NYCity 1-2-3 : What's Happening / Manhattan's WestSide

What’s Happening This Week >
MONDAY, APR.17 – THURSDAY APR.20, 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 the next two weeks we are going to try a different format – alternating between selected events in advance and a selection of the very best NYCity Instagram photos.

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

THE PHILIP GLASS ENSEMBLE (April 20, 8 p.m.). In 1994, the composer Philip Glass reworked the soundtrack to Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film “La Belle et la Bête” with a stunning work of his own, which he has described as “an opera for ensemble and film.” Now, for the first time in over two decades, the Philip Glass Ensemble will revisit his sprawling tour de force, conducted by Michael Riesman; the evening will also feature a conversation with Mr. Glass and the Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris.
212-997-6661, thetownhall.org

LINDA MAY HAN OH GROUP at Jazz Standard (April 19, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.). Ms. Oh extracts a wide and somber sound from the upright bass. Her tunes lace radiant melodies into airtight rhythms, but she lets big notes resound and permeate: Sometimes her playing seems to be emanating from a crater in the ground. She has a fine new album out Friday, “Walk Against Wind.” At Jazz Standard she will celebrate its release with some of the musicians from the record, and some others: Ben Wendel on tenor saxophone, Fabian Almazan on piano and keyboards, Matthew Stevens on guitar and Rudy Royston on drums.
212-576-2232, jazzstandard.com

MILES OKAZAKI at the Jazz Gallery (April 20, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.). Mr. Okazaki has been playing guitar for years alongside the alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, which is to say he’s apprenticed to a doyen of experimental improvising and rhythm. Mr. Okazaki’s potent new album, “Trickster,” features the bassist Anthony Tidd and the drummer Sean Rickman, also Coleman sidemen. The record has a rugged rhythmic twine that reflects their work in Five Elements, Mr. Coleman’s band, but it’s also looser and earthier than most of Mr. Coleman’s music. And everything is subtly recast by the piano playing of Craig Taborn, who sometimes scampers alongside Mr. Okazaki’s clean-toned guitar lines, and elsewhere issues cloudlets of harmony, gauzy but opaque.
646-494-3625, jazzgallery.nyc

(4/19-4/30) The Tribeca Film Festival returns.

(4/20) Aida at The Metropolitan Opera.

EIVIND OPSVIK’S OVERSEAS at Greenwich House Music School (April 19, 8 p.m.). Mr. Opsvik, a bassist who thinks with his pen, recently released “Overseas V.” It’s the latest installment in a series of albums featuring original compositions, most of them built around sighing harmonies and lissome textures. But this newest record leans on the twitchy guitar work of Brandon Seabrook and the sharp drumming of Kenny Wollesen; it includes some of Mr. Opsvik’s funkiest and most physically assertive music yet. He marks its release with a concert featuring the personnel on the album: Tony Malaby on tenor saxophone and Jacob Sacks on piano, as well as Mr. Seabrook and Mr. Wollesen.
212-242-4770, greenwichhouse.org

TITO PUENTE RETROSPECTIVE: 50 YEARS OF ‘EL REY’ at the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture (April 20-22). Among the most important bandleaders of the 20th century, Tito Puente achieved fame onstage at the Palladium Ballroom in Manhattan in the 1950s, then brought Afro-Latin music to a global audience. This three-day celebration of Puente’s life — he died in 2000 — coincides with the 50th anniversary of the start of his so-called Latin jazz period. The events include film screenings, panel discussions, workshops, listening sessions and two major concerts: one on April 21, featuring a band of young Latin jazz scions led by the bassist Carlos Henríquez, and another the next evening, with a large ensemble playing tunes from Puente’s Palladium days.
718-518-4455, hostoscenter.org

WADADA LEO SMITH at the Stone (April 18-23, 8:30 p.m.). In the past five years the trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith has experienced a late-career boom. His monumental “Ten Freedom Summers” suite was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, and last year he released two celebrated albums: the bristling, crepuscular “A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke,” in duo with Vijay Iyer, and “America’s National Parks,” an equally diffuse and ruminative recording, featuring a quintet. Mr. Smith, a hero of jazz’s avant-garde, has a heavyset, pulse-slowing trumpet sound. Over a week of shows at the Stone you can hear it in a range of contexts. Of particular note are Wednesday’s show with Angelica Sanchez on piano and Pheeroan akLaff on drums, and the April 21 performance featuring DarkMatterHalo, a trio of spectral sound architects.
212-473-0043, thestonenyc.com

New York City Ballet at the David H. Koch Theater; April 18–May 28; $30–$175
NYCB’s spring season at Lincoln Center begins with two programs of short works by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins (Apr 18–23), then moves on to its centerpiece: The Here/Now Festival, 10 shows that comprises 43 recent ballets by 22 choreographers.

A Violin to Match Its Player’s Skill
Anne Akiko Meyers at the 92nd Street Y
Armed with one of the most coveted instruments in the field, this violinist has built her reputation on a polished sound and brilliant technique. For this Thursday-evening recital, at which she will be accompanied by the pianist Akira Eguchi, Ms. Meyers will put her Guarneri through its paces with new and recent compositions by Jakub Ciupinski, Morten Lauridsen and Einojuhani Rautavaara, alongside well-loved classics by Beethoven and Ravel. CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM

Dance Theater of Harlem at New York City Center
Long before Misty Copeland brought ballet’s enduring lack of diversity into the public eye, this company was carving out a home for black ballet dancers. Directed by Virginia Johnson, this 48-year-old troupe returns to City Center with four programs, Wednesday through April 22. Highlights include new works by Robert Garland and Francesca Harper, José Limón’s “Chaconne,” a new production of Glen Tetley’s “Dialogues,” and two chances to see Mr. Garland’s beloved “Return.” SIOBHAN BURKE

‘Harrison Greenbaum: What Just Happened?’ at the Cutting Room
Mr. Greenbaum is a stand-up comic and magician whose routine combines both of his talents into one creative show. In 2010 he received the Andy Kaufman Award, which recognizes distinctive and unorthodox comedic voices. His stand-up is fast-paced, smart and interactive, and his illusions reveal the same caliber of creativity and cleverness. Catch his one-of-a-kind blend at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. ELISE CZAJKOWSKI

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

(4/14-4/23) The 2017 New York International Auto Show takes place at the Javits Convention Center, with all the latest models available for exploration, plus demonstrations and automotive blasts from the future and past.

Monday, April 17. Explore some of the world’s most distinctive spots without leaving Fifth Avenue at this illustrated lecture with Atlas Obscura. Mid-Manhattan Library.

Monday, April 17. String theory expert Robbert Dijkgraaf comes to the Secret Science Club at The Bell House to ask some seriously intriguing questions. Come ponder black holes, the nature of the universe, and whether the Big Bang created time.

Monday, April 17. World-class athletes have reputations for their focus (at least on the field). Can that determination and precision help us mortals? Neuroscientist John Krakauer (Director of the Brain, Learning, Animation, and Movement Lab at Johns Hopkins) sits down with soccer star Patrick Vieira to find out.

Tuesday, April 18. Eat with your eyes at Food, Design, and Psychology, a talk exploring how our cuisine is affected by the way food products are designed. Prospect Heights Brainery.

Tuesday, April 18. “It’s not magic—it’s science!” Bill Nye makes an appearance in support of his new Netflix series, Bill Nye Saves the World, which debuts April 21. Enjoy a two-episode preview plus a conversation with the man himself and some of his correspondents. Paley Center for Media.

Wednesday, April 19. Sustain yourself and explore the city’s environmental impact at Is New York’s Future Sustainable? Graduate Center, CUNY.

Wednesday, April 19. The new book by mathematician Marcus du Sautoy takes readers on “Seven Journeys to the Frontiers of Science.” Among those trips: What is the true beginning of time? Will we ever be able to predict the future? and Can what it means to be human really be located in the brain? Pioneer Works.

Thursday, April 20. Hear first-hand about the debates and conversations currently going on in and about the Muslim world at Letters to a Young Muslim. Asia Society and Museum.

Thursday, April 20.  The New School spends two days (Thursday and Friday) “looking” at Invisibility: The Power of an Idea. Correspondents include Simon Critchley, Wendy Doniger, Gerald Holton, Mona El-Naggar, Priyamvada Natarajan, and Darryl Pinckney.

=====================================================
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 York Times really likes:

VIJA CELMINS (Through April 15)
Matthew Marks, 522 West 22nd St.

No natural elements are deeper and darker than the ones Vija Celmins paints: ocean and sky, specifically the rippling surface of the Pacific off California, and the night sky, seen through telescopes, as a dense, soft, pointillist field of thousands of individual stars. She magnifies the vastness of both by leaving out any framing, orienting references — a horizon line, say — to the element we’re most comfortable with: earth.

Born in Latvia, Ms. Celmins, now 78, has lived in the United States since 1948, having arrived here as a refugee after World War II. And in a tradition going back to the 19th century, she’s a landscapist of a peculiarly American kind, one for whom no visual detail is too small, no thought too big. (Within the context of contemporary art, she could be referred to as a cosmic super-realist.)

She is also a moral philosopher, which the subjects of nonlandscape paintings confirm: images of handguns, fighter planes, raw meat, television sets and, perhaps from her work table, worn-down rubber erasers. The erasers are apt symbols for an artist who is a perfectionist reviser, working on single small paintings — adding, subtracting, adding — for years.

This show at Matthew Marks includes a few trompe l’oeil sculptures modeled on real objects. She replicates small found stones in bronze and reproduces their surface markings, speck by speck. Seen together in the gallery, original object and sculpture are hard to tell apart. This is also the case with replicated versions, in wood and paint, of tablet-computer-size 19th-century slate blackboards she has collected. The real slates, also in the gallery, still carry faint ghosts of classroom lessons and calculations written and wiped out long ago. Ms. Celmins’s sculptures have the same marks and, in the funny way art works, turn erasures into additions.” (NYT-HOLLAND COTTER)

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

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).

=======================================================
For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see recent posts in right sidebar dated 04/16 and 04/14.

What’s Happening This Week >
MONDAY, APR.17 – THURSDAY APR.20, 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 the next two weeks we are going to try a different format – alternating between selected events in advance and a selection of the very best NYCity Instagram photos.

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

THE PHILIP GLASS ENSEMBLE (April 20, 8 p.m.). In 1994, the composer Philip Glass reworked the soundtrack to Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film “La Belle et la Bête” with a stunning work of his own, which he has described as “an opera for ensemble and film.” Now, for the first time in over two decades, the Philip Glass Ensemble will revisit his sprawling tour de force, conducted by Michael Riesman; the evening will also feature a conversation with Mr. Glass and the Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris.
212-997-6661, thetownhall.org

LINDA MAY HAN OH GROUP at Jazz Standard (April 19, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.). Ms. Oh extracts a wide and somber sound from the upright bass. Her tunes lace radiant melodies into airtight rhythms, but she lets big notes resound and permeate: Sometimes her playing seems to be emanating from a crater in the ground. She has a fine new album out Friday, “Walk Against Wind.” At Jazz Standard she will celebrate its release with some of the musicians from the record, and some others: Ben Wendel on tenor saxophone, Fabian Almazan on piano and keyboards, Matthew Stevens on guitar and Rudy Royston on drums.
212-576-2232, jazzstandard.com

MILES OKAZAKI at the Jazz Gallery (April 20, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.). Mr. Okazaki has been playing guitar for years alongside the alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, which is to say he’s apprenticed to a doyen of experimental improvising and rhythm. Mr. Okazaki’s potent new album, “Trickster,” features the bassist Anthony Tidd and the drummer Sean Rickman, also Coleman sidemen. The record has a rugged rhythmic twine that reflects their work in Five Elements, Mr. Coleman’s band, but it’s also looser and earthier than most of Mr. Coleman’s music. And everything is subtly recast by the piano playing of Craig Taborn, who sometimes scampers alongside Mr. Okazaki’s clean-toned guitar lines, and elsewhere issues cloudlets of harmony, gauzy but opaque.
646-494-3625, jazzgallery.nyc

(4/19-4/30) The Tribeca Film Festival returns.

(4/20) Aida at The Metropolitan Opera.

EIVIND OPSVIK’S OVERSEAS at Greenwich House Music School (April 19, 8 p.m.). Mr. Opsvik, a bassist who thinks with his pen, recently released “Overseas V.” It’s the latest installment in a series of albums featuring original compositions, most of them built around sighing harmonies and lissome textures. But this newest record leans on the twitchy guitar work of Brandon Seabrook and the sharp drumming of Kenny Wollesen; it includes some of Mr. Opsvik’s funkiest and most physically assertive music yet. He marks its release with a concert featuring the personnel on the album: Tony Malaby on tenor saxophone and Jacob Sacks on piano, as well as Mr. Seabrook and Mr. Wollesen.
212-242-4770, greenwichhouse.org

TITO PUENTE RETROSPECTIVE: 50 YEARS OF ‘EL REY’ at the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture (April 20-22). Among the most important bandleaders of the 20th century, Tito Puente achieved fame onstage at the Palladium Ballroom in Manhattan in the 1950s, then brought Afro-Latin music to a global audience. This three-day celebration of Puente’s life — he died in 2000 — coincides with the 50th anniversary of the start of his so-called Latin jazz period. The events include film screenings, panel discussions, workshops, listening sessions and two major concerts: one on April 21, featuring a band of young Latin jazz scions led by the bassist Carlos Henríquez, and another the next evening, with a large ensemble playing tunes from Puente’s Palladium days.
718-518-4455, hostoscenter.org

WADADA LEO SMITH at the Stone (April 18-23, 8:30 p.m.). In the past five years the trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith has experienced a late-career boom. His monumental “Ten Freedom Summers” suite was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, and last year he released two celebrated albums: the bristling, crepuscular “A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke,” in duo with Vijay Iyer, and “America’s National Parks,” an equally diffuse and ruminative recording, featuring a quintet. Mr. Smith, a hero of jazz’s avant-garde, has a heavyset, pulse-slowing trumpet sound. Over a week of shows at the Stone you can hear it in a range of contexts. Of particular note are Wednesday’s show with Angelica Sanchez on piano and Pheeroan akLaff on drums, and the April 21 performance featuring DarkMatterHalo, a trio of spectral sound architects.
212-473-0043, thestonenyc.com

New York City Ballet at the David H. Koch Theater; April 18–May 28; $30–$175
NYCB’s spring season at Lincoln Center begins with two programs of short works by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins (Apr 18–23), then moves on to its centerpiece: The Here/Now Festival, 10 shows that comprises 43 recent ballets by 22 choreographers.

A Violin to Match Its Player’s Skill
Anne Akiko Meyers at the 92nd Street Y
Armed with one of the most coveted instruments in the field, this violinist has built her reputation on a polished sound and brilliant technique. For this Thursday-evening recital, at which she will be accompanied by the pianist Akira Eguchi, Ms. Meyers will put her Guarneri through its paces with new and recent compositions by Jakub Ciupinski, Morten Lauridsen and Einojuhani Rautavaara, alongside well-loved classics by Beethoven and Ravel. CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM

Dance Theater of Harlem at New York City Center
Long before Misty Copeland brought ballet’s enduring lack of diversity into the public eye, this company was carving out a home for black ballet dancers. Directed by Virginia Johnson, this 48-year-old troupe returns to City Center with four programs, Wednesday through April 22. Highlights include new works by Robert Garland and Francesca Harper, José Limón’s “Chaconne,” a new production of Glen Tetley’s “Dialogues,” and two chances to see Mr. Garland’s beloved “Return.” SIOBHAN BURKE

‘Harrison Greenbaum: What Just Happened?’ at the Cutting Room
Mr. Greenbaum is a stand-up comic and magician whose routine combines both of his talents into one creative show. In 2010 he received the Andy Kaufman Award, which recognizes distinctive and unorthodox comedic voices. His stand-up is fast-paced, smart and interactive, and his illusions reveal the same caliber of creativity and cleverness. Catch his one-of-a-kind blend at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. ELISE CZAJKOWSKI

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

(4/14-4/23) The 2017 New York International Auto Show takes place at the Javits Convention Center, with all the latest models available for exploration, plus demonstrations and automotive blasts from the future and past.

Monday, April 17. Explore some of the world’s most distinctive spots without leaving Fifth Avenue at this illustrated lecture with Atlas Obscura. Mid-Manhattan Library.

Monday, April 17. String theory expert Robbert Dijkgraaf comes to the Secret Science Club at The Bell House to ask some seriously intriguing questions. Come ponder black holes, the nature of the universe, and whether the Big Bang created time.

Monday, April 17. World-class athletes have reputations for their focus (at least on the field). Can that determination and precision help us mortals? Neuroscientist John Krakauer (Director of the Brain, Learning, Animation, and Movement Lab at Johns Hopkins) sits down with soccer star Patrick Vieira to find out.

Tuesday, April 18. Eat with your eyes at Food, Design, and Psychology, a talk exploring how our cuisine is affected by the way food products are designed. Prospect Heights Brainery.

Tuesday, April 18. “It’s not magic—it’s science!” Bill Nye makes an appearance in support of his new Netflix series, Bill Nye Saves the World, which debuts April 21. Enjoy a two-episode preview plus a conversation with the man himself and some of his correspondents. Paley Center for Media.

Wednesday, April 19. Sustain yourself and explore the city’s environmental impact at Is New York’s Future Sustainable? Graduate Center, CUNY.

Wednesday, April 19. The new book by mathematician Marcus du Sautoy takes readers on “Seven Journeys to the Frontiers of Science.” Among those trips: What is the true beginning of time? Will we ever be able to predict the future? and Can what it means to be human really be located in the brain? Pioneer Works.

Thursday, April 20. Hear first-hand about the debates and conversations currently going on in and about the Muslim world at Letters to a Young Muslim. Asia Society and Museum.

Thursday, April 20.  The New School spends two days (Thursday and Friday) “looking” at Invisibility: The Power of an Idea. Correspondents include Simon Critchley, Wendy Doniger, Gerald Holton, Mona El-Naggar, Priyamvada Natarajan, and Darryl Pinckney.

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

These wonderful museum exhibitions continue through this period:

(3/20-1/7/18) Mummies at the American Museum of Natural History. 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.

(now-9/6/17) The newest show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 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.

(now-4/30/17) Tattooed New York at the New-York Historical Society explores more than 300 years of tattoo culture. The exhibit will feature more than 250 works dating from the early 1700s to today—exploring Native American body art, tattoo craft practiced by visiting sailors, sideshow culture, the 1961 ban that drove tattooing underground for three decades, and the post-ban artistic renaissance.

(now-4/23/17) Also on display at the New-York Historical Society are two revealing exhibits:—Muhammad Ali, LeRoy Neiman, and the Art of Boxing and “I Am The King of the World”—Photographs of Muhammad Ali by George Kalinsky. The complementary exhibits, one by a watercolor painter/sketch artist and one by a Madison Square Garden photographer, offer an intimate perspective of the heavyweight boxing champion’s trailblazing career. Both shows come from a place of deep respect and trust; they chronicle highlights and low points, as well as capturing Ali’s sometimes quieter, more thoughtful interior life.

(3/3-7/3) 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.

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

Jimmy’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.
==================================================================================

Today’s NYCity Instagram Photos > SUNDAY / APRIL 16, 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 the next two weeks we are going to try a different format – alternating between selected events in advance and a selection of the very best NYCity Instagram photos.

It’s springtime, the flowers start to bloom, and it’s just grand.
Let’s look at 6 very fine Instagram Photographers who specialize in NYC photos:
(Look for this Instagram series April 09, 13, 16, 20, and 23)

new_york_city_photo

ryan parilla

jasonmpeterson

midnight.xpress

sirroyston

drewmogenesis

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

Morgan Library & Museum
‘I’M NOBODY! WHO ARE YOU? THE LIFE AND POETRY OF EMILY DICKINSON’ (through May 28).
“This is the second-largest gathering ever, anywhere, of prime Dickinson relics, and as such it comes with an aura the size of a city block. It instantly turns the Morgan into a pilgrimage site, a literary Lourdes, a place to come in contact with one aspect of America that truly can claim greatness. And the show has a mission, to give 21st-century audiences a fresh take on Dickinson. Gone is the white-gowned Puritan nun, and the Belle of Amherst, that infantilized charmer. At the Morgan we get a different Dickinson, a person among people: a member of a household, a village dweller, a citizen.” 212-685-0008, themorgan.org. (NYT-Holland Cotter)

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:
‘CELEBRATING THE ARTS OF JAPAN: THE MARY GRIGGS BURKE COLLECTION’ (through May 2017)
“This lavish collection of 160 objects came to the Met from the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation in early 2015. The Burkes loved Japanese art — all of it — and the exhibition is close to compendious in terms of media, from wood-carved Buddhas to bamboo baskets, with a particular strength in painting, early and late. The quality of the work? Japan thinks highly enough of it to have made the Burke holdings the first Japanese collection from abroad ever to show at Tokyo National Museum. 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org.” (Cotter)

===========================================================
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 04/14 and 04/12.
=============================================================

What’s Happening This Weekend >
FRIDAY, APR.14 – SUNDAY APR.16, 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 the next two weeks we are going to try a different format – alternating between selected events in advance and a selection of the very best NYCity Instagram photos.

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Christian McBride’s New Jawn with Josh Evans, Marcus Strickland, and Nasheet Waits
Dizzy’s Club, 7:30PM,+9:30PM, $40
Bassist Christian McBride is a master musician who has appeared on over 300 records. He is easily one of the most accomplished bass players alive, and his resume as a bandleader is also quite impressive. Join us at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola to experience New Jawn, which, translated from Philadelphian, could be described as McBride’s “new joint.” The quartet includes Josh Evans, Nasheet Waits and Marcus Strickland, musicians that are regularly featured at Jazz at Lincoln Center and all over the city both as bandleaders and as sidemen with some of jazz’s biggest names. Fans of McBride’s other small groups will surely love this ensemble, and its unusual two-horns, no-piano lineup gives it a unique flavor. With just bass and drums holding down the rhythm section, McBride and Waits provide as rich and driving a foundation as any group could hope for.

SONDRE LERCHE at the Bowery Ballroom (April 15, 9 p.m.). Since releasing his debut record, “Faces Down,” in 2001, this Norwegian singer-songwriter has evolved from strummy folk tunes to bolder exercises in funk, pop and electronica. Mr. Lerche’s sonic vision is more realized than ever on his eighth studio album, “Pleasure,” selections from which he will debut as part of this North American tour. With Ice Choir and Alexander von Mehren.
800-745-3000, boweryballroom.com

BETTY WHO at Webster Hall (April 14, 8 p.m.). If you’re looking for a pop spectacle in the vein of Robyn or Katy Perry, this Australian artist mines similar terrain with bright, effervescent synth pop distinguished by deeply felt lyrics about love and heartbreak. For this performance, she will showcase songs from her solid second album, “The Valley,” which blends party-starting jams like “Some Kinda Wonderful” with dazzling disco tunes like “You Can Cry Tomorrow.” She may also perform a recent cover of Donna Lewis’s 1996 smash “I Love You Always Forever,” which she released as a cover last year.
212-353-1600, websterhall.com

MATTHEW STEVENS at Nublu (April 15, 8:30 p.m.). Mr. Stevens plays the guitar with tight clutch, improvising in truncated melodies and tense, frequently beautiful harmonies that always tilt toward a payoff. On his 2015 album, “Woodwork,” recorded with a quintet, Mr. Stevens reveled in the humming resonance of a hollow-body guitar; his rock-infused songwriting and fleet playing carried the day. His new disc, “Preverbal,” out last month, adds layers of digital percussion and powdery effects to a trio that features Vicente Archer on bass and Eric Doob on drums. Mr. Stevens rings in the record with a concert at Nublu, featuring Mr. Doob on drums and Zach Brown on bass. The multi-instrumentalist Corey King will play an opening set featuring music from his moody 2016 release, “Lashes.”
212-505-3474, lpr.com

Scottish Ballet at the Joyce Theater; Apr 11–16; $26–$56
Founded 60 years ago, Scotland’s national dance company finally makes its New York debut with a bill that includes Bryan Arias’s Motion of Displacement and Christopher Bruce’s Ten Poems (set to poetry by Dylan Thomas, read by Richard Burton).

Cuisine and Confessions, Skirball Center For The Performing Arts; Apr 11–16; tickets start at $190
The circus and culinary world collide in this acrobatics show by Montreal-based company Les 7 Doigts de la Main—or The 7 Fingers, in English. Both foodies and thespians will be intrigued by the combination of parkour-inspired stunts, elaborate choreography and a la carte tastings at the end of the performance.

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

Friday, April 14

(4/14-4/23) The 2017 New York International Auto Show takes place at the Javits Convention Center, with all the latest models available for exploration, plus demonstrations and automotive blasts from the future and past.

Big Data comes to date night. Biology, psychology, and sociology come together in the burgeoning field of relationship science, which can better our understanding of how couples form, why they fall apart, and why we even need these connections in the first place. The Psychology of Relationships: How Experimental Science, Empirical Data and Seinfeld Help Us Understand Love at The Strand.

Ian F. Svenonius (of long-running alternative music fame) lectures on re-education as part of the 2017 Whitney Biennial’s Frances Stark paintings from Svenonius’s 2015 book Censorship Now!!.

Columbia University takes a look at a new art form with The Unplugged Soul: A Conference on the Podcast.

Saturday, April 15

Holi in the City; Stage 48; Apr 15; $20, VIP $35
Wear white and brace yourself for four stories of rainbow delight as Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, hits NYC. Dance in kaleidoscopic ecstasy with hundreds of strangers while you get covered in tinted powders, and enjoy hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and live music. There’s no more cheerful way to usher in springtime.

Hester Street Fair; April 15; Free
It’s the opening day for the Lower East Side market that combines food and flair in the community-driven spectacle. First-time entrepreneurs and established vendors like Macaron Parlour, Melt Bakery and Cheeky Sandwich have strutted their stuff for its weekly Saturday market.

Spend the sunset at Green-Wood by joining an atmospheric twilight tour. Green-Wood Cemetery.

Learn the occult side of the wreck of the Titanic, as Boroughs of the Dead hosts a walking tour from Astor Place to Pier 54 in Chelsea, the ship’s never-reached destination.

Sunday, April 16.

(4/16) Easter in New York brings egg hunts, fine brunches, and a bonnet-filled procession down Fifth Avenue that’s been a city tradition for nearly a century and a half. Celebrate the holiday in true New York fashion with a trip to the Easter Parade. The tradition dates all the way back to the 1870s, when upper class New Yorkers would stroll down Fifth Avenue after church and show off the fashionable new outfits they’d purchased for the holiday.
Traffic shuts down for the parade on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 57th Streets from 10am to 4pm on Easter Sunday, letting festive paradegoers fill the streets in their elaborate Easter finest.

Say cheers at this tour and tasting at Brooklyn’s Rooftop Reds, the only rooftop vineyard in the world. Untapped Cities.

Find out how Ben Platt does it as the actor joins Tony Award nominated director Michael Greif for a discussion of Dear Evan Hansen, moderated by This American Life’s Ira Glass. 92nd Street Y.

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

These wonderful museum exhibitions continue through this period:

(3/20-1/7/18) Mummies at the American Museum of Natural History. 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.

(now-9/6/17) The newest show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 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.

(now-4/30/17) Tattooed New York at the New-York Historical Society explores more than 300 years of tattoo culture. The exhibit will feature more than 250 works dating from the early 1700s to today—exploring Native American body art, tattoo craft practiced by visiting sailors, sideshow culture, the 1961 ban that drove tattooing underground for three decades, and the post-ban artistic renaissance.

(now-4/23/17) Also on display at the New-York Historical Society are two revealing exhibits:—Muhammad Ali, LeRoy Neiman, and the Art of Boxing and “I Am The King of the World”—Photographs of Muhammad Ali by George Kalinsky. The complementary exhibits, one by a watercolor painter/sketch artist and one by a Madison Square Garden photographer, offer an intimate perspective of the heavyweight boxing champion’s trailblazing career. Both shows come from a place of deep respect and trust; they chronicle highlights and low points, as well as capturing Ali’s sometimes quieter, more thoughtful interior life.

(3/3-7/3) 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.

=====================================================
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. (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’. ”

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

What’s Happening This Weekend >
FRIDAY, APR.14 – SUNDAY APR.16, 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 the next two weeks we are going to try a different format – alternating between selected events in advance and a selection of the very best NYCity Instagram photos.

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Christian McBride’s New Jawn with Josh Evans, Marcus Strickland, and Nasheet Waits
Dizzy’s Club, 7:30PM,+9:30PM, $40
Bassist Christian McBride is a master musician who has appeared on over 300 records. He is easily one of the most accomplished bass players alive, and his resume as a bandleader is also quite impressive. Join us at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola to experience New Jawn, which, translated from Philadelphian, could be described as McBride’s “new joint.” The quartet includes Josh Evans, Nasheet Waits and Marcus Strickland, musicians that are regularly featured at Jazz at Lincoln Center and all over the city both as bandleaders and as sidemen with some of jazz’s biggest names. Fans of McBride’s other small groups will surely love this ensemble, and its unusual two-horns, no-piano lineup gives it a unique flavor. With just bass and drums holding down the rhythm section, McBride and Waits provide as rich and driving a foundation as any group could hope for.

SONDRE LERCHE at the Bowery Ballroom (April 15, 9 p.m.). Since releasing his debut record, “Faces Down,” in 2001, this Norwegian singer-songwriter has evolved from strummy folk tunes to bolder exercises in funk, pop and electronica. Mr. Lerche’s sonic vision is more realized than ever on his eighth studio album, “Pleasure,” selections from which he will debut as part of this North American tour. With Ice Choir and Alexander von Mehren.
800-745-3000, boweryballroom.com

BETTY WHO at Webster Hall (April 14, 8 p.m.). If you’re looking for a pop spectacle in the vein of Robyn or Katy Perry, this Australian artist mines similar terrain with bright, effervescent synth pop distinguished by deeply felt lyrics about love and heartbreak. For this performance, she will showcase songs from her solid second album, “The Valley,” which blends party-starting jams like “Some Kinda Wonderful” with dazzling disco tunes like “You Can Cry Tomorrow.” She may also perform a recent cover of Donna Lewis’s 1996 smash “I Love You Always Forever,” which she released as a cover last year.
212-353-1600, websterhall.com

MATTHEW STEVENS at Nublu (April 15, 8:30 p.m.). Mr. Stevens plays the guitar with tight clutch, improvising in truncated melodies and tense, frequently beautiful harmonies that always tilt toward a payoff. On his 2015 album, “Woodwork,” recorded with a quintet, Mr. Stevens reveled in the humming resonance of a hollow-body guitar; his rock-infused songwriting and fleet playing carried the day. His new disc, “Preverbal,” out last month, adds layers of digital percussion and powdery effects to a trio that features Vicente Archer on bass and Eric Doob on drums. Mr. Stevens rings in the record with a concert at Nublu, featuring Mr. Doob on drums and Zach Brown on bass. The multi-instrumentalist Corey King will play an opening set featuring music from his moody 2016 release, “Lashes.”
212-505-3474, lpr.com

Scottish Ballet at the Joyce Theater; Apr 11–16; $26–$56
Founded 60 years ago, Scotland’s national dance company finally makes its New York debut with a bill that includes Bryan Arias’s Motion of Displacement and Christopher Bruce’s Ten Poems (set to poetry by Dylan Thomas, read by Richard Burton).

Cuisine and Confessions, Skirball Center For The Performing Arts; Apr 11–16; tickets start at $190
The circus and culinary world collide in this acrobatics show by Montreal-based company Les 7 Doigts de la Main—or The 7 Fingers, in English. Both foodies and thespians will be intrigued by the combination of parkour-inspired stunts, elaborate choreography and a la carte tastings at the end of the performance.

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

Friday, April 14

(4/14-4/23) The 2017 New York International Auto Show takes place at the Javits Convention Center, with all the latest models available for exploration, plus demonstrations and automotive blasts from the future and past.

Big Data comes to date night. Biology, psychology, and sociology come together in the burgeoning field of relationship science, which can better our understanding of how couples form, why they fall apart, and why we even need these connections in the first place. The Psychology of Relationships: How Experimental Science, Empirical Data and Seinfeld Help Us Understand Love at The Strand.

Ian F. Svenonius (of long-running alternative music fame) lectures on re-education as part of the 2017 Whitney Biennial’s Frances Stark paintings from Svenonius’s 2015 book Censorship Now!!.

Columbia University takes a look at a new art form with The Unplugged Soul: A Conference on the Podcast.

Saturday, April 15

Holi in the City; Stage 48; Apr 15; $20, VIP $35
Wear white and brace yourself for four stories of rainbow delight as Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, hits NYC. Dance in kaleidoscopic ecstasy with hundreds of strangers while you get covered in tinted powders, and enjoy hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and live music. There’s no more cheerful way to usher in springtime.

Hester Street Fair; April 15; Free
It’s the opening day for the Lower East Side market that combines food and flair in the community-driven spectacle. First-time entrepreneurs and established vendors like Macaron Parlour, Melt Bakery and Cheeky Sandwich have strutted their stuff for its weekly Saturday market.

Spend the sunset at Green-Wood by joining an atmospheric twilight tour. Green-Wood Cemetery.

Learn the occult side of the wreck of the Titanic, as Boroughs of the Dead hosts a walking tour from Astor Place to Pier 54 in Chelsea, the ship’s never-reached destination.

Sunday, April 16.

(4/16) Easter in New York brings egg hunts, fine brunches, and a bonnet-filled procession down Fifth Avenue that’s been a city tradition for nearly a century and a half. Celebrate the holiday in true New York fashion with a trip to the Easter Parade. The tradition dates all the way back to the 1870s, when upper class New Yorkers would stroll down Fifth Avenue after church and show off the fashionable new outfits they’d purchased for the holiday.
Traffic shuts down for the parade on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 57th Streets from 10am to 4pm on Easter Sunday, letting festive paradegoers fill the streets in their elaborate Easter finest.

Say cheers at this tour and tasting at Brooklyn’s Rooftop Reds, the only rooftop vineyard in the world. Untapped Cities.

Find out how Ben Platt does it as the actor joins Tony Award nominated director Michael Greif for a discussion of Dear Evan Hansen, moderated by This American Life’s Ira Glass. 92nd Street Y.

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

These wonderful museum exhibitions continue through this period:

(3/20-1/7/18) Mummies at the American Museum of Natural History. 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.

(now-9/6/17) The newest show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 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.

(now-4/30/17) Tattooed New York at the New-York Historical Society explores more than 300 years of tattoo culture. The exhibit will feature more than 250 works dating from the early 1700s to today—exploring Native American body art, tattoo craft practiced by visiting sailors, sideshow culture, the 1961 ban that drove tattooing underground for three decades, and the post-ban artistic renaissance.

(now-4/23/17) Also on display at the New-York Historical Society are two revealing exhibits:—Muhammad Ali, LeRoy Neiman, and the Art of Boxing and “I Am The King of the World”—Photographs of Muhammad Ali by George Kalinsky. The complementary exhibits, one by a watercolor painter/sketch artist and one by a Madison Square Garden photographer, offer an intimate perspective of the heavyweight boxing champion’s trailblazing career. Both shows come from a place of deep respect and trust; they chronicle highlights and low points, as well as capturing Ali’s sometimes quieter, more thoughtful interior life.

(3/3-7/3) 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.

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

Museum of Modern Art:

 ‘TONY OURSLER: IMPONDERABLE’ (through April 16)
“This small exhibition is centered on a 90-minute film in which episodes from the history of spiritualist frauds and hoaxes are re-enacted by people in fanciful costumes while mystic flames, smoke and ectoplasmic phenomena come and go. At certain moments during “Imponderable,” you feel breezes wafting over you and hear loud thumping under the theater’s risers. The crudeness of these effects is part of the generally comical spirit. It’s all about the confusion between illusion and reality to which human beings seem to be congenitally susceptible.” (Johnson)

And 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)

 Whitney Museum of American Art:

FAST FORWARD: PAINTING FROM THE 1980S (thru May 14)
“Fast Forward: Painting from the 1980s presents a focused look at painting from this decade with works drawn entirely from the Museum’s collection.

In the 1980s, painting recaptured the imagination of the contemporary art world against a backdrop of expansive change. An unprecedented number of galleries appeared on the scene, particularly in downtown New York. Groundbreaking exhibitions—that blurred distinctions between high and low art—were presented at alternative and artist-run spaces. New mediums, including video and installation art, were on the rise. Yet despite the growing popularity of photography and video, many artists actively embraced painting, freely exploring its bold physicality and unique capacity for expression and innovation.

The exhibition includes work by artists often identified with this explosive period—Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sherrie Levine, David Salle, and Julian Schnabel—as well as by several lesser-known painters. These artists explored the traditions of figuration and history painting, and offered new interpretations of abstraction. Many addressed fundamental questions about artmaking in their work, while others took on political issues including AIDS, feminism, gentrification, and war. In the face of a media-saturated environment, artists in the 1980s recommitted to painting. Far from dead, painting came to represent an important intersection between new ways of seeing and a seemingly traditional way of making art.”

==============================================================
For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right sidebar dated 04/12 and 04/10.
==============================================================

Today’s NYCity Instagram Photos > THURSDAY / APRIL 13, 2017

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.
For the next two weeks we are going to try a different format – alternating between selected events in advance and a selection of the very best NYCity Instagram photos.

It’s springtime, the flowers start to bloom and it’s grand indeed.
Let’s look at 6 very fine Instagram Photographers who specialize in NYC photos:
(Look for this Instagram series April 09, 13, 16, 20, and 23)

underground_nyc

seaandshoots

silviosandino

papakila

sean  _p

visualmemories

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

There 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.
==============================================================

What’s Happening This Week>
MONDAY, APR.10 – THURSDAY APR.13, 2017

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.
For the next two weeks we are going to try a different format – alternating between selected events in advance and a selection of the very best NYCity Instagram photos.

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

(4/10, 4/15, 4/20) Aida at The Metropolitan Opera.

(4/9-4/10) Dick Gregory at Carolines on Broadway.

Scottish Ballet at the Joyce Theater; Apr 11–16; $26–$56
Founded 60 years ago, Scotland’s national dance company finally makes its New York debut with a bill that includes Bryan Arias’s Motion of Displacement and Christopher Bruce’s Ten Poems (set to poetry by Dylan Thomas, read by Richard Burton).

Cuisine and Confessions Skirball Center For The Performing Arts; Apr 11–16; tickets start at $190
The circus and culinary world collide in this acrobatics show by Montreal-based company Les 7 Doigts de la Main—or The 7 Fingers, in English. Both foodies and thespians will be intrigued by the combination of parkour-inspired stunts, elaborate choreography and a la carte tastings at the end of the performance.

(4/13) Jerry Seinfeld at Beacon Theatre.

New Order, Radio City Music Hall; Apr 13; $55.50–$95.50
The seminal English postpunk outfit spawned from Joy Division plays Radio City in support of its latest album, Music Complete, which ranges from wistful airs to thumping disco,

Benjamin Clementine, Carnegie Hall; Apr 13; $30
Songman Benjamin Clementine has led a meteoric ascent: from homeless busker to internationally acclaimed phenom. He brings his captivating voice and emotive piano to a special Carnegie Hall gig where—fingers crossed—he may debut brand-new tunes from the follow-up to his 2015 Mercury-Prize-winning debut, At Least For Now.

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

Monday, April 10. Enjoy an evening of Shakespeare recitation, expert commentary, and exploration, celebrating Edwins Booth and Forrest and the ways they brought Shakespeare to the city. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Monday, April 10. John Pfaff, Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, takes a new look at the American mass imprisonment epidemic in an illustrated lecture. New York Public Library—Mid-Manhattan Library.

Tuesday, April 11. Jonathan Blow’s postmodern video game creations have earned him literary comparisons. He’ll speak on gaming as an art form and on Italo Calvino in the next in the series inspired by the lectures Six Memos for the Next Millennium. The Center for Fiction.

Tuesday, April 11.  Chef and culinary historian Carl Raymond talks about the etiquette, cooking techniques, service, and, of course, favorite foods of a bygone era. Merchant’s House Museum.

Wednesday, April 12. In an obverse version of Disaster Capitalism, Muslim hardliners took advantage of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami to install Sharia law in the province of Aceh. Catch a VICE Media screening of what it’s like to live under the canes of religious police, and what it’s like to fight back. The night continues with a look at ocean plastic, and a Q&A and talkback. David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.

Wednesday, April 12. Amanda Duarte of #PUSSYGRABSBACK fame hosts the next Dead Darlings celebration of work plucked from the cutting-room floor. This session is entitled COMRADES in honor of burgeoning Russian-American political alliances. Judson Memorial Church.

Thursday, April 13. Find the precise word at Is the Dictionary Dead?, a talk with representatives from Merriam-Webster on the past, present, and future of defining the English language. Mid-Manhattan Library.

It’s not every night you get the chance to see astronauts going at it with aquanauts. Two NASA vets, a diving expert, and a Cousteau will be on hand to argue which final frontier is more intriguing—and important. (More people have walked on the moon than have reached the ocean’s deepest point. But then again, space.) American Museum of Natural History.

Randy Cohen turns the attentions of his podcast Person Place Thing on writer Siri Hustvedt, author of A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex, and the Mind. Brooklyn Historical Society.

Dr. Raymond Moody, Jr. coined the phrase “near death experience” and is a leading expert on the phenomena. Catch him at The Bell House for a night that hovers between two worlds.

Dispel some myths on smell (human capacities are not, in fact, on the decline) at a cross-disciplinary Columbia University “Society and Neuroscience” seminar. Among the intriguing angles on scent will be cognition, philosophy, and perfumery.

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

These wonderful museum exhibitions continue through this period:

(3/20-1/7/18) Mummies at the American Museum of Natural History. 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.

(now-9/6/17) The newest show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 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.

(now-4/30/17) Tattooed New York at the New-York Historical Society explores more than 300 years of tattoo culture. The exhibit will feature more than 250 works dating from the early 1700s to today—exploring Native American body art, tattoo craft practiced by visiting sailors, sideshow culture, the 1961 ban that drove tattooing underground for three decades, and the post-ban artistic renaissance.

(now-4/23/17) Also on display at the New-York Historical Society are two revealing exhibits:—Muhammad Ali, LeRoy Neiman, and the Art of Boxing and “I Am The King of the World”—Photographs of Muhammad Ali by George Kalinsky. The complementary exhibits, one by a watercolor painter/sketch artist and one by a Madison Square Garden photographer, offer an intimate perspective of the heavyweight boxing champion’s trailblazing career. Both shows come from a place of deep respect and trust; they chronicle highlights and low points, as well as capturing Ali’s sometimes quieter, more thoughtful interior life.

(3/3-7/3) 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.

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

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

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

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

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

NYCity Vacation Travel Guide Video (Expedia):

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

A PremierPub / Upper West Side

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

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

No food goes better with American craft ales than American barbecue. Dinosaur may be the best combo of good beer drinking and hearty eating in town, which makes the trip uptown to West Harlem totally worthwhile.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What’s Happening This Week>
MONDAY, APR.10 – THURSDAY APR.13, 2017

“We search the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you don’t have to.” We make it as easy as 1-2-3.
For the next two weeks we are going to try a different format – alternating between selected events in advance and a selection of the very best NYCity Instagram photos.

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

(4/10, 4/15, 4/20) Aida at The Metropolitan Opera.

(4/9-4/10) Dick Gregory at Carolines on Broadway.

Scottish Ballet at the Joyce Theater; Apr 11–16; $26–$56
Founded 60 years ago, Scotland’s national dance company finally makes its New York debut with a bill that includes Bryan Arias’s Motion of Displacement and Christopher Bruce’s Ten Poems (set to poetry by Dylan Thomas, read by Richard Burton).

Cuisine and Confessions Skirball Center For The Performing Arts; Apr 11–16; tickets start at $190
The circus and culinary world collide in this acrobatics show by Montreal-based company Les 7 Doigts de la Main—or The 7 Fingers, in English. Both foodies and thespians will be intrigued by the combination of parkour-inspired stunts, elaborate choreography and a la carte tastings at the end of the performance.

(4/13) Jerry Seinfeld at Beacon Theatre.

New Order, Radio City Music Hall; Apr 13; $55.50–$95.50
The seminal English postpunk outfit spawned from Joy Division plays Radio City in support of its latest album, Music Complete, which ranges from wistful airs to thumping disco,

Benjamin Clementine, Carnegie Hall; Apr 13; $30
Songman Benjamin Clementine has led a meteoric ascent: from homeless busker to internationally acclaimed phenom. He brings his captivating voice and emotive piano to a special Carnegie Hall gig where—fingers crossed—he may debut brand-new tunes from the follow-up to his 2015 Mercury-Prize-winning debut, At Least For Now.

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

Monday, April 10. Enjoy an evening of Shakespeare recitation, expert commentary, and exploration, celebrating Edwins Booth and Forrest and the ways they brought Shakespeare to the city. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Monday, April 10. John Pfaff, Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, takes a new look at the American mass imprisonment epidemic in an illustrated lecture. New York Public Library—Mid-Manhattan Library.

Tuesday, April 11. Jonathan Blow’s postmodern video game creations have earned him literary comparisons. He’ll speak on gaming as an art form and on Italo Calvino in the next in the series inspired by the lectures Six Memos for the Next Millennium. The Center for Fiction.

Tuesday, April 11.  Chef and culinary historian Carl Raymond talks about the etiquette, cooking techniques, service, and, of course, favorite foods of a bygone era. Merchant’s House Museum.

Wednesday, April 12. In an obverse version of Disaster Capitalism, Muslim hardliners took advantage of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami to install Sharia law in the province of Aceh. Catch a VICE Media screening of what it’s like to live under the canes of religious police, and what it’s like to fight back. The night continues with a look at ocean plastic, and a Q&A and talkback. David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.

Wednesday, April 12. Amanda Duarte of #PUSSYGRABSBACK fame hosts the next Dead Darlings celebration of work plucked from the cutting-room floor. This session is entitled COMRADES in honor of burgeoning Russian-American political alliances. Judson Memorial Church.

Thursday, April 13. Find the precise word at Is the Dictionary Dead?, a talk with representatives from Merriam-Webster on the past, present, and future of defining the English language. Mid-Manhattan Library.

It’s not every night you get the chance to see astronauts going at it with aquanauts. Two NASA vets, a diving expert, and a Cousteau will be on hand to argue which final frontier is more intriguing—and important. (More people have walked on the moon than have reached the ocean’s deepest point. But then again, space.) American Museum of Natural History.

Randy Cohen turns the attentions of his podcast Person Place Thing on writer Siri Hustvedt, author of A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex, and the Mind. Brooklyn Historical Society.

Dr. Raymond Moody, Jr. coined the phrase “near death experience” and is a leading expert on the phenomena. Catch him at The Bell House for a night that hovers between two worlds.

Dispel some myths on smell (human capacities are not, in fact, on the decline) at a cross-disciplinary Columbia University “Society and Neuroscience” seminar. Among the intriguing angles on scent will be cognition, philosophy, and perfumery.

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

These wonderful museum exhibitions continue through this period:

(3/20-1/7/18) Mummies at the American Museum of Natural History. 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.

(now-9/6/17) The newest show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 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.

(now-4/30/17) Tattooed New York at the New-York Historical Society explores more than 300 years of tattoo culture. The exhibit will feature more than 250 works dating from the early 1700s to today—exploring Native American body art, tattoo craft practiced by visiting sailors, sideshow culture, the 1961 ban that drove tattooing underground for three decades, and the post-ban artistic renaissance.

(now-4/23/17) Also on display at the New-York Historical Society are two revealing exhibits:—Muhammad Ali, LeRoy Neiman, and the Art of Boxing and “I Am The King of the World”—Photographs of Muhammad Ali by George Kalinsky. The complementary exhibits, one by a watercolor painter/sketch artist and one by a Madison Square Garden photographer, offer an intimate perspective of the heavyweight boxing champion’s trailblazing career. Both shows come from a place of deep respect and trust; they chronicle highlights and low points, as well as capturing Ali’s sometimes quieter, more thoughtful interior life.

(3/3-7/3) 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.

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

Morgan Library & Museum
‘I’M NOBODY! WHO ARE YOU? THE LIFE AND POETRY OF EMILY DICKINSON’ (through May 28).
“This is the second-largest gathering ever, anywhere, of prime Dickinson relics, and as such it comes with an aura the size of a city block. It instantly turns the Morgan into a pilgrimage site, a literary Lourdes, a place to come in contact with one aspect of America that truly can claim greatness. And the show has a mission, to give 21st-century audiences a fresh take on Dickinson. Gone is the white-gowned Puritan nun, and the Belle of Amherst, that infantilized charmer. At the Morgan we get a different Dickinson, a person among people: a member of a household, a village dweller, a citizen.” 212-685-0008, themorgan.org. (NYT-Holland Cotter)

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:
‘CELEBRATING THE ARTS OF JAPAN: THE MARY GRIGGS BURKE COLLECTION’ (through May 2017)
“This lavish collection of 160 objects came to the Met from the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation in early 2015. The Burkes loved Japanese art — all of it — and the exhibition is close to compendious in terms of media, from wood-carved Buddhas to bamboo baskets, with a particular strength in painting, early and late. The quality of the work? Japan thinks highly enough of it to have made the Burke holdings the first Japanese collection from abroad ever to show at Tokyo National Museum. 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org.” (Cotter)

===========================================================
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 04/08 and 04/06.
===========================================================