Selected Events (10/17) + Today’s Featured Pub (Greenwich Village)

Posted on 10/17/2015 by GregD

Today’s ELITE 8 > SATURDAY / OCT. 17, 2015

“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.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Have time for only one event today? Do this:
Dionne Warwick
B. B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 W. 42nd St./ 8PM, $85
“The legendary singer got her start in family groups—the Drinkard Singers, the Gospelaires, the Sweet Inspirations—in and around her native East Orange, New Jersey. She was singing backup at a session for the Drifters’ “Mexican Divorce,” in 1962, when the song’s composer, Burt Bacharach, approached her, marking the start of one of the most fruitful pop collaborations of all time.

Bacharach and the lyricist Hal David composed a glorious series of varied and unusual little masterpieces tailored to Warwick’s smooth, slightly smoky delivery: “Walk on By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “Alfie,” and “Promises, Promises,” to name a few. She simply won’t have time to sing all her hits.” (NewYorker)

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
Elsewhere. I may have been remiss to not have selected any of the music from this year’s CMJ, so on the Marathon’s last day here is one that looks good:
The Adhoc Car Wash
Hand & Detail, 646 Lorimer St., Brooklyn / 12PM, $10
“The C.M.J. Music Marathon, no matter how good the participating bands, isn’t an ideal festival for live music; groups are hurried from club to club without sound checks, playing rushed sets for industry hacks glued to their iPhones. Luckily, the local music blog AdHoc is hosting this unofficial daytime party at a car wash situated under the B.Q.E. The headliner is Destruction Unit, an Arizona punk band with a penchant for dark psychedelia. The group is joined by several of the rock acts worth seeing at C.M.J. this year, including Perfect Pussy, Porches, Potty Mouth, Sheer Mag, and Protomartyr.” (NewYorker)

Mary Lynn Rajskub (through Oct.18)
Carolines on Broadway, 1626 Broadway (btw 49/50 St)/ 7:30 + 10:00PM, $38-$109
“Though best known as Chloe on “24”, make no mistake: Rajskub is a goofball. She’s been described onstage as “cheerfully vulgar” while reflecting the tone of her roots (HBO comedies Mr. Show and The Larry Sanders Show).” (TONY)

Alan Broadbent and Putter Smith
Mezzrow, 163 West 10th St. / 9:30, $20
“The elegant mainstream pianist Broadbent was a trusted associate of the late bassist and bandleader Charlie Haden; Smith, another close friend of Haden’s, was the bassist in Broadbent’s lyrical trios of the eighties and nineties. (Dig up the overlooked 1997 album “Personal Standards.”) An intimate duet setting is sure to generate plenty of melodic radiance.” (NewYorker)

Jane Monheit (LAST DAY)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St./ 8:30 +11PM, $
“When she arrived on the scene 15 years ago, Ms. Monheit was praised and criticized for her fealty to the style of Ella Fitzgerald, her chief jazz-vocal influence. A lot has happened for Ms. Monheit since, as an artist and a person, and it seems likely she’ll bring an unforced maturity, along with a deep reserve of affection, to this tribute, titled “The Songbook Sessions: The Music of Ella Fitzgerald.” (NYT-Chinen)

Elsewhere, but this sure looks worth the ferry ride on a glorious, clear day:
Staten Island Jazz Fest
Music Hall at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1000 Richmond Terrace / 2-7PM, $25
2015posterthumb“After nearly three decades of simmering riffs and slowburn free jams, it’s still one of the best-kept secrets of the proverbial “Forgotten Borough.” But aficionados of the American art form always remember the Staten Island Jazz Festival.

Internationally acclaimed headliners include the Danny Mixon Quartet, the Winard Harper Ensemble, and Betty Shirley. Other talents include Kiane Zawadi, who’s played alongside legends Dizzy Gillespie and Aretha Franklin, and Hamiet Bluiett, who’s performed with superstars Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.” (silive.com)

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

OPEN HOUSE NEW YORK
“This annual event opens the doors to hundreds of buildings throughout the city, many of which are usually closed to the public. In addition to sites featured on previous Open House weekends, such as the Grand Lodge of Masons and the TWA terminal at J.F.K. (which will soon be converted into a hotel), this year’s edition adds various first-time locations, including the renovated City Hall, Google’s Chelsea outfit, and the World’s Fair Pavilion. In a special series, the engineers for innovative structures such as the High Line park and the glass cube above the Apple store on 59th Street lead tours of their projects. All events are free, but some require advance booking. (ohny.org. Oct. 17-18.)” (NewYorker)

Archtober (Oct. 01-31)
This month offers a prime opportunity to honor the beauty of the NYCity skyline with Archtober, a festival of tours, talks and exhibitions exploring the city’s architecture. The festival showcases a different building each day.

Today’s Building of the Day: The General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen of the City of New York (Tour at 12PM)
The building at 20 West 44th Street is the home of The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen and the ICAA, among other nonprofit organizations. The façade of the building is a New York City landmark, and the building itself is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Tour Guide: Victoria Dengel, Executive Director, The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York

For all other events today check out the calendar at archtober.org

Architecture and Design Film Festival (through Oct. 18)
Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas 9, 260 W23rd St./ various times
“The lineup for this festival may seem niche, but the subject matter affects out daily lives: housing, preservation, the environment. Highlights include a virtual reality lounge, and a Rizzoli pop-up bookstore.” (NYT-SpareTimes)
Today’s screenings:
3:30 P10 Silo 468
4:00 P14 OVE ARUP: The Philosopher Engineer
4:15 C4 Housing Excess, Housing Scarcity
5:30 P7 The Land of Many Palaces
6:15 P13 SlingShot
6:45 P6 David Adjaye – Collaborations
8:15 P4 Barbicania
9:00 P15 Under the Skin of Design
9:30 P3 Concrete Love – The Böhm Family

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’s playing tonight:
Greenwich Village:
Village Vanguard – 178 7th ave. South, — villagevanguard.com / 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. — bluenotejazz.com / 212-475-8592
55 Bar – 55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave. South — 55bar.com / 212-929-9883
Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9 ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway, nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com / 212-864-6662

==================================================================================
♦ 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 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

A PremierPub and 3 Good Eating Places – Greenwich Village

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Website: http://caffevivaldi.com/
Phone #: (212) 691-7538
Hours: Music generally 7:30PM – 11PM, but varies
Lunch/Dinner 11AM-on
Subway: #1 to Christopher St.
Walk 1 blk S. on 7th ave S. to Bleecker St., 1 blk left on Bleecker to Jones St., 50 yards left on Jones St. to Caffe V.

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

3 Good Eating places

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

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

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

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

===========================================================================
“3 Good Eating places” focuses on a quick bite, what I call “Fine Fast Food – NYCity Style”
This covers a wide range of food – the traditional pizza, burgers, & hot dogs; but also food trucks & carts, soup & sandwiches, picnic fixins’, raw bars & lobster rolls, bbq, vegetarian, falafel, ramen, chopped salad & salad bars. No reservations needed. ===========================================================================

◊ For all my picks of 54 Good Eating places, and essays on my favorite 18 PremierPubs in 9 Neighborhoods on Manhattan’s WestSide, order a copy of my e-book:
“Eating and Drinking on NYCity’s WestSide” ($4.99, available Winter 2015).
◊ Order before Dec. 31, 2015 and receive a bonus – 27 of my favorite casual dining places with free Wi-Fi.

 

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

Selected Events (10/16) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s WestSide

Posted on 10/16/2015 by GregD

Today’s ELITE 8 > FRIDAY / OCT. 16, 2015

“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.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Have time for only one event today? Do this:
The New York Cabaret Convention (LAST NIGHT)
The Town Hall, 123 W43rd St./ 6PM; $27–$102
The Mabel Mercer Foundation’s 26th annual cabaret festival brings together some of cabaret’s most popular artists to celebrate the Great American Songbook (over 4 nights.) Tonight’s show:

2015_SCREENS-_FRIDAYWHAT I DID FOR/TAKE A CHANCE ON/LOVE: THE MUSIC OF VERNON DUKE AND MARVIN HAMLISCH is hosted by Klea Blackhurst and features Matt Baker, Raissa Katona Bennett, Broadway by the Year Chorus, Alexis Cole, Shana Farr, Liam Forde, Eric Yves Garcia, Eric Michael Gillett, Eva Kantor, Valerie Lemon, Heather MacRae, Nancy McCall, Tammy McCann, Marieann Meringolo, Shawn Ryan, and Carol Woods.

The Town Hall is a wonderful venue, the cheap seats in the lower balcony are just fine and for only $27 you get 2.5 hours of great music.

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
Mary Lynn Rajskub (through Oct.18)
Carolines on Broadway, 1626 Broadway (btw 49/50 St)/ 7:30 + 10:00PM, $38-$109
“Though best known as Chloe on 24, make no mistake: Rajskub is a goofball. She’s been described onstage as “cheerfully vulgar” while reflecting the tone of her roots (HBO comedies Mr. Show and The Larry Sanders Show).” (TONY)

Alan Broadbent and Putter Smith
Mezzrow, 163 West 10th St. / 9:30 +11PM, $20
“The elegant mainstream pianist Broadbent was a trusted associate of the late bassist and bandleader Charlie Haden; Smith, another close friend of Haden’s, was the bassist in Broadbent’s lyrical trios of the eighties and nineties. (Dig up the overlooked 1997 album “Personal Standards.”) An intimate duet setting is sure to generate plenty of melodic radiance.” (NewYorker)

Film Concerts Live! presents Back to the Future
Radio City Music Hall / 8PM, $48.88–$118.88
Relive 1985 (and, technically, 1955) at this 30th anniversary celebration of the time-travel classic. Watch the McFlys find their…densities while the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra resurrects Alan Silvestri’s epic action score live.” (TONY)

Jane Monheit (through Oct. 17)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St./ 8:30 +11PM, $
“When she arrived on the scene 15 years ago, Ms. Monheit was praised and criticized for her fealty to the style of Ella Fitzgerald, her chief jazz-vocal influence. A lot has happened for Ms. Monheit since, as an artist and a person, and it seems likely she’ll bring an unforced maturity, along with a deep reserve of affection, to this tribute, titled “The Songbook Sessions: The Music of Ella Fitzgerald.” (NYT-Chinen)

John Scofield-Joe Lovano Quartet (through Oct. 18)
Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St./ 8 +10:30PM, $20=$35
“Reviving one of the great partnerships of the early nineties, the guitarist Scofield reunites with the saxophonist Lovano. As heard on the new album “Past Present”—where these two leading stylists are joined by their early bandmate the drummer Bill Stewart, and by the bassist Larry Grenadier—Scofield and Lovano prove that time can’t diminish the most durable musical bonds.” (NewYorker)

Smart Stuff / Other
(Lectures, Discussions, Book Talks, Literary Readings, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)
Archtober (Oct. 01-31)
This month offers a prime opportunity to honor the beauty of the NYCity skyline with Archtober, a festival of tours, talks and exhibitions exploring the city’s architecture. The festival showcases a different building each day.

Today’s featured site is the Goethe-Institut New York (tour at 12PM.)
Since March 2015 the Goethe-Institut New York has been located at 30 Irving Place, one block from Union Square. The Goethe-Institut’s new home is in an existing office building built in 1912 by Central Realty Company after plans of Harry B. Mulliken (student of Flatiron-Building-Architect Daniel Burnham) and Edgar J. Moeller.

For all other events check out their calendar at archtober.org

Architecture and Design Film Festival (through Oct. 18)
Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas 9, 260 W23rd St./ various times
“The lineup for this festival may seem niche, but the subject matter affects out daily lives: housing, preservation, the environment. Highlights include a virtual reality lounge, and a Rizzoli pop-up bookstore.” (NYT-SpareTimes)
Tonight’s screenings:
6:45 P12 Drawing on Life
7:00 P3 Concrete Love – The Böhm Family
7:30 C3 Design With Impact
8:00 P9 Strange and Familiar:Architecture on Fogo Island
9:30 P8 Henning Larsen – Light and Space
9:45 P2 Talking To My Father

Bonus – Music Picks:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are a few of my favorite music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:
City Winery – 155 Varick St., citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St. joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34W22ndSt., metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St. lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St., beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237W42nd dSt. bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
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 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

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:
‘Picasso Sculpture’ (through Feb. 7)
“Nearly a work of art in its own right, this magnificent show redefines Picasso’s achievement with the first full view here in 50 years of his astoundingly varied forays into sculpture. His materials, not his female loves, become the muses, and are different each time out. The basic plotline: After introducing sculptural abstraction and space, he spent about 50 years counting the ways that the figure was far from finished. 212-708-9400, moma.org.” (Smith-NYT)

‘Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960-1980’ (through Jan. 3) “Visiting this big, spirited group show is like walking into a party of intriguing strangers. For every person you recognize, there are 10 you don’t know. One topic everyone’s talking about, at different intensities, is the anti-institutional politics that swept Europe and the Americas in the 1960s, and almost everyone speaks the language of Conceptualism. A product of an in-house research initiative called Contemporary and Modern Art Perspectives, or C-MAP, intended to expand MoMA’s narrow Paris-New York view of modernism, the show is very much the beginning rather than the end of a learning curve. But with curators exploring material new to them — just steps ahead of their audience — the show has a refreshing buzz of surprise as it takes the museum in a realistic new directions. 212-708-9400, moma.org.” (Cotter-NYT)

New-York Historical Society:
‘Freedom Journey 1965: Photographs of the Selma to Montgomery March by Stephen Somerstein’ (through Oct. 25)
“See photo highlight. Almost 50 years ago, the picture editor of a campus newspaper at City College of New York assigned himself a breaking story: covering what promised to be a massive march in Alabama, led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to demand free and clear voting rights for African-Americans. On short notice the editor, Stephen Somerstein, grabbed his cameras, climbed on a bus and headed south. The 55 pictures of black leaders and everyday people in this show, installed in a hallway and small gallery, are some that he shot that day. The image of Dr. King’s head seen in monumental silhouette that has become a virtual logo of the film “Selma” is based on a Somerstein original. 170 Central Park West, at 77th Street, 212-873-3400, nyhistory.org.” (Cotter-NYT)

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

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 10/14 and 10/12.

xx

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

Selected Events (10/15) + Today’s Featured Pub (WestVillage)

Posted on 10/15/2015 by GregD

Today’s ELITE 8 > THURSDAY / OCT. 15, 2015

“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.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Have time for only one event today? Do this:
The New York Cabaret Convention
The Town Hall, 123 W43rd St./ 6PM; $27–$102
2015_SCREENS-_THURSThe Mabel Mercer Foundation’s 26th annual cabaret festival brings together some of cabaret’s most popular artists to celebrate the Great American Songbook (over 4 nights.) Tonight’s show:

LIFE IS A CABARET: THE SONGS OF KANDER & EBB is hosted by Karen Mason and features Brent Barrett, Jim Brochu, Bobby Creighton, Penny Fuller, Anita Gillette, Ian Knauer, Lina Koutrakos, Stearns Matthews, Sally Mayes, T. Oliver Reid, Steve Ross, Lauren Stanford, Sandy Stewart, and Amra-Faye Wright.

Last night’s show was fantastic, one great performance after another and yes, Jennifer Sheehan’s star still shines the brightest. The Town Hall is a wonderful venue and the cheap seats in the lower balcony are just fine and for only $27 you get 2.5 hours of great music.

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
Gabriela Anders & The Latin Jazz Sextet
Latin Thursdays – Ellington’s Music With A Super-Latin Twist
55 Bar, 55 ChristopherSt./ 10PM, $
“A holdover from Prohibition, this cozy Greenwich Village hideaway strung up with twinkle lights has been trafficking in improv jazz and blistering blues riffs since 1919. Not much has changed in the intervening years: The drinks at 55 Bar are still cheap, the bar is still cash-only, there is no cover charge for performances until 10PM” (Village Voice)

Film Concerts Live! presents Back to the Future
Radio City Music Hall / 8PM, $48.88–$118.88
Relive 1985 (and, technically, 1955) at this 30th anniversary celebration of the time-travel classic. Watch the McFlys find their…densities while the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra resurrects Alan Silvestri’s epic action score live.” (TONY)

Jane Monheit (through Oct. 17)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St./ 8:30 +11PM, $
“When she arrived on the scene 15 years ago, Ms. Monheit was praised and criticized for her fealty to the style of Ella Fitzgerald, her chief jazz-vocal influence. A lot has happened for Ms. Monheit since, as an artist and a person, and it seems likely she’ll bring an unforced maturity, along with a deep reserve of affection, to this tribute, titled “The Songbook Sessions: The Music of Ella Fitzgerald.” (NYT-Chinen)

John Scofield-Joe Lovano Quartet (through Oct. 18)
Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St./ 8 +10:30PM, $20=$35
“Reviving one of the great partnerships of the early nineties, the guitarist Scofield reunites with the saxophonist Lovano. As heard on the new album “Past Present”—where these two leading stylists are joined by their early bandmate the drummer Bill Stewart, and by the bassist Larry Grenadier—Scofield and Lovano prove that time can’t diminish the most durable musical bonds.” (NewYorker)

NYC Ballet (through Oct. 18)
DHK / NYState Theater, Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue, at W64th St.
Thursday at 7:30PM, $60-$170
“Much of the week is a Balanchine love-fest, featuring a collection of his famous “Black and White” ballets (Oct. 10 matinee and evening), a taste of his Romantic side in “Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3” and “Liebeslieder Walzer” (Oct. 11), and a nod to commedia dell’arte in “Harlequinade,” which is paired with Jerome Robbins’s streetwise rumble, “N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz.” (Oct. 13-15) (Brian Schaefer-NYT)

Smart Stuff / Other
(Lectures, Discussions, Book Talks, Literary Readings, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)
Archtober (Oct. 01-31)
This month offers a prime opportunity to honor the beauty of the NYCity skyline with Archtober, a festival of tours, talks and exhibitions exploring the city’s architecture. The festival showcases a different building each day.

Today’s featured site is the Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor (tour at 11AM.)
The Museum and its design team were challenged with restoring the historic exterior and selected interior details, while gutting the entire interior and building a completely new structure, floor by floor, within the walls of the exterior “skin.”

Architecture and Design Film Festival (through Oct. 18)
Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas 9, 260 W23rd St./ various times
“The lineup for this festival may seem niche, but the subject matter affects out daily lives: housing, preservation, the environment. Highlights include a virtual reality lounge, and a Rizzoli pop-up bookstore.” (NYT-SpareTimes)
Tonight’s screenings:
7:00 Four Dreams and A Thousand Demolitions
7:30 Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality: what is the new reality?
8:00 David Adjaye – Collaborations
9:00 Under the Skin of Design
9:30 OVE ARUP: The Philosopher Engineer

Don’t forget, tonight (8PM) is Game 5 of the NLDS playoffs. Let’s Go METS !!

Bonus – 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’s playing tonight:
Greenwich Village:
Village Vanguard – 178 7th Ave. South — villagevanguard.com / 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. — bluenotejazz.com / 212-475-8592
55 Bar – 55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave.S. — 55bar.com / 212-929-9883
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 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

A PremierPub / West Village

Corner Bistro / 331 W. 4th St.

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

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

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

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

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

For the classic Bistro experience, order your burger with a McSorley’s draft, the dark preferably. This is the same beer that you can get over at the original McSorley’s in the East Village, the pub that claims to be the oldest continually operating bar in NYCity. The only difference is that this McSorley’s ale is served with a smile by the bartenders here. Or you can get a Sierra Nevada, Stella, or Hoegaarden on tap if you want to go upscale a bit. Either way this is a simple, but quality burger and beer experience that is just too rare these days (sorry for the pun).
=========================================================
Website: cornerbistrony.com
Phone #: 212-242-9502
Hours: 11:30am-4am Mon-Sat; 12pm-4am Sun
Happy Hour: NO
Music: Juke Box
Subway: #1/2/3 to 14th St. (S end of platform)
Walk 2 blk W. on 13th St. to 8th Ave.; 1 blk S. on 8th Ave. to Jane St.
Update:

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

Selected Events (10/14) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 10/14/2015 by GregD

Today’s ELITE 8 > WEDNESDAY / OCT. 14, 2015

“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.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Have time for only one event today? Do this:

The New York Cabaret Convention
The Town Hall, 123 W43rd St./ 6PM; $27–$102
Sheehan_Jennifer_89_ret2-e1371150888931-300x253_web“The Mabel Mercer Foundation’s 26th annual cabaret fest brings together some of the genre’s most established artists to celebrate the Great American Songbook (over 4 nights).

Tonight’s show, devoted to songs of World War II, features Jeff Harnar, Andrea Marcovicci, Karen Akers, Carole J. Bufford, Ann Hampton Callaway, Natalie Douglas, Tovah Feldshuh, Marissa Mulder and Gabrielle Stravelli.” (TONY)

That’s a very fine group of performers, but for my money the feature singer tonight is Jennifer Sheehan, NYCity’s newest Cabaret star.

Music, Dance, Performing Arts

Jane Monheit (through Oct. 17)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St./ 8:30 +11PM, $
“When she arrived on the scene 15 years ago, Ms. Monheit was praised and criticized for her fealty to the style of Ella Fitzgerald, her chief jazz-vocal influence. A lot has happened for Ms. Monheit since, as an artist and a person, and it seems likely she’ll bring an unforced maturity, along with a deep reserve of affection, to this tribute, titled “The Songbook Sessions: The Music of Ella Fitzgerald.” (NYT-Chinen)

John Scofield-Joe Lovano Quartet (through Oct. 18)
Blue Note, 131 W. 3rd St./ 8 +10:30PM, $20=$35
“Reviving one of the great partnerships of the early nineties, the guitarist Scofield reunites with the saxophonist Lovano. As heard on the new album “Past Present”—where these two leading stylists are joined by their early bandmate the drummer Bill Stewart, and by the bassist Larry Grenadier—Scofield and Lovano prove that time can’t diminish the most durable musical bonds.” (NewYorker)

NYC Ballet (through Oct. 18)
DHK / NYState Theater, Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue, at W64th St.
Wednesday at 7:30PM, $60-$170
“Much of the week is a Balanchine love-fest, featuring a collection of his famous “Black and White” ballets (Oct. 10 matinee and evening), a taste of his Romantic side in “Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3” and “Liebeslieder Walzer” (Oct. 11), and a nod to commedia dell’arte in “Harlequinade,” which is paired with Jerome Robbins’s streetwise rumble, “N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz.” (Oct. 13-15) (Brian Schaefer-NYT)

Smart Stuff / Other
(Lectures, Discussions, Book Talks, Literary Readings, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)
Archtober (Oct. 01-31)
This month offers a prime opportunity to honor the beauty of the NYCity skyline with Archtober, a festival of tours, talks and exhibitions exploring the city’s architecture. 

The festival showcases a different building each day. Today’s pick is the Flatiron Building. At noon, Alice Sparberg Alexiou, the author of Jane Jacobs: Urban Visionary (Rutgers University Press, 2006) and The Flatiron: the New York Landmark and the Incomparable City That Arose With It (St. Martin’s Press, 2010), will lead a tour.

Architecture and Design Film Festival (through Oct. 18)
Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas 9, 260 W23rd St./ various times
“The lineup for this festival may seem niche, but the subject matter affects out daily lives: housing, preservation, the environment. Highlights include a virtual reality lounge, and a Rizzoli pop-up bookstore.” (NYT-SpareTimes)
tonight’s screenings:
6:30 Modern Ruin:A World’s Fair Pavilion
9:15 Talking To My Father
9:30 Barbicania
9:45 The Land of Many Palaces

Richard Dawkins
NYPL Main Bldg., 42nd St & 5th Ave/ 12PM, FREE
“The New York Public Library’s Books at Noon series brings in Mr. Dawkins to discuss his latest work, “A Brief Candle in the Dark,” a sequel to his 2013 memoir “An Appetite for Wonder.” In his new books, the science-minded author takes an “intellectual victory lap,” wrote Dwight Garner in a review for The New York Times. “

Pastrami On Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli
Mid-Manhattan Library; 6:30PM, FREE
“Find out how the Jewish Deli has served as a cultural hub for immigrant communities in New York, a cultural symbol of the city and more at this fascinating lecture by writer and historian Ted Merwin.” (TONY)

Bonus – Music Picks:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are a few of my favorite music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:
City Winery – 155 Varick St., citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St. joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34W22ndSt., metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St. lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St., beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237W42nd dSt. bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
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 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

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.

This is a current exhibitions that the NYT recommends:
‘Dia 15 VI 13 545 West 22 Street Dream House’ (through Oct. 24)
“This terrific show restages a famous sound and light installation by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela, a work whose origins date to the 1960s. On entering the dimly lit gallery, you are immediately enveloped by an intensely powerful sound, a roaring, droning, pulsing noise with such a deep bass that you feel it in your body as well as in your ears. At the far end of the space is a work by Jung Hee Choi, a slowly changing hallucinogenic projection on a perforated black screen. Prepare to have your consciousness altered.” Dia: Chelsea, 545 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, 212-989-5566, diacenter.org. (Johnson-NYT)

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 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 10/12 and 10/10.

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

Selected Events (10/13) + Today’s Featured Pub (Midtown West)

Posted on 10/13/2015 by GregD

Today’s SUPER 7 > TUESDAY / OCT. 13, 2015

“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.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Have time for only one event today? Do this:

The New York Cabaret Convention
The Town Hall, 123 W43rd St./ 6PM; $27–$102
“The Mabel Mercer Foundation’s 26th annual cabaret fest brings together some of the genre’s most established artists to celebrate the Great American Songbook.

Performers of note at the October 13 gala opening include Christine Andreas, Lauren Fox, Allan Harris, Maxine Linehan, Kristoffer Lowe, Marilyn Maye, Sidney Myer, Karen Oberlin, and Vivian Reed.

The October 14 show, devoted to songs of World War II, features Jeff Harnar, Andrea Marcovicci, Karen Akers, Carole J. Bufford, Ann Hampton Callaway, Natalie Douglas, Tovah Feldshuh, Marissa Mulder and Gabrielle Stravelli.” (TONY)

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
NYC Ballet (through Oct. 18)
DHK / NYState Theater, Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue, at W64th St.
Tuesday at 7:30PM, $60-$170
“Much of the week is a Balanchine love-fest, featuring a collection of his famous “Black and White” ballets (Oct. 10 matinee and evening), a taste of his Romantic side in “Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3” and “Liebeslieder Walzer” (Oct. 11), and a nod to commedia dell’arte in “Harlequinade,” which is paired with Jerome Robbins’s streetwise rumble, “N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz.” (Oct. 13-15) (Brian Schaefer-NYT)

Tom Harrell (through Oct. 18)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S., at 11th St./
“With his First Impressions ensemble, the estimable trumpeter and composer Tom Harrell augments a standard jazz quintet with a guitar, cello, and violin—in effect, a compact string section. Harrell is a veteran player who seems to be getting more adventurous as he ages. (NewYorker)

Steely Dan (through October 17)
Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway @ 74th St./ 8PM, $60-$220
“Though we haven’t seen a new release from the jazzy soft-rock legends since 2003, the Dan’s ability to draw massive crowds for an eight-night run at Beacon Theatre all these years later speaks to their grooving tunes’ eternal staying power. With so many viewing opportunities, you have no excuse to miss ‘em.” (TONY)

Smart Stuff / Other
(Lectures, Discussions, Book Talks, Literary Readings, Classes, Food & Drink, Other)
Archtober (Oct. 01-31)
This month offers a prime opportunity to honor the beauty of the NYCity skyline with Archtober, a festival of tours, talks and exhibitions exploring the city’s architecture. The festival showcases a different building each day. Today’s pick is the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. At noon, the deputy director will lead a tour of the building, which is the country’s only museum devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design.

Architecture and Design Film Festival (through Oct. 18)
Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas 9, 260 W23rd St./ various times
“The lineup for this festival may seem niche, but the subject matter affects out daily lives: housing, preservation, the environment. Highlights include a virtual reality lounge, a Rizzoli pop-up bookstore and the screening of “The Infinite Happiness” (Tuesday at 8 p.m.), about the “8 House” building in Copenhagen by the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels.” (NYT-SpareTimes)

The Archaeology of American Cities
Nan A. Rothschild and Diana diZerega Wall Book Talk
The Skyscraper Museum, 39Battery Place/ 6:30PM, FREE with RSVP
“New York has been built, altered, redeveloped, destroyed, reimagined, and rebuilt for centuries. When new construction projects require digging, literally, into the city’s past, urban archeologists are presented with the challenging problems of reconstructing from limited data, a picture of the material culture of the past and of the social forces that drive urban development.

At the forefront of this academic discipline, Professors Nan Rothschild and Diana Wall introduce their fascinating field of research to a broad readership. Focusing on case studies of work undertaken in New York, Philadelphia, Tucson, West Oakland, The Archaeology of American Cities uses the material culture of former centuries to highlight recurring themes that reflect distinctive characteristics of urban life in the United States.”

Bonus – Jazz Picks:
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:
Village Vanguard – 178 7th Ave. South — villagevanguard.com / 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St., nr 6th ave. — bluenotejazz.com / 212-475-8592
55 Bar – 55 Christopher St., nr 7th ave.S. — 55bar.com / 212-929-9883
Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9 ave) — 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 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

A PremierPub / Midtown West.

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

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

From the outside this place looks a bit drab, and with no windows, a bit mysterious. Midtown tourists walk right by on their way to see “Jersey Boys,” just down the block.

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

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

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

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

It’s the kind of place where the noise gets louder and the crowd gets happier as the happy hour goes on. I’m generally a beer guy, but I like to come here with a group of friends. We find a table in the back room near the piano man; we eat, and we drink vodka ‘till it hurts (and it will hurt).

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

Website: http://www.russianvodkaroom.com/
Phone #: 212-307-5835
Hours: 4pm-2am; Fri-Sun closes 4am (that could be trouble)
Happy Hour: 4-7pm every day
$4 shots infused vodka (2oz), $5 cosmos; $4 czech draft beer
Music: FR-SU; TU-WE / 7pm-12am
Subway: #1 to 50th St.
Walk 2 blk N. on B’way to 52nd St.; 1 blk W. to RVR
Confusingly, the Russian Samovar is right across the street, on the S. side of 52nd St.
The RVR, your destination, is on the N. side of 52nd St.
Update: music now includes a sax player with a younger, trimmer piano man. “tiny” we miss you.

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

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Selected Events (10/12) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s 5th Avenue

Posted on 10/12/2015 by GregD

Today’s FAB 5+2 HOT TKTS > MONDAY / OCT. 12, 2015

“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.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
Jim Caruso’s Cast Party (Cabaret)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St. (btw 8/9 ave) / 9:30PM, $25
the witty host attracts broadway stars on their night off, along with up and comers.

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave. South (btw W11th/Perry St.) / 8:30Pm +10:30PM, $30
world class big band with 16 members on that small stage, a monday night institution.

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour:
Misty Copeland and Nelson George:
A Ballerina’s Tale Screening and Conversation with Gayle King
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St./ 7:30PM, $40
Hear a “behind-the-scenes” discussion about Misty Copeland’s career and watch “A Ballerina’s Tale” directed by Nelson George, who will discuss the film with the ballerina afterward.” (dnainfo.org)

HOT TICKETS
Muldoon’s Picnic
Irish Arts Center, 553 West 51st St. / 7:30PM, $25
(may be sold out, next show is Monday, Nov. 9, better get tickets now)
“Paul Muldoon,The New Yorker’s poetry editor, assembles his latest collection of writers and musicians for a night of Irish entertainment. Guests include the novelist Column McCann, the poet Michael Dickman, the musical duo Damsel (Beth Meyers and Monica Mugan), the singer Iarla Ó Lionáird and the fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh.” (NYT-SpareTimes)

Whiplash
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, 307 W 26th St. / 11PM, FREE
popular show is known for always featuring the city’s best up-and-coming comedians.
surprise special guests—Chris Rock, Louis C.K. and David Cross—keep audiences hooked. (tonight’s show may be sold out. if so, there will be a standby line for the show.
listed here to remind you to try for this event earlier next week)

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

“Meet the Maker” Dinner with La Quercia
Murray’s Cheese Bar, 264 Bleecker St. / 7-9:30PM, $90
“Murray’s Cheese Bar is featuring a one-time-only dinner specially curated by one of their favorite suppliers, La Quercia. The dinner is a collaboration between La Quercia and Murray’s executive chef, and attendees get to hang out with the experts themselves.The dinner is part of their 75th Anniversary celebration, which lasts through Oct. 24 and includes special in-store giveaways, classes and workshops.” (dnainfo.org)

Jack Reacher Meets Kelly Jacks, the New Girl on the Crime Thriller Block—A Discussion with Authors Lee Child and Zoë Sharp
Book Culture on Columbus, 450 Columbus Ave./7PM, FREE
“Internationally bestselling author Lee Child will join Zoë Sharp as she celebrates the U.S. publication of The Blood Whisperer.

Best known for her Charlie Fox series, The Blood Whisperer introduces Sharp’s new tough-girl heroine Kelly Jacks. Fresh out of prison, London crime-scene specialist Kelly Jacks finds herself branded as a killer once again as she asks the questions that somebody does not want answered. Fleeing from the police, Russian thugs and a local gangster, Kelly has to use her street-smarts to evade capture and stay alive long enough to clear her name.”

Bonus – Music Venues:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are a few of my favorite music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:
City Winery – 155 Varick St. / citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St. / joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34 W22nd St. / metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St. / lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St. / beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237 W42nd St. / bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
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 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

WHAT’S ON VIEW
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)

Metropolitan Museum of Art:
‘Reimagining Modernism: 1900-1950’ (continuing)
One of the greatest encyclopedic museums in the world fulfills its mission a little more with an ambitious reinstallation of works of early European modernism with their American counterparts for the first time in nearly 30 years. Objects of design and paintings by a few self-taught artists further the integration. It is quite a sight, with interesting rotations and fine-tunings to come. 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org.” (Smith)

Guggenheim Museum:
Kandinsky Gallery (through spring 2016)
“A pioneer of abstract art and eminent aesthetic theorist, Vasily Kandinsky (b. 1866, Moscow; d. 1944, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) broke new ground in painting during the first decades of the twentieth century. His seminal treatise Über das Geistige in der Kunst (On the Spiritual in Art), published in Munich in December 1911, lays out his program for developing an art independent from observations of the external world. In this and other texts, as well as his work, Kandinsky advanced abstraction’s potential to be free from nature, a quality of music that he admired. The development of a new subject matter based solely on the artist’s “inner necessity” would occupy him for the rest of his life.”

The Guggenheim collection now contains more than 150 works by this single artist, making it the largest collection of Kandinsky works in the United States.

Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (continuing):
rendering-3The stately doors of the 1902 Andrew Carnegie mansion, home to the Cooper Hewitt, are open again after an overhaul and expansion of the premises. Historic house and modern museum have always made an awkward fit, a standoff between preservation and innovation, and the problem remains, but the renovation has brought a wide-open new gallery space, a cafe and a raft of be-your-own-designer digital enhancements. Best of all, more of the museum’s vast permanent collection is now on view, including an Op Art weaving, miniature spiral staircases, ballistic face masks and a dainty enameled 18th-century version of a Swiss knife. Like design itself, this institution is built on tumult and friction, and you feel it. 2 East 91st Street, at Fifth Avenue, 212-849-8400, cooperhewitt.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 10/10 and 10/08.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Selected Events (10/11) + Today’s Featured Pub (Greenwich Village)

Posted on 10/11/2015 by GregD

Today’s ELITE 8 > SUNDAY / OCT. 11, 2015

“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.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Have time for only one event today? Do this:

Chatty Pianist – Music & The Boundaries
Caffe Vivaldi @ ReneeWeiler Concert Hall, 46 Barrow St./ 4PM, $20
“In this colorful classical program, featuring various composers, Chatty Pianist Emir Gamsizoglu will explore the relationship between music and the boundaries created by social, physical, emotional, intellectual and often political reasons.”
“Emir is a musician of sensitivity” – David Dubal

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
NYC Ballet
DHK / NYState Theater, Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue, at W64th St.
(through Oct. 18) Sundays at 3PM
“Much of the week is a Balanchine love-fest, featuring a collection of his famous “Black and White” ballets (Oct. 10 matinee and evening), a taste of his Romantic side in “Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3” and “Liebeslieder Walzer” (Oct. 11), and a nod to commedia dell’arte in “Harlequinade,” which is paired with Jerome Robbins’s streetwise rumble, “N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz.” (Oct. 13-15) (Brian Schaefer-NYT)

Tom Harrell (through Oct. 18, except Oct. 12)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. S., at 11th St./
“With his First Impressions ensemble, the estimable trumpeter and composer Tom Harrell augments a standard jazz quintet with a guitar, cello, and violin—in effect, a compact string section. Harrell is a veteran player who seems to be getting more adventurous as he ages. (NewYorker)

‘Spherical’: A Thelonious Monk Birthday Celebration
Smoke Jazz Club, 2751 Broadway, at 106th St./ 7, 9 +10:30PM, $
“Spherical,” a new album by the tenor saxophonist Tim Warfield, pays homage to Thelonious Sphere Monk, the pianist-composer of peerless stature in jazz’s modernist canon. As on the album, Mr. Warfield appears here — on what would have been Monk’s 98th birthday weekend — with a band featuring Victor Gould on piano, Eddie Henderson on trumpet and Ben Wolfe on bass.” (Chinen-NYT)

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

Silent Film: “The Freshman,” with live music
Schimmel Center, 3 Spruce St. at Pace University / 2PM, $12
Watch classic 1925 silent film “The Freshman,” a comedy starring Harold Lloyd, with live music.” (dnainfo.com)

“Harold Lloyd plays a college-bound small-town young man who’s caught up in the all the fads and trends of campus life he’s seen in movies. Duped into thinking he is the new college hero and star player on the football team, reality sinks in on the eve of the championship game. The love of his college sweetheart and pure determination leads to one of the funniest football games ever filmed. One of Lloyd’s own personal favorites! Live accompaniment by Ben Model.”

Lincoln Center Autumn Crafts Festival (LAST DAY)
This festival in its 26th year, will feature 250 displays in Hearst Plaza, Columbus Avenue and 64th Street, on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. craftsatlincoln.org

New York Comic Con (LAST DAY)
Javits Center, / 10AM, $40 (may need to stub hub this one)
“Last year’s glorious geek assembly brought in more than 151,000 visitors, beating San Diego Comic-Con and making NYCC the second-biggest event in the city. Wear a Batman T-shirt or a full cape-and-cowl at this packed pop culture mecca, where anyone can be a superhero.”

“It begins. The country’s biggest comics and sci-fi convention arrives for its 10th weekend of panels, cosplay, shopping and signings. Whether you’ve spent the past few months with a hot glue gun and a cape or you’re just down to get an autograph from your favorite artist, make sure you’re in line early for four full days of fan worship. “ (TONY)

Elsewhere, but for beer drinkers this looks worth the detour:
Zum Schneider
Munich on the East River
“Bavarian bier haus Zum Schneider brings Oktoberfest to the East River, where a German-speaking staff—outfitted in lederhosen—serves liter steins of Oktoberfest suds while a slew of snack stands hawk cotton candy, gingerbread and brezel.” (TONY)

“Oktoberfest officially ended last Sunday, but that isn’t stopping the bierhaus Zum Schneider from extending the party for an extra weekend. It has set up a sort of Munich on the East River, complete with Lederhosen-clad staff, strongman competitions, live music and liter steins. The beer tent opens Saturday and Sunday at noon, 24-20 F.D.R. Drive Service Road East, near 23rd Street, Stuyvesant Town, 212-598-1098, nyc.zumschneider.com.” (NYT)

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’s playing tonight:
Greenwich Village:
Village Vanguard – 178 7th ave. South, — villagevanguard.com / 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St. nr 6th ave. — bluenotejazz.com / 212-475-8592
55 Bar – 55 Christopher St. nr 7th ave. South — 55bar.com / 212-929-9883
Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St.(btw 8/9 ave) — birdlandjazz.com / 212-581-3080
Smoke Jazz Club – 2751 Broadway, nr.106th St. — smokejazz.com / 212-864-6662

==================================================================================
♦ 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 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

A PremierPub and 3 Good Eating Places – Greenwich Village

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Website: http://caffevivaldi.com/
Phone #: (212) 691-7538
Hours: Music generally 7:30PM – 11PM, but varies
Lunch/Dinner 11AM-on
Subway: #1 to Christopher St.
Walk 1 blk S. on 7th ave S. to Bleecker St., 1 blk left on Bleecker to Jones St., 50 yards left on Jones St. to Caffe V.

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

3 Good Eating places

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

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

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

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

===========================================================================
“3 Good Eating places” focuses on a quick bite, what I call “Fine Fast Food – NYCity Style”
This covers a wide range of food – the traditional pizza, burgers, & hot dogs; but also food trucks & carts, soup & sandwiches, picnic fixins’, raw bars & lobster rolls, bbq, vegetarian, falafel, ramen, chopped salad & salad bars. No reservations needed. ===========================================================================

◊ For all my picks of 54 Good Eating places, and essays on my favorite 18 PremierPubs in 9 Neighborhoods on Manhattan’s WestSide, order a copy of my e-book:
“Eating and Drinking on NYCity’s WestSide” ($4.99, available Winter 2015).
◊ Order before Dec. 31, 2015 and receive a bonus – 27 of my favorite casual dining places with free Wi-Fi.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Selected Events (10/10) + Museum Special Exhibitions: Manhattan’s WestSide

Posted on 10/11/2015 by GregD

Today’s ELITE 8 > SATURDAY / OCT. 10, 2015

“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.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
NYC Ballet
DHK / NYState Theater, Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue, at W64th St.
(through Oct. 18) Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.,
“Much of the week is a Balanchine love-fest, featuring a collection of his famous “Black and White” ballets (Oct. 10 matinee and evening), a taste of his Romantic side in “Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3” and “Liebeslieder Walzer” (Oct. 11), and a nod to commedia dell’arte in “Harlequinade,” which is paired with Jerome Robbins’s streetwise rumble, “N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz.” (Brian Schaefer-NYT)

Steely Dan (through October 17)
Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway @ 74th St./ 8PM, $60-$220
“Though we haven’t seen a new release from the jazzy soft-rock legends since 2003, the Dan’s ability to draw massive crowds for an eight-night run at Beacon Theatre all these years later speaks to their grooving tunes’ eternal staying power. With so many viewing opportunities, you have no excuse to miss ‘em.” (TONY)

Karrin Allyson (LAST DAY)
Birdland, 315 W44th St. / 8:30PM +11PM, $40
“Allyson is a gently swinging singer whose peripatetic musical wanderings have found her flitting from France to Brazil and disparate jazz points between. Her album “Many a New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein” reimagines well-worn favorites associated with “South Pacific,” “The Sound of Music,” and “Oklahoma.” (NewYorker)

Elsewhere, but any performance in this gloriously restored theater is worth the detour:
Yo La Tengo
Kings Theater, 1027 Flatbush Avenue, nr Tilden Ave, Bklyn / 8PM, $
“The conquering indie-rock troubadours of Hoboken, N.J., released their most recent studio album, “Stuff Like That There,” in August, which served as a chipper and unofficial sequel to their classic 1990 album “Fakebook.” The band recently celebrated its 30th anniversary together and perform acoustically at Kings Theater with the founding group guitarist Dave Schramm. With Nick Lowe.” (Anderson-NYT)

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

Lincoln Center Autumn Crafts Festival (also Oct. 11.)
This festival in its 26th year, will feature 250 displays in Hearst Plaza, Columbus Avenue and 64th Street, on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. craftsatlincoln.org

New York Comic Con (10/08-10/11)
Javits Center, / 10AM, $40 (may need to stub hub this one)
“Last year’s glorious geek assembly brought in more than 151,000 visitors, beating San Diego Comic-Con and making NYCC the second-biggest event in the city. Wear a Batman T-shirt or a full cape-and-cowl at this packed pop culture mecca, where anyone can be a superhero.”

“It begins. The country’s biggest comics and sci-fi convention arrives for its 10th weekend of panels, cosplay, shopping and signings. Whether you’ve spent the past few months with a hot glue gun and a cape or you’re just down to get an autograph from your favorite artist, make sure you’re in line early for four full days of fan worship. “ (TONY)

New York Super Week (through Oct. 11)
“This festival is a sort of warm-up act and partner for New York Comic Con, which begins on Thursday, and will turn the city into a playground for fans of super heroes, vampires, zombies — typical Comic Con fare. There are dozens of events, from comedy shows and concerts to food tastings and lectures, planned covering a broad range of locations and topics. The lineup is at newyorksuperweek.com.” (NYT-SpareTimes)

Elsewhere, but this looks worth the detour:
Zum Schneider (also Sunday)
“Oktoberfest officially ended on Sunday, but that isn’t stopping the bierhaus Zum Schneider from extending the party for an extra weekend. It has set up a sort of Munich on the East River, complete with Lederhosen-clad staff, strongman competitions, live music and liter steins. The beer tent opens Saturday and Sunday at noon, 24-20 F.D.R. Drive Service Road East, near 23rd Street, Stuyvesant Town, 212-598-1098, nyc.zumschneider.com.” (NYT)

Bonus – Music Picks:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are a few of my favorite music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:
City Winery – 155 Varick St., citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St. joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34W22ndSt., metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St. lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St., beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237W42nd dSt. bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
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 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

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:
‘Picasso Sculpture’ (through Feb. 7)
“Nearly a work of art in its own right, this magnificent show redefines Picasso’s achievement with the first full view here in 50 years of his astoundingly varied forays into sculpture. His materials, not his female loves, become the muses, and are different each time out. The basic plotline: After introducing sculptural abstraction and space, he spent about 50 years counting the ways that the figure was far from finished. 212-708-9400, moma.org.” (Smith-NYT)

‘Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960-1980’ (through Jan. 3) “Visiting this big, spirited group show is like walking into a party of intriguing strangers. For every person you recognize, there are 10 you don’t know. One topic everyone’s talking about, at different intensities, is the anti-institutional politics that swept Europe and the Americas in the 1960s, and almost everyone speaks the language of Conceptualism. A product of an in-house research initiative called Contemporary and Modern Art Perspectives, or C-MAP, intended to expand MoMA’s narrow Paris-New York view of modernism, the show is very much the beginning rather than the end of a learning curve. But with curators exploring material new to them — just steps ahead of their audience — the show has a refreshing buzz of surprise as it takes the museum in a realistic new directions. 212-708-9400, moma.org.” (Cotter-NYT)

New-York Historical Society:
‘Freedom Journey 1965: Photographs of the Selma to Montgomery March by Stephen Somerstein’ (through Oct. 25)
“See photo highlight. Almost 50 years ago, the picture editor of a campus newspaper at City College of New York assigned himself a breaking story: covering what promised to be a massive march in Alabama, led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to demand free and clear voting rights for African-Americans. On short notice the editor, Stephen Somerstein, grabbed his cameras, climbed on a bus and headed south. The 55 pictures of black leaders and everyday people in this show, installed in a hallway and small gallery, are some that he shot that day. The image of Dr. King’s head seen in monumental silhouette that has become a virtual logo of the film “Selma” is based on a Somerstein original. 170 Central Park West, at 77th Street, 212-873-3400, nyhistory.org.” (Cotter-NYT)

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

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar dated 10/08 and 10/06.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Selected Events (10/09) + Today’s Featured Pub (Times Square/ Theater District)

Posted on 10/09/2015 by GregD

Today’s SUPER 7 > FRIDAY / OCT. 09, 2015

“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.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
‘Anna Bolena’
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center / 7:30PM, from $30
Radvanovksy, Sondra“The formidable American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky triumphs in the arduous title role of Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena,” returning to the Metropolitan Opera in David McVicar’s 2011 production. With flawless coloratura technique, earthy sound and uncanny control of colorings and vibrato, she gives an intense yet vulnerable portrayal of Anna (Anne Boleyn), King Henry’s ambitious, doomed queen. The whole cast is strong, especially the rising-star mezzo-soprano Jaime Barton as Giovanna (Jane Seymour), the bass Ildar Abdrazakov as the king, and the tenor Stephen Costello as Lord Percy. Marco Armiliato conducts.  212-362-6000, metopera.org.”  (Tommasini-NYT)

Steely Dan (through October 17)
Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway @ 74th St./ 8PM, $60-$220
“Though we haven’t seen a new release from the jazzy soft-rock legends since 2003, the Dan’s ability to draw massive crowds for an eight-night run at Beacon Theatre all these years later speaks to their grooving tunes’ eternal staying power. With so many viewing opportunities, you have no excuse to miss ‘em.” (TONY)

Fall for Dance (through Oct. 11)
NY City Center, 131 West 55th St./ 8PM, $20
“This popular, packed-to-the-gills festival rolls out three more programs this week, with four companies on each. Program 4 (Thursday and Friday) ushers in Stephen Petronio’s “Locomotor,” San Francisco Ballet, the classical Indian elegance of Nrityagram and the tap artists of Dorrance Dance, led by the recently anointed “MacArthur genius” Michelle Dorrance.” (Burke-NYT)

Karrin Allyson (through Oct. 10)
Birdland, 315 W44th St. / 8:30PM +11PM, $40
“Allyson is a gently swinging singer whose peripatetic musical wanderings have found her flitting from France to Brazil and disparate jazz points between. Her album “Many a New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein” reimagines well-worn favorites associated with “South Pacific,” “The Sound of Music,” and “Oklahoma.” (NewYorker)

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

NYFF Live: The Film Comment Roundtable
Film Society of Lincoln Center, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza / 7PM, FREE
“Join the critics of Film Comment and special guests as they discuss the many splendors of the New York Film Festival. From art to craft to the talented individuals who make the films, this special roundtable will cover the festival’s innumerable highlights in a wide-ranging and detailed conversation moderated by the editors of the bimonthly magazine published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.” (ThoughtGallery.org)

New York Comic Con (10/08-10/11)
Javits Center, / 10AM, $40 (may need to stub hub this one)
“Last year’s glorious geek assembly brought in more than 151,000 visitors, beating San Diego Comic-Con and making NYCC the second-biggest event in the city. Wear a Batman T-shirt or a full cape-and-cowl at this packed pop culture mecca, where anyone can be a superhero.”

“It begins. The country’s biggest comics and sci-fi convention arrives for its 10th weekend of panels, cosplay, shopping and signings. Whether you’ve spent the past few months with a hot glue gun and a cape or you’re just down to get an autograph from your favorite artist, make sure you’re in line early for four full days of fan worship. “ (TONY)

New York Super Week (through Oct. 11)
“This festival is a sort of warm-up act and partner for New York Comic Con, which begins on Thursday, and will turn the city into a playground for fans of super heroes, vampires, zombies — typical Comic Con fare. There are dozens of events, from comedy shows and concerts to food tastings and lectures, planned covering a broad range of locations and topics. The lineup is at newyorksuperweek.com.” (NYT-SpareTimes)

Bonus – Jazz Picks:
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:
Village Vanguard – 178 7th Ave. South — villagevanguard.com / 212-255-4037
Blue Note – 131 W3rd St., nr 6th ave. — bluenotejazz.com / 212-475-8592
55 Bar – 55 Christopher St., nr 7th ave. S. — 55bar.com / 212-929-9883
Outside Greenwich Village:
Dizzy’s Club – Broadway @ 60th St. — jazz.org/dizzys / 212-258-9595
Birdland – 315 W44th St. (btw 8/9 ave) — 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 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

A PremierPub + 3 Good Eating places

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

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

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

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

On nights when no local team is playing, it’s a fine place to sip some drafts and listen to a great old time jukebox (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.
==================================================================================

3 Good Eating places

It’s not difficult finding 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:

Patzeria Perfect Pizza – 231 W46 St. (Btw 7th/8th ave)
Perfect name for a pizza joint. On a street filled with Broadway theaters, this is a real hole in the wall, but don’t let the dive look scare you away. You can never go wrong with a slice of NYCity pizza, and this one is a classic thin crust. Only a few seats here, but pizza was made to eat standing up.

Shake Shack – 691 8th Ave. (Btw 43rd/44th st)
Danny Meyer has revolutionized the high quality burger in this town. Now he has a branch on the West Side that was desperately needed, with a bit less of the insane lines that you find at the Madison Sq. Park location. Worth the wait.

Xi’an Famous Foods – 24 W45th St. (Btw 5th/6th ave)
Try to avoid long lunch lines. Order lamb hand ripped noodles and warm your insides at one of the tables in the back. You’ll return, just remember that even mild is pretty spicy.
==============================================================

“3 Good Eating places” focuses on a quick bite, what I call “Fine Fast Food – NYCity Style”
This covers a wide range of food – the traditional pizza, burgers, & hot dogs; but also food trucks & carts, soup & sandwiches, picnic fixins’, raw bars & lobster rolls, bbq, vegetarian / falafel, ramen, chopped salad & salad bars. No reservations needed.
===========================================================================

◊ For all my picks of 54 Good Eating places, and essays on my favorite 18 PremierPubs in 9 Neighborhoods on Manhattan’s WestSide, order a copy of my e-book:
“Eating and Drinking on NYCity’s WestSide” ($4.99, available Fall 2015).
◊ Order before Oct. 31, 2015 and receive a bonus – 27 of my favorite casual dining places with free Wi-Fi.
=========================================================

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

Selected Events (10/08) + GallerySpecialExhibits: Chelsea

Posted on 10/08/2015 by GregD

Today’s SUPER 6 > THURSDAY / OCT. 08, 2015

“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.
(click on links for complete event info.)

Music, Dance, Performing Arts
Bo Burnham
Best Buy Theater, 1515 Broadway / 8PM, $
“Over the last decade, Mr. Burnham has evolved from a cutesy musical comic into one of the most creatively adventurous comedians in the country, blending original music, storytelling and poetry in elaborately theatrical shows. These performances are part of his “Make Happy” tour.” (Czajkowski-NYT)

Fall for Dance (through Oct. 11)
NY City Center, 131 West 55th St./ 8PM, $20
“This popular, packed-to-the-gills festival rolls out three more programs this week, with four companies on each. Program 4 (Thursday and Friday) ushers in Stephen Petronio’s “Locomotor,” San Francisco Ballet, the classical Indian elegance of Nrityagram and the tap artists of Dorrance Dance, led by the recently anointed “MacArthur genius” Michelle Dorrance.” (Burke-NYT)

Karrin Allyson (through Oct. 10)
Birdland, 315 W44th St. / 8:30PM +11PM, $
“Allyson is a gently swinging singer whose peripatetic musical wanderings have found her flitting from France to Brazil and disparate jazz points between. Her album “Many a New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein” reimagines well-worn favorites associated with “South Pacific,” “The Sound of Music,” and “Oklahoma.” (NewYorker)

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

New York Comic Con (10/08-10/11)
Javits Center, / 10AM, $40 (may need to stub hub this one)
“Last year’s glorious geek assembly brought in more than 151,000 visitors, beating San Diego Comic-Con and making NYCC the second-biggest event in the city. Wear a Batman T-shirt or a full cape-and-cowl at this packed pop culture mecca, where anyone can be a superhero.”

“It begins. The country’s biggest comics and sci-fi convention arrives for its 10th weekend of panels, cosplay, shopping and signings. Whether you’ve spent the past few months with a hot glue gun and a cape or you’re just down to get an autograph from your favorite artist, make sure you’re in line early for four full days of fan worship. “ (TONY)

Poets Forum (through Oct. 10)
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 La Guardia Place, at Washington Square South / 6:30PM,
“The Academy of American Poets Chancellors hosts this annual event, which begins with a lineup of readings that includes Claudia Rankine, Mark Doty and the United States poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera. (Other events at various locations continue through Oct. 10.)”

New York Super Week (through Oct. 11)
“This festival is a sort of warm-up act and partner for New York Comic Con, which begins on Thursday, and will turn the city into a playground for fans of super heroes, vampires, zombies — typical Comic Con fare. There are dozens of events, from comedy shows and concerts to food tastings and lectures, planned covering a broad range of locations and topics. The lineup is at newyorksuperweek.com.” (NYT-SpareTimes)

Bonus – Music Picks:
So much fine live music every night in this town. These are a few of my favorite music venues on Manhattan’s WestSide. Check out who’s playing tonight:
City Winery – 155 Varick St., citywinery.com, 212-608-0555
Joe’s Pub @ Public Theater – 425 Lafayette St. joespub.com, 212-967-7555
Metropolitan Room – 34W22ndSt., metropolitan room.com, 212-206-0440
Le Poisson Rouge – 158 Bleecker St. lepoissonrouge.com, 212-505-3474
Beacon Theatre – 2124 Broadway @ 74th St., beacontheatre.com, 212-465-6500
B.B. King’s Blues Bar – 237W42nd dSt. bbkingblues.com, 212-997-2144
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 56 million visitors last year and is TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Top U.S. Destination for 2015.  Quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==================================================================================

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.

This is a current exhibitions that the NYT recommends:
‘Dia 15 VI 13 545 West 22 Street Dream House’ (through Oct. 24)
“This terrific show restages a famous sound and light installation by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela, a work whose origins date to the 1960s. On entering the dimly lit gallery, you are immediately enveloped by an intensely powerful sound, a roaring, droning, pulsing noise with such a deep bass that you feel it in your body as well as in your ears. At the far end of the space is a work by Jung Hee Choi, a slowly changing hallucinogenic projection on a perforated black screen. Prepare to have your consciousness altered.” Dia: Chelsea, 545 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, 212-989-5566, diacenter.org. (Johnson-NYT)

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 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 10/06 and 10/04.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment