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

Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events – WEDNESDAY, JULY 02, 2014.

Midsummer Night Swing (through July 12)
The New England-based Roomful of Blues has been slinging jazz, blues, and vintage R. & B. for decades, and it’s in town to pay tribute to one of the salient composers of classic rock and roll, Doc Pomus.
At 6:30 p.m. (dance lessons) and 7:30 p.m. (live music) / $17
Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center,
212-721-6500, midsummernightswing.org

PAUL LOREN
Leading the new generation of soul crooners, Paul Loren sings songs that will make you move. A talented songwriter and producer, he takes elements from classic R&B, Pop and Jazz, and makes them truly his own. With a dynamic and powerful stage show, Paul Loren evokes the great Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding at their prime.
Joe’s Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place
at 9:30PM / $16 cover, with a $12 minimum.
212.697.7555 / joespub.com

Declaration of Independence Display (also Thursday)
A copy of the historic document — handwritten by Thomas Jefferson, with his markings and passages that were excised from the ratified text — is on view at the New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
Wednesday from 2 to 10 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. / FREE
917-275-6975, nypl.org/locations/schwarzman

ARLO HILL: THE SONGS AND STORIES OF FRANK LOESSER
Arlo Hill (Bway: The Phantom of the Opera; Encores!: The Most Happy Fella), a winner of the 2014 Lotte Lenya Competition, shares the little-known songs and stories of Frank Loesser. I’ve Been In Love Before goes behind the scenes with the man who wrote Guys & Dolls, How to Succeed in Business, and much, much more.

A brash college dropout journeys from the back rooms of the Tin Pan Alley to the silver screen of Hollywood to the Great White Way – and through two marriages, five Broadway shows, and over 700 songs of life and love. Come to discover the joys of Loesser’s music, and to explore the little-known gems that are too rarely in the limelight. Music direction by Rick Hip-Flores. Special appearances by members of the cast of The Most Happy Fella at Encores!
54 Below, 254 W 54th St., btw Broadway and Eighth Ave
at 7pm / $25–$35. plus $25 food or drink minimum
(646) 476-3551 / 866-468-7619 / 54below.com

Jon Weber ~ Joplin to Jarrett
Joplin to Jarrett serves as a concise history of jazz piano with an emphasis on the earlier composers from the first half of the 20th Century. Over 100 years of music interspersed with musical excerpts with John Weber’s insights and anecdotes reveal a lifetime’s worth of impassioned research.

Weber’s extraordinary facility for recall and analysis allow him to form fascinating and unexpected connections between artists of different eras, their development and influences in jazz piano.

Jazz pianist Jon Weber has recorded and toured all over the world, winning numerous honors for performance and composition – scoring extensively for television since 1987. Gary Burton, Roy Hargrove, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and Avishai Cohen have all recorded Jon’s music, and his newest critically-acclaimed release, Simple Complex, rose to #1.
Metropolitan Room, 34 W 22nd St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves
Subway: F, M, N, R (all transfer from 1-2-3 at Times Sq.) to 23rd St
At 10PM / $20 + 2 drink minimum
212-206-0440 / metropolitanroom.com

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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The Week That Was in NYCity
(courtesy NYPost, with the most unique front/back pages anywhere)

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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.

Those 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; we eat, and we drink vodka ‘till it hurts (and it will hurt).

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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 some nights includes a sax player with a younger, trimmer piano man.

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

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
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Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events – TUESDAY, JULY 01, 2014.

World Cup
Soccer fans will be glued to their screens today (even at work) as team USA faces Belgium in World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Today starts the knockout round for team USA and they face a tough Belgium team that has given up only one goal all tournament. This should be a tense, close match. One mistake by either team and they are probably going home.

There’s no shortage of venues to watch the games in New York City. A few of my faves include Penn6 with a large 9 screen array of flat panel TV’s behind the bar (132 W31st St.), Jack Dempsey’s, with some very knowledgeable fans (36 W33rd St.), and for outdoor viewing – Bryant Park, which will have a big screen set up.

Also, in partnership with ESPN and ABC, the Paley Center for Media will screen many of this year’s World Cup matches including , of course, today’s match at 4PM. A full schedule (through July 13) is at paleycenter.org. 25 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, 212-621-6800.

Our Sinatra “A Musical Celebration” (through July 5)
With Eric Comstock, Christopher Gines, Harmony Keeney

Pianist vocalist Eric Comstock along with vocalists Christopher Gines and Harmony Keeney and bassist Boots Maleson celebrate the songs popularized by Frank Sinatra in the award-winning musical revue “Our Sinatra.” NY Times’ Stephen Holden calls it “an Utterly winning tribute to Ol’ Blue Eyes.” WNYC’s Jonathan Schwartz calls it a “movingly presented, affectionate, musically satisfying tip of the hat.” Produced by Jack Lewin.
Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton,
At 6 p.m. / $40 cover, with a $10 minimum.
212-581-3080, birdlandjazz.com

Frank Lacy & The Smalls Legacy Band
“Trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy came up with everyone from Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers to the more experimental groups of Henry Threadgill, Julius Hemphill and others. Now a mainstay of the Mingus Big Band and co-leader of the compelling trio 1032K, Lacy remains uninhibited, a force of nature (this short documentary will remain in your brain).

His latest, Live at Smalls, is with the Smalls Legacy Band, a sextet of young players who unleash titanic forces in a smoldering post-bop vein. This band features trumpeter Josh Evans, tenor saxophonist Stacy Dillard, pianist Theo Hill, bassist Ameen Saleem and drummer Kush Abadey.” (VillageVoice)
Smalls, 183 W 10th St. (btw Seventh Ave South and W 4th St.)
at 10:30pm / $20
212-252-5091 / smallsjazzclub.com

CANADA DAY AT JOE’S PUB:
CANADA’S BIRTHDAY BASH – THE GREAT CANADIAN SONGBOOK
Celebrate Canada’s 147th birthday with this all-star tribute to Canada’s Greatest Hits, produced and emcee’d by Jeff Breithaupt and featuring a stellar line-up that includes five-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O’Hara, The Voice’s J’Sun (Team Shakira), Jamie Leonhart, cabaret star Marissa Mulder, Greg Naughton, Victoria Cave, Shelley McPherson, BETTY’s Alyson Palmer, Amy Cervini and Tony Salvatore. NY1 morning man, ex-pat Canadian and New York icon Pat Kiernan will once again kick things off, leading the audience in a rousing chorus of “O Canada.”

Comedian Ophira Eisenberg — host of NPR’s Ask Me Another, and author of Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy — will warm up the crowd with some hard-won observations on the Canada-US relationship. The incomparable (and Canadian) Peter Kiesewalter returns to lead the “Workin’ for the Weekend House Band.” The sparkling cast will perform unforgettable versions of all your favo(u)rite Canuck anthems – from Cohen to Cockburn, Joni to Gino, Lightfoot to Lighthouse, Rufus to Raffi, Bachman to Bryan, Nelly to Neil.
Joe’s Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place
at 7:00 & 9:30PM / $27.50 cover, with a $12 minimum.
212.697.7555 / joespub.com

Arturo O’Farrill with Auction Project (through July 6)
“Mr. O’Farrill is best known as the pianist and bandleader with the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, which has a standing Sunday-night engagement at Birdland. This week he’ll also work in that room with Auction Project, a chamber-like ensemble featuring David Bixler on saxophones, Victor Prieto on accordion, Heather Martin Bixler on violin, Carlo De Rosa on bass and Vince Cherico on drums.” (Chinen-NYT)
Birdland, 315 West 44th St., (btw 8th /9th Ave)
212-581-3080, birdlandjazz.com
At 8:30 and 11 p.m. / $40, with a $10 minimum.

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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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 – my fave is Ovest on W 27th St., where the aperitivo is like Happy Hour on steroids.

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. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (06/29) and (06/27).

Today’s “Fab 5″+1/ Selected NYCity Events – MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014.

Beck
“Beck has reinvented himself several times over the course of his career. In the early ’90s, he was a slacker roustabout and soon after a postmodern mix-master. By the end of the decade, he was a frisky R&B star with a serious liking for Prince and then a sad-eyed troubadour. The years since have given occasion to other personas still, but at the age of 43, Beck seems to have settled into a self-sufficient mix of all his different tastes and yearnings. His recent album “Morning Phase” is both beautiful and melancholic, with a lush, laidback sonic sound that should prove pretty if he can simulate it on stage.

Beck also plays a ticketed show at Central Park SummerStage on July 1″ (WSJ)
Manhattan Center at Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 W. 34th St.
at 8pm / $60-$80
(212) 279-7740 / 800-745-3000

Jenny Scheinman
“The jazz-folk violinist-singer-songwriter waxes affectingly autobiographical on her terrific new album, The Littlest Prisoner. Backed by avant-Americana guitarist Bill Frisell and superdrummer Brian Blade, who will appear with her here, and punctuated by instrumental folk interludes, Scheinman unflinchingly explores love, marriage, separation, and her unusual raised-by-hippies childhood in Northern California.” (VillageVoice-Richard Gehr)
(Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St. (btw Sullivan/Thompson St.)
subway: #1 to Houston
at 7:30pm / $25
(212) 505-FISH (3474) / lepoissonrouge.com

George Vecsey
EIGHT WORLD CUPS: My Journey Through the Beauty and the Dark Side of Soccer
Join us at the Half King during the heart of the 2014 World Cup, where New York Times sports columnist George Vecsey offers a personal perspective on the beautiful game.

Blending witty travelogue with action on the field–and shady dealings in back rooms–George Vecsey offers an eye-opening, globe-trotting account of the last eight World Cups. He immerses himself in the great national leagues, historic clubs, and devoted fans and provides his up-close impressions of charismatic stars like Sócrates, Maradona, Baggio, and Zidane, while also chronicling the rise of the U.S. men’s and women’s teams.

Vecsey shows how each host nation has made the World Cup its own, from the all-night street parties in Spain in 1982 to the roar of vuvuzelas in South Africa in 2010, as the game in the stadium is backed up by the game in the street. But the joy is sometimes undermined by those who style themselves the game’s protectors.

With his characteristic sharp reporting and eye for detail, Vecsey brings this global event to vivid life and has written a perfect companion for the upcoming 2014 World Cup in Brazil
Half King, 505 W 23RD ST
At 7PM / FREE
212.462.4300

“Frank & Friends: Girls Night Out!”
“Broadway at Birdland” is proud to present multi-Grammy and Tony nominated composer Frank Wildhorn in his regular series called “Frank & Friends.” This particular show, “Girls Night Out!” will find Frank onstage with Broadway leading ladies Jackie Burns (If/Then), Bianca Marroquin (Chicago), Adrienne Warren (Bring It On) and jazz vocalist Jane Monheit.

These very special one-night-only concerts celebrate the songs and favorite performers from the composer’s wide range of work in popular, jazz, theatrical and classical music. All profits will go to The Actors Fund, a nationwide human services organization that helps all professionals in the performing arts and entertainment. Jason Howland will act as musical director.
Birdland, 315 West 44th St.
212-581-3080, birdlandjazz.com
at 7p.m. / $35, with a $10 minimum.

Francisco Goldman on Mexico City
“If you’ve ever been curious about Mexico’s capital city, join Goldman for a journey into the heart of it as he reads from his new book, The Interior Circuit: A Mexico City Chronicle.” (TONY)

The celebrated author of Say Her Name will read from The Interior Circuit: A Mexico City Chronicle. By turns exuberant, poetic, reportorial, philosophic, and urgent, Goldman fuses a personal journey into an account of one of the world’s most remarkable and often misunderstood great cities.
192 Books, 192 Tenth Ave., btw 21st and 22nd Sts.
212-255-4022 / 192books.com
7:00pm / FREE

Elsewhere, but worth the detour:

Alice Smith
“This soul singer is a beautiful talent: Her jazzy odes are passionately delivered and effortlessly inclusive, strapped to a Patti LaBelle-worthy belt that would shatter windowpanes were it not so controlled. “Ocean,” the lead single from her album “She,” toys with folksy guitar before gliding into a peppy, delightful soul-pop refrain. With Kimberly Nichole.” (Anderson-NYT)
Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, near the Bowery, Lower East Side,
800-745-3000, boweryballroom.com
At 9 p.m. / $25.

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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Sunny Side of the Street – Bronx

On Fordham Road in the Bronx, one of the busiest thoroughfares in New York, potential customers at a sunglasses vendor try on the shades. (June 29,2014)

Every Sunday in the NYT Metropolitan section, a photographer offers a new slice of New York. A wonderful slice of life it is – Thanks NewYorkTimes: N.Y. / Region section
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A PremierPub + 3 Good Eating places

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

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

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

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

On nights when no local team is playing, it’s a fine place to sip some drafts and listen to a great old time jukebox (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.
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Website: are you kidding !
(although there is a facebook page with lots of photos –
facebook.com/jimmyscornernyc)
Phone #: 212-221-9510
Hours: 11am – 4 am, except Sunday they open 12 noon
Happy Hour: not necessary, low prices all day, every day
Subway: #1,2,3 to TimesSquare 42nd st
walk 2 blks N on 7th ave to 44th st; ½ blk E to Jimmy’s

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

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
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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 (Betw 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 NYC 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 (Betw 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 none of the insane lines that you find at the Madison Sq. Park location. Plus, it may be the cleanest joint to eat in all of Hell’s Kitchen.

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“3 Good Eating places” focuses on a quick bite, what I call “Fine Fast Food – NYCity Style”

That covers a wide range of food – pizza, burgers, food trucks/carts, vegetarian/falafel, ramen, chopped salad & salad bars, hot dogs, bbq, soup & sandwiches, picnic fixins’, raw bars & lobster rolls. 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 (plus 27 casual dining places with free Wi-Fi) order a copy of my e-book: “Eating and Drinking on NYCity’s WestSide” ($3.99).
(available Fall 2014)

Today’s “Fab 5″+1/ Selected NYCity Events – SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 2014.

Jon Batiste and Stay Human + Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
“Pianist and melodica master Batiste, whose family helped inspire HBO’s Treme, leads Stay Human (alto sax, tuba, drums), which updates New Orleans’s Preservation Hall sound with sophisticated smarts and the sort of grit that would lead to an EP recorded in the New York subway. The awesome Hypnotic Brass Ensemble consists of eight brothers whose music contains R&B grooves, heavy-metal DNA, and their father’s experience in Sun Ra’s Arkestra.” (Richard Gehr-VillageVoice)
Central Park, Rumsey Playfield
3:00 p.m. / FREE

Shades of Jazz: Keith Jarrett’s Music
“For the better part of his career, Jarrett has focussed on interpreting standards with his trio and spinning spontaneous improvisations in his solo recitals, and the quality of his earlier compositions has often been overlooked. Championing Jarrett as a tunesmith, this intriguing project brings together the saxophonist Greg Osby, the bassist Ben Allison, and the drummer Matt Wilson, as well as two keyboardists: Dan Tepfer, on the acoustic piano, and James Weidman, on the electric piano, an instrument that Jarrett—an outspoken jazz Luddite—hasn’t laid a finger on in forty years.” (NewYorker)
Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st St.
212-582-2121 / theiridium.com
at 8:30 & 10:30PM / $30

“Fronteras: New and Old Sounds from Latin America and the Caribbean,”
SERGIO MENDOZA Y LA ORKESTA & REY VALLENATO BETO JAMAICA
The 1950s funky big-band indie mambo and cumbia sound of Sergio Mendoza y La Orkesta is led by keyboardist, guitarist and vocalist Sergio Mendoza (Devotchka and Calexico), and features the rich baritone of Mexican vocalist Salvador Duran (who dueted with Willie Nelson on “Señor” in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There).

The King of Colombian vallenato and cumbia music, Beto Jamaica, makes his New York debut performing ecstatic accordion-fronted dance party music from the Caribbean coast. Since earning his “Rey” title at the prestigious Leyenda Vallenata Festival, Beto has become one of Colombia’s most beloved artists and contemporary musicians.
River to River Festival
The Uplands, South Street Seaport , Fulton St.
At 1:30-5pm / FREE

Sam Newsome & Ethan Iverson
“Sam Newsome has brought a rare level of mastery and sonic imagination to the soprano saxophone. Few would dare to record the instrument wholly unaccompanied, as he’s done since 2008 on Monk Abstractions, Blue Soliloquy and The Art of the Soprano, Vol. 1 (all self-released).

For sheer depth of knowledge and improvisational daring, it’s hard to think of a better duo match than pianist Ethan Iverson — co-leader of The Bad Plus, must-read blogger and critic, like Newsome one of Monk’s most creative present-day disciples.” (VillageVoice)
Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow Street, West Village
212-242-4770, greenwichhouse.org
At 8 p.m. / $15

THE ANAHID SOFIAN DANCE COMPANY
Celebrates 35th Anniversary with Gala
Over 25 fabulous dancers and musicians will join Anahid Sofian Dance Company in a rousing retrospective of signature works from the Near and Middle East in celebration of the Company’s 35th Anniversary.

The program will present both traditional dances and those inspired by cultures of Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Persia, Armenia, Greece and Uzbekistan, as well as numerous renditions of Danse Orientale. The program is a dazzling blend of different styles, both old and new, traditional and theatrical.
MMAC, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, 248 West 60th St.
At 3PM / $40
212-787-1178 / anahidsofianstudio.com

Elsewhere, but worth the detour (esp. for the Armstrong Eternity band):

The Louis Armstrong International Music Festival
“At the 1964-65 World’s Fair, the date of June 30 was named in Louis Armstrong’s honor. The 50th anniversary of that proclamation will be celebrated at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, with live music, dancing and food reflecting the cultural diversity of Queens.

Centered at the Unisphere, the festival will feature performances by Albita; the Jon Faddis Quartet; Junoon, a popular Sufi rock band; and David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band (GD:these guys are good). Inside the nearby Queens Museum, a concert by the jazz singer Catherine Russell will open “Ambassador Satchmo at the World’s Fair — Celebrating 50 Years,” an exhibition of rare photographs of Armstrong at the fair (on view through Oct. 6).” (NYT)
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Unisphere
From 1 to 7 p.m. / FREE
718-793-8080, kupferbergcenter.org/armstrongfest

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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What’s on View:
Special Exhibitions @ 3 Museum Mile / Fifth Ave. Museums:

‘Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century’ (through July 27)
The Flowering of Edo Period Painting: Japanese Masterworks from the Feinberg Collection’ (through Sept. 7)
‘Early American Guitars: The Instruments of C.F. Martin’ (through Dec. 7)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave, at 82nd St.
(212) 535-7710 / metmuseum.org

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Guggenheim Museum: ‘Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe’ (through Sept. 1)
“This epic, beautifully designed exhibition may be one of the more thorough examinations of modernism’s most obnoxious and conflicted art movement that you are likely to see. Awash in the manifestoes that its members regularly fired off, it follows Futurism through to its end with the death of its founder, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, in 1944. It covers the Futurist obsessions with speed, war, machines and, finally, flight and the aerial views it made possible. And the show highlights relatively unknown figures like the delightful Fortunato Depero and Benedetta Cappa, Marinetti’s wife. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, 212-423-3500, guggenheim.org.“ (Smith-NYT)
Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th St.
(212) 423-3500 / guggenheim.org.
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‘Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937’ (through June 30)
Neue Galerie, 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th St.
212-628-6200 / neuegalerie.org.

========================================================== Museum Mile is a section of Fifth Avenue which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world. Ten museums can be found along this section of Fifth Avenue:

• 110th Street – Museum for African Art

• 105th Street – El Museo del Barrio

• 103rd Street – Museum of the City of New York

• 92nd Street – The Jewish Museum

• 91st Street – Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

• 89th Street – National Academy Museum

• 88th Street – Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

• 86th Street – Neue Galerie New York

• 83rd Street – Goethe-Institut

Last, but certainly not least, America’s premier museum
• 82nd Street – The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Additionally, though technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 70th St. and the The Morgan Library & Museum on Madison Ave and 37th St are also located near Fifth Ave. Now plan your own museum crawl. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar: “NYCity Events: Manhattan’s WestSide” dated 06/27 and 06/25.

Today’s “Fab 5″+1/ Selected NYCity Events – SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014.

RECESS Lawn Badminton Challenge
“Badminton is a lot like sex. It looks fairly easy until you decide to give it a try, and then six minutes later, you’re a sweaty, crumpled hot mess with grass stains on your knees. Fortunately, 32 coed teams are going to show you exactly how it’s supposed to look at the RECESS Lawn Badminton Challenge as they compete for the bragging rights and vie to become the best shuttlecockers in New York City.

You don’t even have to be into sports to enjoy the event…all you have to do is eat food from yumworthy Vietnamese joint An Choi and guzzle some brews from event sponsor Tiger Beer. You may even be inspired to try badminton yourself: Even though it may come across like a highbrow aristocratic sport, there’s a lot of grunting, a lot of squealing, and yet everyone walks away sweaty and happy. Like we said, kind of like sex.” (TONY)
Governors Island Colonels Row, Governors Island
recessnewyork.com
12:00pm / FREE

Midsummer Night Swing (the festival continues through July 12.)
The Band Courtbouillon, featuring the accordionist and singer Wayne Toups, Steve Riley (of the Mamou Playboys), and Wilson Savoy (from the Pine Leaf Boys), makes its New York City début.

Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park transforms into a huge open-air dance party — for pros and newcomers alike this evening for Midsummer Night Swing, and Wayne Toups is one authentic Cajun dude – don’t miss him.
At 7:30 p.m. (with a dance lesson at 6:30 p.m.),
Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center, Amsterdam Ave. and W. 62 St.,
212-721-6500, midsummernightswing.org;
$17, $60 for four dance passes, $84 for six passes, $170 for the full season

Bill McHenry (through June 29)
“Tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry has gained wisdom playing with the likes of Paul Motian and trumpeter John McNeil, though his newer partnership with drum sage Andrew Cyrille, documented on 2012′s Le Peur du Vide (Sunnyside), seems every bit as fruitful. Cyrille is a sculptor of the beat, ideally suited for McHenry’s wry, elliptical phrasemaking.

They return to the Village Vanguard from June 24-29: first it’s the Peur du Vide band with pianist Orrin Evans and bassist Eric Revis; then (tonight) a McHenry-Cyrille duo night; then two nights with Cyrille, guitarist Ben Monder and bassist Reid Anderson (the lineup from Roses and Ghosts of the Sun, sans Motian); and finally a quartet with pianist David Bryant and bassist Jonathan Michel.” (Village Voice)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th St., West Village,
212-255-4037, villagevanguard.com
At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., / $25 and $30 cover, with a one-drink minimum.

Matt Pavolka’s Horns Band
“Local jazz fans know Pavolka as an agile bassist who buoys many an ensemble while injecting his lines with a hefty thrust. With the arrival of his new album on the Fresh Sounds label, they can now try to grok him as a modern bandleader who appreciates melody more than most – or at least has a compelling way of showing that appreciation. The snaky themes that are cannily bent by his “Horns Band” (‘bone, cornet, alto sax) should be a balm to anyone to finds the all-too-common frictions of modern jazz a tad obvious. Expect some moments of beauty at this CD release gig. Pavolka’s a pro when it comes to both wild AND wistful.” (Jim Macnie-VillageVoice)
Downstairs at Cornelia Street Cafe
9:00 p.m., $10

The 16th annual Del Close Marathon
‘Improvisational comedy legend Del Close was a huge influence over a generation of funny people, including Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers and John Belushi. The 16th annual Del Close Marathon is a celebration of his work, presented annually by the Upright Citizen’s Brigade since his death in 1999.

Catch hundreds of performers at eight different venues doing improv around the clock, for 56 nonstop hours. $30 (cash only) for a weekend wristband pass or $20 per ticket for premium shows. Wristbands go on sale Friday at 12 p.m. at UCBT Chelsea, 307 West 26th St. (between 8th and 9th Aves.) and 30 minutes before the first show at all other venues.” (DNA Info)
From 5.30 p.m. Friday until 8:40 p.m. Sunday.

Elsewhere, but worth the detour, if you are a culture vulture:

POPSICKLE FIVE
Spend the afternoon in Brooklyn at the fifth annual Popsickle literary arts festival! Readings will take place throughout the afternoon, hosted by some of the city’s finest organizations, from Brooklyn Poets to the Renegade Reading Series.
Forgotten Works Studio, 46 Bridge St., (btw Plymouth and Water Sts.)
Dumbo, Brooklyn – subway: F to York St
646-298-8008 / forgottenworksstudio.com
at 12:30PM / FREE

=============================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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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.

In 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 will be celebrating it’s 50th anniversary next year. The well worn interior tells me that the place itself is much older.

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

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

For the classic Bistro experience, order your burger with a McSorley’s draft, the dark preferably. This is the same beer that you can get over at the original McSorley’s in the East Village, the pub that claims to be the oldest continually operating bar in NYCity. The only difference is that this McSorley’s ale is served with a smile by the bartenders here. Or you can get a Sierra Nevada, Stella, or Hoegaarden on tap if you want to go upscale a bit. Either way this is a simple, but quality burger and beer experience that is just too rare these days (sorry for the pun).

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Website: cornerbistrony.com
Phone #: 212-242-9502
Hours: 11:30am-4am Mon-Sat; 12pm-4am Sun
Happy Hour: NO
Music: Juke Box
Subway: #1/2/3 to 14th St. (S end of platform)
Walk 2 blk W. on 13th St. to 8th Ave.; 1 blk S. on 8th Ave. to Jane St.
Update:

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

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
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Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events – FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014.

Neil Gaiman: The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains
“The beloved novelist and comic-book writer returns to NYC with a multimedia presentation sure to wow. Accompanied by the FourPlay String Quartet and projections from illustrator Eddie Campbell, Gaiman will read a novella about “family, the otherworld and a search for hidden treasure.” (TONY)
Carnegie Hall, Perelman Stage, 881 Seventh Ave. at 57th St
8:00pm / $39–$129
212-247-7800 / carnegiehall.org

The 16th annual Del Close Marathon
‘Improvisational comedy legend Del Close was a huge influence over a generation of funny people, including Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers and John Belushi. The 16th annual Del Close Marathon is a celebration of his work, presented annually by the Upright Citizen’s Brigade since his death in 1999. Catch hundreds of performers at eight different venues doing improv around the clock, for 56 nonstop hours. $30 (cash only) for a weekend wristband pass or $20 per ticket for premium shows. Wristbands go on sale today at 12 p.m. at UCBT Chelsea, 307 West 26th St. (between 8th and 9th Aves.) and 30 minutes before the first show at all other venues.” (DNA Info)
From 5.30 p.m. Friday until 8:40 p.m. Sunday.

Blue Note Jazz Festival: Chrisette Michele
“This Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter has a sublimely raspy tone that doesn’t conjure heartbreak so much as decimation. She found new buoyancy, however, on her last album, “Better,” which included the distorted, futuristic-sounding standout track, “Can the Cool Be Loved,” with Bilal.” (Anderson-NYT)
B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 West 42nd St.
800-745-3000, bbkingblues.com;
At 7:30 p.m. / $40.

Nolafunk Crawfish & Music Festival
“Finally, the Big Easy meets the Big Apple at the NolaFunk Crawfish & Music Fest. There’ll be so much New Orleans in New York that you’ll be tempted to give up your cushy job in midtown and join a roving horn band. While you may not go that far, you’re certainly welcome to venture over to Governors Island and stuff your face with two pounds of fresh crawfish (included in the $55 ticket package.) Then, tear the metaphorical roof off the hypothetical mother with the Rebirth Brass Band–a legendary New Orleans group that has flown in direct from NOLA to play the festival. Their presence alone is worth the price of admission, but add several other funk and soul bands…plus an epic amount of shellfish? Count us in.” (TONY)
Governors Beach Club, Governors Island
4:00pm / $55
governorsbeachclub.com / 212-896-4600 / nolafunk.com

Jeremy Pelt Quintet (also Saturday)
“Face Forward, Jeremy” is the most recent album by Jeremy Pelt, and more evidence of his determined vision as a trumpeter-bandleader. He appears here with a rhythm section featuring two accomplished drummers — Victor Lewis and Billy Drummond — along with the pianist Simona Premazzi and the bassist Ben Alison.” (Chinen-NYT)
Smoke, 2751 Broadway, at 106th Street,
212-864-6662, smokejazz.com;
At 7, 9 and 10:30 p.m. / $38 cover.

Elsewhere, but worth a detour:

Brooklyn Eats
“Kings County’s first-ever food-and-drink trade show welcomes more than 100 local exhibitors, including People’s Pops, Liddabit Sweets and Better Off Spread, plus veterans like Jacques Torres Chocolate. The borough’s three wineries–Red Hook Winery, Brooklyn Oenology and Brooklyn Winery–will offer sips of their best pours. At the food court, refuel with Red Wagon’s bahn mi sandwiches, and coffee and cannoli from Villabate Alba bakery.” (TONY)
630 Flushing Ave., btw Marcy and Tompkins Aves
Subway: G to Flushing Ave
630flushing.com / brooklyneats.com
10:00am / $10

=============================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==============================================================================

WHAT’S ON VIEW: Special Exhibitions @ 2 MUSEUMS (Manhattan’s WestSide)

‘A World of Its Own: Photographic Practices in the Studio’ (through Oct. 5)
‘Designing Modern Women 1890-1990’(through Oct. 5)
Museum of Modern Art: 11 W 53rd St. (btw 5th /6th Ave.)
(212) 708-9400 / moma.org.

Designing Modern Women 1890-1990:

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The Art of the Brick by Nathan Sawaya (ongoing)
This exhibition by artist Nathan Sawaya is a critically acclaimed collection of intriguing and inspiring works of art made exclusively from one of the most recognizable toys in the world — LEGO® bricks. The Discovery Times Square exhibit is the world’s biggest and most elaborate display of LEGO® art ever and features brand-new, never-before-seen pieces by Sawaya. This show was named ‘One of CNN’s Ten Global Must-See Exhibitions.’
Discovery Times Square, 226 West 44th St. (btw 7th/8th ave)
866.987.9692 / http://www.discoverytsx.com

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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : … …” dated (06/25) and (06/23).

Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events – THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014.

World Cup
Soccer fans will be glued to their screens today (even at work) as team USA faces Germany in World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Today is do or die for team USA, after allowing Sunday’s shocking and disappointing last second tie with Portugal.

Divided into eight four-team groups, the top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Team USA is in the tough Group G, and needs to beat or tie favored Germany to guarantee a spot in the next round. Otherwise, we have to root for Ronaldo and Portugal (how ironic) against Ghana.

There’s no shortage of venues to watch the games in New York City. A few of my faves include Penn6 with a large 9 screen array of flat panel TV’s behind the bar (132 W31st St.), Jack Dempsey’s, with some very knowledgeable fans (36 W33rd St.), and for outdoor viewing – Bryant and Madison Square parks, which will have big screens set up.

Also, in partnership with ESPN and ABC, the Paley Center for Media will screen many of this year’s World Cup matches including , of course, today’s match at 1PM. A full schedule (through July 13) is at paleycenter.org. 25 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, 212-621-6800.

Ginger Baker
“Every crevice in Baker’s battered face could probably tell ten thousand not very pretty stories, but somehow the brilliant drummer is still with us. His first album in sixteen years, the bracing “Why?,” features his current band, an Afrocentric jazz unit that includes the saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, who put in noted time with James Brown and Van Morrison, and the Ghanaian percussionist Abass Dodoo. Now seventy-four years old, Baker may no longer summon up the incredible power and velocity that made him a legend in the late-sixties Cream era, but his wholly individual approach and unique sound remain instantly recognizable.” (NewYorker)
BB Kings Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd St.
8pm./ $50
bbkingblues.com / 212-997-4144

Bill McHenry (through June 29)
“Tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry has gained wisdom playing with the likes of Paul Motian and trumpeter John McNeil, though his newer partnership with drum sage Andrew Cyrille, documented on 2012’s Le Peur du Vide (Sunnyside), seems every bit as fruitful. Cyrille is a sculptor of the beat, ideally suited for McHenry’s wry, elliptical phrasemaking.

They return to the Village Vanguard from June 24-29: first it’s the Peur du Vide band with pianist Orrin Evans and bassist Eric Revis; then (tonight) a McHenry-Cyrille duo night; then two nights with Cyrille, guitarist Ben Monder and bassist Reid Anderson (the lineup from Roses and Ghosts of the Sun, sans Motian); and finally a quartet with pianist David Bryant and bassist Jonathan Michel.” (Village Voice)
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, at 11th St., West Village,
212-255-4037, villagevanguard.com
At 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., / $25 and $30 cover, with a one-drink minimum.

“Stars and Strikes” with author Dan Epstein
Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of ’76

1976. A year of Bicentennial celebrations and presidential primaries, of Olympic glory and busing riots, of “killer bees” hysteria and Pong fever. For both the nation and the national pastime, the year was revolutionary.

It was the craziest season of baseball’s most colorful decade. A year which witnessed the “Big Red Machine,” the rise of the “Bronx Zoo”-era New York Yankees, the dismantling of the Oakland A’s dynasty, the onset of full-scale free agency, the outrageous antics of team owners Bill Veeck, Ted Turner, George Steinbrenner, and Charlie Finley — all set against the star-spangled backdrop of America’s Bicentennial.

Join author Dan Epstein in the Clubhouse for this highly entertaining trip back to 1976…
Dan Epstein is an award-winning journalist, pop culture historian, and avid baseball fan who has written for Rolling Stone, SPIN, Men’s Journal, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, MOJO, Guitar World, Revolver, LA Weekly and dozens of other publications.
Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, 67 East 11th St.
AT 7pm / FREE

Azar Lawrence Quintet (through June 29)
“A tenor saxophonist in the post-Coltrane continuum, still best recognized for his prolific output in the 1970s, Azar Lawrence has been back on the circuit, releasing albums and playing club engagements. This one will feature Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Benito Gonzalez on piano, Essiet Okon Essiet on bass and Jeff (Tain) Watts on drums.” (Chinen-NYT)
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th St. and Broadway,
212-258-9595, jalc.org
At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. / $35 to $45 cover, with a $10 minimum

===============================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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The Week That Was in NYCity
(courtesy NYPost, with the most unique front/back pages anywhere)

     
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A PremierPub – Tribeca

B-Flat / 277 Church st (Btw Franklin/White)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today’s “Fab 5″+1/ Selected NYCity Events – WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014.

Midsummer Night Swing
Ricardo Lemvo, who was born in the Congo and whose roots stretch back to Angola, combines the music and styles of his birthplace and his ancestry with those of Cuba and beyond. Tonight he and his band, Makina Loca, lead a night of soukous, semba, kizomba, and Cuban song, assisted by the salsa legend Jimmy Bosch.
At 7:30 p.m. (with a dance lesson at 6:30 p.m.),
Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center,
212-721-6500, midsummernightswing.org;
$17, $60 for four dance passes, $84 for six passes, $170 for the full season.

Madison Square Music: Oval Lawn Series
Ester Rada and Maya Azucena
“You’ll want to bring a picnic blanket to the 12th season of Madison Square Park’s outdoor concert series—Calexico will be dishing out some of their famous fare Cal-Mex fare while you jam to tunes from all over the world.

The series hosts a wide range of musical acts including tonight’s  Etiopian-Israeli soulstress Ester Rada alongside singer-songwriter Maya Azucena.

Ester Rada pulls from her Ethiopian-Israeli roots to mix music genres in a way that is described by critics as “gracefully combining Ethio-Jazz, Urban-funk, Neo-Soul and R&B.” With musical influences such as Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin, Rada has a unique take on soul that has already earned her recognition globally.” (TONY)
Madison Square Park, 23rd St to 26th St., (btw Fifth and Madison Aves.)
At 6pm / FREE
212-538-1884 / madisonsquarepark.org

Arriba! Community Dance Party
“Sway those hips to the beat of timbal drums at this free Latin dance party for the young and old. The “Last Mambo King” Orlando Marin will jam out with his Bronx band to traditional salsa and merengue tunes while you shimmy, shake or just watch the pros. Once those dancing shoes have had enough, relax under the stars with dinner and dessert from the many High Line vendors.” (TONY)
Chelsea Market Passage on the High Line at West 16th Street
Chelsea Market, 75 Ninth Ave. at 16th St
chelseamarket.com, thehighline.org
at 7:00pm / FREE

Bryant Park BBQ with ‘wichcraft
Tom Colicchio’s sandwich-slicing eatery takes a break from dressed-up sammies for this outdoor feast, dishing out barbecue specials like pork ribs, baked beans and salt potatoes. Cool off at the bar with Moonshine lemonade from Dutch’s Spirits, Brooklyn Brewery lager or a glass of rosé from Wolffer Estate Vineyard.
Bryant Park, Sixth Ave. btw 40th and 42nd Sts.
at 7PM / $60
212-768-4242 / bryantpark.org
631-537-4637 / ediblemanhattan.com/event/bryant-park-bbq-with-wichcraft/

PlusOne:
Norma Winstone, Glauco Venier, Klaus Gesing/Jacob Young Band
“Dance Without Answer” is the third ECM album by Ms. Winstone, a lyrical and levelheaded British vocalist; Mr. Venier, a carefully rhapsodic Italian pianist; and Mr. Gesing, an expressive German multireedist. It will provide a substantial portion of the repertory in this concert, at 7:30 p.m. A following set, at 10:30 p.m., will feature Jacob Young, a Norwegian guitarist, drawing from his own new ECM release, “Forever Young,” with his countryman Trygve Seim on tenor and soprano saxophones and an agile Polish rhythm section that travels under different circumstances as the Marcin Wasilewski Trio.” (Chinen-NYT)
SubCulture: Arts Underground, 45 Bleecker St., near Lafayette St.
212-533-5470, subculturenewyork.com
$30 for each set, $40 for both sets

=============================================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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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 – my fave is Ovest on W 27th St., where the aperitivo is like Happy Hour on steroids.

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. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (06/05) and (06/03).

Today’s “Fab 5″/ Selected NYCity Events – TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014.

Midsummer Night Swing with Cécile McLorin Salvant and Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks (the festival continues through July 12.)
“A savvy, arresting young singer in the Sarah Vaughan-Abbey Lincoln lineage, Ms. Salvant was a relative unknown in the jazz world until she won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2010. “WomanChild,” the magisterial album she released last year, decisively put her in the first tier of younger jazz singers — a stature further ratified by her opening-night slot on Lincoln Center’s new season of Midsummer Night Swing.

She will perform, by her request, with Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, a band as energetic and comfortably formal in this setting as anywhere. On Wednesday, the Congolese-Angolan singer Ricardo Lemvo will be joined by the salsa trombonist Jimmy Bosch, and the Loser’s Lounge plays disco on Thursday.

On Saturday,June 28  the Band Courtbouillon, featuring the accordionist and singer Wayne Toups, Steve Riley (of the Mamou Playboys), and Wilson Savoy (from the Pine Leaf Boys), makes its New York City début.” (Chinen-NYT).  If Wayne Toups is anything like I remember from the NewOrleans Jazz fest, you don’t want to miss him.
At 7:30 p.m. (with a dance lesson at 6:30 p.m.),
Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center, Amsterdam Ave. and W. 62 St.,
212-721-6500, midsummernightswing.org;
$17, $60 for four dance passes, $84 for six passes, $170 for the full season

Night at the Museums
“More than 10 museums in Lower Manhattan will open their doors, from 4 to 8 p.m., for an evening of free visits as part of the River to River festival. The participating institutions include the Museum of American Finance, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the Skyscraper Museum and the South Street Seaport Museum. Tickets must be reserved in advance for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. More details: nightatthemuseums.org.” (NYT)

John Doe
Doe, who first rose to fame as the front man for the Los Angeles-based punk band X, has had a long and rootsy solo career. His tenor is as big as a film-noir Buick, and he has a knack for portraying unlucky characters.

This is part of the 6th Annual Hudson Square Music & Wine Festival, an after-work Backyard Party held every Tuesday from June 3rd through August 26^th, in the back parking lot behind City Winery.
City Winery, 155 Varick St, Tribeca (btw Vandam/Spring St. – #1 to Houston).
from 5PM-7:30PM / FREE
212-608-0555 / citywinery.com

Elvis Costello (also June 25)
“Costello isn’t the intense spitfire he was in the late seventies, when he led the crop of Angry Young Men who bridged the gap between punk and New Wave. He isn’t the songwriting superhero he was in the eighties, when he could knock out classic albums like “King of America” and “Blood and Chocolate” in the same year, or the relentlessly restless talent of the nineties, when he jumped from genre to genre, often via collaboration: classical (“The Juliet Letters,” with the Brodsky Quartet) or sublimely subtle adult pop (“Painted from Memory,” with Burt Bacharach, in 1998).

Costello still makes interesting choices these days (his last record, “Wise Up Ghost,” was a team-up with the Roots), and he’s at Carnegie Hall June 24-25, performing songs from his vast catalogue in solo shows that he’s calling “The Last Year of My Youth.” (NewYorker)
Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, Seventh Ave. at 57th St.
212-247-7800, carnegiehall.org
At 8 p.m., / $50 to $150.

Tierney Sutton (through June 28)
The West Coast bebop singer Tierney Sutton begins a weeklong engagement at Birdland on Tuesday.
Birdland, 315 West 44th St.
212-581-3080, birdlandjazz.com
at 8:30 and 11 p.m. / $40, with a $10 minimum.

===============================================================
♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
==============================================================================

A PremierPub – Upper West Side

Dinosaur / 700 W125th St. @ 12th ave.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Website: http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/
Phone #: 212-694-1777
Hours: M-Th 11:30am-11:00pm; Fr-Sa 11:30am-12:00am;
Su 12:00pm-10:00pm
Happy Hour: 4-7pm every day; $1 off all drinks
Music: Fri / Sat 10:00pm
Subway: #1 to 125th st
Walk 2 blk W on 125th to Dinosaur Bar-B-Q,
just past the elevated highway

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

If you have a fave premier pub or good eating place on Manhattan’s WestSide let us all know about it – leave a comment.
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Today’s “Fab 5″+1/ Selected NYCity Events – MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2014.

Alan Broadbent
“Hidden in plain sight, the New Zealand-born pianist has been a linchpin of Charlie Haden’s Quartet West unit since the late eighties, as well as a Grammy-winning arranger whose tasteful charts have enlivened recordings by Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, and Paul McCartney. (And in “Heart’s Desire,” the touching ballad that he co-wrote with Dave Frishberg, Broadbent can also lay claim to a contemporary standard.) High-profile work aside, Broadbent’s exceptionally nimble and elegant playing best reveals itself in his own projects. He brings his trio to Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola for one night.” (NewYorker)
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th St. and Broadway,
212-258-9595, jalc.org;
At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. / $30 cover, with a $10 minimum

Alan Cumming – “I Am Not a Cheese: I Do Not Have a Process,”
“Alan Cumming has professed to hate talking about acting, but that is exactly what the Library for the Performing Arts has asked the Tony Award-winning actor to do. Best known for roles spanning the Broadway stage (“Cabaret”), TV (“The Good Wife”) and film (“Goldeneye”), Cumming has also written a memoir “Not My Father’s Son,” in which he shares the emotional story of his complicated relationship with his father and the deeply buried family secrets that shaped his life and career.

In this New York Public Library for the Performing Arts talk titled, “I Am Not a Cheese: I Do Not Have a Process,” the Scottish-American actor will reveal the stories behind his most celebrated performances. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis with admission lines forming one hour prior to the show (5 p.m.) in the lobby at 111 Amsterdam Ave., Upper West Side.” (DNA Info)
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium. Showtime, 6 p.m.

The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series
An enchanting evening of favorite opera arias and duets featuring Metropolitan Opera stars. The Metropolitan Opera continues its summertime tradition of performing in the picturesque outdoor settings of various City parks. This year’s artists include soprano Amber Wagner, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, tenor Russell Thomas and pianist Dan Saunders.

The performance dates and locations are as follows: June 23 in Central Park, June 25 at Brooklyn Bridge Park, July 1 at Crotona Park, July 3 at Clove Lakes Park, July 8 at Jackie Robinson Park and July 10 at Socrates Sculpture Park. (nycgo.com)
Central Park SummerStage, Rumsey Playfield, Enter at 69th and 5th Ave.
At 8pm / FREE
metopera.org.

Glenn Greenwald:
No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State
Special guest Wallace Shawn introduces an evening with political journalist Greenwald, whose new book overviews the hot-topic issue of government surveillance. A book signing follows the discussion.
Carnegie Hall, 154 W 57th St. btw Sixth and Seventh Aves
212-247-7800 / carnegiehall.org
7:30pm / $12

Tegan and Sara
In Tegan and Sara’s 13-year career, they’ve made progressively influential material that has earned them a global following. The Canadian twins are back again, but this time they’re playing ’90s inspired music influenced by artists many of us have become increasingly nostalgic for this year as electronica seemingly devolves. Released in 2013, Heartthrob is the duo’s seventh studio album, filled with infectious singles like “I Was a Fool,” “Closer,” and “Now I’m All Messed Up”–modern pop/rock that makes you feel young and carefree, in the same vein as Ace of Base or “Baby Baby”-era Amy Grant.

Tegan and Sara will be supporting Katy Perry on her Prismatic World Tour in September, which will also mark the anniversary of their much-celebrated fourth album, So Jealous. In the meantime, they’ll be doing what they do best: bridging the pop and indie music worlds as they finish up their Let’s Make Things Physical tour with The Courtneys–a Vancouver-based slacker pop trio blowing up skirts with their flying nun-influenced punk/pop that also drifts back to the sound of the early ’90s.” (Erin Manning-VillageVoice)
Hammerstein Ballroom
8:00 p.m., / $39.50

Elsewhere, but worth a detour:
The Big Chill
“Take a break from summer’s rising temperatures at this cool-eats hangout. The family-style spread—prepared by Peck’s using ingredients from Whole Foods—includes open-faced gravlax sandwiches on Russian black bread and chicken liver terrine with verjus gelée and tart pickles, served alongside ice-cold cans of Summer Ale and EIPAs from Brooklyn Brewery.” (TONY)
Brooklyn Brewery, 79 North 11th St. btw Berry St and Wythe Ave
Subway: L to Bedford Ave
718-486-7422 / brooklynbrewery.com
631-537-4637 / ediblemanhattan.com/event/big-chill/
6:00pm / $40

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♦ Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and times, as schedules are subject to change.

♦ NYCity is a big town with many visitors where quality shows draw crowds. Try to reserve seats in advance, even if just on day of performance.
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What’s on View:
Special Exhibitions @ 3 Museum Mile / Fifth Ave. Museums:

‘Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century’ (through July 27)
The Flowering of Edo Period Painting: Japanese Masterworks from the Feinberg Collection’ (through Sept. 7)
‘Early American Guitars: The Instruments of C.F. Martin’ (through Dec. 7)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave, at 82nd St.
(212) 535-7710 / metmuseum.org

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Guggenheim Museum: ‘Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe’ (through Sept. 1)
“This epic, beautifully designed exhibition may be one of the more thorough examinations of modernism’s most obnoxious and conflicted art movement that you are likely to see. Awash in the manifestoes that its members regularly fired off, it follows Futurism through to its end with the death of its founder, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, in 1944. It covers the Futurist obsessions with speed, war, machines and, finally, flight and the aerial views it made possible. And the show highlights relatively unknown figures like the delightful Fortunato Depero and Benedetta Cappa, Marinetti’s wife. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, 212-423-3500, guggenheim.org.“ (Smith-NYT)
Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th St.
(212) 423-3500 / guggenheim.org.
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‘Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937’ (through June 30)
Neue Galerie, 1048 Fifth Avenue, at 86th St.
212-628-6200 / neuegalerie.org.

========================================================== Museum Mile is a section of Fifth Avenue which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world. Ten museums can be found along this section of Fifth Avenue:

• 110th Street – Museum for African Art

• 105th Street – El Museo del Barrio

• 103rd Street – Museum of the City of New York

• 92nd Street – The Jewish Museum

• 91st Street – Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

• 89th Street – National Academy Museum

• 88th Street – Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

• 86th Street – Neue Galerie New York

• 83rd Street – Goethe-Institut

Last, but certainly not least, America’s premier museum
• 82nd Street – The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Additionally, though technically not part of the Museum Mile, the Frick Collection on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 70th St. and the The Morgan Library & Museum on Madison Ave and 37th St are also located near Fifth Ave. Now plan your own museum crawl. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in right Sidebar: “NYCity Events: Manhattan’s WestSide” dated 06/21 and 06/19.