NYC Events,”Only the Best” (10/15) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 10/14/2017 by GregD

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > SUNDAY/ OCTOBER 15, 2017

“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: “Notable NYC Events-OCTOBER”
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 through the month.

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

Open House New York
various locations, FREE
Happens only once a year, makes this my fave weekend.
“Historic residential and commercial buildings will be opened to the public during this annual series of architecture tours and talks. Attendees will enjoy access to more than two hundred and seventy-five sites across the city, along with lectures from designers and developers. Highlights include the African Burial Ground National Monument, in Tribeca; the restored Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, in the financial district; the rooftop farms of Brooklyn Grange; a trip to the top of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, in the Bronx; the Met Breuer, on the Upper East Side; and the Kings County Distillery, the city’s oldest operating whiskey distiller.” (NewYorker)

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Lou Reed: A Life
>> ANDREW CYRILLE, BEN STREET AND DAVID VIRELLES
>> Betty Buckley: Story Songs #2 
>> Carl Allen
>> Pickle Day – Hug a Pickle, Eat a Pickle
>> Buddha, Mara, and the Question of Evil with Stephen Batchelor
>> Occult Humanities Conference
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Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Lou Reed: A Life
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave./ 7:30PM, $40
“Beginning with his genre-shattering work with the Velvet Underground and extending through a long, provocative solo career, Lou Reed has earned a place as one of the most significant artists and songwriters in the history of rock ’n’ roll.

Now renowned music writer Anthony DeCurtis shares insights from his new book, Lou Reed: A Life, a riveting, comprehensive biography of a man whose life was every bit as harrowing and experimental as his greatest work. Musicians Richard Barone, Jeff Ross, and Suzanne Vega will perform his indelible music, and join DeCurtis for a riveting discussion about Reed’s lasting impact near the fourth anniversary of his death.”

ANDREW CYRILLE, BEN STREET AND DAVID VIRELLES
at Jazz Standard / 7:30 and 9:30PM, $25
“Thelonious Monk’s influence is an impossible thing to bottle or comprehend, so the Jazz Standard’s approach seems apt: It is commemorating what would have been the pianist’s 100th birthday with a three-week-long kitchen-sink celebration. This show is among the many that you especially shouldn’t miss. Mr. Virelles, a pianist, has Monk’s love for corrosive locomotion, but his playing displays a cleaner grace. When he works with Mr. Cyrille, a drummer and luminary of the jazz avant-garde, it’s the percussion that provides a lot of the engine grease. They have played with Mr. Street, a formidable bassist, since at least 2012, when they all collaborated on Mr. Virelles’s stellar album “Continuum.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Betty Buckley: Story Songs #2
Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater / 7PM, +9:30PM, $25+
Buckley is a genuinely eccentric, eccentrically genuine Broadway diva, with a persona that shifts between fragility and imperiousness. In recent years, she’s moved away from the big belting of shows like Cats and Sunset Boulevard, favoring more monologue-like songs and arrangements. Her new Joe’s Pub set focuses on storytelling, and includes work by musical theater composers (Stephen Sondheim, Jason Robert Brown) as well as singer-songwriters (Joni Mitchell, Lisa Loeb).” (TONY)

Carl Allen 
Smoke Jazz Club, 2751 Broadway, between 105th and 106th Sts./ 7, 9, 10;30PM, $38
“My ultimate goal is to get to a level like Art Blakey, Art Taylor, Elvin Jones, and Billy Higgins,” Carl Allen has stated, “who every time they sit down behind a set of drums it’s swinging.” Olympian as his vision may be, Allen, undaunted, has built a long and sturdy career providing uplifting rhythm for any number of illustrious jazz artists. Leading his own quintet, Allen pays tribute to two of his guiding lights: Blakey and Jones.” (NewYorker)

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

Pickle Day – Hug a Pickle, Eat a Pickle
Orchard Street / 12PM-5PM
“Bring on the brine — Pickle Day returns to the Lower East Side on Sunday.
So what’s the dill?
The Lower East Side, once heavily populated by immigrants and dotted with pushcarts of their goods, was home to several pickle shops serving many who had come from Eastern Europe.

One of those vendors, Izzy Guss — a Russian émigré who established his pickle business there (first on Hester Street, then on Essex Street) in the early 20th century — is the name behind the famous Guss’s Pickles. The shop later became the focus of a long pickle war between several families arguing over the store’s legacy.

You can head down to “the center of all things pickled” on Sunday to whet your appetite. Orchard Street will be packed, not only with picklers but also with carnival games, goods from local boutiques and eateries, and more.” (NYT-Today)

Buddha, Mara, and the Question of Evil with Stephen Batchelor
Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W. 17th St./ 4PM,
Price: Talk + one performance of Mara: $50. Mara performance only: $25.
“Prominent Buddhist thinker Stephen Batchelor talks about the philosophy and psychology of good and evil through the figure of Mara, the Buddhist equivalent of the Devil. Having overcome Mara in his struggle for awakening, Gotama (Siddhartha Gautama) nonetheless continues to engage with him until the very end of his life.

Mara symbolizes the obstacles in the way of our becoming wholly human and fully alive. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from early Buddhist discourses to the poetry of Dante and Baudelaire, Batchelor will explore the complexity of this archetype and its continuing relevance across cultures.” (ThoughtGallery.org)
Please note:
Batchelor’s libretto MARA: A Chamber Opera, will have the first full concert performance held at the Rubin Museum on both Wednesday, October 18 and Friday, October 20.” Every ticket to the talk program requires you to also select an accompanying opera performance. If you’re only interested in the performance, opera tickets can be purchased separately.

The New York Coffee Festival
Metropolitan Pavillion / various times, $30
“This weekend-long fest features tastings, interactive workshops and barista demonstrations from more than 100 coffee-industry insiders.”

“Beanheads rejoice! The third annual New York Coffee Festival grinds into the Metropolitam Pavilion for three days of brewed fun with over 100 innovative exhibitors. There will be unlimited free coffee, workshops and talks, street food, a barista competition, live music inspired by New York from The Coffee Music Project, an art gallery through the Coffee Art Project, giveaways, and much more. So wake up and smell the coffee at this three-day fest.” (TONY)

AND DON’T FORGET THIS ONE NEXT YEAR.
Occult Humanities Conference (LAST DAY)
NYU Steinhardt, 34 Stuyvesant St./ 8PM, $110

*PLEASE NOTE: The conference is SOLD OUT. However the exhibition, vending area, Saturday night performance, and Sunday night closing reception are all free and open to the public.
Better pay attention next year, and get your tickets early, because this conference on Contemporary Art and Scholarship on the Esoteric Traditions is pretty darn unique.

“Do you believe in magic? Rick Santorum’s fundamentalist fears about satanic forces at work in academia will be justified, if only for one weekend at one university, during the Occult Humanities Conference. Art enchants scholarship when Serinity Young discusses women who fly, Karsten Krejcarek chronicles encounters with mystical traditions in Latin America, Sara Hannant illuminates the history of magic and photography, Jason Baumann summons up the “espiritismo” in Nuyorican poetry, and conference co-organizer Pam Grossman, of the marvelous Phantasmaphile blog, leads a panel discussion about the cresting “Witch Wave” in contemporary culture. Musical performances by harpist Ellena Phillips and the Alunaré collective will enhance the esoterica, and works by Toronto’s mysterious Tin Can Forest art crew are on display.” (Richard Gehr, Village Voice)

Continuing Events

The 55th New York Film Festival (LAST DAY)
at The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
The 18-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring 25 works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from around the globe.

“The 55th New York Film Festival’s Main Slate showcases films honored at Cannes, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner The Square; Robin Campillo’s BPM, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize; and Agnès Varda & JR’s Faces Places, which took home the Golden Eye. From Berlin, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner The Other Side of Hope and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner Spoor mark the returns of two New York Film Festival veterans, while Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will be his NYFF debut.”(cityguideny.com)

“The main slate nabs the headlines, but this festival’s sidebars nearly constitute a festival of their own. In the Spotlight on Documentary program, Travis Wilkerson’s riveting “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Friday and Sunday) grapples with a family legend: that Mr. Wilkerson’s white great-grandfather almost certainly got away with murdering a black man in Alabama in the 1940s. The main retrospective of the festival (which runs through Oct. 15) celebrates Robert Mitchum’s centennial. “His Kind of Woman” (Friday), with Mitchum (above, with Jane Russell) as a gambler lured to Mexico as a sap, and the auteur purée “Macao” (Thursday), on which Nicholas Ray took over for Josef von Sternberg, are enjoyably overstuffed Howard Hughes productions. William A. Wellman’s “Track of the Cat” (Monday); Otto Preminger’s “River of No Return” (Monday), with Marilyn Monroe; and Vincente Minnelli’s “Home From the Hill” (Thursday), all in CinemaScope, demand big-screen viewing.” (BEN KENIGSBERG, NYT)

Archtober
31 days, 100+ ways to celebrate design in NYC! The seventh-annual, month-long festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions in New York City will take place October 1-31, 2017.  Archtober’s calendar features 200 architecture and design lectures, conferences, programs, and exhibitions at more than 70+ collaborating institutions across the city.

For more details go to my Tab in the Header: “Notable Events October”  and scroll all the long way to the bottom. This event makes America, or at least NYCity, great again.

The 10th Annual Imagine Science Film Festival (Oct.13-20)
“Produced by Imagine Science Films — the nonprofit behind science film festivals in New York, Paris, Abu Dhabi and satellite events worldwide – Imagine Science Film Festival showcases new and experimental works that bridge the worlds of science and film in an artful, entertaining, and meaningful way.

All of the events are low cost or FREE. The festival includes short and feature-length films, live cinema performances, discussions, interactive demonstrations and more taking place at museums, universities and cultural institutions across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Several of the films will be making their U.S. debuts at the festival.

Notable programming includes:
North American premiere of Honey, Rain and Dust at the American Museum of Natural History (Friday, Oct 20 @ 4 pm) – A unique ethnographic and ecological look into an unseen corner of the Arabian Gulf: beekeeping traditions in the northwestern mountains of the United Arab Emirates.” (ThoughtGallery.org)

For the complete program, visit: http://imaginesciencefilms.org/ny10/program
Tickets: FREE – $18

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Bonus NYC events– Jazz Venues:
Many consider NYCity the Jazz capital of the world. Here are my favorite Jazz clubs, all on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who is playing tonight:

Greenwich Village:
(5 are underground, classic jazz joints. all 6 are within walking distance of each other):
Village Vanguard – UG, 178 7th Ave. South, villagevanguard.com, 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. bluenotejazz.com, 212-475-8592
55 Bar – basement @55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. 55bar.com, 212-929-9883
Mezzrow – basement @ 163 W10th St. nr 7th Ave. mezzrow.com,646-476-4346
Smalls – basement @ 183 W10th St. smallslive.com, 646-476-4346
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319

Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com / 212-864-6662

Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. — caffevivaldi.com / 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just on day of performance.
NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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Chelsea Art Gallery District*

Chelsea is the heart of the NYCity contemporary art scene. Home to more than 300 art galleries, the Rubin Museum, the Joyce Theater and The Kitchen performance spaces, there is no place like it anywhere in the world. Come here to browse free exhibitions by world-renowned artists and those unknowns waiting to be discovered in an art district that is concentrated between West 18th and West 27th Streets, and 10th and 11th Avenues. Afterwards stop in the Chelsea Market, stroll on the High Line, or rest up at one of the many cafes and bars and discuss the fine art.

Here is one exhibition that the New Yorker likes:

Jordan Casteel (thru Oct.28)
Casey Kaplan Gallery, 121 W27th St.

“In one of the most buzzed-about débuts of the fall season, Casteel shows large figurative canvases that combine the candid immediacy of the digital snapshots on which they’re based with the restraint and humanity of an Alice Neel portrait. The young Colorado-born phenom worked almost entirely from pictures she took in Harlem of men, at night. Casteel’s subjects, like the artist herself, are black, and her work tackles the representation of race in general, while revelling, as painters will, in the specific details. In “Q,” a man sits on a stoop next to a sketched-in green railing, earnestly consulting his iPhone, and wearing a sweatshirt with an image of Biggie Smalls in wraparound shades, a gold chain, and a Coogi sweater. In “MegaStarBrand’s Louie and A-Thug,” two well-turned-out young men sprawl with authority in folding chairs on the sidewalk, gazing skeptically out of frame. One wears a shirt that says “REASON,” the other is in a T-shirt that reads “T.H.U.G.: THE HATE YOU GAVE US.” In her exhilarating, if uneven, show, Casteel gives nothing but love.” (NewYorker)

Here is one exhibition that the New York Times likes:

Magdalena Suarez Frimkess (through Oct. 21)
Kaufmann Repetto, 535 West 22nd Street,

“Untitled,” from 2009, is among the nearly 55 works by the ceramic artist Magdalena Suarez Frimkess at Kaufmann Repetto. Credit Adam Kremer
Magdalena Suarez Frimkess is some kind of genius. Her medium is glazed ceramic, with special emphasis on the glazes, expertly drawn and painted in numerous styles and indebted to popular art, folk art and an astounding array of other historical references. In Ms. Suarez Frimkess’s survey of nearly 55 works at Kaufmann Repetto, Minnie Mouse, Popeye and Krazy Kat keep company with Maya warrior gods. There are frequent forays into blue-and-white ware, which can depict Chinese-looking landscapes, mischievous kids on bicycles and more. Other decorations include village scenes that recall South American folk painting. (Ms. Suarez Frimkess, who has lived in this country since 1963, was born in Venezuela in 1929 and started her artistic career in Chile.)

“Untitled,” from 2014, by Magdalena Suarez Frimkess. Credit Dawn Blackman
Over the years she has often collaborated with her husband, Michael Frimkess, glazing vessels that he threw on a wheel. (They made a point of not consulting each other.) There are some of their collaborations here, with Mr. Frimkess’s contributions distinguished by their relative symmetry and finish. But Ms. Suarez Frimkess is at her best when glazing her own small hand-built vessels — plates, bowls, tiles, Japanese-influenced boxes, teacups and teapots — as well as small figurines. Marvelously irregular and sometimes almost as thin as leaves, they have a delicate looseness well-matched with glazes that often leave the clay body showing through. Their spontaneity can evoke Peter Voulkos’s towering, more Expressionistic forms, but on a small scale that is at once worldly, exquisite and laced with humor. They suggest an artist in love with her medium and buzzing with ideas.

Ms. Suarez Frimkess is fairly well known in her hometown, Los Angeles, but this is only her second solo show in New York, following her 2014 debut at White Columns. With works dating back to 1970, this selection is the first in these parts to delve into her past. It proves that she has been a genius for a while.” (ROBERTA SMITH, NYT)

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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.) “

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see recent posts in right sidebar dated 10/13 and 10/11.

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (10/14) + Today’s Featured Pub (Times Square / Theater District)

Posted on 10/13/2017 by GregD

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > SATURDAY/ OCTOBER 14, 2017

“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: “Notable NYC Events-OCTOBER”
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 through the month.

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

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

Open House New York (also Sunday)
various locations, FREE
Happens only once a year, makes this my fave weekend.
“Historic residential and commercial buildings will be opened to the public during this annual series of architecture tours and talks. Attendees will enjoy access to more than two hundred and seventy-five sites across the city, along with lectures from designers and developers. Highlights include the African Burial Ground National Monument, in Tribeca; the restored Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, in the financial district; the rooftop farms of Brooklyn Grange; a trip to the top of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, in the Bronx; the Met Breuer, on the Upper East Side; and the Kings County Distillery, the city’s oldest operating whiskey distiller.” (NewYorker)

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> TROMBONE SHORTY
>> BALLET WEST
>> Andrea McArdle: An Evening with Andrea McCardle 
>> If These Walls Could Talk: Celebrating the Life and Times of The Bottom Line
>> Cruise Up the Hudson River
>> The New York Coffee Festival
>> Occult Humanities Conference
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Music, Dance, Performing Arts

TROMBONE SHORTY
at Terminal 5 / 8PM, $42
“Troy Andrews, known as Trombone Shorty, is an ambassador for New Orleans music who’s ready to handle the syncretic impulse that guides both pop musicians and world-class improvisers today. He’s also deeply embedded in the tradition of his hometown, where he comes from a long line of professional musicians. His latest album, “Parking Lot Symphony,” has a strand of melancholic lament that runs through it, putting it in line with the times. But it inherits the lineage of celebratory funk and marching band music from which Mr. Andrews descends. His concerts lean heavily on that tradition.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

BALLET WEST
at the Joyce Theater (2 p.m. and 8 p.m.) $51+
“Adam Sklute, the artistic director of Ballet West, brings his company back to the Joyce with the New York premieres of “Fox on the Doorstep” by resident choreographer, Nicolo Fonte, and “Dances for Lou” by Val Caniparoli. Gerarld Arpino’s final work, the elegiac “Ruth, Ricordi per Due,” will also be shown along with excerpts from George Balanchine’s “Chaconne” and a preview of a coming piece by the Spanish choreographer Africa Guzman.” (NYT-GIA KOURLAS)

Andrea McArdle: An Evening with Andrea McCardle (Oct.12-14)
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7PM, $40-$55
“Though she has appeared in many productions since—including Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast and Starlight Express—Andrea McArdle will probably always be remembered most fondly as the big-belting moppet who stole our hearts in the original Annie. (“Tomorrow” belongs to her.) In her return to F/54, she performs contemporary songs alongside standards and show tunes, and shares stories from her long showbiz journey.” (TONY)

If These Walls Could Talk: Celebrating the Life and Times of The Bottom Line
Schimmel Center, 3 Spruce St./ 7:30PM, $29+
Host Paul Shaffer; Music Director Gregg Bendian

Featuring Sean Altman, David Bromberg (Fri only), Marshall Chapman, Clint de Ganon, The GrooveBarbers, Garland Jeffreys (Sat only), David Johansen, Christine Lavin (Sat only), Will Lee, Darlene Love with Ula Hedwig and Curtis King, Terre Roche with Feifei Yang and Garry Dial (Fri only), Uptown Horns and Jimmy Vivino

“Join us for a multimedia celebration of The Bottom Line, featuring music and memories, songs and stories by a selection of artists who were regular performers at the iconic club. Host Paul Shaffer with special guests will swap stories about their favorite times on stage, off stage and backstage and perform songs that made the club a destination for fans of all music genres.”

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

Cruise Up the Hudson River
National Lighthouse Museum, 200 The Promenade at Lighthouse Point / 1PM, $60
“Join National Lighthouse Members and friends as we cruise up the Hudson River on Saturday, October 14th, 2016 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm – (tides will determine the ending time). We will be leaving from the NY Waterway Pier at the World Financial Center located on the Hudson River at Vesey St. and North End Ave.

Presenters will narrate the cruise as we view the Little Red Lighthouse at Jeffrey’s Hook, Ambrose Lightship, Frying Pan Lightship, Lilac Light Tender and the Titanic Memorial Light. Presenters will also note significant New York City sites and relate historic tales. We’ll learn about West Point, Stony Point and the Tarrytown Light while viewing the magnificent Palisades and fall foliage.

This trip takes place, rain or shine and leaves promptly at 1:00pm. (Time and tide waits for no man nor woman!) Refreshments will be available on board, but feel free to bring your own snacks.”

The New York Coffee Festival
Metropolitan Pavillion / various times, $30
“Kicks off today, this weekend-long fest features tastings, interactive workshops and barista demonstrations from more than 100 coffee-industry insiders.”

“Beanheads rejoice! The third annual New York Coffee Festival grinds into the Metropolitam Pavilion for three days of brewed fun with over 100 innovative exhibitors. There will be unlimited free coffee, workshops and talks, street food, a barista competition, live music inspired by New York from The Coffee Music Project, an art gallery through the Coffee Art Project, giveaways, and much more. So wake up and smell the coffee at this three-day fest.” (TONY)

AND DON’T FORGET THIS ONE NEXT YEAR.
Occult Humanities Conference (Oct.13-15)
NYU Steinhardt, 34 Stuyvesant St./ 8PM, $110

*PLEASE NOTE: The conference is SOLD OUT. However the exhibition, vending area, Saturday night performance, and Sunday night closing reception are all free and open to the public.
Better pay attention next year, and get your tickets early, because this conference on Contemporary Art and Scholarship on the Esoteric Traditions is pretty darn unique.

“Do you believe in magic? Rick Santorum’s fundamentalist fears about satanic forces at work in academia will be justified, if only for one weekend at one university, during the Occult Humanities Conference. Art enchants scholarship when Serinity Young discusses women who fly, Karsten Krejcarek chronicles encounters with mystical traditions in Latin America, Sara Hannant illuminates the history of magic and photography, Jason Baumann summons up the “espiritismo” in Nuyorican poetry, and conference co-organizer Pam Grossman, of the marvelous Phantasmaphile blog, leads a panel discussion about the cresting “Witch Wave” in contemporary culture. Musical performances by harpist Ellena Phillips and the Alunaré collective will enhance the esoterica, and works by Toronto’s mysterious Tin Can Forest art crew are on display.” (Richard Gehr, Village Voice)

Continuing Events

The 55th New York Film Festival (9/28-10/15)
at The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
The 18-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring 25 works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from around the globe.

“The 55th New York Film Festival’s Main Slate showcases films honored at Cannes, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner The Square; Robin Campillo’s BPM, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize; and Agnès Varda & JR’s Faces Places, which took home the Golden Eye. From Berlin, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner The Other Side of Hope and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner Spoor mark the returns of two New York Film Festival veterans, while Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will be his NYFF debut.”(cityguideny.com)

“The main slate nabs the headlines, but this festival’s sidebars nearly constitute a festival of their own. In the Spotlight on Documentary program, Travis Wilkerson’s riveting “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Friday and Sunday) grapples with a family legend: that Mr. Wilkerson’s white great-grandfather almost certainly got away with murdering a black man in Alabama in the 1940s. The main retrospective of the festival (which runs through Oct. 15) celebrates Robert Mitchum’s centennial. “His Kind of Woman” (Friday), with Mitchum (above, with Jane Russell) as a gambler lured to Mexico as a sap, and the auteur purée “Macao” (Thursday), on which Nicholas Ray took over for Josef von Sternberg, are enjoyably overstuffed Howard Hughes productions. William A. Wellman’s “Track of the Cat” (Monday); Otto Preminger’s “River of No Return” (Monday), with Marilyn Monroe; and Vincente Minnelli’s “Home From the Hill” (Thursday), all in CinemaScope, demand big-screen viewing.” (BEN KENIGSBERG, NYT)

Archtober
31 days, 100+ ways to celebrate design in NYC! The seventh-annual, month-long festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions in New York City will take place October 1-31, 2017.  Archtober’s calendar features 200 architecture and design lectures, conferences, programs, and exhibitions at more than 70+ collaborating institutions across the city.

For more details go to my Tab in the Header: “Notable Events October”  and scroll all the long way to the bottom. This event makes America, or at least NYCity, great again.

The 10th Annual Imagine Science Film Festival (Oct.13-20)
“Produced by Imagine Science Films — the nonprofit behind science film festivals in New York, Paris, Abu Dhabi and satellite events worldwide – Imagine Science Film Festival showcases new and experimental works that bridge the worlds of science and film in an artful, entertaining, and meaningful way.

All of the events are low cost or FREE. The festival includes short and feature-length films, live cinema performances, discussions, interactive demonstrations and more taking place at museums, universities and cultural institutions across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Several of the films will be making their U.S. debuts at the festival.

Notable programming includes:
(Im)migration & Híbridos at National Sawdust (Saturday, Oct 14 @ 7 pm / 9:30 pm) – A two-part evening featuring Vincent Moon and Priscilla Telmon presenting their live cinema project Híbridos, an experimental ethnographic study of Brazil, mixing tradition and modernity. Preceding Híbridos is (Im)migration, a performance and short film program on the topics of migration and identity.

North American premiere of Honey, Rain and Dust at the American Museum of Natural History (Friday, Oct 20 @ 4 pm) – A unique ethnographic and ecological look into an unseen corner of the Arabian Gulf: beekeeping traditions in the northwestern mountains of the United Arab Emirates.”(ThoughtGallery.org)

For the complete program, visit: http://imaginesciencefilms.org/ny10/program
Tickets: free – $18

=====================================================
Bonus NYC Events – Music Venues:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are my favorite non jazz music venues, almost all on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:

City Winery – 155 Varick St., citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Feinstein’s/54 Below – 254 W54th St., 54below.com, 646-476-3551
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St., joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34W22ndSt., metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
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
Bowery Ballroom – 6 Delancey St. boweryballroom.com,
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474

Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. caffevivaldi.com, 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

==================================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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

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

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (10/13) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s 5th Avenue

Posted on 10/13/2017 by GregD

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > FRIDAY/ OCTOBER 13, 2017

“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: “Notable NYC Events-OCTOBER”
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 through the month.

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

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

If These Walls Could Talk: Celebrating the Life and Times of The Bottom Line
Schimmel Center, 3 Spruce St./ 7:30PM, $29+
Host Paul Shaffer; Music Director Gregg Bendian

Featuring Sean Altman, David Bromberg (Fri only), Marshall Chapman, Clint de Ganon, The GrooveBarbers, Garland Jeffreys (Sat only), David Johansen, Christine Lavin (Sat only), Will Lee, Darlene Love with Ula Hedwig and Curtis King, Terre Roche with Feifei Yang and Garry Dial (Fri only), Uptown Horns and Jimmy Vivino

“Join us for a multimedia celebration of The Bottom Line, featuring music and memories, songs and stories by a selection of artists who were regular performers at the iconic club. Host Paul Shaffer with special guests will swap stories about their favorite times on stage, off stage and backstage and perform songs that made the club a destination for fans of all music genres.

From opening night on February 12, 1974, when headliner Dr. John jammed with Stevie Wonder and Johnny Winter in front of an audience that included Mick Jagger, Carly Simon, Bette Midler and an SRO crowd of entertainment industry luminaries, The Bottom Line was destined to be a cultural touchstone and hub of the music industry. For the next 30 years The Bottom Line influenced and impacted millions of music fans, providing a rich soundtrack to their lives that reflected the changing times.”

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> TROMBONE SHORTY
>> Maxine Linehan: One—The Songs of U2
>> Carl Allen
>> BALLET WEST
>> Andrea McArdle: An Evening with Andrea McCardle 
>> Ron Carter Quartet
>> Richard III
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

TROMBONE SHORTY (Oct. 13-14)
at Terminal 5 / 8PM, $42
“Troy Andrews, known as Trombone Shorty, is an ambassador for New Orleans music who’s ready to handle the syncretic impulse that guides both pop musicians and world-class improvisers today. He’s also deeply embedded in the tradition of his hometown, where he comes from a long line of professional musicians. His latest album, “Parking Lot Symphony,” has a strand of melancholic lament that runs through it, putting it in line with the times. But it inherits the lineage of celebratory funk and marching band music from which Mr. Andrews descends. His concerts lean heavily on that tradition.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Maxine Linehan: One—The Songs of U2
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 9:30PM, $35+
“Bono she didn’t! Poised and incisive Irish-born singer-actor Linehan gets close to the Edge in a set devoted to the music of U2.”

Carl Allen (Oct. 13-15.)
Smoke, 2751 Broadway, between 105th and 106th Sts./ 7, 9, 10;30PM, $38
“My ultimate goal is to get to a level like Art Blakey, Art Taylor, Elvin Jones, and Billy Higgins,” Carl Allen has stated, “who every time they sit down behind a set of drums it’s swinging.” Olympian as his vision may be, Allen, undaunted, has built a long and sturdy career providing uplifting rhythm for any number of illustrious jazz artists. Leading his own quintet, Allen pays tribute to two of his guiding lights: Blakey and Jones.” (NewYorker)

BALLET WEST
at the Joyce Theater (Oct.12-13, 8 p.m. Oct.14, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.) $51+
“Adam Sklute, the artistic director of Ballet West, brings his company back to the Joyce with the New York premieres of “Fox on the Doorstep” by resident choreographer, Nicolo Fonte, and “Dances for Lou” by Val Caniparoli. Gerarld Arpino’s final work, the elegiac “Ruth, Ricordi per Due,” will also be shown along with excerpts from George Balanchine’s “Chaconne” and a preview of a coming piece by the Spanish choreographer Africa Guzman.” (NYT-GIA KOURLAS)

Andrea McArdle: An Evening with Andrea McCardle (Oct.12-14)
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7PM, $40-$55
“Though she has appeared in many productions since—including Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast and Starlight Express—Andrea McArdle will probably always be remembered most fondly as the big-belting moppet who stole our hearts in the original Annie. (“Tomorrow” belongs to her.) In her return to F/54, she performs contemporary songs alongside standards and show tunes, and shares stories from her long showbiz journey.” (TONY)

Ron Carter Quartet (Oct.10-14)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St./ 8:30PM, +11PM, $40
“Having recently turned eighty, this master bassist is officially a jazz patriarch, though his nimble fingers and agile responsiveness regularly make light of the calendar. Carter propels a fleet quartet featuring the saxophonist Jimmy Greene and the pianist Renee Rosnes.” (NewYorker)

Elsewhere, but this US premier, part of BAM’s Next Wave Festival, looks worth the detour:
Richard III (Oct.11-14)
Sex, drugs, and regicide.
BAM, / 7:30PM, $35+
“Director Thomas Ostermeier brings his growling, glittery take on the murderous escapades of the world’s favorite wicked hunchback from the Schaubühne Berlin to BAM’s Next Wave Festival. Lars Eidinger — who played a mud-slathered Hamlet for Ostermeier and has a face that leaps between beautiful and grotesque — takes on the title role, imagined as a kind of savage, monomaniacal rock star.” (S.H., NY magazine)

Continuing Events

The 55th New York Film Festival (9/28-10/15)
at The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
The 18-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring 25 works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from around the globe.

“The 55th New York Film Festival’s Main Slate showcases films honored at Cannes, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner The Square; Robin Campillo’s BPM, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize; and Agnès Varda & JR’s Faces Places, which took home the Golden Eye. From Berlin, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner The Other Side of Hope and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner Spoor mark the returns of two New York Film Festival veterans, while Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will be his NYFF debut.”(cityguideny.com)

“The main slate nabs the headlines, but this festival’s sidebars nearly constitute a festival of their own. In the Spotlight on Documentary program, Travis Wilkerson’s riveting “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Friday and Sunday) grapples with a family legend: that Mr. Wilkerson’s white great-grandfather almost certainly got away with murdering a black man in Alabama in the 1940s. The main retrospective of the festival (which runs through Oct. 15) celebrates Robert Mitchum’s centennial. “His Kind of Woman” (Friday), with Mitchum (above, with Jane Russell) as a gambler lured to Mexico as a sap, and the auteur purée “Macao” (Thursday), on which Nicholas Ray took over for Josef von Sternberg, are enjoyably overstuffed Howard Hughes productions. William A. Wellman’s “Track of the Cat” (Monday); Otto Preminger’s “River of No Return” (Monday), with Marilyn Monroe; and Vincente Minnelli’s “Home From the Hill” (Thursday), all in CinemaScope, demand big-screen viewing.” (BEN KENIGSBERG, NYT)

Archtober
31 days, 100+ ways to celebrate design in NYC! The seventh-annual, month-long festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions in New York City will take place October 1-31, 2017.  Archtober’s calendar features 200 architecture and design lectures, conferences, programs, and exhibitions at more than 70+ collaborating institutions across the city.

For more details go to my Tab in the Header: “Notable Events October”  and scroll all the long way to the bottom. This event makes America, or at least NYCity, great again.

The 10th Annual Imagine Science Film Festival (Oct.13-20)
“Produced by Imagine Science Films — the nonprofit behind science film festivals in New York, Paris, Abu Dhabi and satellite events worldwide – Imagine Science Film Festival showcases new and experimental works that bridge the worlds of science and film in an artful, entertaining, and meaningful way.

All of the events are low cost or FREE. The festival includes short and feature-length films, live cinema performances, discussions, interactive demonstrations and more taking place at museums, universities and cultural institutions across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Several of the films will be making their U.S. debuts at the festival.

Notable programming includes:

World Premiere of Mosaic at The New School (Friday, Oct 13 @ 7pm) – The mixed genre, science-driven anthology film Mosaic explores evolution in its natural and artificial forms — the deliberate and random modifications of an organism. The film is the first of its kind featuring ten visionary, international filmmakers and stories from the most influential scientists of our time.

U.S. premiere of the film Dusk Chorus – Based on Fragments of Extinction at the Rubin Museum (Friday, Oct 13 @ 9:30 pm) – Join director Alessandro d’Emilia and researcher and eco-acoustic composer David Monacchi, who capture incredibly detailed 3D soundscapes of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Home to one of the highest biodiversities in the world, this area may all too soon fall silent due to habitat loss and other anthropocene effects.

(Im)migration & Híbridos at National Sawdust (Saturday, Oct 14 @ 7 pm / 9:30 pm) – A two-part evening featuring Vincent Moon and Priscilla Telmon presenting their live cinema project Híbridos, an experimental ethnographic study of Brazil, mixing tradition and modernity. Preceding Híbridos is (Im)migration, a performance and short film program on the topics of migration and identity.

North American premiere of Honey, Rain and Dust at the American Museum of Natural History (Friday, Oct 20 @ 4 pm) – A unique ethnographic and ecological look into an unseen corner of the Arabian Gulf: beekeeping traditions in the northwestern mountains of the United Arab Emirates.”(ThoughtGallery.org)

For the complete program, visit: http://imaginesciencefilms.org/ny10/program
Tickets: free – $18

===========================================================
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. 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. South, villagevanguard.com, 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. bluenotejazz.com, 212-475-8592
55 Bar – basement @55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. 55bar.com, 212-929-9883
Mezzrow – basement @ 163 W10th St. nr 7th Ave. mezzrow.com,646-476-4346
Smalls – basement @ 183 W10th St. smallslive.com, 646-476-4346
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319

Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com / 212-864-6662

Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. — caffevivaldi.com / 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

==================================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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)

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)

‘CRISTÓBAL DE VILLALPANDO: MEXICAN PAINTER OF THE BAROQUE’  (through Oct. 15). “In 1683, the leading painter of colonial Mexico painted a stupefying altarpiece for the cathedral of Puebla: a 26-foot showstopper that merged a radiant vision of Jesus’ transfiguration into light with a grimmer narrative of Israelites attacked by snakes. Now, for the first time ever, Villalpando’s altarpiece has left Mexico and stands alone in the Robert Lehman Collection wing of the Met, where you could spend days gaping at its churning collision of saints and mortals, and puzzling over the strange confluence of Old and New Testament visions. Compared with Baroque painting in Italy or Flanders, the Mexican version was lighter and less rigid, making use of bright color and free ornamentation. Ten other paintings by Villalpando, all but one lent from Mexican collections, round out the presentation, but it’s the altarpiece that matters, and it’s here for your veneration into the fall.” (NYT-Farago) 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

‘TALKING PICTURES: CAMERA-PHONE CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN ARTISTS’  (through Dec. 17). “One of the wisest, savviest museum exhibitions of the summer may not have much actual art in it, but it circles the subject like a satellite around a planet. Using prints, slide shows, books and iPads, it presents image-only camera-phone exchanges between 12 pairs of artists and is full of flashes of wit, poetry, even genius. Observers will find occasional momentous events, both personal and presidential.” (NYT – Roberta Smith) 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

‘STREAMS AND MOUNTAINS WITHOUT END: LANDSCAPE TRADITIONS OF CHINA’  (through Jan. 6). “If you’ve seen only ash-aired Beijing, or that architectural Oz Shanghai, you haven’t seen China. Most of the country is wide-open space, green and blue: hills, plains, water. And it was for an escape to that openness that some Chinese urbanites yearned in centuries past. Their dream: to sit in on a terrace halfway up a mountain, with tea steeping, an ink-brush at hand, a friend at the door, and a waterfall splashing nearby. Not just for vacation. Forever. One way they could live the dream was through images of the kind seen in this show. Technically, it’s a collection reinstallation spiced with a few loans. But the Met’s China holdings are so broad and deep that some of the pictures here are resurfacing for the first time in almost a decade; one is finally making its debut a century after it was acquired. And there’s more than just paintings on view: ceramics, textiles and scholar’s rocks fill out the panorama.” (NYT-Holland Cotter) 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

‘JAPANESE BAMBOO ART: THE ABBEY COLLECTION’  (through Feb. 4). “This fabulous show celebrates Diane and Arthur Abbey’s gift of some 70 bamboo baskets and sculptures, which nearly doubles the Met’s already outstanding holdings in this genre and brings them into the 20th and 21st centuries. The curator has embedded this trove within what is essentially a second exhibition that traces bamboo’s presence through folding screens, ink paintings, porcelain, netsuke, kimonos and more.” (NYT-Roberta Smith)
212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

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

Although technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection (closed Mon) (SUN 11am-1pm PWYW) 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).
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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 10/11 and 10/09.
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (10/12) + Today’s Featured Pub (Greenwich Village)

Posted on 10/12/2017 by GregD

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events > THURSDAY/ OCTOBER 12, 2017

“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: “Notable NYC Events-OCTOBER”
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 through the month.

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

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

BALLET WEST
at the Joyce Theater (Oct.12-13, 8 p.m. Oct.14, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.) $51+
“Adam Sklute, the artistic director of Ballet West, brings his company back to the Joyce with the New York premieres of “Fox on the Doorstep” by resident choreographer, Nicolo Fonte, and “Dances for Lou” by Val Caniparoli. Gerarld Arpino’s final work, the elegiac “Ruth, Ricordi per Due,” will also be shown along with excerpts from George Balanchine’s “Chaconne” and a preview of a coming piece by the Spanish choreographer Africa Guzman.” (NYT-GIA KOURLAS)

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

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Andrea McArdle: An Evening with Andrea McCardle 
>> Joey DeFrancesco
>> Ron Carter Quartet
>>“Turandot”
>> Richard III
>> Voices of a People’s History of the United States
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Andrea McArdle: An Evening with Andrea McCardle (Oct.12-14)
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7PM, $40-$55
“Though she has appeared in many productions since—including Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast and Starlight Express—Andrea McArdle will probably always be remembered most fondly as the big-belting moppet who stole our hearts in the original Annie. (“Tomorrow” belongs to her.) In her return to F/54, she performs contemporary songs alongside standards and show tunes, and shares stories from her long showbiz journey.” (TONY)

Joey DeFrancesco (Oct. 12-15)
Dizzy’s Club, Broadway at 60th St./ 7:30, +9:30PM, $40
“The enduring and rigorously individualistic music of Thelonious Monk can be adapted by any instrumentalist valiant enough to face its challenges. Here, DeFrancesco, a sparkplug of a keyboardist, brings his electric organ to the ever-challenging repertoire.” (NewYorker)

“Turandot”
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center / 8PM, $
“Franco Zeffirelli’s over-the-top style defined the Met in the eighties and nineties, but now the famed Italian director has only one other production (besides “La Bohème”) left in the company’s repertory, a traditionalist pageant of glittering chinoiserie that he devised for Puccini’s “Turandot” thirty years ago. Oksana Dyka, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Maria Agresta star in the revival; Rizzi.” (NewYorker)

Ron Carter Quartet (Oct.10-14)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St./ 8:30PM, +11PM, $40
“Having recently turned eighty, this master bassist is officially a jazz patriarch, though his nimble fingers and agile responsiveness regularly make light of the calendar. Carter propels a fleet quartet featuring the saxophonist Jimmy Greene and the pianist Renee Rosnes.” (NewYorker)

Elsewhere, but this US premier, part of BAM’s Next Wave Festival, looks worth the detour:
Richard III (Oct.11-14)
Sex, drugs, and regicide.
BAM, / 7:30PM, $35+
“Director Thomas Ostermeier brings his growling, glittery take on the murderous escapades of the world’s favorite wicked hunchback from the Schaubühne Berlin to BAM’s Next Wave Festival. Lars Eidinger — who played a mud-slathered Hamlet for Ostermeier and has a face that leaps between beautiful and grotesque — takes on the title role, imagined as a kind of savage, monomaniacal rock star.” (S.H., NY magazine)

Voices of a People’s History of the United States
Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center/ 7:30PM, FREE; better get there early for a seat.
“This Lincoln Center commission commemorates Howard Zinn’s seminal book, A People’s History of the United States, with music and spoken word performances that will bring to life the extraordinary history of ordinary people in the book: those who built the movements that made the United States what it is today, ending slavery and Jim Crow, protesting war and the genocide of Native Americans, creating unions and the eight-hour workday, advancing women’s rights and gay liberation, and struggling to right the wrongs of the day.”

Continuing Events

The 55th New York Film Festival (9/28-10/15)
at The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
The 18-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring 25 works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from around the globe.

“The 55th New York Film Festival’s Main Slate showcases films honored at Cannes, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner The Square; Robin Campillo’s BPM, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize; and Agnès Varda & JR’s Faces Places, which took home the Golden Eye. From Berlin, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner The Other Side of Hope and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner Spoor mark the returns of two New York Film Festival veterans, while Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will be his NYFF debut.”(cityguideny.com)

“The main slate nabs the headlines, but this festival’s sidebars nearly constitute a festival of their own. In the Spotlight on Documentary program, Travis Wilkerson’s riveting “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Friday and Sunday) grapples with a family legend: that Mr. Wilkerson’s white great-grandfather almost certainly got away with murdering a black man in Alabama in the 1940s. The main retrospective of the festival (which runs through Oct. 15) celebrates Robert Mitchum’s centennial. “His Kind of Woman” (Friday), with Mitchum (above, with Jane Russell) as a gambler lured to Mexico as a sap, and the auteur purée “Macao” (Thursday), on which Nicholas Ray took over for Josef von Sternberg, are enjoyably overstuffed Howard Hughes productions. William A. Wellman’s “Track of the Cat” (Monday); Otto Preminger’s “River of No Return” (Monday), with Marilyn Monroe; and Vincente Minnelli’s “Home From the Hill” (Thursday), all in CinemaScope, demand big-screen viewing.” (BEN KENIGSBERG, NYT)

Archtober
31 days, 100+ ways to celebrate design in NYC! The seventh-annual, month-long festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions in New York City will take place October 1-31, 2017.  Archtober’s calendar features 200 architecture and design lectures, conferences, programs, and exhibitions at more than 70+ collaborating institutions across the city.

For more details go to my Tab in the Header: “Notable Events October”  and scroll all the long way to the bottom. This event makes America, or at least NYCity, great again.

======================================================
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
Feinstein’s/54 Below – 254 W54th St., 54below.com, 646-476-3551
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St., joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34W22ndSt., metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
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
Bowery Ballroom – 6 Delancey St. boweryballroom.com,
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474

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.

==================================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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 Winter 2017).
◊ Order before Feb. 28, 2018 and receive a bonus – 27 of my favorite casual dining places with free Wi-Fi.

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (10/11) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s WestSide

Posted on 10/11/2017 by GregD

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events > WEDNESDAY/ OCTOBER 11, 2017

“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: “Notable NYC Events-OCTOBER”
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 through the month.

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

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

Elsewhere, but this US premier, part of BAM’s Next Wave Festival, looks worth the detour:

Richard III (Oct.11-14)
Sex, drugs, and regicide.
BAM, / 7:30PM, $35+
“Director Thomas Ostermeier brings his growling, glittery take on the murderous escapades of the world’s favorite wicked hunchback from the Schaubühne Berlin to BAM’s Next Wave Festival. Lars Eidinger — who played a mud-slathered Hamlet for Ostermeier and has a face that leaps between beautiful and grotesque — takes on the title role, imagined as a kind of savage, monomaniacal rock star.” (S.H., NY magazine)

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

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> KENNY BARRON
>> Norma
>> Ron Carter Quartet
>> New York City Ballet
>> ADF in NYC
>> Chilean Gastronomy With Rodolfo Guzmán
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

KENNY BARRON
at Jazz Standard / 7:30 and 9:30PM, $30
“One day after Thelonious Monk’s 100th birthday, Mr. Barron pays tribute with a set of music by the bebop legend. Mr. Barron’s own piano style has always been more tapered and refined, but Monk’s jagged melodic sense and idiosyncratic compositional style have always been a major influence on Mr. Barron, who was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2010.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Norma
Metropolitan Opera House / 7:30PM, $32+
“Ponselle, Milanov, Sutherland, Callas … after last night, Radvanovsky can add her name to the list,” declared the Huffington Post when Sondra Radvanovsky made her Met role debut as Norma in 2013. The 2017–18 season opens with a new production of Bellini’s masterpiece, starring Radvanovsky as the Druid priestess and Joyce DiDonato as her archrival, Adalgisa—a casting coup for bel canto fans. Tenor Joseph Calleja is Pollione, Norma’s unfaithful lover, and Carlo Rizzi conducts. Sir David McVicar’s evocative production sets the action deep in a Druid forest where nature and ancient ritual rule.”

Ron Carter Quartet (Oct.10-14)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St./ 8:30PM, +11PM, $40
“Having recently turned eighty, this master bassist is officially a jazz patriarch, though his nimble fingers and agile responsiveness regularly make light of the calendar. Carter propels a fleet quartet featuring the saxophonist Jimmy Greene and the pianist Renee Rosnes.” (NewYorker)

New York City Ballet
tonight: 20TH CENTURY VIOLIN CONCERTOS
NYS/DHK Theater, Lincoln Center / 7:30PM, $30+
“An instrument of marvelous versatility, the violin has stimulated choreographers for centuries, including NYCB’s three artistic leaders who contribute their interpretations of three world-famous violin concertos to this program. Inspired by the instrument’s immense range, these works convey moments of reflection, poignancy, and brilliance”

ADF in NYC
NewYork Live Arts, 7:30PM, $15+
“This “split week,” presented by the American Dance Festival, brings to town works that premiered in Durham, North Carolina, this summer. In The Lectern: rule by rule by rule, playing Tuesday and Wednesday, Claire Porter and Sara Juli, two of the dance world’s foremost comic artists, collaborate in words and movement on bending the rules that constrain our daily lives. On Friday and Saturday, Yossi Berg and Oded Graf, a duo of Tel Aviv–based performers with first-class pedigrees, shows us Come Jump With Me, which examines the importance of creating art in contemporary Israel. Critics have called it “a blow to the stomach, somewhere between black humor and suffocation,” “daring and personal,” and “a cartoon that becomes a gut-wrenching act of hara-kiri.” (Elizabeth Zimmer, Village Voice)

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

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour:
Chilean Gastronomy With Rodolfo Guzmán
Museum of Food & Drink / 6:30PM, $30
“The world-renowned chef Rodolfo Guzmán of Boragó — his progressive fine-dining restaurant showcasing beloved and underappreciated local ingredients — brings a bit of Santiago to New York City at this Q&A taking place at the MOFAD Lab in Williamsburg. Something of an archivist of the Chilean palate, Guzmán will take the audience deep into his process, with a behind-the-scenes look at the way his painstaking tasting menus come together. Attending the $30 event nets you a sampling of Chilean delights, plus early access to the chef’s new book, Boragó: Coming from the South, which doesn’t hit stores for another month.” (Zachary Feldman, Village Voice)

Continuing Events

The 55th New York Film Festival (9/28-10/15)
at The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
The 18-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring 25 works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from around the globe.

“The 55th New York Film Festival’s Main Slate showcases films honored at Cannes, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner The Square; Robin Campillo’s BPM, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize; and Agnès Varda & JR’s Faces Places, which took home the Golden Eye. From Berlin, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner The Other Side of Hope and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner Spoor mark the returns of two New York Film Festival veterans, while Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will be his NYFF debut.”(cityguideny.com)

“The main slate nabs the headlines, but this festival’s sidebars nearly constitute a festival of their own. In the Spotlight on Documentary program, Travis Wilkerson’s riveting “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Friday and Sunday) grapples with a family legend: that Mr. Wilkerson’s white great-grandfather almost certainly got away with murdering a black man in Alabama in the 1940s. The main retrospective of the festival (which runs through Oct. 15) celebrates Robert Mitchum’s centennial. “His Kind of Woman” (Friday), with Mitchum (above, with Jane Russell) as a gambler lured to Mexico as a sap, and the auteur purée “Macao” (Thursday), on which Nicholas Ray took over for Josef von Sternberg, are enjoyably overstuffed Howard Hughes productions. William A. Wellman’s “Track of the Cat” (Monday); Otto Preminger’s “River of No Return” (Monday), with Marilyn Monroe; and Vincente Minnelli’s “Home From the Hill” (Thursday), all in CinemaScope, demand big-screen viewing.” (BEN KENIGSBERG, NYT)

Archtober
31 days, 100+ ways to celebrate design in NYC! The seventh-annual, month-long festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions in New York City will take place October 1-31, 2017.  Archtober’s calendar features 200 architecture and design lectures, conferences, programs, and exhibitions at more than 70+ collaborating institutions across the city.

For more details go to my Tab in the Header: “Notable Events October”  and scroll all the long way to the bottom. This event makes America, or at least NYCity, great again.

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

Greenwich Village:
(5 are underground, classic jazz joints. all 6 are within walking distance of each other):
Village Vanguard – UG, 178 7th Ave. South, villagevanguard.com, 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. bluenotejazz.com, 212-475-8592
55 Bar – basement @55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. 55bar.com, 212-929-9883
Mezzrow – basement @ 163 W10th St. nr 7th Ave. mezzrow.com,646-476-4346
Smalls – basement @ 183 W10th St. smallslive.com, 646-476-4346
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319

Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com / 212-864-6662

Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. — caffevivaldi.com / 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

==================================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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 these exhibitions)

Whitney Museum of American Art:

Calder: Hypermobility (thru Oct 23)
“focuses on the extraordinary breadth of movement and sound in the work of Alexander Calder. This exhibition brings together a rich constellation of key sculptures and provides a rare opportunity to experience the works as the artist intended—in motion. Regular activations will occur in the galleries, revealing the inherent kinetic nature of Calder’s work, as well as its relationship to performance. Influenced in part by the artist’s fascination and engagement with choreography, Calder’s sculptures contain an embedded performativity that is reflected in their idiosyncratic motions and the perceptual responses they provoke.”

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)

New-York Historical Society

‘THE DUCHESS OF CARNEGIE HALL: PHOTOGRAPHS BY EDITTA SHERMAN’ (through Oct. 15).
“In this show, royalty photographs royalty, and everyone looks grand. The subjects facing the camera included some of the pop culture sovereigns of the 1940s and ’50s: Carl Sandburg, Tyrone Power, Leopold Stokowski. The person behind the lens was, though more discreetly crowned, no less lofty a luminary. Editta Sherman, born Edith Rinaolo, was a self-made celebrity portraitist operating out of a studio atop Carnegie Hall, where she worked and lived until she and her fellow tenants were removed in 2011. The show incudes dozens of her best pictures, her monumental 1930s camera and a short film of which she is the very engaging subject. Together they make a moving and regal tribute. (Holland Cotter-NYT)

American Museum of Natural History:

Mummies (thru 1/7/18)
“For thousands of years, peoples around the world practiced mummification as a way of preserving and honoring their dead. Mummies brings you face to face with some of these ancient individuals and reveals how scientists are using modern technology to glean stunning details about them and their cultures. In Mummies, ancient remains from the Nile Valley of Africa and the Andes Mountains of South America will be on view, allowing visitors to connect with cultures from the distant past. Mummification, a more widespread practice than most think, was used not only for royal Egyptians but also for common people and even animals. Interactive touch tables let visitors virtually “unravel” or see inside mummies as they delve deep into the unique stories of the people or animals who lie within. Other parts of the exhibition showcase the latest isotopic and DNA testing being performed on mummies, and explain how these sophisticated analytical techniques are helping scientists discover important clues about long-vanished practices. Mummies was developed by The Field Museum, Chicago.”(NYCity Guide)

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 10/09 and 10/07.
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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (10/10) + Today’s Featured Pub (Tribeca)

Posted on 10/10/2017 by GregD

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events > TUESDAY/ OCTOBER 10, 2017

“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: “Notable NYC Events-OCTOBER”
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 through the month.

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

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

Andrea McArdle: An Evening with Andrea McCardle (also Oct.12-14)
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7PM, $40-$55
“Though she has appeared in many productions since—including Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast and Starlight Express—Andrea McArdle will probably always be remembered most fondly as the big-belting moppet who stole our hearts in the original Annie. (“Tomorrow” belongs to her.) In her return to F/54, she performs contemporary songs alongside standards and show tunes, and shares stories from her long showbiz journey.” (TONY)

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

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Ron Carter Quartet
>> New York City Ballet
>> T.S. Monk Sextet 
>> ADF in NYC
>>The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions
>> Leaders in War: From the French Revolution to the Cold War
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Ron Carter Quartet (Oct.10-14)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St./ 8:30PM, +11PM, $40
“Having recently turned eighty, this master bassist is officially a jazz patriarch, though his nimble fingers and agile responsiveness regularly make light of the calendar. Carter propels a fleet quartet featuring the saxophonist Jimmy Greene and the pianist Renee Rosnes.” (NewYorker)

New York City Ballet
tonight: 20TH CENTURY VIOLIN CONCERTOS (also Oct.11)
NYS/DHK Theater, Lincoln Center / 7:30PM, $30+
“An instrument of marvelous versatility, the violin has stimulated choreographers for centuries, including NYCB’s three artistic leaders who contribute their interpretations of three world-famous violin concertos to this program. Inspired by the instrument’s immense range, these works convey moments of reflection, poignancy, and brilliance”

T.S. Monk Sextet
Dizzy’s Club / 7:30PM +9:30PM, $35
“On what would have been Thelonious Monk’s 100th birthday, we celebrate Monk’s legacy with his son, T.S Monk. Much like his father, drummer T.S. Monk has made invaluable contributions to jazz, including founding the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which has educated and helped launch the careers of some of our best musicians. T.S. first performed with his father’s group in the early 1970s, but for the last few decades he has been an excellent band leader with a reputation for highlighting obscure compositions deserving of larger audiences.”

ADF in NYC
NewYork Live Arts, 7:30PM, $15+
“This “split week,” presented by the American Dance Festival, brings to town works that premiered in Durham, North Carolina, this summer. In The Lectern: rule by rule by rule, playing Tuesday and Wednesday, Claire Porter and Sara Juli, two of the dance world’s foremost comic artists, collaborate in words and movement on bending the rules that constrain our daily lives. On Friday and Saturday, Yossi Berg and Oded Graf, a duo of Tel Aviv–based performers with first-class pedigrees, shows us Come Jump With Me, which examines the importance of creating art in contemporary Israel. Critics have called it “a blow to the stomach, somewhere between black humor and suffocation,” “daring and personal,” and “a cartoon that becomes a gut-wrenching act of hara-kiri.” (Elizabeth Zimmer, Village Voice)

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

The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave./ 12PM, $25
“Hear from award-winning science journalist Peter Brannen, whose new book looks at historic examples of climate change and how they’ve led to the five biggest catastrophes the Earth has endured (to date).” (ThoughtGallery.org)

Leaders in War: From the French Revolution to the Cold War
New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West/ 6:30PM, $44
“In culmination of his four-year lecture series, historian Andrew Roberts reviews what we’ve learned about the secrets of war leadership exhibited by Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, Horatio Nelson, Margaret Thatcher, and George Marshall. Is leadership unique, or might these leaders have something in common, techniques that can be transferred from age to age, country to country, war to war?”

Continuing Events

The 55th New York Film Festival (9/28-10/15)
at The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
The 18-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring 25 works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from around the globe.

“The 55th New York Film Festival’s Main Slate showcases films honored at Cannes, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner The Square; Robin Campillo’s BPM, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize; and Agnès Varda & JR’s Faces Places, which took home the Golden Eye. From Berlin, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner The Other Side of Hope and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner Spoor mark the returns of two New York Film Festival veterans, while Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will be his NYFF debut.”(cityguideny.com)

“The main slate nabs the headlines, but this festival’s sidebars nearly constitute a festival of their own. In the Spotlight on Documentary program, Travis Wilkerson’s riveting “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Friday and Sunday) grapples with a family legend: that Mr. Wilkerson’s white great-grandfather almost certainly got away with murdering a black man in Alabama in the 1940s. The main retrospective of the festival (which runs through Oct. 15) celebrates Robert Mitchum’s centennial. “His Kind of Woman” (Friday), with Mitchum (above, with Jane Russell) as a gambler lured to Mexico as a sap, and the auteur purée “Macao” (Thursday), on which Nicholas Ray took over for Josef von Sternberg, are enjoyably overstuffed Howard Hughes productions. William A. Wellman’s “Track of the Cat” (Monday); Otto Preminger’s “River of No Return” (Monday), with Marilyn Monroe; and Vincente Minnelli’s “Home From the Hill” (Thursday), all in CinemaScope, demand big-screen viewing.” (BEN KENIGSBERG, NYT)

Archtober
31 days, 100+ ways to celebrate design in NYC! The seventh-annual, month-long festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions in New York City will take place October 1-31, 2017.  Archtober’s calendar features 200 architecture and design lectures, conferences, programs, and exhibitions at more than 70+ collaborating institutions across the city.

For more details go to my Tab in the Header: “Notable Events October”  and scroll all the long way to the bottom. This event makes America, or at least NYCity, great again.

==================================================
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. Check out who is playing tonight:

Greenwich Village:
(5 underground, classic jazz joints. all 6 within walking distance of each other):
Village Vanguard – UG, 178 7th Ave. South, villagevanguard.com, 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. bluenotejazz.com, 212-475-8592
55 Bar – basement @55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. 55bar.com, 212-929-9883
Mezzrow – basement @ 163 W10th St. nr 7th Ave. mezzrow.com,646-476-4346
Smalls – basement @ 183 W10th St. smallslive.com, 646-476-4346
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319

Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com / 212-864-6662

Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. — caffevivaldi.com / 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

==================================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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

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“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.
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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (10/09) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 10/09/2017 by GregD

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events > MONDAY/ OCTOBER 09, 2017

“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: “Notable NYC Events-OCTOBER”
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 through the month.

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

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

“LA BOHÈME” (various dates through Nov. 4)
at the Metropolitan Opera / 7:30PM, $25+
“Franco Zeffirelli’s picture-postcard Puccini stands as a continuing rebuke to anyone who thinks Peter Gelb is an innovator, and here it returns yet again to Lincoln Center. There are just the 15 performances this season, and the first run of two has the lowest wattage. Angel Blue sings Mimì, Brigitta Kele takes Musetta, and Dmytro Popov is Rodolfo for three nights, before he gives way to Russell Thomas. Note that Sonya Yoncheva plays Mimì in the new year, opposite Michael Fabiano.” (NYT-DAVID ALLEN)

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

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Darlene Love
>> Christine Ebersole: After the Ball
>> SARAH ELIZABETH CHARLES AND SCOPE
>> 54 Sings Lennon: A Broadway Reunion
>> RAZA Y RESISTENCIA
>> JOAN SHELLEY
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Darlene Love
@ B.B. King Blues Club / 8PM, $50+
“The voice behind “He’s a Rebel” and much of the A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector album, Darlene Love is one of the iconic voices of the girl group era.

The New York Times raved …”Darlene Love’s thunderbolt voice is as embedded in the history of rock and roll as Eric Clapton’s guitar or Bob Dylan’s lyrics.” Through the years, Darlene Love continues to captivate audiences worldwide with her warm, gracious stage presence and superb performances.

This has been a banner season for Darlene. Her new CD, released via Sony/Columbia/Wicked Cool Records has been greeted with sensational critical reaction and numerous TV presentations. Produced by fellow musician and long time friend Steven Van Zandt, it includes selections written for Darlene by Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jimmy Webb and many others including two notable songs by Stevie himself.”

Christine Ebersole: After the Ball
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7PM, $95+
“Broadway leading lady Ebersole (Grey Gardens) can really land a joke and knock out a number, moving with ease between her lustrous belt, her mock-operatic soprano and multiple other modes. On select Monday nights this fall, she spends her night off from the musical War Paint, in which she plays makeup titan Elizabeth Arden, to share standards at Feinstein’s/54 Below.” (TONY)

SARAH ELIZABETH CHARLES AND SCOPE
at Joe’s Pub / 7:30PM, $20
“Ms. Charles just released “Free of Form,” an album of cutting social inquiry and lush ambience. Its beats, combining live drumming and electronics, often break apart into an open cloud, signaling invitation — and expectation. By turns introspective and anthemic, the album was co-produced by the trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, and features the keyboardist Jesse Elder, the bassist Burniss Earl Travis and the drummer John Davis. That group appears here in celebration of the record’s release.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

54 Sings Lennon: A Broadway Reunion
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 9:30PM, $40
“Seven of the nine original cast members of the short-lived 2005 Broadway jukebox musical Lennon—Will Chase, Chuck Cooper, Julie Danao-Salkin, Marcy Harriell, Chad Kimball, Julia Murney and Michael Potts—reunite with its director, Don Scardino, to honor the songs of John Lennon on what would have been his 77th birthday.” (TONY)

RAZA Y RESISTENCIA (also Oct 09, 7PM)
at El Taller Latino Americano / 7PM, $20
“Most jazz fans know Arts for Art for its annual Vision Festival, the banquet of avant-garde improvising that takes place downtown every spring. But the organization programs music year-round, always with an ear to the symbiosis between radical art and anti-authoritarian politics. This holiday weekend, Arts for Art teams up with El Taller, a Latin American cultural center in East Harlem, for a three-day festival it is calling an “UnColumbus Celebration.” Highlights include Francisco Mora Catlett’s AfroHORN, playing Saturday; TipRingSleeve, featuring Craig Taborn on piano, Tomeka Reid on cello and Ches Smith on percussion, on Sunday; and a Monday night appearance from William Parker’s Songs of Freedom ensemble.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Elsewhere, but this one looks worth the detour:
JOAN SHELLEY
at Union Pool / 6PM, $20
“The Kentucky singer Joan Shelley’s clear, high voice and beautifully understated songwriting have made her a rising star in the folk scene and beyond. Earlier this year, Ms. Shelley won her most enthusiastic reviews yet for her self-titled fifth album, produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy; its songs have a warmth and intimacy that will suit this performance in the tiny back room of a popular bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.” (NYT-SIMON VOZICK-LEVINSON)

Continuing Events

The 55th New York Film Festival (9/28-10/15)
at The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
The 18-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring 25 works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from around the globe.

“The 55th New York Film Festival’s Main Slate showcases films honored at Cannes, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner The Square; Robin Campillo’s BPM, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize; and Agnès Varda & JR’s Faces Places, which took home the Golden Eye. From Berlin, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner The Other Side of Hope and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner Spoor mark the returns of two New York Film Festival veterans, while Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will be his NYFF debut.”(cityguideny.com)

“The main slate nabs the headlines, but this festival’s sidebars nearly constitute a festival of their own. In the Spotlight on Documentary program, Travis Wilkerson’s riveting “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Friday and Sunday) grapples with a family legend: that Mr. Wilkerson’s white great-grandfather almost certainly got away with murdering a black man in Alabama in the 1940s. The main retrospective of the festival (which runs through Oct. 15) celebrates Robert Mitchum’s centennial. “His Kind of Woman” (Friday), with Mitchum (above, with Jane Russell) as a gambler lured to Mexico as a sap, and the auteur purée “Macao” (Thursday), on which Nicholas Ray took over for Josef von Sternberg, are enjoyably overstuffed Howard Hughes productions. William A. Wellman’s “Track of the Cat” (Monday); Otto Preminger’s “River of No Return” (Monday), with Marilyn Monroe; and Vincente Minnelli’s “Home From the Hill” (Thursday), all in CinemaScope, demand big-screen viewing.” (BEN KENIGSBERG, NYT)

Archtober
31 days, 100+ ways to celebrate design in NYC! The seventh-annual, month-long festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions in New York City will take place October 1-31, 2017.  Archtober’s calendar features 200 architecture and design lectures, conferences, programs, and exhibitions at more than 70+ collaborating institutions across the city.

For more details go to my Tab in the Header: “Notable Events October”  and scroll all the long way to the bottom. This event makes America, or at least NYCity, great again.

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

Greenwich Village:
(5 are underground, classic jazz joints. all 6 are within walking distance of each other):
Village Vanguard – UG, 178 7th Ave. South, villagevanguard.com, 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. bluenotejazz.com, 212-475-8592
55 Bar – basement @55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. 55bar.com, 212-929-9883
Mezzrow – basement @ 163 W10th St. nr 7th Ave. mezzrow.com,646-476-4346
Smalls – basement @ 183 W10th St. smallslive.com, 646-476-4346
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319

Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com / 212-864-6662

Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. — caffevivaldi.com / 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

==================================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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 are two exhibitions that the NYT likes:

‘A Line Can Go Anywhere’

Through Oct. 14. James Cohan, 533 West 26th Street, Manhattan; 212-714-9500, jamescohan.com.

September usually brings a wealth of must-see solo exhibitions, and this year is no different. “A Line Can Go Anywhere,” at James Cohan, however, is a notable group show that shouldn’t be missed. This terrific exhibition, organized by Jenelle Porter, who curated the landmark “Fiber: Sculpture 1960-present” at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, in 2015, includes seven artists from the San Francisco Bay Area working in the fiber tradition.

Among the influential figures here are Trude Guermonprez (1910-1975), who trained at the Bauhaus and taught alongside Anni Albers at Black Mountain College, and Ed Rossbach (1914-2002), who came out of the California Funk Art tradition. Ms. Guermonprez is represented by elegant woven works, including two from her 1960s “Space Hanging” series. Mr. Rossbach’s wonky-shaped raffia baskets are joined by his “After Miro” (1970), which looks like an acid-colored spider web.

“The Cosmetic Affect of Darkness,” a 2017 work by Josh Faught.Phoebe d’Heurle/James Cohan Gallery, New York

Alexandra Jacopetti Hart and Kay Sekimachi, who studied with Ms. Guermonprez in the 1950s, represent a middle generation. Both work with grids: Ms. Hart’s “Nebulae” (1982) is a lovely jumble of pastel rectangles, and Ms. Sekimachi’s muted-linen squares hark back to the Bauhaus weaving tradition.

Terri Friedman, Josh Faught and Ruth Laskey are younger artists making the case for fiber art in the technology-saturated present. Ms. Friedman’s “YES” (2016) looks like a bright wool (electric pink and yellow-green), acrylic and cotton circuit board. Ms. Laskey’s handwoven panels resemble Ellsworth Kelly’s work or Sol LeWitt’s fragmented abstractions, and Mr. Faught’s virtuosic weavings include funny texts that reference new technology and social media — retorts, essentially, to contemporary criticism of fiber art.

Finally, Ben Van Meter’s 21-minute film “The Saga of Macramé Park” (1974) captures children playing on Ms. Hart’s countercultural playground, made of knotted fibers. The film is a reminder of the timeless, haptic allure of fiber art and its magical, near-mythical history in Northern California.” (MARTHA SCHWENDENER, NYT)

Carey Young

Through Oct. 14. Paula Cooper Gallery, 534 West 21st Street, Manhattan; 212-255-1105, paulacoopergallery.com.

“Brussels has drawn even with Berlin as Europe’s coolest city for contemporary art, but amid its new galleries and cheap studios are grand, gruesome reminders of Belgium’s 19th-century empire. None are more imposing than the Palais de Justice, or central courthouse, a ghastly mash-up of Baroque, classical and Assyrian motifs that sprawls over more than six acres of the capital’s heart. (“It wants to be as terrible as the Law, severe and sumptuously naked,” Verlaine wrote after seeing it.) It’s here that the British-American artist Carey Young shot her icy, thoughtful, technically accomplished new video, which takes a distinctly feminist view of jurisprudence.

In “Palais de Justice,” establishing shots of the monstrous courthouse precede long takes of female judges at work, which Ms. Young filmed without permission through the portholes of courtroom doors. Lawyers, defendants and witnesses appear only in partial view, blocked by walls or curtains, as the stern-faced magistrates, all middle-aged and wearing black robes with white neck bands, nod along or stare down petitioners. We never hear the pleas, only ghostly, ambient sounds from the giant courthouse’s halls, and the silent female judges appear unimpressed and unbending. (An associated series of depopulated photographs of the courthouse, bearing the Kafkaesque title “Before the Law,” doubles down on the video’s eeriness.)

“Palais de Justice” is projected here at massive scale, as domineering as the courthouse itself, and its view of gender and law is at once sensitive and bleak. You may briefly fantasize that Ms. Young has found some alternate Brussels where women are in charge. But more often, and more disturbingly, it feels like a juridical peep show, in which the criminal law appears as just a special case of a male-dominated society’s pitiless daily judgments.” (JASON FARAGO-NYT)

And one that the New Yorker likes very much.

Jordan Casteel (thru Oct.28)
Casey Kaplan Gallery, 121 W27th St.

“In one of the most buzzed-about débuts of the fall season, Casteel shows large figurative canvases that combine the candid immediacy of the digital snapshots on which they’re based with the restraint and humanity of an Alice Neel portrait. The young Colorado-born phenom worked almost entirely from pictures she took in Harlem of men, at night. Casteel’s subjects, like the artist herself, are black, and her work tackles the representation of race in general, while revelling, as painters will, in the specific details. In “Q,” a man sits on a stoop next to a sketched-in green railing, earnestly consulting his iPhone, and wearing a sweatshirt with an image of Biggie Smalls in wraparound shades, a gold chain, and a Coogi sweater. In “MegaStarBrand’s Louie and A-Thug,” two well-turned-out young men sprawl with authority in folding chairs on the sidewalk, gazing skeptically out of frame. One wears a shirt that says “REASON,” the other is in a T-shirt that reads “T.H.U.G.: THE HATE YOU GAVE US.” In her exhilarating, if uneven, show, Casteel gives nothing but love.” (NewYorker)

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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 10/07 and 10/05.

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (10/08) + Today’s Featured Pub (Upper West Side)

Posted on 10/08/2017 by GregD

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events > SUNDAY/ OCTOBER 08, 2017

“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: “Notable NYC Events-OCTOBER”
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 through the month.

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

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

My Favorite Year in Concert: A 25th Anniversary Celebration
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7PM, +9:30PM, $50+
“When a Broadway musical turns twenty-five, it’s time to throw a party–and we are! The authors of My Favorite Year are delighted to mark this significant anniversary with two concert performances featuring a revised book, additional new songs, a hilarious new company and some beloved old friends.”

“Douglas Sills, Adam Chanler-Berat, Richard Kind, Caroline O’Connor, Carolee Carmello, Rose Hemingway and Steven Eng are among the bright lights in this starry silver-anniversary concert staging of the nostalgic 1992 musical comedy, revised by book writer Joseph Dougherty and featuring new songs by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Dan Knechtges (Lysistrata Jones) directs.” (TONY)

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

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Elsie Fest
>> RAZA Y RESISTENCIA
>> Shaken Not Stirred: The Music of James Bond
>> PETER EVANS
>> David Tanis
>> Future of Europe: Will Germany Lead the West?
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Elsie Fest
Central Park, SummerStage / 6PM, $60+
“The third edition of this Central Park musical-theater love-in, started by Darren Criss in 2015, is headlined by Alan Cumming, Criss and his erstwhile Glee costar Lea Michele. Other scheduled performers include Ingrid Michaelson, Norm Lewis, Jeremy Jordan and Moana’s magical Auli’i Crvalho.” (TONY)

RAZA Y RESISTENCIA (also Oct 09, 7PM)
at El Taller Latino Americano / 7:30PM, $20
“Most jazz fans know Arts for Art for its annual Vision Festival, the banquet of avant-garde improvising that takes place downtown every spring. But the organization programs music year-round, always with an ear to the symbiosis between radical art and anti-authoritarian politics. This holiday weekend, Arts for Art teams up with El Taller, a Latin American cultural center in East Harlem, for a three-day festival it is calling an “UnColumbus Celebration.” Highlights include Francisco Mora Catlett’s AfroHORN, playing Saturday; TipRingSleeve, featuring Craig Taborn on piano, Tomeka Reid on cello and Ches Smith on percussion, on Sunday; and a Monday night appearance from William Parker’s Songs of Freedom ensemble.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Shaken Not Stirred: The Music of James Bond
The Django / 6PM, +9PM, $
“Natalie Joy Johnson, PJ Griffith, Matt Hetherington and the Romanova Dancers put their stock in Bond as they whirl through theme songs originally performed by Shirley Bassey, Adele, Tom Jones, Wings, Chris Cornell and more. (Dare we hope for a little A-ha and Sheena Easton?) Doors open an hour before showtime for an interactive Bond-inspired lounge party.” (TONY)

PETER EVANS (Oct. 3-8)
at the Stone / 8:30PM, $
“Peter Evans plays the trumpet like a homing device, a percussion instrument, a didgeridoo, or distant bird call. He is now a heavily relied-upon sideman on New York’s avant-garde jazz scene, because he can seemingly do anything with his horn, while keeping his heart on his sleeve. But some of his most compelling work is as a soloist. He’s in residence at the Stone, where he will play with a range of collaborators and finish the run with a solo performance on Sunday, Oct. 8.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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

David Tanis
Cafe Altro Paradiso / 9PM
“The chef and prolific author David Tanis, who once lead the kitchen at Alice Waters’s influential Berkeley, California, restaurant Chez Panisse, has just released a new cookbook. This Sunday, he’ll showcase recipes from that tome, David Tanis Market Cooking: Recipes and Revelations, Ingredient by Ingredient, during a dinner hosted by Ignacio Mattos at the latter’s Soho restaurant Café Altro Paradiso. They’ll offer everything a la carte, so all you need to do is make the reservation and show up. One ingredient to look out for in particular: the chile peppers, which you probably won’t have any trouble spotting, considering the chefs will be roasting them right on the sidewalk.” (Zachary Feldman, Village Voice)

Future of Europe: Will Germany Lead the West?
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave./ %PM, $35
“As America First becomes our policy and Brexit weakens Britain, does Germany become leader of the West?

For the third time in a century we see the rise of Germany. What are the messages of history and how will Angela Merkel lead the leader?”

Continuing Events

The 55th New York Film Festival (9/28-10/15)
at The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
The 18-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring 25 works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from around the globe.

“The 55th New York Film Festival’s Main Slate showcases films honored at Cannes, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner The Square; Robin Campillo’s BPM, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize; and Agnès Varda & JR’s Faces Places, which took home the Golden Eye. From Berlin, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner The Other Side of Hope and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner Spoor mark the returns of two New York Film Festival veterans, while Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will be his NYFF debut.”(cityguideny.com)

“The main slate nabs the headlines, but this festival’s sidebars nearly constitute a festival of their own. In the Spotlight on Documentary program, Travis Wilkerson’s riveting “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Friday and Sunday) grapples with a family legend: that Mr. Wilkerson’s white great-grandfather almost certainly got away with murdering a black man in Alabama in the 1940s. The main retrospective of the festival (which runs through Oct. 15) celebrates Robert Mitchum’s centennial. “His Kind of Woman” (Friday), with Mitchum (above, with Jane Russell) as a gambler lured to Mexico as a sap, and the auteur purée “Macao” (Thursday), on which Nicholas Ray took over for Josef von Sternberg, are enjoyably overstuffed Howard Hughes productions. William A. Wellman’s “Track of the Cat” (Monday); Otto Preminger’s “River of No Return” (Monday), with Marilyn Monroe; and Vincente Minnelli’s “Home From the Hill” (Thursday), all in CinemaScope, demand big-screen viewing.” (BEN KENIGSBERG, NYT)

Archtober
31 days, 100+ ways to celebrate design in NYC! The seventh-annual, month-long festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions in New York City will take place October 1-31, 2017.  Archtober’s calendar features 200 architecture and design lectures, conferences, programs, and exhibitions at more than 70+ collaborating institutions across the city.

For more details go to my Tab in the Header: “Notable Events October”  and scroll all the way, (a long way) to the bottom.

================================================
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. Check out who is playing tonight:

Greenwich Village:
(5 underground (UG), classic jazz joints. all 6 within walking distance of each other):
Village Vanguard – UG, 178 7th Ave. South, villagevanguard.com, 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. bluenotejazz.com, 212-475-8592
55 Bar – basement @55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. 55bar.com, 212-929-9883
Mezzrow – basement @ 163 W10th St. nr 7th Ave. mezzrow.com,646-476-4346
Smalls – basement @ 183 W10th St. smallslive.com, 646-476-4346
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319

Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com / 212-864-6662

Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. — caffevivaldi.com / 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

==================================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats in advance at these top NYC events, even if just on day of performance.
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” (10/07) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s 5th Avenue

Posted on 10/07/2017 by GregD

Today’s Nifty 9 NYC Events > SATURDAY/ OCTOBER 07, 2017

“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: “Notable NYC Events-OCTOBER”
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 through the month.

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

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

Norma
Metropolitan Opera House / 1PM, $32+
“Ponselle, Milanov, Sutherland, Callas … after last night, Radvanovsky can add her name to the list,” declared the Huffington Post when Sondra Radvanovsky made her Met role debut as Norma in 2013. The 2017–18 season opens with a new production of Bellini’s masterpiece, starring Radvanovsky as the Druid priestess and Joyce DiDonato as her archrival, Adalgisa—a casting coup for bel canto fans. Tenor Joseph Calleja is Pollione, Norma’s unfaithful lover, and Carlo Rizzi conducts. Sir David McVicar’s evocative production sets the action deep in a Druid forest where nature and ancient ritual rule.”

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

8 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Daniel Johnston & Friends
>> PETER APFELBAUM’S SONG OF THE MYSTIC THREAD
>> Hudson
>> New York City Ballet
>> Répons
>> Ron Carter’s Great Big Band
>> Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back – In Concert
>> Target First Saturdays
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Daniel Johnston & Friends
The Town Hall, 8PM, $35-$45
“There’s a little Daniel Johnston in every songwriter. The talented, troubled 56-year-old Texas troubadour is undertaking what is being billed as his final tour— although he has disputed such finality in recent interviews. While Jeff Tweedy will back him in Chicago and Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch in the Pacific Northwest, unspecified members of Beirut, Cibo Mato, Gang Gang Dance, “and more TBA” are promised for this likely rehearsal-free show that could go in any number of directions. Johnston, who has famously struggled with depression and schizophrenia as well as diabetes and hydrocephalus, has continued to create drawings and songs through it all. Their confessional intimacy and naiveté may have been more appealing when performed by others (notably Kathy McCarty), but for those who need another glimpse into the abyss, here it is.” (Richard Gehr, Village Voice)

PETER APFELBAUM’S SONG OF THE MYSTIC THREAD
Greenwich House Music School / 8PM, $20
“Mr. Apfelbaum, a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist, draws influences from around the globe, typically in service of a sound that’s big and sanguine and whorled — full of incisive funk and frothy improvising. He plays here with a new group, Song of the Mystic Thread, featuring two practitioners of the gyil, a Ghanaian xylophone — the master Alfred Kpebesaane and his protégé, Brittany Anjou — as well as Charlie Burnham on violin and vocals, Mali Obomsawin on bass, and April Centrone on drums and riqq, a Middle Eastern variant of the tambourine.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

Hudson
Rose Theatre, 60th St. at Broadway / 8PM, $17.50+
“The guitarist John Scofield, the drummer Jack DeJohnette, the keyboardist John Medeski, and the bassist Larry Grenadier, heavy hitters all, mosey a bit into classic-rock mode in their guise as the collective Hudson ensemble. Spinning its own meditations on such boomer fare as “Lay Lady Lay,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” and “Woodstock”—as well as apposite originals—this fabulous foursome extracts inspiration from an unlikely repertoire without pandering to cozy nostalgia.” (NewYorker)

New York City Ballet (through Oct. 15, at various times).
NYS/DHK Theater, Lincoln Center / tonight 8PM, $30+
20TH CENTURY VIOLIN CONCERTOS
“An instrument of marvelous versatility, the violin has stimulated choreographers for centuries, including NYCB’s three artistic leaders who contribute their interpretations of three world-famous violin concertos to this program. Inspired by the instrument’s immense range, these works convey moments of reflection, poignancy, and brilliance.”

Répons (Oct.6-7)
Pierre Boulez, Composer, Andrew Gerzso, IRCAM Computer Music Design
Ensemble intercontemporain
Park Avenue Armory, / 8PM, $40+
“The total-immersion work by the composer, conductor, and provocateur Pierre Boulez, who died last year at 90, can be stunning, disorienting, and thrilling. Vast in scale and dizzying in detail, it’s a kind of Gothic cathedral in sound, surrounding the audience with a swirl of musical mystery. The Ensemble Intercontemporain (which Boulez founded) performs the work twice in a row, allowing listeners to change places.” (J.D., NY magazine)

Ron Carter’s Great Big Band
A Celebration of Ron Carter, October 3-21
Birdland, 315 West 44th St./ 8:30PM, +11PM, $40
“Ron Carter is among the most original, prolific and influential bassists in jazz with more than 2,000 albums to his credit. Beginning his career in the 1960s with Jaki Byard and Eric Dolphy, Cannonball Adderley, and a five year stint with the Miles Davis’ Quintet, Ron also performed and recorded with notables including Bill Evans, B.B. King, and Dexter Gordon. Ron Carter’s various ensembles, big band to trio, feature a who’s who of the finest players on the NYC scene with, “an absolute commitment to musical sublimity [that] exudes refined elegance and sonic power.” (amazon.com)”

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back – In Concert
David Geffen Hall (at Lincoln Center) / 7:30pm; $65­–$175 (maybe tough tkt)
“New York Philharmonic takes on John Williams’s scores for the most iconic film franchise in history with screenings of A New Hope (September 15, 16), The Empire Strikes Back (September 26–28), Return of the Jedi (October 4, 5) and The Force Awakens (October 6, 7), all backed by conductor David Newman and an 85-person orchestra. Maybe we’ll get the prequels in 2018?” (TONY)

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

Elsewhere, but this is always worth the detour.

Target First Saturdays
Brooklyn Museum 200 Eastern Pkwy / 1-9PM, FREE
“Head to Brooklyn Museum for a free day of talks, tours and performances. Learn about how to defend immigrant rights with activist group Movimiento Cosecha, catch a screening of The Holy Mountain, and get down to reggaetón and salsa at shows by Batalá New York and Balmir Latin Dance Company.” (TONY)

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know (Oct.5-7)
Joe’s Pub, / 6:30PM, +9:30PM, $25
“News you can use.
Leave with answers to questions you didn’t even know you had when the hit podcast–game show helmed by Freakonomics Radio’s Stephen J. Dubner tapes six live shows at Joe’s Pub, with co-hosts including Top Chef’s Gail Simmons.” (NewYork magazine)

Continuing Events

The 55th New York Film Festival (9/28-10/15)
at The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
The 18-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring 25 works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from around the globe.

“The 55th New York Film Festival’s Main Slate showcases films honored at Cannes, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner The Square; Robin Campillo’s BPM, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize; and Agnès Varda & JR’s Faces Places, which took home the Golden Eye. From Berlin, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner The Other Side of Hope and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner Spoor mark the returns of two New York Film Festival veterans, while Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will be his NYFF debut.”(cityguideny.com)

“The main slate nabs the headlines, but this festival’s sidebars nearly constitute a festival of their own. In the Spotlight on Documentary program, Travis Wilkerson’s riveting “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Friday and Sunday) grapples with a family legend: that Mr. Wilkerson’s white great-grandfather almost certainly got away with murdering a black man in Alabama in the 1940s. The main retrospective of the festival (which runs through Oct. 15) celebrates Robert Mitchum’s centennial. “His Kind of Woman” (Friday), with Mitchum (above, with Jane Russell) as a gambler lured to Mexico as a sap, and the auteur purée “Macao” (Thursday), on which Nicholas Ray took over for Josef von Sternberg, are enjoyably overstuffed Howard Hughes productions. William A. Wellman’s “Track of the Cat” (Monday); Otto Preminger’s “River of No Return” (Monday), with Marilyn Monroe; and Vincente Minnelli’s “Home From the Hill” (Thursday), all in CinemaScope, demand big-screen viewing.” (BEN KENIGSBERG, NYT)

Archtober
31 days, 100+ ways to celebrate design in NYC! The seventh-annual, month-long festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions in New York City will take place October 1-31, 2017.  Archtober’s calendar features 200 architecture and design lectures, conferences, programs, and exhibitions at more than 70+ collaborating institutions across the city.

For more details go to my Section: “Notable Events October”  and scroll all the way, (a long way) to the bottom.

===========================================================
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. 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. South, villagevanguard.com, 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. bluenotejazz.com, 212-475-8592
55 Bar – basement @55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. 55bar.com, 212-929-9883
Mezzrow – basement @ 163 W10th St. nr 7th Ave. mezzrow.com,646-476-4346
Smalls – basement @ 183 W10th St. smallslive.com, 646-476-4346
Cornelia Street Cafe – UG, 29 Cornelia St. corneliastreetcafe.com, 212-989-9319

Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com / 212-864-6662

Special Mention:
Caffe Vivaldi – 32 Jones St. nr Bleecker St. — caffevivaldi.com / 212-691-7538
a classic, old jazz club in the Village, Caffe V often surprises with a wonderfully eclectic lineup. It’s my favorite spot for an evening of listening enjoyment and discovery.

==================================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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)

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)

‘CRISTÓBAL DE VILLALPANDO: MEXICAN PAINTER OF THE BAROQUE’  (through Oct. 15). “In 1683, the leading painter of colonial Mexico painted a stupefying altarpiece for the cathedral of Puebla: a 26-foot showstopper that merged a radiant vision of Jesus’ transfiguration into light with a grimmer narrative of Israelites attacked by snakes. Now, for the first time ever, Villalpando’s altarpiece has left Mexico and stands alone in the Robert Lehman Collection wing of the Met, where you could spend days gaping at its churning collision of saints and mortals, and puzzling over the strange confluence of Old and New Testament visions. Compared with Baroque painting in Italy or Flanders, the Mexican version was lighter and less rigid, making use of bright color and free ornamentation. Ten other paintings by Villalpando, all but one lent from Mexican collections, round out the presentation, but it’s the altarpiece that matters, and it’s here for your veneration into the fall.” (NYT-Farago) 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

‘TALKING PICTURES: CAMERA-PHONE CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN ARTISTS’  (through Dec. 17). “One of the wisest, savviest museum exhibitions of the summer may not have much actual art in it, but it circles the subject like a satellite around a planet. Using prints, slide shows, books and iPads, it presents image-only camera-phone exchanges between 12 pairs of artists and is full of flashes of wit, poetry, even genius. Observers will find occasional momentous events, both personal and presidential.” (NYT – Roberta Smith) 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

‘STREAMS AND MOUNTAINS WITHOUT END: LANDSCAPE TRADITIONS OF CHINA’  (through Jan. 6). “If you’ve seen only ash-aired Beijing, or that architectural Oz Shanghai, you haven’t seen China. Most of the country is wide-open space, green and blue: hills, plains, water. And it was for an escape to that openness that some Chinese urbanites yearned in centuries past. Their dream: to sit in on a terrace halfway up a mountain, with tea steeping, an ink-brush at hand, a friend at the door, and a waterfall splashing nearby. Not just for vacation. Forever. One way they could live the dream was through images of the kind seen in this show. Technically, it’s a collection reinstallation spiced with a few loans. But the Met’s China holdings are so broad and deep that some of the pictures here are resurfacing for the first time in almost a decade; one is finally making its debut a century after it was acquired. And there’s more than just paintings on view: ceramics, textiles and scholar’s rocks fill out the panorama.” (NYT-Holland Cotter) 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

‘JAPANESE BAMBOO ART: THE ABBEY COLLECTION’  (through Feb. 4). “This fabulous show celebrates Diane and Arthur Abbey’s gift of some 70 bamboo baskets and sculptures, which nearly doubles the Met’s already outstanding holdings in this genre and brings them into the 20th and 21st centuries. The curator has embedded this trove within what is essentially a second exhibition that traces bamboo’s presence through folding screens, ink paintings, porcelain, netsuke, kimonos and more.” (NYT-Roberta Smith)
212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

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

Although technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection (closed Mon) (SUN 11am-1pm PWYW) on the corner of 70th St. and Fifth Avenue and the The Morgan Library & Museum (closed Mon) (Fri 7-9 FREE) on Madison Ave and 37th St are also located near Fifth Ave.
Now plan your own museum crawl (info on hours & admission updated June 2, 2015).
==============================================================
For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 10/05 and 10/03.
=============================================================

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

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (10/06) + Today’s Featured Pub (Greenwich Village)

Posted on 10/06/2017 by GregD

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events > FRIDAY/ OCTOBER 06, 2017

“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: “Notable NYC Events-OCTOBER”
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 through the month.

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

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

Répons (Oct.6-7)
Pierre Boulez, Composer, Andrew Gerzso, IRCAM Computer Music Design
Ensemble intercontemporain
Park Avenue Armory, / 8PM, $40+
“The total-immersion work by the composer, conductor, and provocateur Pierre Boulez, who died last year at 90, can be stunning, disorienting, and thrilling. Vast in scale and dizzying in detail, it’s a kind of Gothic cathedral in sound, surrounding the audience with a swirl of musical mystery. The Ensemble Intercontemporain (which Boulez founded) performs the work twice in a row, allowing listeners to change places.” (J.D., NY magazine)

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

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>Hudson
>>New York City Ballet
>>Ron Carter’s Great Big Band
>>Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back – In Concert
>>Fall for Dance
>>Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Hudson (also Saturday)
Rose Theatre, 60th St. at Broadway / 8PM, $17.50+
“The guitarist John Scofield, the drummer Jack DeJohnette, the keyboardist John Medeski, and the bassist Larry Grenadier, heavy hitters all, mosey a bit into classic-rock mode in their guise as the collective Hudson ensemble. Spinning its own meditations on such boomer fare as “Lay Lady Lay,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” and “Woodstock”—as well as apposite originals—this fabulous foursome extracts inspiration from an unlikely repertoire without pandering to cozy nostalgia.” (NewYorker)

New York City Ballet (through Oct. 15, at various times).
NYS/DHK Theater, Lincoln Center / tonight 7:30PM, $30+
“One of the programs this week is a trio of works by George Balanchine. In his particularly joyful 1957 piece “Square Dance,” Balanchine evoked the high spirits, rhythms, and formations of country dancing, but set them to the music of Vivaldi and Corelli. In 1976, he added an enigmatic male solo, and with it, a note of gravity. The result is one of his most perfect ballets.” (NewYorker)

“Three works, each stylized and rousing, exhibit Balanchine’s masterful yet subtle penchant for channeling cultural sensibilities, including a distillation of square dancing into fascinating patterns and effervescent spirit, a cavernous ballroom where a young woman both horrified and fascinated by her own vanity is seduced by the figure of Death, and a grand procession of classical dance.”

Ron Carter’s Great Big Band
A Celebration of Ron Carter, October 3-21
Birdland, 315 West 44th St./ 8:30PM, +11PM, $40
“Ron Carter is among the most original, prolific and influential bassists in jazz with more than 2,000 albums to his credit. Beginning his career in the 1960s with Jaki Byard and Eric Dolphy, Cannonball Adderley, and a five year stint with the Miles Davis’ Quintet, Ron also performed and recorded with notables including Bill Evans, B.B. King, and Dexter Gordon. Ron Carter’s various ensembles, big band to trio, feature a who’s who of the finest players on the NYC scene with, “an absolute commitment to musical sublimity [that] exudes refined elegance and sonic power.” (amazon.com)”

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back – In Concert
David Geffen Hall (at Lincoln Center) / 7:30pm; $65­–$175 (maybe tough tkt)
“New York Philharmonic takes on John Williams’s scores for the most iconic film franchise in history with screenings of A New Hope (September 15, 16), The Empire Strikes Back (September 26–28), Return of the Jedi (October 4, 5) and The Force Awakens (October 6, 7), all backed by conductor David Newman and an 85-person orchestra. Maybe we’ll get the prequels in 2018?” (TONY)

Fall for Dance (thru Oct. 14)
City Center, 131 W. 55th St./ 8PM, ALL TKTS $15!
“ONE OF THE GREAT EVENTS OF THE NEW YORK DANCE YEAR”
— THE NEW YORK TIMES
“One of the appealing aspects of this festival is its inclusive spirit; there seems to be something for just about everyone. (The opposite is also true; there will be at least one thing to hate on most programs.) The second of five programs opens with a fast-paced ballet from 2004 by Christopher Wheeldon, “Rush,” performed by dancers from Pennsylvania Ballet, and closes with an excerpt from the high-octane tango show “Tango Fire,” by the Argentine choreographer German Cornejo. In program four, New York City Ballet’s Sara Mearns—a ballerina with an adventurous soul—collaborates with the hip-hop choreographer Honji Wang in a duet entitled “No. 1” (a world première). And program five features American Ballet Theatre’s star David Hallberg in a series of miniatures set to Benjamin Britten’s “Twelve Variations for Piano,” created for the festival by Mark Morris.” (NewYorker)

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

coming soon

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know (Oct.5-7)
Joe’s Pub, / 6:30PM, +9:30PM, $25
“News you can use.
Leave with answers to questions you didn’t even know you had when the hit podcast–game show helmed by Freakonomics Radio’s Stephen J. Dubner tapes six live shows at Joe’s Pub, with co-hosts including Top Chef’s Gail Simmons.” (NewYork magazine)

Continuing Events

The 55th New York Film Festival (9/28-10/15)
at The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
The 18-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring 25 works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent from around the globe.

“The 55th New York Film Festival’s Main Slate showcases films honored at Cannes, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winner The Square; Robin Campillo’s BPM, awarded the Cannes Critics’ Prize; and Agnès Varda & JR’s Faces Places, which took home the Golden Eye. From Berlin, Aki Kaurismäki’s Silver Bear–winner The Other Side of Hope and Agnieszka Holland’s Alfred Bauer Prize–winner Spoor mark the returns of two New York Film Festival veterans, while Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me by Your Name will be his NYFF debut.”(cityguideny.com)

“The main slate nabs the headlines, but this festival’s sidebars nearly constitute a festival of their own. In the Spotlight on Documentary program, Travis Wilkerson’s riveting “Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Friday and Sunday) grapples with a family legend: that Mr. Wilkerson’s white great-grandfather almost certainly got away with murdering a black man in Alabama in the 1940s. The main retrospective of the festival (which runs through Oct. 15) celebrates Robert Mitchum’s centennial. “His Kind of Woman” (Friday), with Mitchum (above, with Jane Russell) as a gambler lured to Mexico as a sap, and the auteur purée “Macao” (Thursday), on which Nicholas Ray took over for Josef von Sternberg, are enjoyably overstuffed Howard Hughes productions. William A. Wellman’s “Track of the Cat” (Monday); Otto Preminger’s “River of No Return” (Monday), with Marilyn Monroe; and Vincente Minnelli’s “Home From the Hill” (Thursday), all in CinemaScope, demand big-screen viewing.” (BEN KENIGSBERG, NYT)

Archtober
31 days, 100+ ways to celebrate design in NYC! The seventh-annual, month-long festival of architecture activities, programs, and exhibitions in New York City will take place October 1-31, 2017.  Archtober’s calendar features 200 architecture and design lectures, conferences, programs, and exhibitions at more than 70+ collaborating institutions across the city.

For more details go to my Section: “Notable Events October”  and scroll all the way to the bottom.

======================================================
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
Feinstein’s/54 Below – 254 W54th St., 54below.com, 646-476-3551
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St., joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34W22ndSt., metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
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
Bowery Ballroom – 6 Delancey St. boweryballroom.com,
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474

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.

==================================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.
♦ NYCity, with a population of  8.5 million, had a record 60 million visitors last year and was TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2017.  Quality shows draw crowds.
Try to reserve seats for these top NYC events in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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.
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“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.
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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.

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“3 Good Eating places” focuses on a quick bite, what I call “Fine Fast Food – NYCity Style”
No reservations needed.
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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 Winter 2017).
◊ Order before Feb. 28, 2018 and receive a bonus – 27 of my favorite casual dining places with free Wi-Fi.

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