NYC Events,”Only the Best” (07/07) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s WestSide

Posted on 07/07/2017 by GregD

Today’s Elite 8  NYC Events > FRIDAY/JULY 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 be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-July”

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

Christine Andreas: Piaf—No Regrets
54 Below, 254 W54th St./ 7PM, $50
“Broadway leading lady Andreas could coast on her pure, silvery soprano, but she is also a strong storyteller who knows how to dip beneath the pretty surfaces. In her new show, she pays homage to great French songbird Edith Piaf, putting her own stamp on such classic chansons as “La Vie en Rose,” “Hymne à L’Amour,” “Milord” and “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.”” (TONY)

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>JOE BATAAN
>>ABT Tchaikovsky Spectacular
>>(Sandy) Alex G
>>HOUSTON PERSON QUARTET
>>The Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars
>>Why Picasso, Calder, and Other Contemporary Artists Found a Home in the Theater
>>“First Fridays”

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Music, Dance, Performing Arts

JOE BATAAN
at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing
Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center,/ dance lesson 6:30PM, music 7:30PM, $17+
“Mr. Bataan was a kind of Bruno Mars of his day (the 1960s and ’70s); a self-taught vocalist and pianist, he pulled together the most hummable elements of soul, salsa and doo-wop, balancing a raffish bad-boy appeal with a stubbornly endearing sweetness. He appears here at Damrosch Park in Midtown as part of Lincoln Center’s outdoor summer concert series. Between sets, DJ Turmix will spin some tunes from the boogaloo movement that Mr. Bataan helped define.” (NYT-GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

ABT Tchaikovsky Spectacular (July 03-08)
American Ballet Theatre The Metropolitan Opera House/ 7:30PM, $22+
“No other composer in history has written more beloved music for the ballet than Pyotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. ABT presents a sparkling showcase of breathtaking athleticism and lyrical beauty in these works inspired by the composer’s genius:

Souvenir d’un lieu cher | Alexei Ratmansky (Company Premiere) Mozartiana | George Balanchine AfterEffect | Marcelo Gomes Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux | George Balanchine The Nutcracker pas de deux | Alexei Ratmansky Aurora’s Wedding from Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, including Bronislava Nijinska’s dances of The Three Ivans and Porcelain Trio”

(Sandy) Alex G
BOWERY BALLROOM, 8:30PM, $16–$20
“Alex Giannascoli has been recording and performing his blend of lo-fi indie rock ever since he was a college student in Philadelphia. First as Alex G, and now as (Sandy) Alex G, Giannascoli has amassed an extensive discography for a 25-year-old, having released a handful of Bandcamp albums before signing with Domino Records in 2015. His latest album, Rocket, is his most accomplished, merging rootsy folk, experimental electronic, and psychedelic piano-pop on highlights like “Sportstar” and “Proud.” Although his albums are predominantly solo affairs, with Giannascoli producing, recording, and playing most instruments, the songwriter tours as part of a tight-knit quartet that delivers a high-energy rock show. He’ll next bring his foursome to New York City for two sold-out shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Bowery Ballroom. Show up early to both of this week’s sets to catch upstart side-projects Japanese Breakfast and Cende on a three-bill Philly-centric indie rock showcase.” (Jonathan Bernstein,VillageVoice)

HOUSTON PERSON QUARTET (July 6-9)
Jazz Standard, / 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“Houston Person and Jazz Standard go way back: It was in May 2002 that he made his first appearance as a leader on our stage. The great tenor saxophonist has put fifteen more years under his belt since then but “his playing just goes on getting better,” declared Dave Gelly in The Observer. In his review of a January 2012 engagement at Ronnie Scott’s in London, The Guardian’s John Fordham wrote: “Like Sonny Rollins and a handful of other survivors, Person is an eloquent messenger from a jazz era rooted in traditional blues, black church music, Broadway love songs and the impersonation, by sax, of a singer’s tone palette…His sound has become uniquely characterful: an idiosyncratic edit of all he has learned, expressed in shrugging hoots, briefly cantering bop sprints, spacious and softly blown ballads.”

The Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars
Birdland, 315 W. 44th St./ 8:30PM, +11PM, $50
“This annual celebration of the music and influence of the unparalleled Belgian Gypsy guitarist features such acolytes as the guitarist Samson Schmitt. Guest soloists include the saxophonist Grace Kelly and the vocalists Veronica Swift and Jazzmeia Horn.” (NewYorker)

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

Why Picasso, Calder, and Other Contemporary Artists Found a Home in the Theater
The Strand, 828 Broadway / 7PM, $20
“More than just stars on the art scene, Picasso and Calder took center stage in the world of theater. In 1917 Picasso fell in love with a ballerina in the Ballets Russes while creating scenery and costumes for his collaboration with Satie on the pathbreaking dance work, Parade. His stage designs changed the course of his painting. Alexander Calder, who has a major show at the Whitney this summer, created his famous Circus as well as the set for Satie’s opera Socrate and many other theater works.

Cultural historian Charles A. Riley II, author of Free as Gods, will share the backstage secrets of Picasso, Calder, Leger, Chagall, Hockney, Kentridge, and many other contemporary artists who have found a home in the theater.”

“First Fridays”
The Frick Collection, 1 E. 70th St./ 6PM, FREE
“Museum admission and gallery programs are free the first Friday evening of the month (except September and January). Enjoy gallery talks, music performances, and sketching, or simply find yourself in the company of the Old Masters and art enthusiasts from around the world.”

Let’s not forget this marvelous continuing event from The Film Society Lincoln Center :

New York Asian Film Festival (thru July 16)

“Catch more than 50 new films, including blockbusters, art films and beautiful historical dramas, plus appearances from more than 20 international filmmakers at this 17-day festival. This year’s stellar lineup, which features films hailing from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia, features films like Chinese romance Soul Mate on July 7, fantastical Japanese drama Vanishing Time: a Boy Who Returned on July 13, and wraps with the U.S. premiere of Jung Byung-gil’s acclaimed assassin film, The Villainess, on July 16.” (TONY)

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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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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 Arts and Design (thru Aug 20)
2 Columbus Circle
Counter-Couture: Handmade Fashion in an American Counterculture
“In all its sumptuous, ragtag, iconoclastic, and utopian forms, hippie clothing reflected the seismic cultural shifts of Vietnam War-era America, eschewing the mass-produced in favor of the personalized and the handmade. This captivating exhibition, installed in moodily lit galleries against purple-and-gold wallpaper, goes beyond the expected caftans and macramé to detail the nuances and extremes of countercultural aesthetics. A section devoted to stage costumes includes a medieval-inspired muumuu, its pastel-ombré velvet adorned with a starburst appliqué; Mama Cass Elliot, of the Mamas & the Papas, wore it in 1967. Nearby, looping film footage includes performance documentation of the Cockettes, an anarchic theatre group whose psychedelic, thrift-store drag sensibility helped shape a nascent queer aesthetic. From the Army-surplus garments appropriated and painstakingly embroidered by flower children to the dashikis and African fabrics embraced by the black-pride movement to the ascetic styles of communes and cults, the exhibition emphasizes how vernacular fashion signalled antiestablishment values and group identity. That said, high fashion isn’t neglected. One highlight is the visionary designer Kaisik Wong’s glittering, futuristic “wearable art,” which resembles armor and cocoons from another planet—or the next Aquarian age.” (NewYorker)

Museum of Modern Art:

‘ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG: AMONG FRIENDS’ (thru Sept.17)

“This retrospective of one of America’s great artists includes more than 250 paintings, sculptures, drawings, sound and video recordings, prints and photographs created over the course of a six­decade career. Rauschenberg sometimes worked with artists, dancers, musicians and writers (including John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Yvonne Rainer and Jasper Johns), and the exhibition will be supplemented by dance and performance.” ( STAV ZIV-Newsday)

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)

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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PLUS, These wonderful museum exhibitions elsewhere, continue through this period:

‘GEORGIA O’KEEFFE: LIVING MODERN’ at the Brooklyn Museum (through July 23). Given that most artists are to some extent dandies, it would be wrong to view this fascinating show through an exclusively feminist lens. But it does demonstrate the powerful, carefully cultivated aesthetic and inborn independence that connects the art, wardrobe, living spaces and public persona of America’s first celebrity artist. In and around her art, she redefined gender and style. (Roberta Smith-NYT)
>and another view of this exhibition–Georgia O’Keeffe: “Living Modern” provides a new look at an iconic American artist at the very institution that hosted her first solo museum exhibition in 1927—the Brooklyn Museum. Presenting O’Keeffe’s remarkable wardrobe in dialogue with iconic paintings and photographs, this singular exhibition focuses in on the modernist persona O’Keeffe crafted for herself. With photographs by luminaries like Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, and Annie Leibovitz, the show reflects O’Keeffe’s radical rethinking of female identity, and the artist’s commitment to elements of modernism—minimalism, seriality, simplification—not only in her art, but also in her distinctive style of dress. (NYCity Guide)

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 07/05 and 07/03.
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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (07/06) + Today’s Featured Pub (WestVillage)

Posted on 07/06/2017 by GregD

Today’s Super 7  NYC Events > THURSDAY/JULY 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 be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-July”

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

HOUSTON PERSON QUARTET (July 6-9)
Jazz Standard, / 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“Houston Person and Jazz Standard go way back: It was in May 2002 that he made his first appearance as a leader on our stage. The great tenor saxophonist has put fifteen more years under his belt since then but “his playing just goes on getting better,” declared Dave Gelly in The Observer. In his review of a January 2012 engagement at Ronnie Scott’s in London, The Guardian’s John Fordham wrote: “Like Sonny Rollins and a handful of other survivors, Person is an eloquent messenger from a jazz era rooted in traditional blues, black church music, Broadway love songs and the impersonation, by sax, of a singer’s tone palette…His sound has become uniquely characterful: an idiosyncratic edit of all he has learned, expressed in shrugging hoots, briefly cantering bop sprints, spacious and softly blown ballads.”

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

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>Broadway in Bryant Park
>>ABT Tchaikovsky Spectacular
>>River & Blues Fest
>>The Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars
>>CELEBRATING ALLAN HOLDSWORTH
>>Law of the Land: The Supreme Court’s Year in Review

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Music, Dance, Performing Arts
Broadway in Bryant Park
Bryant Park / 12:30PM, FREE
“LiteFM radio hosts a showcase of actors from the hottest on and off Broadway shows playing their hits in Bryant park. Try not to sing and dance along to tunes from classics like Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, and Avenue Q, as well as newcomers like Kinky Boots, Waitress, and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. The recurring event will take place every Thursday from July 6 through August 10th.” (TONY)
TODAY:
STOMP
Groundhog Day
Wicked
The Phantom of the Opera

ABT Tchaikovsky Spectacular (July 03-08)
American Ballet Theatre The Metropolitan Opera House/ 2PM, +7:30PM, $22+
“No other composer in history has written more beloved music for the ballet than Pyotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. ABT presents a sparkling showcase of breathtaking athleticism and lyrical beauty in these works inspired by the composer’s genius:

Souvenir d’un lieu cher | Alexei Ratmansky (Company Premiere) Mozartiana | George Balanchine AfterEffect | Marcelo Gomes Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux | George Balanchine The Nutcracker pas de deux | Alexei Ratmansky Aurora’s Wedding from Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, including Bronislava Nijinska’s dances of The Three Ivans and Porcelain Trio”

River & Blues Fest
Wagner Park / 7PM, FREE
“Nothings says summer like an open air concert series. Spend your July Thursday evenings jamming out to some rhythm & blues will relaxing in the grass of Wagner Park. Each of the four Thursdays from the 6 to the 27 will include a unique blues band or artist.” (TONY)
TONIGHT: Grammy-winning artists, Los Lobos perform their culturally rich fusion of rock, blues, soul and Mexican folk music. Formed in the 1970s and recently nominated for induction into the Rock and Hall of Fame, these wolves have bite!

The Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars
Birdland, 315 W. 44th St./ 8:30PM, +11PM, $50
“This annual celebration of the music and influence of the unparalleled Belgian Gypsy guitarist features such acolytes as the guitarist Samson Schmitt. Guest soloists include the saxophonist Grace Kelly and the vocalists Veronica Swift and Jazzmeia Horn.” (NewYorker)

CELEBRATING ALLAN HOLDSWORTH (July 5-7)
at the Iridium / 8 and 10PM, $30
“The guitarist Allan Holdsworth, who died this year, applied a fluid and clement touch to his instrument, lending a humane appeal to a brand of jazz-rock fusion that otherwise might have been too esoteric or bombastic for most listeners. Although he never achieved broad stardom, his legato playing and protean harmonic flow influenced a generation of guitarists. Over three nights at the Iridium, a core ensemble featuring veterans of Holdsworth’s band will be joined by esteemed guitarists from the worlds of jazz, metal and fusion: Nir Felder, Alex Skolnick, Alex Machacek and Tim Miller.” (NYT- GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

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

Law of the Land: The Supreme Court’s Year in Review
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave./ 8PM, $32
212-415-5500
Dan Abrams and Joan Biskupic in Conversation with Thane Rosenbaum
“The Supreme Court of the United States is the branch of government with the most mystery, and curiosity. The proceedings are not televised, and yet many are fascinated by the goings on at the High Court, despite having little understanding of the cases decided there, and what they mean for most people. 92Y, and its partner, the Forum on Law, Culture & Society at NYU School of Law, continues its annual program, Law of the Land: the Supreme Court’s Year in Review. We will take you inside the Court’s major rulings and discuss their bearing on past and future cases. And this year offers a new Supreme Justice. Join us with longtime legal affairs analyst Dan Abrams of MSNBC, Court biographer and CNN legal analyst Joan Biskupic, and other legal experts, along with our moderator Thane Rosenbaum for another fascinating look at the Supreme Court’s just concluded term.” (ThoughtGallery.org)

Let’s not forget this marvelous continuing event from The Film Society Lincoln Center :

New York Asian Film Festival (thru July 16)

“Catch more than 50 new films, including blockbusters, art films and beautiful historical dramas, plus appearances from more than 20 international filmmakers at this 17-day festival. This year’s stellar lineup, which features films hailing from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia, features films like Chinese romance Soul Mate on July 7, fantastical Japanese drama Vanishing Time: a Boy Who Returned on July 13, and wraps with the U.S. premiere of Jung Byung-gil’s acclaimed assassin film, The Villainess, on July 16.” (TONY)

=====================================================
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 2016.  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 / West Village

Corner Bistro / 331 W. 4th St.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (07/05) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 07/05/2017 by GregD

Today’s SWEET 6  NYC Events > WEDNESDAY/JULY 05, 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 be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-July”

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

The Django Reinhardt NY Festival All Stars
Birdland, 315 W. 44th St./ 8:30PM, +11PM, $50
“This annual celebration of the music and influence of the unparalleled Belgian Gypsy guitarist features such acolytes as the guitarist Samson Schmitt. Guest soloists include the saxophonist Grace Kelly and the vocalists Veronica Swift and Jazzmeia Horn.” (NewYorker)

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

5 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>Ryan Keberle & Catharsis
>>ABT Tchaikovsky Spectacular
>>Julius Caesar
>>CELEBRATING ALLAN HOLDSWORTH
>> New York Asian Film Festival

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

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Ryan Keberle & Catharsis
JAZZ STANDARD, 7:30PM, 9:30PM; $25
“Ryan Keberle & Catharsis steer warily down the freedom highway on Find the Common, Shine a Light, which the trombonist wrote and recorded quickly in response to last year’s presidential coup. In the tradition of Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra, Keberle often adds a subtle Latin tinge to rhythms of resistance, covering Jorge Drexler’s “Al Otro Lado del Rio” alongside Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” and a handful of stately, stealthy originals (“Empathy,” “Mindfulness,” “Strength”). Keberle and trumpeter Mike Rodriguez hold down the front line in this pianoless combo, which also includes Chilean singer-guitarist Camila Meza, bassist Jorge Roeder, and drummer Eric Doob. The new album feels like a natural progression from last year’s Azul Infinito, which mapped out Keberle’s thoughtful relationship with Latin American sounds.” (Richard Gehr, Village Voice)

ABT Tchaikovsky Spectacular (July 03-08)
American Ballet Theatre The Metropolitan Opera House/ 2PM, +7:30PM, $22+
“No other composer in history has written more beloved music for the ballet than Pyotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. ABT presents a sparkling showcase of breathtaking athleticism and lyrical beauty in these works inspired by the composer’s genius:

Souvenir d’un lieu cher | Alexei Ratmansky (Company Premiere) Mozartiana | George Balanchine AfterEffect | Marcelo Gomes Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux | George Balanchine The Nutcracker pas de deux | Alexei Ratmansky Aurora’s Wedding from Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, including Bronislava Nijinska’s dances of The Three Ivans and Porcelain Trio”

Julius Caesar
ACCESS THEATER, 8:30PM, $18+
“Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar took on unruly cultural relevance this summer with the controversy surrounding the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production. If that brouhaha got you curious about how a four-hundred-year-old play can still shake people up, you may want to have a look at another provocative staging of Caesar happening this season. Shedding an explicit focus on contemporary politics, the company Pocket Universe has set the Bard’s tale in an all-girl high school. Conceived by Alyssa May Gold and directed by Katie Young, this production, with an all-female cast, wants to look at Shakespeare’s themes of power, betrayal, and friendship through the eyes of teenage girls. Eager to present a story that would leave the Bechdel test in its dust, this adaptation provides a window into the distinct psychological pressures created in a circle of ambitious young women.” (Nicole Serratore, Village Voice)

CELEBRATING ALLAN HOLDSWORTH (July 5-7)
at the Iridium / 8 and 10PM, $
“The guitarist Allan Holdsworth, who died this year, applied a fluid and clement touch to his instrument, lending a humane appeal to a brand of jazz-rock fusion that otherwise might have been too esoteric or bombastic for most listeners. Although he never achieved broad stardom, his legato playing and protean harmonic flow influenced a generation of guitarists. Over three nights at the Iridium, a core ensemble featuring veterans of Holdsworth’s band will be joined by esteemed guitarists from the worlds of jazz, metal and fusion: Nir Felder, Alex Skolnick, Alex Machacek and Tim Miller.” (NYT- GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO)

An evening of Latin dance music on the High Line, at 16th Street in Chelsea. 6PM, FREE
But get there early, to get in.

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

MORE COMING SOON.

Let’s not forget this marvelous continuing event from The Film Society Lincoln Center :

New York Asian Film Festival (thru July 16)

“Catch more than 50 new films, including blockbusters, art films and beautiful historical dramas, plus appearances from more than 20 international filmmakers at this 17-day festival. This year’s stellar lineup, which features films hailing from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia, features films like Chinese romance Soul Mate on July 7, fantastical Japanese drama Vanishing Time: a Boy Who Returned on July 13, and wraps with the U.S. premiere of Jung Byung-gil’s acclaimed assassin film, The Villainess, on July 16.” (TONY)

=====================================================
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 is one exhibition the New Yorker really likes:

COMING SOON

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

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 07/03 and 07/01.

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (07/04) + Today’s Featured Pub (Midtown West)

Posted on 07/04/2017 by GregD

Today’s NYC Events > TUESDAY/JULY 04, 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 be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-July”

Weather forecast looks super for today – Happy Independence Day!

On July 4 there is only one place to be in NYCity. Macy’s promises to explode more than 60,000 fireworks from 4 barges on the mid East River tonight, all choreographed to a 25-minute patriotic score.

“New York City is a fantastic place to celebrate the anniversary of America’s Independence. The main event is of course the Macy’s 4th of July free fireworks show, which celebrates its 41st anniversary this year. The West Point Band performs a live score of patriotic favorites with opera singer Jamie Barton, Nashville recording artist Craig Campbell, and Grammy-winning vocalist Heather Headley. 

Four barges on the East River provide the pyrotechnical action, which is the largest Independence Day display in the nation. The fireworks begin at nightfall (9:20pm or so), but for the best views you’ll want to get situated hours in advance. Viewing information and other spectator tips are available at macys.com/fireworks or 212-494-4495. “ (cityguideny.com)

If fireworks is not your thing, then this is the only place I would be tonight:

Midsummer Night Swing: David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band
Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center/ 6PM, $17, $25
“Lovers of jazz music, unite! on July 4, Lincoln Center’s alfresco danceathon taps into the music of Louis Armstrong when David Ostwald’s Eterniry Band delivers hits by the American trumpeter. Show off your fancy footwork, or if you’re worried you’re not ready to bring it, come early and take a free dance class to learn the dips and spins.” (TONY)

David Ostwald’s band has had a 14 year residency on Wednesday nights at Birdland playing the best Dixieland jazz anywhere outside New Orleans. Don’t miss this one.

Let’s not forget this marvelous continuing event from The Film Society Lincoln Center :

New York Asian Film Festival (thru July 16)

“Catch more than 50 new films, including blockbusters, art films and beautiful historical dramas, plus appearances from more than 20 international filmmakers at this 17-day festival. This year’s stellar lineup, which features films hailing from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia, features films like Chinese romance Soul Mate on July 7, fantastical Japanese drama Vanishing Time: a Boy Who Returned on July 13, and wraps with the U.S. premiere of Jung Byung-gil’s acclaimed assassin film, The Villainess, on July 16.” (TONY)

==========================================================
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 is 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 / Midtown West.

Russian Vodka Room / 265 W 52nd St (btw 7th/8th ave)

Sure, you could travel to Minsk or even Brighton Beach, for an authentic Russian experience, but why bother. On those days when you feel you must wash down your dish of kasha with a few glasses of icy, cold vodka, the Russian Vodka Room will definitely satisfy your urge.

From the outside this place looks a bit drab, and with no windows, a bit mysterious. Midtown tourists walk right by on their way to see “Jersey Boys,” just down the block.
(Alas, no more. After 10 years, “Jersey Boys” closed Jan.15)

lThose in the know enter a secret hideaway, a dimly lit front room with soft jazz playing – a perfect spot for an illicit late-night rendezvous, or maybe a meet-up with your Russian spy handler, but that’s later in the evening. Early in the evening the large U-shaped bar fills with the after work happy hour crowd, a group made very happy by the much reduced prices.

Their website says: “Welcome Comrades”. Of course, this welcome focuses on dozens of different vodkas, including their own special infusions, which marinate in giant, clear glass jugs visible around the room. The large vodka martinis ensure that you won’t confuse this place with your mother’s Russian Tea Room.

But man does not live by vodka alone. Eat some food, especially the tapa like appetizers. Be decadent and try the cheese blintzes with chocolate, or try a main dish like beef stroganoff with kasha.

Your best bet is to go on a night when the piano man is playing. This guy, who looks like he has eaten a lot of those cheese blintzes, plays five nights a week from 7 to 12 (no Mondays and Thursdays). When the piano man is playing American pop tunes, and you are at the crowded, dimly lit bar testing the horseradish infused vodka, that’s when the RVR shines.

It’s the kind of place where the noise gets louder and the crowd gets happier as the happy hour goes on. I’m generally a beer guy, but I like to come here with a group of friends. We find a table in the back room near the piano man; we eat, and we drink vodka ‘till it hurts (and it will hurt).
=====================================================
Website: http://www.russianvodkaroom.com/
Phone #: 212-307-5835
Hours: 4pm-2am; Fri-Sun closes 4am (that could be trouble)
Happy Hour: 4-7pm every day
$4 shots infused vodka (2oz), $5 cosmos; $4 czech draft beer
Music: FR-SU; TU-WE / 7pm-12am
Subway: #1 to 50th St.
Walk 2 blk N. on B’way to 52nd St.; 1 blk W. to RVR
Confusingly, the Russian Samovar is right across the street, on the S. side of 52nd St.
The RVR, your destination, is on the N. side of 52nd St.
Update: music now includes a younger, trimmer piano man. “Tiny” we miss you.
Update#2: Rumor that “Tiny” is back playing only on Friday nights – need to check it out.

==============================================================================
“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 | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (07/03) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s 5th Avenue

Posted on 07/03/2017 by GregD

Today’s Fab 5  NYC Events > MONDAY/JULY 03, 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 be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-July”

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

ABT Tchaikovsky Spectacular (July 03-08)
American Ballet Theatre The Metropolitan Opera House/ 7:30PM, $
“No other composer in history has written more beloved music for the ballet than Pyotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. ABT presents a sparkling showcase of breathtaking athleticism and lyrical beauty in these works inspired by the composer’s genius:

Souvenir d’un lieu cher | Alexei Ratmansky (Company Premiere) Mozartiana | George Balanchine AfterEffect | Marcelo Gomes Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux | George Balanchine The Nutcracker pas de deux | Alexei Ratmansky Aurora’s Wedding from Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, including Bronislava Nijinska’s dances of The Three Ivans and Porcelain Trio”

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

4 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>54 Sings 1776
>>Melissa Errico: Broadway Firecracker
>>Ted Alexandro / Comedy Cellar
>>Baile De Favela – Micareta Carnaval Summer Party
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

54 Sings 1776 (also July 04)
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7PM, +9:30PM, $25+
“The 54 Sings series marks Independence Day with two nights of songs from Sherman Edwards’s classic 1969 historical musical. Kyle Scatliffe (The Color Purple, Les Miserables) leads the concert cast as John Adams.” (TONY)

Melissa Errico: Broadway Firecracker
Birdland / 7PM, $40
“Errico is a smart-edged leading lady whose silvery voice has brightened such shows as My Fair Lady, Amour and the Off Broadway revival of Passion. In this new nightclub set, she sets her mind on jazz and musical-theater standards from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, including songs made famous by Judy Garland, Doris Day and Peggy Lee.” (TONY)

Ted Alexandro / Comedy Cellar
Village Underground, / 7PM, 9PM; $10
“Mr. Alexandro is a fixture of the New York stand-up scene and a frequent presence on the late-night comedy shows, known for his sharp political wit and knack for memorable storytelling. Now, in his 25th year as a comedian, he is using a pair of performances here, at 7 and 9 p.m. on Monday, to tape his third stand-up special, “Senior Class of Earth,” which he hopes to release later this year.” (ELISE CZAJKOWSKI-NYT)

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

Baile De Favela – Micareta Carnaval Summer Party
Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St./ 10PM, $12
“Slip on a mask, nibble on coxinhas and bombons, sip on catuaba and dance the night away at this Brazilian Carnaval party featuring performances from Tony Mola, Gustavo Di Dalva, Davi Vieira, Nadine Coehlo, Ronaldo Andrade and more.” (TONY)

Let’s not forget this marvelous continuing event from The Film Society Lincoln Center :

New York Asian Film Festival (thru July 16)

“Catch more than 50 new films, including blockbusters, art films and beautiful historical dramas, plus appearances from more than 20 international filmmakers at this 17-day festival. This year’s stellar lineup, which features films hailing from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia, features films like Chinese romance Soul Mate on July 7, fantastical Japanese drama Vanishing Time: a Boy Who Returned on July 13, and wraps with the U.S. premiere of Jung Byung-gil’s acclaimed assassin film, The Villainess, on July 16.” (TONY)

===========================================================
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
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
‘A CITY SEEN: TODD WEBB’S POSTWAR NEW YORK, 1945­-1960’ (thru Sept.04)
“Webb, a Detroit native who lost his money in the 1929 crash, served as a Navy photographer during World War II. His first major solo exhibition, “I See a City,” opened at the Museum of the City of New York in September 1946. Now the museum is putting the photographer, who died in 2000, in the spotlight again with more than 100 of his pictures of the city, including this shot of 125th Street in Harlem in 1946.
WHEN | WHERE Through Sept. 4, at the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave.
INFO $18; 212­534­1672, mcny.org ­­ (STAV ZIV-Newsday)

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)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum  (now-9/6/17)
“This newest show, Visionaries: Creating a Modern Guggenheim, provides a rare chance to explore in-depth some of the key artists of this essential New York institution. Framed by the interests of six leading patrons, Visionaries brings together canvases from masters like Max Ernst, René Magritte, and Yves Tanguy, and sculptures by Joseph Cornell and Alberto Giacometti. In addition, Jackson Pollock’s Alchemy (1947) is being shown in the U.S. for the first time in nearly 50 years. More than a dozen works on paper by Picasso and Van Gogh, rarely on view to the public, can be seen in the Thannhauser Gallery, and paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Édouard Manet are displayed on the museum’s legendary ramps.”

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

at the very least you will want to see this one:
Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin & Han Dynasties (221 B.C.-A.D. 220)
“Not least among the achievements of Ying Zheng, the founding emperor of the short-lived Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.), was propaganda, some of which still echoes bombastically on the walls of this show: you won’t depart with any confusion about who first unified China. But the chance to see a platoon of his spectacular terra-cotta warriors, half a dozen or so of the thousands that were buried with the emperor, who died in 210 B.C., and excavated in the nineteen-seventies, is not to be missed. Fitted together like action figures from mass-produced body parts and originally equipped with real bronze weapons, the life-size sculptures have individually detailed faces of surprising charisma. One kneeling archer, with square-toed shoes and a mustache, is so striking he may trigger déjà vu. Along with the soldiers comes a wide-ranging selection of contemporaneous artifacts, many of them demonstrating a naturalistic approach to anatomy and an untrammelled expressive whimsy—both of which were later eradicated by the heavy stylization during the Han dynasty. Examples of the former include a recently discovered terra-cotta strongman with a potbelly; examples of the latter include a bronze lamp shaped like a mythical bird tipping its head back to swallow its own smoke. But, if many of the show’s pieces make Qin and Han culture look unexpectedly relatable, its highlights are those that were unmistakably made long ago and far away, particularly the unforgettable jade burial suit of the Han princess Dou Wan. Discovered in a cliffside tomb in Hebei Province, in 1968, the ritual object is made of more than two thousand rectangular panels of jade, sewn together with gold.” (NewYorker)  THRU JULY 16.

===========================================================
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 07/01 and 06/29.
=============================================================

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (07/02) + Today’s Featured Pub (Greenwich Village)

Posted on 07/02/2017 by GregD

Today’s Fab 5  NYC Events > SUNDAY/JULY 02, 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 be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-July”

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

Kurt Elling
Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St./ 8:30PM, +10PM, $10
“The iconic jazz vocalist Elling has probably long accepted that he’s just too diverse, brainy, and downright quirky for mass adulation; his committed fans know better. This intimate one-nighter will be a good chance to catch up with a perennially daring artist who, against the odds, has clung to his individuality.” (NewYorker)

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

4 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>‘SOULPEPPER ON 42ND ST.’
>>Cassandra Wilson
>>Dr. Lonnie Smith
>>Spy City: A History of Espionage in New York
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

‘SOULPEPPER ON 42ND ST.’
“The Canadian invasion continues. After the Toronto­to­Broadway hit “Come From Away” comes this unusual monthlong series of plays, musicals and concerts (including “Of Human Bondage” and a toe­tapping musical version of “Spoon River Anthology” with Miranda Mulholland, pictured) by Soulpepper, Toronto’s acclaimed repertory company. Check out the special opening weekend celebrations on Saturday, July 1, and Sunday, July 2 (aka Canada Day).” (JOSEPH V. AMODIO-NEWSDAY)
WHEN | WHERE Saturday, July 1, through July 29 at the Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W. 42nd St.
INFO $65, ­$95

Cassandra Wilson (LAST DAY)
Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St./ 8PM, +10:30PM, $45-$65
“There may be other promising vocal talents nipping at Wilson’s heels (Cécile McLorin Salvant, anyone?), but her primacy as today’s female jazz singer par excellence remains a given. Revelling in daring eclecticism before it became de rigueur, Wilson melds personality and chops with thrilling audacity. Don’t expect her to drift into the slow lane anytime soon—her upcoming recording project finds her examining her Irish roots.” (NewYorker)

Dr. Lonnie Smith (LAST DAY)
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St./ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“He can get old-school funky and he can get in-the-moment weird, and that’s why we love Dr. Smith, one of the official masters of the jazz electric organ. The turbaned one celebrates his seventy-fifth birthday in a trio setting for the first three nights, then concludes the engagement in charge of an octet complete with horns and a singer.” (NewYorker)

“Jazz is American Classical,” declares Dr. Lonnie Smith, “and this music is a reflection of what’s hap­pening at the time. The organ is like the sunlight, rain and thunder – it’s all the worldly sounds to me!” An authentic master and guru of the Hammond B–3 for over five decades, the Doctor has been featured on over 70 albums, and has recorded and performed with a virtual “Who’s Who” of jazz, blues and R&B giants. He’s performed on our stage with a trio, quartet, octet, and big band – so where better to celebrate his 75th birthday but right back here at Jazz Standard? This gala six–night stand promises to be a highlight of New York’s jazz summer season, with two all-star bands made up of old and new collaborators alike. “Lonnie Smith is still at the top of his game,” wrote Greg Boraman for the website of the BBC. “His blues are powerful without being mawkish, his jazz adept and tasteful, his funk chops always an example to others.” (JazzStandard)

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

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour:
Spy City: A History of Espionage in New York
Q.E.D., 27-16 23rd Ave., btw. 27th & 28th Sts., Astoria, Queens/ 3PM, $15
“Slip into the covert history of New York City, and follow in the footsteps of four centuries of spies. Explore New York’s finest hotels and most elegant office towers, as well as its toughest docks and most derelict tenements, through the eyes of an active agent. Along the way, you’ll learn the identity of America’s first Spy Master, find out who “heard it through the Grapevine,” and see what on earth the Bronx has to do with the Bolsheviks.

The history of espionage in New York City predates the nation itself. From the Revolution to the present day, covert ops have flourished in the five boroughs. This lecture-based class will offer a survey of the city’s cloak and dagger personalities and locales. We’ll discuss how New York City’s myriad parks, miles of subway, and millions of residents created the perfect environment for a city of spies. Grab your fake passport and join us!”

Let’s not forget this marvelous continuing event from The Film Society Lincoln Center :

New York Asian Film Festival (thru July 16)

“Catch more than 50 new films, including blockbusters, art films and beautiful historical dramas, plus appearances from more than 20 international filmmakers at this 17-day festival. This year’s stellar lineup, which features films hailing from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia, features films like Chinese romance Soul Mate on July 7, fantastical Japanese drama Vanishing Time: a Boy Who Returned on July 13, and wraps with the U.S. premiere of Jung Byung-gil’s acclaimed assassin film, The Villainess, on July 16.” (TONY)

=======================================================
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 Fall 2017).
◊ Order before Aug. 31, 2017 and receive a bonus – 27 of my favorite casual dining places with free Wi-Fi.

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (07/01) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s WestSide

Posted on 07/01/2017 by GregD

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events > SATURDAY/JULY 01, 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 be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-July”

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

US–France: A Centennial Voyage
Central Park, Rumsey Playfield / 5PM, FREE
“Four bands are joined by singers and dancers in New York Hot Jazz Festival’s free, five-hour SummerStage musical feast, which celebrates the musical cross-pollination between the U.S. and France in the jazz and swing eras. The very impressive roster of performers includes Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, Catherine Russell, Natalie Dessay, Stephane Wrembel, Tatiana Eva-Marie & the Avalon Jazz Band, Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses, Nicolle Rochelle, Kat Edmondson, Dewitt Fleming Jr. and Ensemble Matheus.” (TONY)

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

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>New York Rocks the Great Canadian Songbook!
>>Whipped Cream
>>Cassandra Wilson
>>Dr. Lonnie Smith
>> coming soon
>> coming soon
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

New York Rocks the Great Canadian Songbook!
Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St./ 7PM, +9:30PM, $25
“Songs by such artists as Leonard Cohen, Barenaked Ladies, Neil Young and Men Without Hats—here’s hoping for a little Luba or Gowan!—are likely to be in the air as various artists pay tribute to our friendly neighbors to the north. The Breithaupt Brothers lead a sesquicentennial fête; scheduled performers include Marissa Mulder, Ophira Eisenberg, J’Sun, Carolyn Leonhart, Jamie Leonhart, Jeremy Kushnier, Christina Bianco, Alyson Palmer, Tyley Ross, Greg Naughton, Shelley McPherson, Michael Halling, PJ Griffith, Victoria Lecta Cave and Amy Cervini.” (TONY)

Whipped Cream (LAST DAY)
Metropolitan Opera House / 2PM, +8PM, $22+
“A dollop of delightful whimsy, this thoroughly inventive full-length premiere springs from the imagination of Artist-in-Residence Alexei Ratmansky and pop surrealist visionary Mark Ryden. In this fantastical confection, a young boy overindulges at a Viennese pastry shop and falls into a delirium. To help him escape from his attending physician, the boy dreams of his triumphant rescue by Princess Praline and her court, including Princess Tea Flower and Prince Coffee, as well as marching Marzipan, with a festive celebration in conclusion. As light as meringue, Richard Strauss’s score is the perfect inspiration for this all-new production destined to delight ballet fans of all ages.”

Cassandra Wilson (Jun. 29-Jul. 2)
Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St./ 8PM, +10:30PM, $45-$65
“There may be other promising vocal talents nipping at Wilson’s heels (Cécile McLorin Salvant, anyone?), but her primacy as today’s female jazz singer par excellence remains a given. Revelling in daring eclecticism before it became de rigueur, Wilson melds personality and chops with thrilling audacity. Don’t expect her to drift into the slow lane anytime soon—her upcoming recording project finds her examining her Irish roots.” (NewYorker)

Dr. Lonnie Smith (June 27-July 2.)
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St./ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“He can get old-school funky and he can get in-the-moment weird, and that’s why we love Dr. Smith, one of the official masters of the jazz electric organ. The turbaned one celebrates his seventy-fifth birthday in a trio setting for the first three nights, then concludes the engagement in charge of an octet complete with horns and a singer.” (NewYorker)

“Jazz is American Classical,” declares Dr. Lonnie Smith, “and this music is a reflection of what’s hap­pening at the time. The organ is like the sunlight, rain and thunder – it’s all the worldly sounds to me!” An authentic master and guru of the Hammond B–3 for over five decades, the Doctor has been featured on over 70 albums, and has recorded and performed with a virtual “Who’s Who” of jazz, blues and R&B giants. He’s performed on our stage with a trio, quartet, octet, and big band – so where better to celebrate his 75th birthday but right back here at Jazz Standard? This gala six–night stand promises to be a highlight of New York’s jazz summer season, with two all-star bands made up of old and new collaborators alike. “Lonnie Smith is still at the top of his game,” wrote Greg Boraman for the website of the BBC. “His blues are powerful without being mawkish, his jazz adept and tasteful, his funk chops always an example to others.” (JazzStandard)

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

COMING SOON!

Let’s not forget this marvelous continuing event from The Film Society Lincoln Center :

New York Asian Film Festival (thru July 16)

“Catch more than 50 new films, including blockbusters, art films and beautiful historical dramas, plus appearances from more than 20 international filmmakers at this 17-day festival. This year’s stellar lineup, which features films hailing from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia, features films like Chinese romance Soul Mate on July 7, fantastical Japanese drama Vanishing Time: a Boy Who Returned on July 13, and wraps with the U.S. premiere of Jung Byung-gil’s acclaimed assassin film, The Villainess, on July 16.” (TONY)

=====================================================
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 Arts and Design (thru Aug 20)
2 Columbus Circle
Counter-Couture: Handmade Fashion in an American Counterculture
“In all its sumptuous, ragtag, iconoclastic, and utopian forms, hippie clothing reflected the seismic cultural shifts of Vietnam War-era America, eschewing the mass-produced in favor of the personalized and the handmade. This captivating exhibition, installed in moodily lit galleries against purple-and-gold wallpaper, goes beyond the expected caftans and macramé to detail the nuances and extremes of countercultural aesthetics. A section devoted to stage costumes includes a medieval-inspired muumuu, its pastel-ombré velvet adorned with a starburst appliqué; Mama Cass Elliot, of the Mamas & the Papas, wore it in 1967. Nearby, looping film footage includes performance documentation of the Cockettes, an anarchic theatre group whose psychedelic, thrift-store drag sensibility helped shape a nascent queer aesthetic. From the Army-surplus garments appropriated and painstakingly embroidered by flower children to the dashikis and African fabrics embraced by the black-pride movement to the ascetic styles of communes and cults, the exhibition emphasizes how vernacular fashion signalled antiestablishment values and group identity. That said, high fashion isn’t neglected. One highlight is the visionary designer Kaisik Wong’s glittering, futuristic “wearable art,” which resembles armor and cocoons from another planet—or the next Aquarian age.” (NewYorker)

Museum of Modern Art:

‘ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG: AMONG FRIENDS’ (thru Sept.17)

“This retrospective of one of America’s great artists includes more than 250 paintings, sculptures, drawings, sound and video recordings, prints and photographs created over the course of a six­decade career. Rauschenberg sometimes worked with artists, dancers, musicians and writers (including John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Yvonne Rainer and Jasper Johns), and the exhibition will be supplemented by dance and performance.” ( STAV ZIV-Newsday)

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)

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)

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

PLUS, These wonderful museum exhibitions elsewhere, continue through this period:

‘GEORGIA O’KEEFFE: LIVING MODERN’ at the Brooklyn Museum (through July 23). Given that most artists are to some extent dandies, it would be wrong to view this fascinating show through an exclusively feminist lens. But it does demonstrate the powerful, carefully cultivated aesthetic and inborn independence that connects the art, wardrobe, living spaces and public persona of America’s first celebrity artist. In and around her art, she redefined gender and style. (Roberta Smith-NYT)
>and another view of this exhibition–Georgia O’Keeffe: “Living Modern” provides a new look at an iconic American artist at the very institution that hosted her first solo museum exhibition in 1927—the Brooklyn Museum. Presenting O’Keeffe’s remarkable wardrobe in dialogue with iconic paintings and photographs, this singular exhibition focuses in on the modernist persona O’Keeffe crafted for herself. With photographs by luminaries like Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, and Annie Leibovitz, the show reflects O’Keeffe’s radical rethinking of female identity, and the artist’s commitment to elements of modernism—minimalism, seriality, simplification—not only in her art, but also in her distinctive style of dress. (NYCity Guide)

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 06/29 and 06/27.
============================================================

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

NYC Events,”Only the Best” (06/30) + Today’s Featured Pub (Times Square / Theater District)

Posted on 06/30/2017 by GregD

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events > FRIDAY/JUNE 30, 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 be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-June”

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

Linda Eder
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7PM, $110
“Linda Eder—the Star Search songstress turned Broadway and concert star—has never been known for the subtlety of her approach, which can be boiled down to two steps: (1) Stand, and (2) Sing. But gee whiz, the lady can really belt a number.” (TONY)

“One of the world’s most beloved and versatile voices, Linda Eder is forever linked to Broadway history via her Theatre World Award winning performance in Jekyll & Hyde. After her previously sold out runs, Feinstein’s/54 Below is delighted to welcome back this celebrated songstress to our stage for four very special performances only. She’s a best-selling recording artist with fourteen solo albums to her credit, but this June and next November, get up close and personal with Linda in Broadway’s living room.” (54 Below)

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

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>Jazz at Pier 84 and Sunset on the Hudson Pier 45
>>Cassandra Wilson
>>A NIGHT OF AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ
>>Contemporary Dance: Ballet
>>Dr. Lonnie Smith
>>Whipped Cream
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Jazz at Pier 84 and Sunset on the Hudson Pier 45 / 7pm; FREE
“Free jazz along the waterfront couldn’t get any more enticing. This summer the Jazz Foundation of America will perform at Pier 84 while local artists will be performing on Pier 45. The lineup at Pier 84 includes George Braith, Art Baron and Gregory Lewis Organ Monk Trio. The Sunset on the Hudson lineup features the Chuck Braman Jazz Band, Max Gallico & Friends Acoustic Soul Duos and Shanti Star & the Afro-Reggae All-Stars. Catch live jazz along with a beautiful sunset along the Hudson.” (TONY)

Cassandra Wilson (Jun. 29-Jul. 2)
Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St./ 8PM, +10:30PM, $45-$65
“There may be other promising vocal talents nipping at Wilson’s heels (Cécile McLorin Salvant, anyone?), but her primacy as today’s female jazz singer par excellence remains a given. Revelling in daring eclecticism before it became de rigueur, Wilson melds personality and chops with thrilling audacity. Don’t expect her to drift into the slow lane anytime soon—her upcoming recording project finds her examining her Irish roots.” (NewYorker)

A NIGHT OF AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ
at Minton’s Harlem / 7PM, +9:30PM, $15
“The guitarist Richard Padrón was born in Havana and raised in Miami; his music has a stippled and fluttery sense of motion, sharp guitar lines against stutter-stepping bass and drums. For this show he leads a band featuring two stellar vocalists, the silk-toned Melvis Santa, also from Cuba, and Lara Bello, who hails from Spain and has eclectic affinities. Mr. Padrón will also welcome a couple of special guests: the inimitable percussionist and folklorist Roman Diaz and the drummer Kenny Grohowski.” (GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO-NYT)

Contemporary Dance: Ballet
Stephan Delas Heras
Bryant Park Stage / 6PM, FREE
Exciting dance companies perform back-to-back on five summer Fridays:
The Ashley Bouder Project
CONTINUUM Contemporary/Ballet
Doug Baum and Artists
Island Moving Company
and Thomas/Ortiz Dance

Dr. Lonnie Smith (June 27-July 2.)
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St./ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“He can get old-school funky and he can get in-the-moment weird, and that’s why we love Dr. Smith, one of the official masters of the jazz electric organ. The turbaned one celebrates his seventy-fifth birthday in a trio setting for the first three nights, then concludes the engagement in charge of an octet complete with horns and a singer.” (NewYorker)

“Jazz is American Classical,” declares Dr. Lonnie Smith, “and this music is a reflection of what’s hap­pening at the time. The organ is like the sunlight, rain and thunder – it’s all the worldly sounds to me!” An authentic master and guru of the Hammond B–3 for over five decades, the Doctor has been featured on over 70 albums, and has recorded and performed with a virtual “Who’s Who” of jazz, blues and R&B giants. He’s performed on our stage with a trio, quartet, octet, and big band – so where better to celebrate his 75th birthday but right back here at Jazz Standard? This gala six–night stand promises to be a highlight of New York’s jazz summer season, with two all-star bands made up of old and new collaborators alike. “Lonnie Smith is still at the top of his game,” wrote Greg Boraman for the website of the BBC. “His blues are powerful without being mawkish, his jazz adept and tasteful, his funk chops always an example to others.” (JazzStandard)

Whipped Cream (June 26 – July 1)
Metropolitan Opera House / 7:30PM, $22+
“A dollop of delightful whimsy, this thoroughly inventive full-length premiere springs from the imagination of Artist-in-Residence Alexei Ratmansky and pop surrealist visionary Mark Ryden. In this fantastical confection, a young boy overindulges at a Viennese pastry shop and falls into a delirium. To help him escape from his attending physician, the boy dreams of his triumphant rescue by Princess Praline and her court, including Princess Tea Flower and Prince Coffee, as well as marching Marzipan, with a festive celebration in conclusion. As light as meringue, Richard Strauss’s score is the perfect inspiration for this all-new production destined to delight ballet fans of all ages.”

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

None today, too much good music happening.

Let’s not forget this marvelous continuing event from The Film Society Lincoln Center :

New York Asian Film Festival (thru July 16)

“Catch more than 50 new films, including blockbusters, art films and beautiful historical dramas, plus appearances from more than 20 international filmmakers at this 17-day festival. This year’s stellar lineup, which features films hailing from Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia, features films like Chinese romance Soul Mate on July 7, fantastical Japanese drama Vanishing Time: a Boy Who Returned on July 13, and wraps with the U.S. premiere of Jung Byung-gil’s acclaimed assassin film, The Villainess, on July 16.” (TONY)

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

==================================================================================
“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” (06/29) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 06/29/2017 by GregD

Today’s Super 7 NYC Events > THURSDAY/JUNE 29, 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 be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-June”

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

Barb Jungr: Float Like a Butterfly—The Sting Project
Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater / 7PM, $25
“One of the world’s great cabaret singers, England’s Barb Jungr is a genuine original, deploying warmth, high drama and sensitive musicality to reinvent everything she sings. Her supple and versatile voice glows like a hearth on a winter’s day, and her emotional intelligence is faultless: She knows just how a song should feel. In her latest set, she teams up with musical director John McDaniel (The Rosie O’Donnell Show) to explore the oeuvre of Police man turned solo superstar Sting.” (TONY)

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

6 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects: The Brain Piece
>>Dr. Lonnie Smith
>>Whipped Cream
>>R&B Festival at MetroTech 2017
>>The Making of Jane Austen
>>2017 Independence Celebration
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects: The Brain Piece
NEW YORK LIVE ARTS / 7PM, +9PM, $35
“Seventy-two spectators at a time will experience Jody Oberfelder’s The Brain Piece, second in a series that began in 2013 with 4Chambers, a study of the human heart. A cast of fifteen performers and collaborators leads attendees through backstage labyrinths and confronts them one-on-one in the lobby and the theater; a clever film by Oberfelder and Eric Siegel, Dance of the Neurons, demonstrates the ways nuggets of information travel around in our craniums. Set designers Juergen Riehm, Penelope Phy, and Tina Kindermann, and lighting designer Kate Bashore, create the frame for the work, which also has a scent consultant; six composers and two sound designers contribute to the mix, along with a bevy of neuroscientists. Be ready to climb stairs, wander hallways, and have “a heightened subjective experience of the brain.” (Elizabeth Zimmer, VillageVoice)

Dr. Lonnie Smith (June 27-July 2.)
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St./ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“He can get old-school funky and he can get in-the-moment weird, and that’s why we love Dr. Smith, one of the official masters of the jazz electric organ. The turbaned one celebrates his seventy-fifth birthday in a trio setting for the first three nights, then concludes the engagement in charge of an octet complete with horns and a singer.” (NewYorker)

“Jazz is American Classical,” declares Dr. Lonnie Smith, “and this music is a reflection of what’s hap­pening at the time. The organ is like the sunlight, rain and thunder – it’s all the worldly sounds to me!” An authentic master and guru of the Hammond B–3 for over five decades, the Doctor has been featured on over 70 albums, and has recorded and performed with a virtual “Who’s Who” of jazz, blues and R&B giants. He’s performed on our stage with a trio, quartet, octet, and big band – so where better to celebrate his 75th birthday but right back here at Jazz Standard? This gala six–night stand promises to be a highlight of New York’s jazz summer season, with two all-star bands made up of old and new collaborators alike. “Lonnie Smith is still at the top of his game,” wrote Greg Boraman for the website of the BBC. “His blues are powerful without being mawkish, his jazz adept and tasteful, his funk chops always an example to others.” (JazzStandard)

Whipped Cream (June 26 – July 1)
Metropolitan Opera House / 7:30PM, $22+
“A dollop of delightful whimsy, this thoroughly inventive full-length premiere springs from the imagination of Artist-in-Residence Alexei Ratmansky and pop surrealist visionary Mark Ryden. In this fantastical confection, a young boy overindulges at a Viennese pastry shop and falls into a delirium. To help him escape from his attending physician, the boy dreams of his triumphant rescue by Princess Praline and her court, including Princess Tea Flower and Prince Coffee, as well as marching Marzipan, with a festive celebration in conclusion. As light as meringue, Richard Strauss’s score is the perfect inspiration for this all-new production destined to delight ballet fans of all ages.”

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour:
R&B Festival at MetroTech 2017
MetroTech Commons; 12PM, FREE
“You just can’t beat summer in NYC. Where else can you catch an outdoor performance from the likes of John Hammond, Sinkane, Tank and the Bangas and Preservation Hall Jazz Band free of charge on your lunch break? Take full advantage, New Yorkers, BAM’s midday music series goes down every Thursday.” (TONY)

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

Author @ the Library:
The Making of Jane Austen
with Devoney Looser, a professor of English at Arizona St. University.
Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth Ave./ 6:30PM, FREE
“This illustrated lecture tells new stories about how Jane Austen (1775-1817) was made into an international literary icon in the two centuries after her death.”

Elsewhere, but this is a Grucci firework show, always worth the detour:
2017 Independence Celebration
Astoria Park; 7:30PM, FREE
“Queens Symphony Orchestra will start off this early July 4th celebration with a concert on the green, followed by a spectacular show brought to you by Fireworks by Grucci, currently the Guinness World Record holder for largest fireworks display ever recorded.”

=====================================================
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 is one exhibition the New Yorker really likes:

Alex Katz (thru June 30)
Taylor 16×34, 515 W19th St. Chelsea
“As a student at Cooper Union, in 1946, Katz was struggling in drawing class, so he started sketching people wherever he went. The pocket-size results, exhibited here together for the first time, are an illuminating example of the contest between an aspiring artist’s attempt to capture every detail of what he’s seeing and the confident ease with which, as a mature painter, Katz came to encapsulate faces and gestures. In one drawing, a pair of women and a pair of men sit kibbitzing on benches in Union Square; Katz captures all four physiognomies and expressions—from a querulous, sharp-nosed woman to a sympathetic, shovel-chinned man—with vigilant specificity.” (NewYorker)

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

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 06/27 and 06/25.

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NYC Events,”Only the Best” (06/28) + Today’s Featured Pub (Tribeca)

Posted on 06/28/2017 by GregD

Today’s Elite 8 NYC Events > WEDNESDAY/JUNE 28, 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 be sure to check the tab above: “Notable NYC Events-June”

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

Dr. Lonnie Smith (June 27-July 2.)
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St./ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“He can get old-school funky and he can get in-the-moment weird, and that’s why we love Dr. Smith, one of the official masters of the jazz electric organ. The turbaned one celebrates his seventy-fifth birthday in a trio setting for the first three nights, then concludes the engagement in charge of an octet complete with horns and a singer.” (NewYorker)

“Jazz is American Classical,” declares Dr. Lonnie Smith, “and this music is a reflection of what’s hap­pening at the time. The organ is like the sunlight, rain and thunder – it’s all the worldly sounds to me!” An authentic master and guru of the Hammond B–3 for over five decades, the Doctor has been featured on over 70 albums, and has recorded and performed with a virtual “Who’s Who” of jazz, blues and R&B giants. He’s performed on our stage with a trio, quartet, octet, and big band – so where better to celebrate his 75th birthday but right back here at Jazz Standard? This gala six–night stand promises to be a highlight of New York’s jazz summer season, with two all-star bands made up of old and new collaborators alike. “Lonnie Smith is still at the top of his game,” wrote Greg Boraman for the website of the BBC. “His blues are powerful without being mawkish, his jazz adept and tasteful, his funk chops always an example to others.” (JazzStandard)

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

7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>>Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects: The Brain Piece
>>BLACK ART JAZZ COLLECTIVE
>>Barb Jungr: Float Like a Butterfly—The Sting Project
>>Whipped Cream
>>Accordion Picnics
>>Free as Gods: How the Jazz Age Reinvented Modernism
>>The Big Heist: The Real Story of the Lufthansa Heist, the Mafia, and Murder
 ===========================================================

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects: The Brain Piece
NEW YORK LIVE ARTS / 7:30PM, $25+
“Seventy-two spectators at a time will experience Jody Oberfelder’s The Brain Piece, second in a series that began in 2013 with 4Chambers, a study of the human heart. A cast of fifteen performers and collaborators leads attendees through backstage labyrinths and confronts them one-on-one in the lobby and the theater; a clever film by Oberfelder and Eric Siegel, Dance of the Neurons, demonstrates the ways nuggets of information travel around in our craniums. Set designers Juergen Riehm, Penelope Phy, and Tina Kindermann, and lighting designer Kate Bashore, create the frame for the work, which also has a scent consultant; six composers and two sound designers contribute to the mix, along with a bevy of neuroscientists. Be ready to climb stairs, wander hallways, and have “a heightened subjective experience of the brain.” (Elizabeth Zimmer, VillageVoice)

BLACK ART JAZZ COLLECTIVE
at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola / 7:30 and 9:30PM, $
“This sextet of straight-ahead adepts builds upon the postbop language of the 1960s — what you might recognize from Miles Davis’s second great quintet or Joe Henderson’s first few Milestone albums. There is a sense of shared pursuit here; the group often rearranges its component parts, cycling through grooves and trading lead roles. The band features Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, Wayne Escoffery on tenor saxophone, James Burton on trombone, Xavier Davis on piano, Vicente Archer on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums.” (GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO-NYT)

Barb Jungr: Float Like a Butterfly—The Sting Project
Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater / 7PM, $25
“One of the world’s great cabaret singers, England’s Barb Jungr is a genuine original, deploying warmth, high drama and sensitive musicality to reinvent everything she sings. Her supple and versatile voice glows like a hearth on a winter’s day, and her emotional intelligence is faultless: She knows just how a song should feel. In her latest set, she teams up with musical director John McDaniel (The Rosie O’Donnell Show) to explore the oeuvre of Police man turned solo superstar Sting.” (TONY)

Whipped Cream (June 26 – July 1)
Metropolitan Opera House / 7:30PM, $22+
“A dollop of delightful whimsy, this thoroughly inventive full-length premiere springs from the imagination of Artist-in-Residence Alexei Ratmansky and pop surrealist visionary Mark Ryden. In this fantastical confection, a young boy overindulges at a Viennese pastry shop and falls into a delirium. To help him escape from his attending physician, the boy dreams of his triumphant rescue by Princess Praline and her court, including Princess Tea Flower and Prince Coffee, as well as marching Marzipan, with a festive celebration in conclusion. As light as meringue, Richard Strauss’s score is the perfect inspiration for this all-new production destined to delight ballet fans of all ages.”

Accordion Picnics
Bryant Park / 6PM, FREE
“Every Wednesday, Bryant Park welcomes masters of the accordion to show off their best on the lawn. Check out sets from father-daughter duo Lena and Charlie Giordano, Brazilian bluegrass performer Rob Curto and more.”

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

The Big Heist: The Real Story of the Lufthansa Heist, the Mafia, and Murder
Bryant Park / 12:30PM, FREE
Between 40th & 42nd Sts. and Fifth and Sixth Aves.
Anthony M. DeStefano, Pulitzer-Prize Winning Journalist
Hosted by Gary Goldstein, Executive Editor at Kensington Books

Free as Gods: How the Jazz Age Reinvented Modernism
Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth Ave./ 6:30PM, FREE
With Charles A. Riley II, curator, critic, professor of English, and author of more than twenty books on the arts.
“For artistic cross-pollination, Jazz Age Paris is hard to beat. Cultural critic Charles A. Riley II gives an illustrated lecture on the era, taking in some overlooked artists, and some amazing experiments in form, as revealed by his just-released book Free as Gods: How the Jazz Age Reinvented Modernism.” (ThoughtGallery.org)

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

==================================================================================
“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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