown Dance Company, performing the 1983 postmodern classic “Set and Reset.” This week also sees Sara Mearns, a top ballerina with New York City Ballet, channeling the free-spirited modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan in “Dances of Isadora,” reconstructed by the Isadora Duncan Dance Company.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)
Tonight: Dances of Isadora* | Bryan Arias New Work* | Piazzolla Caldera

BILL FRISELL (through March 25)
at the Village Vanguard / 8:30 and 10:30PM, $35
On Friday, the guitarist, an eminence on New York’s greater improvised music scene, released “Music Is,” his first solo album in almost 20 years. Mr. Frisell has exerted his influence gently, funneling inspiration from 1960s folk rock and 1970s free jazz into a sound that’s hearthlike and imperturbable, whether spinning through reverb-drenched runs or caressing its way through a slow, major-chord progression. This weekend he’s at the Village Vanguard with his trio, featuring the bassist Thomas Morgan and the drummer Rudy Royston. He takes a break on Monday, then returns for six more nights with the violist Eyvind Kang joining the group.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC Events
(Lectures/Discussions, Book Talks, Film, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)

Rex Sorgatz: The Encyclopedia of Misinformation
The Strand, 828 Broadway / 7PM, Price: $19.99 Admission & Signed Copy grants you admission for one, plus one signed copy of the book.
“Wading through propaganda and subterfuge in eclectic contexts, from science and religion, to comedy and law, Rex Sorgatz has explored it all. He has sifted through various conspiracy theories, the complex construct of internet and popular culture, and perplexing psychological phenomena, gathering them together in one humorous collection. His book covers deliriously diverse subjects including auto-tune, Chilean sea bass, false flag operations, kayfabe, laugh tracks, Rachel Dolezal, and more.

Join us in the Rare Book Room as Rex shares his debut encyclopedic work with a panel of experts, including Taylor Lorenz from the Daily Beast.”

The Affordable Art Fair kicks off today, featuring contemporary works, ranging from paintings and prints to sculptures and photographs. Workshops and talks will also be taking place throughout the day at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea.
Observer Editors Discuss Affordable Art Fair Favorites

===========================================================================
♦ 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 63 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017 – 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.
===========================================================================

Continuing Events

This is not Manhattan’s WestSide, but it is Brooklyn’s WestSide. If you have never seen these crazy, fearless performers, they are well worth the detour:

STREB EXTREME ACTION (March 2-25 at various times)
at SLAM, 51 N 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Elizabeth Streb’s cavernous Brooklyn space is known as SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics), which is also a frequent move that occurs at one of her shows. For the month of March, her fearless team of action heroes, as they’re called, will navigate intimidating industrial contraptions and fling themselves from unnatural heights, seemingly defying physics with the pep of cheerleaders. The hourlong show, “S.E.A.” (“Singular Extreme Actions”), encapsulates all the thrill, humor and energizing fun that makes this company so singular.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

Let there be light!
Erwin Redl’s Whiteout, a newly commissioned public art project, will light up in Madison Square Park. It consists of hundreds of transparent white spheres, each embedded with a white LED light, and suspended from a square grid of steel poles. The swaying sequence of light will be on display until April 2018.

=====================================================
Bonus: Nifty 9 – Best Cabarets / Piano Bars NYCity
These are my favorite places for an after dinner night on the town – music and drinks.
Hit the Hot Link and check out what’s happening tonight:

Feinstein’s/54 Below – 254 W 54th St.

The Green Room 42 – 570 Tenth Ave.

Don’t Tell Mama – 343 W 46th St.

Marie’s Crisis – 59 Grove St.

The Rum House, in the Hotel Edison – 228 W. 47th St.

Laurie Beechman Theatre – 407 W 42nd St.

The Duplex – 61 Christopher St.

Sid Gold’s Request Room – 165 W 26th St.

Cafe Carlyle, in the Carlyle Hotel – 35 E. 76th St.
This is the only one not located on Manhattan’s WestSide, and it ain’t cheap, but it has some of the finest singers.

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

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

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 their expanded reviews of exhibitions)

Museum of Modern Art:

A special pat on the back to MOMA, who is now displaying art from the seven countries affected by Trump’s travel ban.

“Trump’s ban against refugees from seven Muslim-majority nations has sparked acts of defiance in NYC, from demonstrations across town, to striking taxicab drivers at JFK to Middle Eastern bodega owners closing their shops in protest. Recently, the Museum Of Modern added its two cents by bringing out artworks it owns from the affected countries, and hanging them prominently within the galleries usually reserved for 19th- and 20th-century artworks from Europe and the United States. Paintings by Picasso and Matisse, for example, were removed to make way for pieces by Tala Madani (from Iran), Ibrahim El-Salahi (from Sudan) and architect Zaha Hadid (from Iraq). The rehanging, which was unannounced, aims to create a symbolic welcome that repudiates Trump by creating a visual dialog between the newly added works and the more familiar objects from MoMA’s permanent collection.” (TONY)

Stephen Shore (thru May 28)

“This immersive and staggeringly charming retrospective is devoted to one of the best American photographers of the past half century. Shore has peers—Joel Meyerowitz, Joel Sternfeld, Richard Misrach, and, especially, William Eggleston—in a generation that, in the nineteen-seventies, stormed to eminence with color film, which art photographers had long disdained. His best-known series, “American Surfaces” and “Uncommon Places,” are both from the seventies and were mostly made in rugged Western states. The pictures in these series share a quality of surprise: appearances surely unappreciated if even really noticed by anyone before—in rural Arizona, a phone booth next to a tall cactus, on which a crude sign (“GARAGE”) is mounted, and, on a small-city street in Wisconsin, a movie marquee’s neon wanly aglow, at twilight. A search for fresh astonishments has kept Shore peripatetic, on productive sojourns in Mexico, Scotland, Italy, Ukraine, and Israel. He has remained a vestigial Romantic, stopping in space and 
time to frame views that exert a peculiar tug on him. This framing is resolutely formalist: subjects composed laterally, from edge to edge, and in depth. There’s never a “background.” The most distant element is as considered as the nearest. But only when looking for it are you conscious of Shore’s formal discipline, because it is as fluent as a language learned from birth. His best pictures at once arouse feelings and leave us alone to make what we will of them. He delivers truths, whether hard or easy, with something very like mercy.” (NewYorker)

Tarsila do Amaral (thru June 3)

Introducing New York to the First Brazilian Modernist
“Forty-five years after Tarsila do Amaral’s death, MOMA presents her first-ever museum exhibition in the U.S. Some artists are so iconic, they’re known by only one name: Brancusi, Léger, Tarsila. Wait, who? The painter Tarsila do Amaral is so famous in her native Brazil that forty-three years after her death she helped close out the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, when a projected pattern of red-orange-yellow arcs graced the stadium floor, an homage to her 1929 painting “Setting Sun.” That chimerical landscape—stylized sunset above tubular cacti and a herd of capybaras that shape-shift into boulders—hangs now at MOMA, in the artist’s first-ever museum exhibition in the U.S., “Tarsila do Amaral: Inventing Modern Art in Brazil.” (NewYorker)

==============================================================
For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 03/20 and 03/18

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

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/21) + Today’s Featured Pub (Upper West Side)

Posted on 03/21/2018 by GregD

Today’s Sweet 6 NYC Events > WEDNESDAY/ MARCH 21, 2018

“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, better check the tab above: “NYC Events-March”
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.

ALERT: the weather forecast for this evening is bad. be careful out there, and be sure to contact the venue to see if the event is still scheduled.

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

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

Duchess
Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center / 7:30Pm, +9:30PM, $30
With vocalists Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner, and Melissa Stylianou, pianist Michael Cabe, bassist Matt Aronoff, and drummer Jared Schonig
“Duchess is an outstanding young vocal trio boasting vocal harmonies that are technically challenging and yet always easy on the ears. Tonight, Duchess will use their signature blend of charm and humor to celebrate a century of vocal harmony. They will perform repertoire made famous in the 1920s and ‘30s by the Boswell Sisters; superstar vocal groups of the 1940s and ‘50s like the Andrews, Lennon, and McGuire Sisters; and “playful doo-wop inflected girl groups” of the 1960s, such as the Chordettes. Rather than performing straight takes on the classics, however, Duchess sings creative arrangements that are uniquely tailored for their voices and 21st century tastes.”

I love listening to these ladies and Dizzy’s is a wonderful spot for music.

=========================================================
5 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY
>>PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE
>>BILL FRISELL
>> CANCELLED
>> CANCELLED
Continuing Events
>>STREB EXTREME ACTION
>>Whiteout
========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE (through March 25)
at the NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 7PM, $10+
“Paul Taylor’s spring season continues at Lincoln Center, featuring works from his ample repertory from the 1960s to today, plus newly commissioned work by choreographers Doug Varone and Bryan Arias, and guest appearances by Trisha Brown Dance Company, performing the 1983 postmodern classic “Set and Reset.” This week also sees Sara Mearns, a top ballerina with New York City Ballet, channeling the free-spirited modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan in “Dances of Isadora,” reconstructed by the Isadora Duncan Dance Company.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)
Tonight: Dances of Isadora* | Bryan Arias New Work* | Piazzolla Caldera

BILL FRISELL (through March 25)
at the Village Vanguard / 8:30 and 10:30PM, $35
On Friday, the guitarist, an eminence on New York’s greater improvised music scene, released “Music Is,” his first solo album in almost 20 years. Mr. Frisell has exerted his influence gently, funneling inspiration from 1960s folk rock and 1970s free jazz into a sound that’s hearthlike and imperturbable, whether spinning through reverb-drenched runs or caressing its way through a slow, major-chord progression. This weekend he’s at the Village Vanguard with his trio, featuring the bassist Thomas Morgan and the drummer Rudy Royston. He takes a break on Monday, then returns for six more nights with the violist Eyvind Kang joining the group.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY (March 20-25)
at the Joyce Theater / 7:30 p.m.$41+
“In 2015, the choreographer Stephen Petronio introduced the “Bloodlines” project to honor the artists who influenced him. For its fourth iteration, his company performs Merce Cunningham’s 1970 work “Signals,” which features an unpredictable live score. Mr. Petronio also presents a new work of his own called “Hardness 10,” inspired by the multiple facets of diamonds, for which Nico Muhly contributes an original score and the designer Patricia Field provides the costumes. “Wild Wild World,” an excerpt from Mr. Petronio’s 2003 work “Underland” with music by Nick Cave, rounds out the evening.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC Events
(Lectures/Discussions, Book Talks, Film, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)

All the lectures, book talks, and other SmartStuff that I wanted to list have been canceled due to the bad weather. Come back tomorrow for some more SmartStuff.

===========================================================================
♦ 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  8.5 million, had a record 63 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017 – 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.
===========================================================================

Continuing Events

This is not Manhattan’s WestSide, but it is Brooklyn’s WestSide. If you have never seen these crazy, fearless performers, they are well worth the detour:

STREB EXTREME ACTION (March 2- April 8, Friday-Sunday at various times)
at SLAM, 51 N 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Elizabeth Streb’s cavernous Brooklyn space is known as SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics), which is also a frequent move that occurs at one of her shows. For the month of March, her fearless team of action heroes, as they’re called, will navigate intimidating industrial contraptions and fling themselves from unnatural heights, seemingly defying physics with the pep of cheerleaders. The hourlong show, “S.E.A.” (“Singular Extreme Actions”), encapsulates all the thrill, humor and energizing fun that makes this company so singular.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

Let there be light!
Erwin Redl’s Whiteout, a newly commissioned public art project, will light up in Madison Square Park. It consists of hundreds of transparent white spheres, each embedded with a white LED light, and suspended from a square grid of steel poles. The swaying sequence of light will be on display until April 2018.

===========================================================
Bonus NYC events– Jazz Clubs:
Many consider NYCity the Jazz capital of the world. Here are my favorite Jazz clubs, all on Manhattan’s WestSide. Hit the Hot Link and check out who is playing tonight:

Greenwich Village:
(5 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)
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319 (6pm)

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)

Special Mention:
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 surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

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

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):
================================================================================

A PremierPub / Upper West Side

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que / 700 W125th St. @ 12th ave.

Walk only five minutes from the 125th St. station on the #1 line to find this authentic honky-tonk barbecue joint. Some folks think Dinosaur is just a place to eat ribs. Au contraire. With 24 carefully selected taps, this is a place to drink beer, and eat ribs.

HarlHostStandNo food goes better with American craft ales than American barbecue. Dinosaur may be the best combo of good beer drinking and hearty eating in town, which makes the trip uptown to West Harlem totally worthwhile.

This second incarnation of Dinosaur in Harlem is in a two story, old brick warehouse near the Hudson River. Don’t let that run down exterior fool you. Inside it’s a large space with huge, rough wooden columns and unfinished wooden floors and brick walls – just right for a bbq joint. As soon as you open the front door you are hit with that tantalizing aroma of barbecue coming from the large open kitchen. Reminds me of those great rib joints I frequented when stationed in North Carolina all those years ago. If your stomach wasn’t grumbling before, it is now.

Head to the bar, sit down and try to decide on a beer. It’s not an easy decision – a good problem to have. This is a pretty damn good beer list to choose from, one that most beer bars should be jealous of. I love that they feature NY craft beers. You may want to try the four beer sampler, which is always fun, and in this place may be necessary.

The blues music playing in the background will get you in the mood for their North Carolina style barbecue, and even when it’s a full house your order shouldn’t take too long (assuming you snagged a table). The food is all slow smoked, so it’s already mostly done and ready to go. I always start with an order of their giant, spice rubbed wings, so good they may make you give up Buffalo wings.

Unfortunately, a place this good does not fly under the radar. There can be some long waits for a table at dinnertime. So you need a strategy – avoid prime time, and try not to arrive with your entire posse, which will limit your seating options.

A seat at the bar, a small table in the bar area, or in the summer, an outside table underneath what’s left of the elevated West Side Highway, all may open before a table inside the main dining room. Otherwise, try Dinosaur for lunch, or come very late for dinner, maybe after a show at the nearby Cotton Club nightclub.

Website: http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/
Phone #: 212-694-1777
Hours: Mo-Th 11:30am-11:00pm; Fr-Sa 11:30am-12:00am;
Su 12:00pm-10:00pm
Happy Hour: 4-7pm every day; $1 off all drinks
Music: Fri / Sat 10:30pm
Subway: #1 to 125th St.
Walk 2 blk W on 125th St. to Dinosaur Bar-B-Q,
just past the elevated highway.
========================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a  comment. 
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/20) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 03/20/2018 by GregD

Today’s Sweet 6 NYC Events > TUESDAY/ MARCH 20, 2018

“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, better check the tab above: “NYC Events-March”
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.

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

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

BILL FRISELL (through March 25)
at the Village Vanguard / 8:30 and 10:30PM, $35
On Friday, the guitarist, an eminence on New York’s greater improvised music scene, released “Music Is,” his first solo album in almost 20 years. Mr. Frisell has exerted his influence gently, funneling inspiration from 1960s folk rock and 1970s free jazz into a sound that’s hearthlike and imperturbable, whether spinning through reverb-drenched runs or caressing its way through a slow, major-chord progression. This weekend he’s at the Village Vanguard with his trio, featuring the bassist Thomas Morgan and the drummer Rudy Royston. He takes a break on Monday, then returns for six more nights with the violist Eyvind Kang joining the group.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

=========================================================
5 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY
>>Così fan tutte 
>>Brubeck Brothers Quartet
>>An Evening with Drew Gilpin Faust
>>Bonnie Siegler: Signs of Resistance
Continuing Events
>>STREB EXTREME ACTION
>>Whiteout
========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY (March 20-25)
at the Joyce Theater / 7:30 p.m.$
“In 2015, the choreographer Stephen Petronio introduced the “Bloodlines” project to honor the artists who influenced him. For its fourth iteration, his company performs Merce Cunningham’s 1970 work “Signals,” which features an unpredictable live score. Mr. Petronio also presents a new work of his own called “Hardness 10,” inspired by the multiple facets of diamonds, for which Nico Muhly contributes an original score and the designer Patricia Field provides the costumes. “Wild Wild World,” an excerpt from Mr. Petronio’s 2003 work “Underland” with music by Nick Cave, rounds out the evening.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

Così fan tutte   (Mar.15 – Apr.19, next performance Sat., Mar24, 8 PM)
Metropolitan Opera House / 7:30PM, $
“A winning cast comes together for Phelim McDermott’s clever vision of Mozart’s comedy about the sexes, set in a carnival-esque, funhouse environment inspired by 1950s Coney Island—complete with bearded ladies, fire eaters, and a Ferris wheel. Manipulating the action are the Don Alfonso of Christopher Maltman and the Despina of Tony Award–winner Kelli O’Hara, with Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Ben Bliss, and Adam Plachetka as the pairs of young lovers who test each other’s faithfulness. David Robertson conducts.”

Brubeck Brothers Quartet
With drummer Dan Brubeck, bassist Chris Brubeck, guitarist Mike DeMicco, and pianist Chuck Lamb
Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center / 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $35
“Once again, the [Brubeck Brothers Quartet] attains that rarefied level where music is both relaxed and expressive, and their joy in its creation is contagious.” – AllAboutJazz

“Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola welcome the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, comprised of members of one of America’s most accomplished musical families. Dan and Chris Brubeck, along with Mike DeMicco and Chuck Lamb, form a dynamic quartet that performs a seriously hard-swinging set. The quartet’s style is rooted in straight-ahead jazz, but their concerts reveal an inherent ability to explore and play with odd time signatures, while naturally integrating the influences of funk, blues, and world music.”

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC Events
(Lectures/Discussions, Book Talks, Film, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)

An Evening with Drew Gilpin Faust
New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West/ 6/:30PM, $48
“Join us for an evening with esteemed American historian Drew Gilpin Faust, President of Harvard University. In an intimate conversation, Faust discusses her work as a Civil War historian and uncovers the pivotal role universities play in modeling cultural and political understanding and strengthening American society.”

Bonnie Siegler: Signs of Resistance
The Strand, 828 Broadway / 7PM, $18 Admission & Signed Copy grants you admission for one, plus one signed copy of the book.
$15 Admission & Gift Card grants you admission for one, plus one $15 gift card.
“Join us for a talk and celebration of graphic designer Bonnie Siegler as she releases Signs of Resistance. The panel will feature Erin Vilardi (Founder/CEO of VoteRunLead), Amol Sinha (Executive Director of the ACLU New Jersey), and author Bonnie Siegler.

SIGNS OF RESISTANCE: A Visual History of Protest in America, Siegler combines her two passions to showcase a collection of visual expressions of resistance throughout American history. In hundreds of iconic, smart, angry, clever, unforgettable images, SIGNS OF RESISTANCE chronicles what truly makes America great: citizens unafraid of speaking truth to power. Many of these images throughout our history are as relevant today as they were then.”

===========================================================================
♦ 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  8.5 million, had a record 63 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017 – 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.
===========================================================================

Continuing Events

This is not Manhattan’s WestSide, but it is Brooklyn’s WestSide. If you have never seen these crazy, fearless performers, they are well worth the detour:

STREB EXTREME ACTION (March 2- April 8, Friday-Sunday at various times)
at SLAM, 51 N 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Elizabeth Streb’s cavernous Brooklyn space is known as SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics), which is also a frequent move that occurs at one of her shows. For the month of March, her fearless team of action heroes, as they’re called, will navigate intimidating industrial contraptions and fling themselves from unnatural heights, seemingly defying physics with the pep of cheerleaders. The hourlong show, “S.E.A.” (“Singular Extreme Actions”), encapsulates all the thrill, humor and energizing fun that makes this company so singular.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

Let there be light!
Erwin Redl’s Whiteout, a newly commissioned public art project, will light up in Madison Square Park. It consists of hundreds of transparent white spheres, each embedded with a white LED light, and suspended from a square grid of steel poles. The swaying sequence of light will be on display until April 2018.

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

Bonus NYC Events – 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
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237W42nd St., bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
and one more, not exactly WestSide
Bowery Ballroom – 6 Delancey St. boweryballroom.com,

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 discovery and enjoyment.
===========================================================

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

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 an exhibition the New Yorker likes:

“The Shadow Archive: An Investigation Into Vernacular Portrait Photography”

Walther Collection, 526 W. 26th St. (thru Mar.31)

“The first in a multiyear series of shows about photographs made for commercial or practical purposes, curated by Brian Wallis, considers the portrait. Most of the images date to the nineteenth century; all of them fit into typologies. Fifteen tintypes of “workers with tools of their trade” include a barber, a piano tuner, and a sword swallower; several mug shots attributed to the California sheriff Thomas Cunningham are so picturesque that they could be mistaken for stills from a Hollywood period piece. Passport photographers across Africa take full-length portraits and cut out the heads, leaving behind accidental studies of fashion. A mesmerizing series of such discards, shown here, were taken against a red background in Gulu, Uganda, and collected by the Italian-born journalist Martina Bacigalupo. A found group of forty-eight color snapshots of migrant farmworkers, each holding up a paper number—their source is unknown—takes the idea of identifying documents in a more chilling direction.”

And an exhibition NY Magazine likes:

Carrie Moyer: Pagan’s Rapture
Sweeping auras and boreal nights.
DC Moore Gallery, 535 West 22nd Street, (thru Mar.22).
“Carrie Moyer is making the hottest, most ambitious and optically ferocious abstract paintings of her life. Sensual passages of stains, drips, and what look like imprints made from available female bodies conjure a world of light, cloud-scapes, body interiors, sex up close, and diamond gasses. The spaces she creates are simultaneously deep, biological, psychological, and metaphysical.” (J.S.)

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

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 to 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 the 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.) “

=======================================================
For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see recent posts in right sidebar dated 03/16 and 03/18.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/19) + Today’s Featured Pub (WestVillage)

Posted on 03/19/2018 by GregD

Today’s Sweet 6 NYC Events > MONDAY/ MARCH 19, 2018

“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, better check the tab above: “NYC Events-March”
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.

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

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

Brubeck Brothers Quartet (also Mar.20)
With drummer Dan Brubeck, bassist Chris Brubeck, guitarist Mike DeMicco, and pianist Chuck Lamb
Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center / 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $35
“Once again, the [Brubeck Brothers Quartet] attains that rarefied level where music is both relaxed and expressive, and their joy in its creation is contagious.” – AllAboutJazz

“Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola welcome the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, comprised of members of one of America’s most accomplished musical families. Dan and Chris Brubeck, along with Mike DeMicco and Chuck Lamb, form a dynamic quartet that performs a seriously hard-swinging set. The quartet’s style is rooted in straight-ahead jazz, but their concerts reveal an inherent ability to explore and play with odd time signatures, while naturally integrating the influences of funk, blues, and world music.”

=========================================================
5 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>Joshua Bell and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
>> Renaissance: An Interactive Concert
>>Jim Caruso’s Cast Party
>>The Last Wild Men of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure
>> Social Neuroscientist Jay Van Bavel on “Our Partisan Brains”
Continuing Events
>>STREB EXTREME ACTION
>>Whiteout
========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Joshua Bell and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
David Geffen Hall Lincoln Center / 8:00PM, $50+
“Joshua Bell, “one of the finest musicians of his generation” (Washington Post), leads the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in a fantastical program. Following Mendelssohn’s whimsical overture, Bell shines in Wieniawski’s rhapsodic D-minor Concerto, a soulful work by the Polish-born composer and violin virtuoso pulsing with the passions of Romanticism. Beethoven’s bucolic “Pastoral” Symphony concludes the evening.
“Mr. Bell played with his trademark glowing sound, effortless virtuosity and improvisatory freedom.” – New York Times

Renaissance: An Interactive Concert
Philharmonic Insights at the Atrium
Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center/ 7:30PM, FREE
“Kaleidoscope, the Teaching Artist Ensemble of the New York Philharmonic, presents an interactive concert to demonstrate the Philharmonic’s approach to education and how participation deepens the musical experience. These professionals, who combine expertise in performance and engagement to kindle a love of music in students of all ages, examine themes explored in this season’s Young People’s Concerts for Schools, An African-American Legacy: The Harlem Renaissance, to show how listeners of all ages can respond to great works in their own ways.”

Jim Caruso’s Cast Party
Birdland, / 9:30PM, $30
“Jim Caruso’s Cast Party is a wildly popular weekly soiree that brings a sprinkling of Broadway glitz and urbane wit to the legendary Birdland in New York City every Monday night. It’s a cool cabaret night-out enlivened by a hilariously impromptu variety show. Showbiz superstars, backed by Steve Doyle on bass, Billy Stritch on piano and Daniel Glass on drums, hit the stage alongside up-and-comers, serving up jaw-dropping music and general razzle-dazzle.” (broadwayworld)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC Events
(Lectures/Discussions, Book Talks, Film, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)

The Last Wild Men of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure
The Half King, 505 W. 23rd St./ 7PM, FREE
“Hear from New York Times bestselling author Carl Hoffman as he discusses his new book and his own journey into “the world’s last Eden.” He’ll describe the two seemingly opposing subjects of his research, Swiss traveler Bruno Manser, accepted in an indigenous tribe before disappearing without a trace, and American Michael Palmieri, who became one of the world’s most successful field collectors of tribal art.” (ThoughtGallery.org)

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour:

Secret Science Club Presents
Social Neuroscientist Jay Van Bavel on “Our Partisan Brains”
The Bell House, 149 7th St., Brooklyn / 8PM, FREE
“A recurring theme of the last months is the rise of tribalism, across religion and politics, superseding supposedly core beliefs. The Secret Science Club welcomes social neuroscientist Jay Van Bavel, who will explain what the social brain is and how it evolved. He’ll also ask the question, “can our political ideologies influence not only how we vote, but also how we perceive reality?” (ThoughtGallery.org)

===========================================================================
♦ 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  8.5 million, had a record 63 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017 – 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.
===========================================================================

Continuing Events

This is not Manhattan’s WestSide, but it is Brooklyn’s WestSide. If you have never seen these crazy, fearless performers, they are well worth the detour:

STREB EXTREME ACTION (March 2- April 8, Friday-Sunday at various times)
at SLAM, 51 N 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Elizabeth Streb’s cavernous Brooklyn space is known as SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics), which is also a frequent move that occurs at one of her shows. For the month of March, her fearless team of action heroes, as they’re called, will navigate intimidating industrial contraptions and fling themselves from unnatural heights, seemingly defying physics with the pep of cheerleaders. The hourlong show, “S.E.A.” (“Singular Extreme Actions”), encapsulates all the thrill, humor and energizing fun that makes this company so singular.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

Let there be light!
Erwin Redl’s Whiteout, a newly commissioned public art project, will light up in Madison Square Park. It consists of hundreds of transparent white spheres, each embedded with a white LED light, and suspended from a square grid of steel poles. The swaying sequence of light will be on display until April 2018.

=====================================================
Bonus: Nifty 9 – Best Cabarets / Piano Bars NYCity
These are my favorite places for an after dinner night on the town – music and drinks.
Hit the Hot Link and check out what’s happening tonight:

Feinstein’s/54 Below – 254 W 54th St.

The Green Room 42 – 570 Tenth Ave.

Don’t Tell Mama – 343 W 46th St.

Marie’s Crisis – 59 Grove St.

The Rum House, in the Hotel Edison – 228 W. 47th St.

Laurie Beechman Theatre – 407 W 42nd St.

The Duplex – 61 Christopher St.

Sid Gold’s Request Room – 165 W 26th St.

Cafe Carlyle, in the Carlyle Hotel – 35 E. 76th St.
This is the only one not located on Manhattan’s WestSide, and it ain’t cheap, but it has some of the finest singers.

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

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

A PremierPub / West Village

Corner Bistro / 331 W. 4th St.

Sometimes you just need a beer and a burger. If so, Corner Bistro is the place you want. Located just outside the hip Meatpacking district, this corner bar and grill is decidedly unhip, but it’s not uncrowded, especially at night. Seems that everyone knows this place has one of the better burgers in town.

kac_120405_phude_corner_bistro_bar_1000-600x450In the maze of streets known as the West Village, where West 4th intersects with West 12th (and West 11th, and West 10th, go figure), you will eventually find Corner Bistro on the corner of West 4th and Jane Street. An unassuming neighborhood tavern, it looks just like dozens of other taverns around town.

The bartender tells me that the Corner Bistro celebrated it’s 50th anniversary last year. The well worn interior tells me that the place itself is much older.

Corner Bistro has outlasted many of those other taverns around town because they know how to keep it simple — just good burgers and beer, fairly priced. The classic bistro Burger is only $6.75, and should be ordered medium rare, which will be plenty rare for most folks. Actually, it will be a juicy, messy delight – make sure you have extra napkins. I like to pull up a stool and sit by the large front window in the afternoon, where I can rest my burger and beer on the shelf, and watch the Villagers walk by.

Corner Bistro seems to attract very different groups of patrons depending on time of day. While it’s crowded with locals in the evening, in the afternoon you hear different foreign languages, and watch groups of euro tourists wander in, led by their guidebooks and smartphones.

For the classic Bistro experience, order your burger with a McSorley’s draft, the dark preferably. This is the same beer that you can get over at the original McSorley’s in the East Village, the pub that claims to be the oldest continually operating bar in NYCity. The only difference is that this McSorley’s ale is served with a smile by the bartenders here. Or you can get a Sierra Nevada, Stella, or Hoegaarden on tap if you want to go upscale a bit. Either way this is a simple, but quality burger and beer experience that is just too rare these days (sorry for the pun).
=========================================================
Website: cornerbistrony.com
Phone #: 212-242-9502
Hours: 11:30am-4am Mon-Sat; 12pm-4am Sun
Happy Hour: NO
Music: Juke Box
Subway: #1/2/3 to 14th St. (S end of platform)
Walk 2 blk W. on 13th St. to 8th Ave.; 1 blk S. on 8th Ave. to Jane St.
Update:
==============================================================
“Pub” is used in it’s broadest sense – bars, bar/restaurants, jazz clubs, wine bars, tapas bars, craft beer bars, dive bars, cocktail lounges, and of course, pubs – just about anyplace you can get a drink without a cover charge (except for certain jazz clubs).

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
===========================================================================
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (03/18) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s 5th Avenue

Posted on 03/18/2018 by GregD

Today’s Sweet 6 NYC Events > SUNDAY/ MARCH 18, 2018

“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, better check the tab above: “NYC Events-March”
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.

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

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

BILL FRISELL (through March 25)
at the Village Vanguard / 8:30 and 10:30PM, $35
On Friday, the guitarist, an eminence on New York’s greater improvised music scene, released “Music Is,” his first solo album in almost 20 years. Mr. Frisell has exerted his influence gently, funneling inspiration from 1960s folk rock and 1970s free jazz into a sound that’s hearthlike and imperturbable, whether spinning through reverb-drenched runs or caressing its way through a slow, major-chord progression. This weekend he’s at the Village Vanguard with his trio, featuring the bassist Thomas Morgan and the drummer Rudy Royston. He takes a break on Monday, then returns for six more nights with the violist Eyvind Kang joining the group.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

=========================================================
5 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>HAROLD MABERN QUARTET
>> Roy Haynes
>>Jimmy Greene’s Love in Action
>>In the News with Jeff Greenfield: Katy Tur
>> Kilung Rinpoche + Gyorgy Buzsaki: Is Reincarnation a Buddhist Time Machine?
Continuing Events
>>STREB EXTREME ACTION
>>Whiteout
========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Roy Haynes (March 15-18.)
Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St./ 8PM, +10:30PM, $30-$45
“If there’s another living jazz musician who can claim to have played with both Lester Young and Pat Metheny, let him come forward. If not, the brilliant drummer Haynes (who can also count associations with Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, and Chick Corea) bears the sole distinction. Celebrating his ninety-third birthday, Haynes will be fêted by special guests throughout this engagement.” (NewYorker)

Jimmy Greene’s Love in Action
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St./ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“The stirring music that this saxophonist produces has never been more immediate—Greene devotes his heartfelt “Beautiful Life” project to the memory of his daughter, a victim of the Sandy Hook massacre. Joining his quintet are the pianist Renee Rosnes and the bassist John Patitucci.” (NewYorker)

HAROLD MABERN QUARTET (LAST DAY)
at Smoke / 7, 9 and 10:30PM, $40
“With a crisp, harmonically rich attack, Mr. Mabern carries the mantle of a piano tradition that runs through Ahmad Jamal and Phineas Newborn Jr. From time to time, Mr. Mabern holds court for a weekend at Smoke, presenting his grooving, varnished brand of hard bop with a small group. This weekend is of particular note, as it is Mr. Mabern’s 82nd birthday celebration. He performs here with Eric Alexander on tenor saxophone, John Webber on bass and Louis Hayes on drums.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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

Smart Stuff / Other NYC Events
(Lectures/Discussions, Book Talks, Film, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)

In the News with Jeff Greenfield: Katy Tur
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave./ 7:30PM, $35
“An award-winning TV journalist, Jeff Greenfield has served as a senior political correspondent for CBS, a senior analyst for CNN and a political and media analyst for ABC News.

His acclaimed books include If Kennedy Lived. Any interview he does is fun, stimulating and often buzzworthy. Don’t wait for an edited clip to show up — be there when the news happens and ask your own questions. Katy Tur, the NBC journalist who covered — and took fire from — Donald Trump on the campaign trail offers an inside look at the most shocking presidential election in American history.

Join them as they discuss the latest hot button issues: bipartisan debate, the economy, health care and the future of the press.”

Kilung Rinpoche + Gyorgy Buzsaki: Is Reincarnation a Buddhist Time Machine?
Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W. 17th St./ 3PM, $20
“How does the Buddhist concept of reincarnation counter Western concepts of time? Does enlightenment bring clarity to merge past, present, and future? Reincarnate lama Kilung Rinpoche explores time’s many meanings in Buddhism with neuroscientist György Buzsáki. Together, they will discuss the brain’s interpretation of time through their varied lenses.”

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour:

Vodka and Pickles Festival
Grand Prospect Hall , Brooklyn; noon, +3pm, $50–$75
“Get lit at Grand Prospect Hall with unlimited tastings of choice vodka, paired with creative chasers like crunchy pickles, pineapples and watermelons, all in keeping with Russian drinking etiquette. Between toasts with new friends, you can peruse modern art on sale and hit the legendary ballroom floor.” (TONY)

===========================================================================
♦ 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  8.5 million, had a record 63 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017 – 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.
===========================================================================

Continuing Events

This is not Manhattan’s WestSide, but it is Brooklyn’s WestSide. If you have never seen these crazy, fearless performers, they are well worth the detour:

STREB EXTREME ACTION (March 2-25 at various times)
at SLAM, 51 N 1st St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
“Elizabeth Streb’s cavernous Brooklyn space is known as SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics), which is also a frequent move that occurs at one of her shows. For the month of March, her fearless team of action heroes, as they’re called, will navigate intimidating industrial contraptions and fling themselves from unnatural heights, seemingly defying physics with the pep of cheerleaders. The hourlong show, “S.E.A.” (“Singular Extreme Actions”), encapsulates all the thrill, humor and energizing fun that makes this company so singular.” (NYT-BRIAN SCHAEFER)

Let there be light!
Erwin Redl’s Whiteout, a newly commissioned public art project, will light up in Madison Square Park. It consists of hundreds of transparent white spheres, each embedded with a white LED light, and suspended from a square grid of steel poles. The swaying sequence of light will be on display until April 2018.

===========================================================
Bonus NYC events– Jazz Clubs:
Many consider NYCity the Jazz capital of the world. Here are my favorite Jazz clubs, all on Manhattan’s WestSide. Hit the Hot Link and check out who is playing tonight:

Greenwich Village:
(5 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)
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319 (6pm)

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)

Special Mention:
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 surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

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

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

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)

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)

Frick Collection

Veronese in Murano: Two Venetian Renaissance Masterpieces Restored (thru Mar.25)

“In between jobs for doges and popes, the sixteenth-century Italian painter, who was born Paolo Caliari in Verona, completed two large paintings for a chapel in a convent graveyard on the Venetian island of Murano. One portrayed St. Jerome during his stint as a hermit in the Syrian desert; the other showed St. Agatha, imprisoned by a Roman consul for resisting his advances. Recently restored and leaving Italy for the first time, the canvases are remarkable for the subtlety of their color. Under matte and powdery surfaces, Jerome’s cardinal-red loincloth shimmers like real silk, the dark-green leaves of an overhead laurel branch look waxy, and a line of clouds at the bottom of the sky are simultaneously pink and orange. Agatha, sharing her cell with an apparition of St. Peter and a small blond angel, is perfectly distinct in every detail while still chromatically at home in a dim prison. Equally remarkable is Veronese’s understated insight into the ambivalent humanity of his saintly characters. Jerome has stopped mortifying his flesh with a rock to gaze up at a crucifix, but the way he holds his arm suggests that he might suddenly toss the stone at his distant Saviour instead. Agatha turns her head only halfway, as if unwilling to withdraw full attention from her own suffering merely on the strength of St. Peter’s promises.” (NewYorker)

Zurbarán’s Jacob and His Twelve Sons: Paintings from Auckland Castle (thru April 22)

Francisco de Zurbarán was the second-best painter in seventeenth-century Spain—no disgrace when the champion, his Seville-born near-exact contemporary, happened to be Diego Velázquez, who arguably remains better than anybody, ever. In this room-filling show, thirteen life-size imagined portraits, painted by Zurbarán circa 1640-45, constitute a terrific feat of Baroque storytelling: the movies of their day. Each character has a distinct personality, uniquely posed, costumed, and accessorized, and towering against a bright, clouded sky. All appear in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, in which the dying Jacob prophesies the fates of the founders-to-be of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. After nearly four centuries, the canvases sorely need cleaning. The brilliance of their colors has dimmed, notably in passages of brocade and other sumptuous fabrics—a forte of Zurbarán, whose father was a haberdasher. But most of the pictures retain power aplenty. Spend time with them, half an hour minimum. Their glories bloom slowly, as you register the formal decisions that practically spring the figures from their surfaces into the room with you, and as you ponder, if you will, the stories that they plumb. (NewYorker)

Jewish Museum

‘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

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)

‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER: JOSEPH CORNELL’S HOMAGE TO JUAN GRIS’ (through April 15). “This small, hyper-specialized, stunning exhibition brings together a grand total of only 13 works — a dozen shadow boxes by Joseph Cornell, the Queens-based assemblage artist, and a Cubist masterwork that he cited as their direct inspiration. Gris’s “Man at the Café” (1914) might seem like a surprising obsession for Cornell, who was not a painter nor a Frenchman. He and Gris never met. But Cornell was deeply moved by Gris, the overlooked, tagalong third in the Cubist movement that also included Picasso and Braque, and the show succeeds in tracking the fluttery ways of artistic inspiration.”
(Deborah Solomon)
212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

‘THE FACE OF DYNASTY: ROYAL CRESTS FROM WESTERN CAMEROON’ (through Sept. 3). “Upstairs, the Michelangelos continue to knock ‘em dead; downstairs, in the African wing, a show of just four commanding wooden crowns constitutes a blockbuster of its own. These massive wooden crests — in the form of stylized human faces with vast vertical brows — served as markers of royal power among the Bamileke peoples of the Cameroonian grasslands, and the Met’s recent acquisition of an 18th-century specimen is joined here by three later examples, each featuring sharply protruding cheeks, broadly smiling mouths, and brows incised with involute geometric patterns. Ritual objects like these were decisive for the development of western modernist painting, and a Cameroonian crest was even shown at MoMA in the 1930s, as a “sculpture” divorced from ethnography. But these crests had legal and diplomatic significance as well as aesthetic appeal, and their anonymous African creators had a political understanding of art not so far from our own.” (Farago)

===========================================================
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)

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 03/16 and 03/08.
=============================================================

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment