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Mon, Aug 31, 2020, 7:00 AM – Sun, Sep 6, 2020, 8:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2020 (Ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
Free (soundtrack must be purchased)
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
Something you can actually Go Out! to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (while you're at it, download Bell's "This Is Not a Land of Kings" as well: it's GREAT!). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White (who seemingly couldn't write an unenjoyable tune if he tried). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bring bottled water. As for afterward, 5th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets is designated for street dining on weekends, if you find that compelling. OTOH: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/07/23/reckless-driver-plows-into-sunset-park-outdoor-dining-area-injuring-patrons/
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Sunday, August 30, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Karyn Levitt: On Hollywood and Weimar
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2020
3:00 PM
MetropolitanZoom
$25/$40 VIP (with access to post-show meet & greet)
https://metropolitanzoom.ticketleap.com/karyn-levitt--on-hollywood-and/details
Weimar cabaret expert Karyn Levitt reprises her cabaret act (with no less than Jed Distler on piano!) exploring the impact of European emigre composers on Hollywood movie music in the '30s. Great stuff. Unbelievably great stuff.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Brown Derby: pour 2 oz. Bourbon, 1 oz. grapefruit juice, and 1/2 oz. rich honey syrup (3:1 honey:water) into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Sunday, August 30, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Eastman: Gay Guerilla
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2020
3:00 PM
Summer Online Festival 2020
The Italian Academy, Columbia University Live Stream
Free
https://italianacademy.columbia.edu/event/summer-online-festival-2020
Julius Eastman wrote the most emotionally searing Minimalist music you could imagine, paving the way for a great expanse of the music that followed — music that Eastman didn't live to hear. Here's a synchronous live performance of Eastman's galvanic Gay Guerrilla by performers located around the world.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Professional: pour 1-1/2 oz. Bourbon, 1/2 oz. Overproof Jamaican Rum, and 1 oz. Campari into an Old Fashioned glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Saturday, August 29, 2020, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Eschaton
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020 (Weekly through SEPTEMBER 26)
10:00 PM
Zoom
$10
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/eschaton
An immersive experience in which viewers wander from room to virtual room seeing different variety acts and interacting with them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's late on a Saturday, so I'm going to recommend something strong. Don't blame me for how you feel Sunday morning. Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up: pour 2 oz. Absinthe, 1 oz. Gin, 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup, and 1 dash each of Angostura and orange bitters into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a wine glass, and fill up with soda water.
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Saturday, August 29, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Stephanie Zwirsky: A Play about Doing a Play about Jared Kushner on Zoom!
THEATER
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020
8:00 PM
LIMEFest
The Tank Live Stream
$10
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/2020/8/29/a-play-about-doing-a-play-about-jared-kushner-on-zoom
A Jewish woman had written a play about a Jewish woman's going back in time to break the penis of her and the playwright's coreligionist Jared Kushner. But the Pandemic — as exacerbated by Kushner himself — forced the cancellation of the planned live performances of the play, and its reconstitution as a Zoom performance about reconstituting the play as a Zoom performance.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Kushner Cocktail: pour 1 oz. each of Cyanide, Coumatetralyl, and Hydrochloric Acid into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a lemon wedge. Give it to Jared and tell him it's a Vodka Soda.
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Saturday, August 29, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Puppet Spread: LIMEFest Edition
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020
7:00 PM
LIMEFest
The Tank Live Stream
$5
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/2020/8/29/puppet-spread-limefest-edition
Puppets! Animation! Toy theater! This time, female-identified!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Pink Rose (a Pink Lady with cream): pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. each of lemon juice, Grenadine, and cream, and one egg white into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ice. Dry shake. Add ice. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Saturday, August 29, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Starr Busby: 9CupsintheMoon
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020
5:00 PM
Summer Arts Festival
Bushwick Starr Live Stream
Free
https://www.thebushwickstarr.org/summer-arts-festival
Brooklyn's own avant-R&B songster Starr Busby puts on an online AV show.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: What else but a Bushwick? Pour 2 oz. Rye, 3/4 oz. sweet Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. each Maraschino liqueur and Bigallet China-China (standing in for the unavailable Amer Picon) into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 5:00 PM – Sun, Aug 30, 2020, 6:00 PM
Front Porch Productions
MUSIC
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, AUGUST 29 & 30, 2020
5:00 PM
The Quarantine Concerts
Experimental Sound Studio Live Stream
Free
https://ess.org/the-quarantine-concerts
An eclectic and wide-ranging collection of artists over the course of two evenings, including among many others the sonically adventurous Minimalist Arnold Dreyblatt; Xiu Xiu, a band I should like more (but you probably do); and Tony Buck, the drummer of New Zealand's great post-jazz trio The Necks.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Odd McIntyre: pour 3/4 oz. each of Cognac, Cocchi Americano, Cointreau, and lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Saturday, August 29, 2020, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Yoshiko Chuma & The School of Hard Knocks: Zooma — Dead End: Venezuela / Brussels
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020
11:00 AM
Saturday Morning Live
La MaMa Live Stream
Zoom
Free (donation requested)
http://lamama.org/saturday-morning-live/
Downtown multidisciplinary performance stalwart Yoshiko Chuma brings her kaleidoscopic thing online in a periodic series. One can almost imagine being awake at 11 AM on a Saturday for this.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Mexico 70: pour 1 oz. Blanco Tequila, 1/2 oz. lime juice, and 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Champagne flute. Top with 3 oz. Champagne. Garnish with a lime wheel.
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Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 9:00 PM – Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 10:00 PM
David Murray
MUSIC
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, AUGUST 28 & 29, 2020
9:00 PM
Village Vanguard Live Stream
$10
https://villagevanguard.com/
When saxophonist David Murray emerged from the Loft Jazz scene in the '70s, he seemed like he was the Savior of Jazz. He brought Avant-Gutbucket to almost unimagined heights. He was not only the best Outside player, but probably also the best Inside player — often within the same song! He has since been so prolific that it's been hard to hear him clearly. But on a good night, he makes music so good you can hardly believe you're hearing it. Tonight, he plays in a duo with a longtime collaborator, pianist Lafayette Gilchrist — a format that often brings out the best in Murray.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: King Cole: pour 2-1/4 oz. Bourbon, 1/2 oz. Fernet Branca, and 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup into an Old Fashioned glass. Add ice. Stir. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Friday, August 28, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Electric Eclectics
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2020
8:00 PM
The Quarantine Concerts
Experimental Sound Studio Live Stream
$10 suggested donation
https://ess.org/the-quarantine-concerts
Just going by the NYC contingent — longtime noise explorer Bob Bellerue and sonic concretist Laura Ortman — this will be a good night.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I would never have thought to combine the ingredients of a Seaport (which is why I'm a writer not a mixologist): pour 1-1/2 oz. Mezcal, 1/2 oz. green Chartreuse, 1 oz. pineapple juice, 1/2 oz. lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup, with a few dashes of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Friday, August 28, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2020 (Weekly)
5:00 PM
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Facebook
Free
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ethel-online
The fab alt string quartet ETHEL brings its weekly recitals in the Met Balcony Bar home (theirs and yours). Expect old and new music, and surprise guests (from still more homes).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Old Hickory: pour 1 oz. each of sweet and dry Vermouth, with 2 dashes of orange bitters and 1 dash of Peychaud's bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Thursday, August 27, 2020, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM
C4: Night / Light
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2020
8:30 PM
#C4GoesRemote Live Stream
Free (tips encouraged)
http://www.c4ensemble.org/
The estimable Choral Composers/Conducters Collective presents a live-streamed concert showing off their composing, singing, and tech prowess.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Have we shared an Arinato yet? We will tonight! Pour 1-1/2 oz. Mezcal, 3/4 oz. Lilet Blanc (you KNOW I'm going to swap in Kina l'Aero d'Oro), 1/2 oz. dry Vermouth, 1/4 oz. yellow Chartreuse, and 1/2 teaspoon of Maraschino liqueur, with 2 dashes of Peychaud's bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
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Thursday, August 27, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Yuko Otomo & Matt Mottel feat. Loren Connors & Susan Langille: The Steve Circuit: World Trade Center
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2020
8:00 PM
ISSUE Project Room Stream
Free
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/steve-circuit-yuko-otomo-matt-mottel-downtown-music-gallery-loren-connors-suzanne-langille
ISSUE Project Room continues its weekly video feature paying tribute to the late Downtown poet Steve Dalachinsky, created by Dalachinsky's widow, the painter and poet Yuko Otomo, and interdisciplinary artist Matt Mottel. The various episodes take you around Steve Dalinchinksy's New York (in a very suggestive, figurative way); this week we visit the venerable record store/performance space Downtown Music Gallery with yet another Downtown (well actually Brooklyn, since that's now the real Downtown) Power Couple: avant-blues guitar/voice duo Loren Connors and Susan Langille!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fancy Free: pour 2-1/4 oz. Bourbon and 1/2 oz. Maraschino liqueur, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters and 1 dash of orange bitters, into an Old Fashioned glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Thursday, August 27, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Brooklyn Rider
PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/brooklyn-rider
Brooklyn's favorite string quartet plays a recital of unspecified material. But you don't need to know what they'll be playing to know this is worth a shot.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Rattlesnake: rinse a chilled Martini glass or coupe with Absinthe. Pour 2 oz. Rye, 3/4 oz. each of lemon juice and Simple Syrup, and 1 egg white into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ice. Dry shake. Add ice. Shake. Strain into the rinsed glass.
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Thursday, August 27, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, AUGUST 25 & 27, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases ace musicians associated with its excellent self, or in any event friends of the ensemble, playing solo contemporary, classical, and newly commissioned pieces from home. Metropolis Ensemble has assured me they don't make these musicians play this early; these are (new) prerecordings prepared for this series.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 8:15 PM – 9:15 PM
Arlekin Players' Theater: State v. Natasha Banina
THEATER
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020
8:15 PM
Shakespeare & Company / Cherry Orchard Festival
Zoom
$25
https://www.shakespeare.org/calendar/2020/08/26/state-vs-natasha-banina
One of THE Zoomed theater smashes of the Quarantine returns. The hallucinatory story of a Russian orphan on trial for manslaughter — with the audience as jury. If you're in the Berkshires you can see it on a big screen at a drive-in; those of us insufficiently Bougie to be in such climes can watch on our monitors.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: We really do have to abandon our standards and have a Vodka cocktail with this. Kamikaze: pour 1-1/2 oz. Vodka and 1 oz. each of Cointreau (or other Triple Sec) and lime juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lime wedge.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Teenage Wet Dream
THEATER
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020
7:00 PM
LIMEFest
The Tank Live Stream
Free ($5 donation requested)
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/2020/8/26/teenage-wet-dream
Two girls stalk a former boyband singer outside his apartment. This is a live stream of an onsite performance outside an actual NYC apartment building!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Pink Lady: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 3/4 oz. Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy, 1/4 oz. lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon Grenadine, and 1 egg white into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ice. Dry shake. Add ice. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
JACK Quartet
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020
6:00 PM
Merkin Hall
Kaufman Music Center Stream
$15
https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/jack-quartet/
The stellar JACK Quartet — the best Contemporary Classical string quartet there is — plays music by a bunch of composers you want to hear: George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Marcos Balter, Zosha di Castri, and Clara Ionnatta. All sharing the characteristics (which do not always go together) of being uncompromising but also totally compelling.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Improved New York Cocktail (this is great one, guys): pour 1 oz. each of Rye and Cognac, 1/2 oz. Maraschino liqueur, and 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe, with 3 dashes of Peychaud's bitters, into an Old Fashioned glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Brandon Collwes: Sonic Gathering XIX presents
OPERA / DANCE / MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020
6:00 PM
John King: disappearant
Zoom
Facebook
Free (with registration) (donation requested)
https://www.facebook.com/events/224384272317120/
Ex-Cunningham dancer (and painter) Brandon Collwes collaborates with avant-garde guitarist/composer (and violist, but the viola must always go last) John King on a new "micro-opera", with vocals by the ab fab Gelsey Bell!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Too Soon?: put 2 orange slices in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Pour in 1 oz. each of Gin and Cynar, 3/4 oz. lemon juice, and 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup. Add ice. Shake very hard. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tue, Aug 25, 2020, 7:30 PM – Thu, Aug 27, 2020, 8:30 PM
The Drunkard's Wife: Beast Visit
THEATER / PERFORMANCE
TUESDAY – THURSDAY, AUGUST 25 – 27, 2020
SOME UNDISCLOSED TIME AROUND SUNSET (DETAILS PROVIDED UPON TICKETING)
#stillHERE irl
Some Undisclosed Location, Bushwick, Brooklyn (details provided upon ticketing)
Free
https://here.org/shows/beast-visit/
Something else you can Go Out! to. Experimental site-specific music-theater specialists The Drunkard's Wife create a live encounter with creatures living in a notional Bushwick sculpture garden. All tickets to this almost unbelievably appealing live show are taken, but there's a wait list.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bushwick is a big place, so who knows how close it is to the undisclosed performance site, but Roberta's will be open before and after each performance.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Lucy Dhegrae
MUSIC
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/lucy-dhegrae
Lucy Dhegrae had become so crucially important to the NYC Contemporary Classical scene as an impresario that it was becoming too easy to forget what a supremely excellent, fearlessly adventurous singer she is. That perhaps explains her recent decision to scale back her producing/organizing activities in favor of performing. This unmissable show finds her teaming with her frequent duo partner, pianist Nathaniel LaNasa, for a recital centering on themes of relationships and community.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: 20th Century: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. each of Cocchi Americano, lemon juice, and Crème de Cacao into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe (or best of all, Nick and Nora glass). Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
CyberTank Variety Show
THEATER / PERFORMANCE / DANCE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2020 (Weekly)
4:00 PM
The Tank
Twitch
Free
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/2020/8/25/cybertank-variety-show
Performing artists share what they've been working on. This week: females!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: People are coming up with all sorts of ways to effectuate a Gimlet without the use of odious Rose's Lime Cordial. Many of them are fairly elaborate and involve your messing around with things like citric acid. While this quick fix is not quite as good as those, it's good enough — and a lot easier. Pour 2 oz. Gin, 1 oz. lime juice, and 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, AUGUST 25 & 27, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases ace musicians associated with its excellent self, or in any event friends of the ensemble, playing solo contemporary, classical, and newly commissioned pieces from home. Metropolis Ensemble has assured me they don't make these musicians play this early; these are (new) prerecordings prepared for this series.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Mon, Aug 24, 2020, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 30, 2020, 7:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 – 30, 2020 (Ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
Free (soundtrack must be purchased)
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
Something you can actually Go Out! to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand (while you're at it, download Bell's "This Is Not a Land of Kings" as well: it's GREAT!). Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inimitable Joe White (who seemingly couldn't write an unenjoyable tune if he tried). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetery.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bring bottled water. As for afterward, 5th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets is designated for street dining on weekends, if you find that compelling. OTOH: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/07/23/reckless-driver-plows-into-sunset-park-outdoor-dining-area-injuring-patrons/
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Sunday, August 23, 2020, 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
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Saturday, August 22, 2020, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Eschaton
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020 (Weekly through AUGUST 29)
10:00 PM
Zoom
$10
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/eschaton
An immersive experience in which viewers wander from room to virtual room seeing different variety acts and interacting with them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's late on a Saturday, so I'm going to recommend something strong. Don't blame me for how you feel Sunday morning. Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up: pour 2 oz. Absinthe, 1 oz. Gin, 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup, and 1 dash each of Angostura and orange bitters into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a wine glass, and fill up with soda water.
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Saturday, August 22, 2020, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Yoshiko Chuma & The School of Hard Knocks: Zooma — Dead End: Tehran / Ankara
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020
11:00 AM
Saturday Morning Live
La MaMa Live Stream
Zoom
Free (donation requested)
http://lamama.org/saturday-morning-live/
Downtown multidisciplinary performance stalwart Yoshiko Chuma brings her kaleidoscopic thing online in a periodic series. One can almost imagine being awake at 11 AM on a Saturday for this.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Wild Heart: pour 1-1/2 oz. each of Aperol and Vermouth Blanc, and 3/4 oz. lemon juice, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over ice. Top with bitter lemon soda. Garnish with an orange wheel.
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Friday, August 21, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Heavy Air Happy Hour
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020
9:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio:The Quarantine Concerts
Twitch
$5 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/tqc-heavyairhappyhour
Various musicians from Chicago's incredibly fertile jazz scene collaborate with dancer/choreographers from that great city. More of the same at 8:00 PM tomorrow (SATURDAY, AUGUST 22) and Sunday (AUGUST 23) for $10 streamed from Chicago's Elastic Arts.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The most iconic cocktail in Chicago's revived cocktail scene, Toby Maloney's Juliet and Romeo: Put 3 slices of cucumber and a pinch of salt in a cocktail shaker. Muddle. Pour in 2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. each of lime juice and Simple Syrup, with 1 mint sprig. Add ice. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Add in 1/4 teaspoon of Rosewater and 3 dashes of Angostura bitters. Garnish with a mint leave.
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Fri, Aug 21, 2020, 9:00 PM – Sat, Aug 22, 2020, 10:00 PM
Andrew Cyrille
MUSIC
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, AUGUST 21 & 22, 2020
9:00 PM
Village Vanguard Live Stream
$10
https://villagevanguard.com/
Andrew Cyrille is one of the best free jazz drummers in the history of that form of music — and also one of the most lilting. And he has a powerhouse band for these shows: bassist Ben Street(!), pianist David Virelles(!!), and guitarist Bill Frisell(!!!).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Necromancer: pour 1-1/2 oz. Rhum Agricole, 3/4 oz. each of grapefruit juice and Cocchi Americano, 1/2 oz. Falernum, and 1/4 teaspoon Absinthe into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Martini glass or coupe.
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Friday, August 21, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Virtual Community Salon
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020 (Biweekly)
7:30 PM
Contemporaneous
Zoom
Free (with registration)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-community-salon-tickets-109687016820
A virtual salon. Artists and performers can share pieces in whatever stage of completion. Everyone else can comment and converse.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A personal favorite, the Champs-Élysées: pour 1 oz. Cognac, 1/2 oz. each of green Chartreuse (some prefer yellow Chartreuse in this; I'm not gonna say they're wrong, but . . . ) and lemon juice, and 1/4 oz. of Simple Syrup, with one dash of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Friday, August 21, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020 (Weekly)
5:00 PM
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Facebook
Free
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ethel-online
The fab alt string quartet ETHEL brings its weekly recitals in the Met Balcony Bar home (theirs and yours). Expect old and new music, and surprise guests (from still more homes).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Old Hickory: pour 1 oz. each of sweet and dry Vermouth, with 2 dashes of orange bitters and 1 dash of Peychaud's bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Friday, August 21, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Roomful of Teeth: "The Ascendant" and "Just Constellations" Double EP Release Party
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020
5:00 PM
Zoom
Free
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QJunwWubT-KT9LsZlernjw
Just between us, I'm extremely skeptical of the value of these online "album release parties" where artists play tracks from their new releases and chat about them. Frankly, I find what artists have to say about their work to be of negative value: I care about what I think about their work, not what they do. But, of course, YMMV — and in terms of contemporary/Alt Classical, the vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth is as good as it gets. I'd almost recommend this show more to those who think they don't like this kind of music than to the converted: the skeptics might be surprised how much they enjoy this — especially with explanations.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cuban #2: pour 2 oz. white Rum and 3/4 oz. each of lime juice and Grenadine into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Friday, August 21, 2020, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Shayok Misha Chowdury: Vichitra: Englandbashi
THEATER
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020
1:00 PM
#stillHERE
HERE Live Stream
Pay What You Can (reservation required)
https://here.org/shows/vichitra/
The estimable Bengal-to-Brooklyn theater-maker Shayok Misha Chowdury presents a new episode in an extended "experiment in queer South Asian imagination," this one "a ghost story about taking reincarnation (too?) seriously." May be great; won't be dull.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Abbey Cocktail: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. each of Lillet Blanc (or, even better, Kina L'Aero d'Or) and orange juice, with 2 dashes of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
-
Thursday, August 20, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Livestream Concert: Miguel Zenóm
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
8:00 PM
Jazz Gallery
YouTube
$10
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/livestream-miguel-zenon
This Jazz Gallery initiative presents full-scale concerts (as opposed to solo recitals). Tonight's concert features a trio led by alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, who piquantly mixes the music of Puerto Rico into his thoroughly modern jazz.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I'm discovering that I REALLY like Strega Daiquiris: pour 1 oz. each of white Rum and Strega, 1/2 oz. each of orange juice and lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon of Orgeat into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Thursday, August 20, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Yuko Otomo & Matt Mottel feat. Lee Ranaldo & Leah Singer: The Steve Circuit: World Trade Center
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
8:00 PM
ISSUE Project Room Stream
Free
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/steve-circuit-yuko-otomo-matt-mottel-world-trade-center-lee-ranaldo-leah-singer
ISSUE Project Room continues its weekly video feature paying tribute to the late Downtown poet Steve Dalachinsky, created by Dalachinsky's widow, the painter and poet Yuko Otomo, and interdisciplinary artist Matt Mottel. The various episodes take you around Steve Dalinchinksy's New York (in a very suggestive, figurative way); this week we go to the World Trade Center in the company of another Downtown Power Couple, who live in that hood: photographer/multimedia artist Leah Singer and sometime Sonic Youth guitarist (and List college friend) Lee Ranaldo (be sure you haven't missed his fantastic last two albums!).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's go Commando: pour 1-1/2 oz. Bourbon, 3/4 oz. each Cointreau and lime juice, 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup, and 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
-
Thursday, August 20, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Thana Alexa & Antonio Sanchez
PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/thana-alexa-antonio-sanchez
Vocalist Thana Alexa is a force. And how lucky to have as her in-house percussion section/life partner one of the most distinctive, interesting drummers in all of jazz, Antonio Sánchez.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Haitian Divorce (it shouldn't happen to Thana and Antonio!): pour 1-1/2 oz. aged Rum, 3/4 oz. Mezcal, and 1/2 oz. Pedro Jimenez Sherry, with 3 dashes of Angostura bitters, into rocks glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with a lime twist and an orange twist.
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Thursday, August 20, 2020, 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Four Four Dance Hour: Tethered
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
4:00 – 10:00 PM (looped continuously)
Public Records Public Access
Free
https://publicrecords.tv/
Music with visuals, on a continuous loop from 4 PM to 10 PM. The problem with these Public Records Public Access presentations is that, good as the visuals can be, you need to see them on a bigger screen than even a large computer monitor for them to be compelling. Otherwise, what would be overwhelming in a club is just . . . whelming. OTOH, electronic danceish music by Son Lux offshoot Thether has be worth a listen. So, highly recommended if you can get the visuals onto a big screen.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: From the inimitable Charles H. Baker, Jr., the Fizz de Violette: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. Crème de Violette, 3/4 oz. lemon/lime juice (combined), and 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup, with one egg white, into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ice. Dry shake. Add ice. Shake. Pour into a Highball or Collins glass over ice. Top with club soda.
-
Thursday, August 20, 2020, 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Ultra Music Presents: Nico Losada
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020
4:00 – 10:00 PM (looped continuously)
Public Records Public Access
Free
https://publicrecords.tv/
More music with visuals, on a continuous loop from 4 PM to 10 PM. See caveat above. This show features music by Nico Losada, one half of the absolutely delightful Colombian-in-Brooklyn synth-dance-pop duo Salt Cathedral.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Refajo: get some Colombiana soda (they sell it on Amazon). Mix it in equal parts with beer. Spend all Sunday afternoon drinking it.
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Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 2:00 PM – Fri, Aug 21, 2020, 3:00 PM
Lisa Bielawa: Broadcast from Home
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY & FRIDAY, AUGUST 20 & 21, 2020
2:00 PM
Kaufman Music Center Live Stream
Free
THURSDAY: https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/broadcast-from-home-listening-event-1/
FRIDAY: https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/broadcast-from-home-listening-event-2/
The imaginative and empathetic composer Lisa Bielawa — certainly one of those who have their own sound world that you can recognize immediately — conducted a coronavirus project over the Summer in which she solicited short testimonies from the public reflecting on coronavirus experiences, wrote melodies for them, gave them to singers to record, and then composed backing tracks for them. She's now amalgamated them into a single big piece, which we get to hear over two days with singers and players from all over the world.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A Diplomat: pour 1-1/2 oz. each dry and sweet Vermouth, with 1 dash each of Maraschino liqueur and Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into an ice-filled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist or cocktail cherry.
-
Thursday, August 20, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, AUGUST 18 & 20, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases ace musicians associated with its excellent self, or in any event friends of the ensemble, playing solo contemporary, classical, and newly commissioned pieces from home. Metropolis Ensemble has assured me they don't make these musicians play this early; these are (new) prerecordings prepared for this series.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
-
Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 23, 2020, 3:00 PM
Beethoven: To My Distant Love
MUSIC
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 20- 23, 2020
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM THURSDAY
7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM FRIDAY
1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM SATURDAY
1:00, 1:30 & 2:00 PM SUNDAY
On Site Opera
Via Telephone
$40
https://osopera.org/productions/distantlove/
I didn't List this initially, because Beethoven isn't just mainstream, but the definition of mainstream: the progenitor of the Masterpiece Complex that has stultified classical music since the dark days of the early-mid 19th Century. To be sure, he's also unbelievably great — and this piece is, for what it's worth, the first song cycle in the Western classical tradition. But really this event gets Listed for its innovative form: a singer — you get to chose between soprano and baritone — will phone you (that's right: you have to remember how to answer a telephone call) and, after engaging in amorous chitchat, sing the cycle to you over the phone (after having sent you longing emails in the week before the performance). Now some of us view that kind of one-on-one interaction with performers with horror (especially when, as is the case with the splendid soprano Jennifer Zetlan, her husband will be sitting in the room with her accompanying her love songs to you on the piano!). Some of us also wonder whether it's really worth paying $40 to listen to music over the phone — perhaps the worst vehicle for sound transmission in current mass use — when we can listen to, say, Christian Gerhaher brilliantly reproduced on our stereos (yeah yeah, I know: having a stereo is even more paleolithic than answering a phone call). But On Site Opera has to get points for coming up with a really clever response to the obstacles facing live music-making under The Quarantine. And the basic thesis of this List is of course that live performance is an unmatchable experience. So it's your call. IF you can get a ticket, that is: they're scarce (I mean, every performance has an audience of one).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Absinthe Drip: pour 5 oz. of water into an Absinthe Fountain. Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into an Absinthe Glass. Place an Absinthe Spoon holding a sugar cube across the top of the Absinthe Glass under a spigot of the Absinthe Fountain. Drip water from the Absinthe Fountain through the Absinthe Spoon into the Absinthe Glass. The sugar cube should dissolve and the Absinthe take on a louche (i.e., turn milky). Stir briefly before drinking (happily, you don't need a special Absinthe Stirrer). (PS: you can get perfectly acceptable results by simply pouring ice water slowly into any old glass holding Absinthe with a sugar cube you've muddled at the bottom.
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Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Wall Street Roof
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2020
5:00 PM
Social Bubble Salon Concerts
Composers Concordance
Facebook
Free (donation requested)
https://www.facebook.com/ComposersConcordance
Vernacular-inflected New Music and improvisations played on a high terrace in a FiDi Deco office building. There'll also be an "ariel tour" of Wall Street!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Sam Ross's great great Paper Plane: pour 3/4 oz. each of Bourbon, Aperol, lemon juice, and Amaro (Nonino by preference) into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Stefani Kuo: China Dreams or the Conservation of Parity
THEATER
TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2020
7:30 PM
Bedlam Theater
Zoom
Facebook
Free (donation requested)
https://bedlam.org/benefit-reading/
Playwright Stefani Kuo is a major talent. This piece treats the life and work of Wu Chien-Shiung, the only physicist working on the Manhattan Project who was a Chinese woman.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You might recognize the Quill as a close variation on a rather familar cocktail: pour 1 oz. each of Gin, sweet Vermouth, and Campari, with 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe, into a rocks glass or tumbler over ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Conrad Tao
MUSIC
TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/conrad-tao
The formidable (and that's just the half of it) pianist Conrad Tao plays John Adams's great early bagatelle, China Gates, and a bunch of improvisations.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A neat variation on the Don't Give Up the Ship cocktail, the All Hands on Deck: pour 1-1/2 oz. Mezcal and 1/2 oz. each of Fernet Branca, sweet Vermouth, and Curaçao into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
CyberTank Variety Show: How to Use an Onion
THEATER / PERFORMANCE / DANCE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2020 (Weekly)
4:00 PM
The Tank
Twitch
Free
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/2020/8/11/cybertank-variety-show
Performing artists share what they've been working on. This week: females!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Hays Collins: rinse a Collins glass with Absinthe. Pour 2 oz. Gin and 3/4 oz. each of lemon juice and Simple Syrup into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into the rinsed glass over ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with an orange slice and a cocktail cherry.
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Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 2:30 PM – Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 3:30 PM
Mise-En Music Festival
MUSIC
TUESDAY – THURSDAY, AUGUST 18 – 20, 2020 (actually it started on Monday, but the producers' refusal to provide any advance information prevented me from telling you about it on time)
2:30 PM
Mise-En Live Stream
Facebook
YouTube
Free
https://www.festival.mise-en.org/2020/
I honestly don't get it. I knew this Festival was supposed to be starting Monday, but despite my entreaties for advance information, the presenters wouldn't provide any. I'm sorry you (and I) had to miss the first day — but rest assured that the remaining shows are all well worth your time and attention, if you're interested in New Music (and if not, why are you reading this List?). I understand the exigencies we're all working under in these troubled times, and that the presenters might be almost (they couldn't possibly be equally) as underfunded as I am. But since I feel I owe you subscribers the best information possible, I wish presenters would get their shit together.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: At 2:30 in the afternoon, what you want is a A Room With a View: pour 1 oz. each of dry Vermouth, Campari, and lime juice, and 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Highball or Collins glass over ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with an orange slice.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, AUGUST 18 & 20, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases ace musicians associated with its excellent self, or in any event friends of the ensemble, playing solo contemporary, classical, and newly commissioned pieces from home. Metropolis Ensemble has assured me they don't make these musicians play this early; these are (new) prerecordings prepared for this series.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Monday, August 17, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Words & Music: Gerald Clayton
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2020
6:00 PM
Zoom
$15
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/happy-hour-gerald-clayton
A Jazz Gallery initiative featuring remote sessions where jazz musicians play and chat with the audience (limited to 15 people per show). Tonight's performer is Gerald Clayton, a solid, interesting pianist-composer whose last album I could not recommend more highly for its fresh treatment of The Traditon (as well as its understanding that The Tradition is a living thing that extends to current vernacular usages).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Midnight Stinger: pour 1 oz. of Bourbon and Fernet Branca, and 3/4 oz. each of lemon juice and Simple Syrup, into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ice. Dry shake. Strain into a mug or Old Fashioned glass 2/3 filled with crush ice. Top with more crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig.
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Mon, Aug 17, 2020, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 23, 2020, 7:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 17 – 23, 2020 (Ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
Free (soundtrack must be purchased)
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
Something you can actually Go Out to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand. Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inestimable Joe White (who seemingly couldn't write an unenjoyable tune if he tried). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (You can also listen to the soundtrack at home and pretend you're walking around the Cemetary.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bring bottled water. As for afterward, 5th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets is designated for street dining on weekends, if you find that compelling. OTOH: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/07/23/reckless-driver-plows-into-sunset-park-outdoor-dining-area-injuring-patrons/
-
Sunday, August 16, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
-
Sunday, August 16, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Bang on a Can Marathon
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2020
3:00 PM
Bang on a Can Live Stream
Free (donation requested)
https://marathon2020.bangonacan.org/
The first two sessions of this year's protracted virtual marathon were unbelievably great. What are the chances this one won't be? For you mainstreamers, there's Jeremy Denk (OK, playing Ligeti) (so you don't have to be afraid there'll be absolutely no one you've heard of) (since god forbid you should ever hear anything you don't already know). For everyone else (i.e., people who like art more than comfort), there's, well, the rest of the 6 hours (which is not to say that the kind of people who read this List won't know most of these participants). Bliss.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I see us spending the day sipping Fort Tilden Coolers: pour 1 oz. each of Gin and Fino Sherry, 3/4 oz. each of lemon juice and Simple Syrup, and 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a Highball or Collins glass over ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with an orange twist.
-
Saturday, August 15, 2020, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Eschaton
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2020 (Weekly through AUGUST 22)
10:00 PM
Zoom
$10
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/eschaton
An immersive experience in which viewers wander from room to virtual room seeing different variety acts and interacting with them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's late on a Saturday, so I'm going to recommend something strong. Don't blame me for how you feel Sunday morning. Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up: pour 2 oz. Absinthe, 1 oz. Gin, 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup, and 1 dash each of Angostura and orange bitters into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a wine glass, and fill up with soda water.
-
Saturday, August 15, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Kristoffer Diaz: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety
THEATER
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2020
7:00 PM
Play-PerView
Zoom
$5-$50
https://www.play-perview.com/events.html
Kristoffer Diaz's plays may be more narrative/realist than this List prefers. But as this, his greatest hit, shows, his heart and mind are in the absolute right places. Oh — and he's as sharp and as funny as shit.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Midnight Stinger: pour 1 oz. each of Bourbon and Fernet Branca, and 3/4 oz. each of lemon juice and Simple Syrup, into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ICE. Dry shake. Pour into a mug or glass 2/3 full of crushed ice. Stick in a straw and add more crushed ice, filling the glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.
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Saturday, August 15, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
H0l0 Presents
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2020
5:00 PM
H0l0 Live Stream
Free (donation requested)
https://www.h0l0.nyc/calendar
https://h0l0.live/
A mixed bag of interesting stuff, including the great great Free Jazz reed player Daniel Carter, the meta-pop madman Gene Baker LLC, and psych-post-rockers Painted Faces (who much to one's surprise still exist).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Old Hat (which this show definitely isn't): pour 2 oz. rye and 1/4 oz. sweet Vermouth, with 4 dashes of Angostura bitters and 1 sugar cube, into a rocks or Old Fashioned glass. Add ice. Stir. Garnish with both a lemon and an orange twist.
-
Friday, August 14, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Downtown Variety
THEATER / PERFORMANCE / MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020
8:00 PM
La MaMa Live Stream
Free (donation requested)
http://lamama.org/downtown-variety-13/
La MaMa assembles a bunch of experimentalist dancers, performers, actors, media artists, musicians, and what have you, and sees what happens when they live stream. It's almost always at the very least interesting.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Improved Whiskey Cocktail: pour 2-1/4 oz. Rye, 1/2 oz. Maraschino, 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe, and 3 dashes of Peychaud's bitters into a rocks or Old Fashioned glass. Add ice. Stir. Garnish with a lemon twist.
-
Friday, August 14, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 (Weekly)
5:00 PM
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Facebook
Free
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ethel-online
The fab alt string quartet ETHEL brings its weekly recitals in the Met Balcony Bar home (theirs and yours). Expect old and new music, and surprise guests (from still more homes).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Old Hickory: pour 1 oz. each of sweet and dry Vermouth, with 2 dashes of orange bitters and 1 dash of Peychaud's bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
-
Friday, August 14, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
-
Thursday, August 13, 2020, 9:30 PM – 10:30 PM
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020
9:30 PM
(Le) Poisson Rouge
LPR Stream
$15
https://lpr.com/lpr_events/kaitlyn-aurelia-smith-august-13-2020/
This List just LOVES Katilyn Aurelia Smith. Her electronic music is dreamy, but it never just dithers off into the ether: there's a there there. And, in fact, she grounds her electronic music in real organic sound. Tonight she's premiering the live set of music from her most recent album (with visuals!) — perfect stuff for a by now seemingly endless Quarantine.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Naked in the Desert: pour 3/4 oz. each of Sotol (the new cool-kid cactus liquor from Chihuahua: you need this in your life), yellow Chartreuse, Aperol, and lime juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Add 6 dashes of Angostura bitters. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
-
Thursday, August 13, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
-
Thursday, August 13, 2020, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Dorian Wallace
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020
2:30 PM
PORTRAIT
Mise-En_Place #live
YouTube
Facebook
Free
https://place.mise-en.org/#live
The highly political composer/pianist Dorian Wallace plays some of his compositions. On the piano.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Poet's Dream: pour 2 oz. Gin, 3/4 oz. dry Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. Bénédictine, with 2 dashes of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
-
Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 16, 2020, 3:00 PM
Beethoven: To My Distant Love
MUSIC
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 13 – 16, 2020 (continuing through AUGUST 23)
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM THURSDAY
7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM FRIDAY
1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM SATURDAY
1:00, 1:30 & 2:00 PM SUNDAY
On Site Opera
Via Telephone
$40
https://osopera.org/productions/distantlove/
I didn't List this initially, because Beethoven isn't just mainstream, but the definition of mainstream: the progenitor of the Masterpiece Complex that has stultified classical music since the dark days of the early-mid 19th Century. To be sure, he's also unbelievably great — and this piece is, for what it's worth, the first song cycle in the Western classical tradition. But really this event gets Listed for its innovative form: a singer — you get to chose between soprano and baritone — will phone you (that's right: you have to remember how to answer a telephone call) and, after engaging in amorous chitchat, sing the cycle to you over the phone (after having sent you longing emails in the week before the performance). Now some of us view that kind of one-on-one interaction with performers with horror (especially when, as is the case with the splendid soprano Jennifer Zetlan, her husband will be sitting in the room with her accompanying her love songs to you on the piano!). Some of us also wonder whether it's really worth paying $40 to listen to music over the phone — perhaps the worst vehicle for sound transmission in current mass use — when we can listen to, say, Christian Gerhaher brilliantly reproduced on our stereos (yeah yeah, I know: having a stereo is even more paleolithic than answering a phone call). But On Site Opera has to get points for coming up with a really clever response to the obstacles facing live music-making under The Quarantine. And the basic thesis of this List is of course that live performance is an unmatchable experience. So it's your call. IF you can get a ticket, that is: they're scarce (I mean, every performance has an audience of one). There are still a few available for the end of the run.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Absinthe Drip: pour 5 oz. of water into an Absinthe Fountain. Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into an Absinthe Glass. Place an Absinthe Spoon holding a sugar cube across the top of the Absinthe Glass under a spigot of the Absinthe Fountain. Drip water from the Absinthe Fountain through the Absinthe Spoon into the Absinthe Glass. The sugar cube should dissolve and the Absinthe take on a louche (i.e., turn milky). Stir briefly before drinking (happily, you don't need a special Absinthe Stirrer). (PS: you can get perfectly acceptable results by simply pouring ice water slowly into any old glass holding Absinthe with a sugar cube you've muddled at the bottom.
-
Thursday, August 13, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, AUGUST 11 & 13, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases ace musicians associated with its excellent self, or in any event friends of the ensemble, playing solo contemporary, classical, and newly commissioned pieces from home. I don't think this is live-streamed — I hope they're not making these musicians perform at 10 AM (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Wednesday, August 12, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
John Cage: Lecture on Nothing
PERFORMANCE
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2020
6:00 PM
Robert Wilson
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/robert-wilson
On the 18th anniversary of the great composer's death, the stage director/conceptualist Robert Wilson pays tribute to John Cage with a performance of Cage's Lecture on Nothing, which did for words what 4'33" did for sounds. MAJOR.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Only a Martini has the unalloyed greatness and purity worthy of an event like this: pour 2 oz. Gin and 1 oz. dry Vermouth into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
-
Wednesday, August 12, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Nathalie Joachim: "Transformation" Album Release
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2020
6:00 PM
Kaufman Music Center Live Stream
$15 (includes album download)
https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/transformation-album-release-preview-event/
Nathalie Joachim, eloquent flautist and fluent composer, celebrates the release of a new album made in collaboration with the 10th-grade class at Kaufman's Music School. She'll perform one of the pieces herself and present the world premiere of a track from the album. Joachim's last album was so great, you can't wait to hear this one.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cloak & Dagger: pour 1 oz. each of Goslings Rum, and any old aged Rum, and lime juice, and 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Wednesday, August 12, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Jannina Norpoth / Amanda Gookin: Reflect the Times
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2020
4:00 PM
LIVE #ArtsAcrossAmerica
Free
https://www.kennedy-center.org/digitalstage/arts-across-america/reflect-the-times/
Violinist Jennina Norpoth and cellist Amanda Gookin are no strangers to this List. This afternoon they each play a solo set of works by contemporary composers who are Black or female — or both. They include such usual List suspects as Jessie Montgomery and Angélica Negrón. So really, watch this.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: What's better than an equal parts cocktail? An equal parts cocktail where one of the parts is Champagne (yeah, it's just a Negroni with Champagne added — you got a problem with that?)! Familia Reale: pour 1 oz. each of Gin, sweet Vermouth, Campari, and Champagne into a glass or tumbler. Add ice. Stir. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
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Tuesday, August 11, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Kris Davis
MUSIC
TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2020
7:30 PM
92nd Street Y Live Stream
$10
https://www.92y.org/event/kris-davis
Pianist/composer Kris Davis is as good as contemporary jazz gets. Angular in conception, capacious in style, seemingly unable to be uninteresting. In the tradition of Monk and Taylor — but very much her own person. And if you haven't heard her last album, you haven't heard anything.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Don Silvio: pour 1 oz. Tequila, 1/2 oz. Mezcal, 1 oz. Cocchi Americano Rosa, and 1/2 oz. Amaro (Miletti by preference), with 3 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Tuesday, August 11, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
CyberTank Variety Show: How to Use an Onion
THEATER / PERFORMANCE / DANCE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2020 (Weekly)
4:00 PM
The Tank
Twitch
Free
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/2020/8/11/cybertank-variety-show
In case you were wondering. Performing artists share what they've been working on. This week hosted by the very funny Debi Xiadani.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Trinity: pour 1 oz. each of Gin, dry Vermouth, and sweet Vermouth into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Tuesday, August 11, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, AUGUST 11 & 13, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases ace musicians associated with its excellent self, or in any event friends of the ensemble, playing solo contemporary, classical, and newly commissioned pieces from home. I don't think this is live-streamed — I hope they're not making these musicians perform at 10 AM (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Monday, August 10, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Gerald Cleaver
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2020
9:00 PM
Option
Experimental Sound Studios: The Quarantine Concerts
Live Stream
$10 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/tqc-option-geraldcleaver
There are only a select few jazz drummers you could characterize as interesting, and Gerald Cleaver is very much one of them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's stick with the Country Life #2 from last week (it's a good one!): pour 1-1/4 oz. Bourbon, 3/4 oz. Rum (Jamaican by preference), and 1 oz. sweet Vermouth, with 2 dashes Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into an chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Monday, August 10, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Words & Music: Miles Okazaki
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2020
6:00 PM
Zoom
$15
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/happy-hour-miles-okazaki
A Jazz Gallery initiative featuring remote sessions where jazz musicians play and chat with the audience (limited to 15 people per show). Tonight's performer is the always-interesting guitarist Miles Okazaki.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Churchill: pour 1-1/2 oz. blended Scotch and 1/2 oz. each of sweet Vermouth, Cointreau, and lime juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 16, 2020, 7:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 10 – 16, 2020 (Ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
Free (soundtrack must be purchased)
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
Something you can actually Go Out to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand. Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inestimable Joe White (who seemingly couldn't write an unenjoyable tune if he tried). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (Bell insists you can also enjoy the soundtrack at home without going to the Cemetery, if you're not inclined to travel.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bring bottled water. As for afterward, 5th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets is designated for street dining, if you find that compelling. OTOH: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/07/23/reckless-driver-plows-into-sunset-park-outdoor-dining-area-injuring-patrons/
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Sunday, August 9, 2020, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Theater of War: Antigone in Ferguson
THEATER
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2020
8:30 PM
Zoom
Free (with registration)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/antigone-in-ferguson-tickets-112867431526
Theater of War takes online its interpretation of Sophocles's Antigone as a commentary on structural oppression (not to mention state murder) of American Blacks.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Whiskey Sour: pour 2 oz. Rye (or Bourbon if you must) and 3/4 oz. lemon juice, with 1 teaspoon of superfine sugar, into a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice. Shake very vigorously (you want it to froth). Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a lemon slice and a cocktail cherry.
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Sunday, August 9, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Separate Sundays
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2020 (Biweekly)
6:00 PM
Pioneer Works / 8ball Radio Live Stream
Free
https://pioneerworks.org/programs/separate-sundays-august-2020/
Music! Science! Art! Featuring gloom-popsters LEYA. After-party after the show!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: The Mexican Firing Squad was introduced to the U.S. by Charles H. Baker, whom you should read if you haven't: pour 2 oz. Tequila and 3/4 oz. each of lime juice and Grenadine, with 5 dashes of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.
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Sunday, August 9, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Sandbox Percussion
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2020
4:00 PM
Constellations Music Virtual Concert
Free (post-show Zoom chat with registration)
https://www.constellationsmusic.org/event-details/tbd-featuring-sandbox-percussion
Yet more Sandbox Percussion!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Dovetail: pour 1-1/2 oz. Tequila, 3/4 oz. Maraschino liqueur, 1 oz. grapefruit juice, and 1/2 oz. lime juice, with 3 dashes of Peychaud's bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
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Sunday, August 9, 2020, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
BEYLE100: Celebrating a Century of the Yiddish Songs, Poetry & Artistic Vision of Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2020
1:30 PM
YIVO Live Stream
Free (with registration)
https://yivo.org/Beyle100
OK, we've all got our idiosyncratic personal weaknesses, and Yiddish culture, eradicated (almost!) by the type of murderous thugs who are now taking over this country, is one of mine. This show pays tribute to Yiddish singer-songwriter/poet and general cultural powerhouse Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman. It features many of the leading Yiddish musicians in the world. (In Yiddish with a pdf translation of texts available.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: My grandfathers would have had a Slivovitz.
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Saturday, August 8, 2020, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Eschaton
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2020 (Weekly through AUGUST 22)
10:00 PM
Zoom
$10
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/eschaton
An immersive experience in which viewers wander from room to virtual room seeing different variety acts and interacting with them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's late on a Saturday, so I'm going to recommend something strong. Don't blame me for how you feel Sunday morning. Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up: pour 2 oz. Absinthe, 1 oz. Gin, 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup, and 1 dash each of Angostura and orange bitters into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a wine glass, and fill up with soda water.
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Saturday, August 8, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
TJG Online Lockdown Sessions: Antonio Sanchez / Lionel Loueke / Steve Lehman / Gabriel Chakarji
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2020
7:00 PM
Jazz Gallery Live Stream
Zoom
$20
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/lockdown-session-17
Another Jazz Gallery initiative, this one featuring musical segments recorded by the participating artists during the week preceding the stream, and then live chat with the artists afterward. This week's performers range from the highly abstract experimental jazz of Steve Lehman to the angular tunes and rhythms of Antonio Sanchez, a brilliant drummer who for my money is one of the must underrated composers in contemporary jazz.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Brandy Daisy (really, a Modern Brandy Daisy, as it deliciously updates one of the very earliest cocktails ever): pour 2 oz. Brandy and 1 oz. each yellow Chartreuse and lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe.
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Saturday, August 8, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Amiri Baraka: Dutchman
THEATER
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2020
7:00 PM
Play-PerView
Zoom
$5-$50
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/play-perview-dutchman-featuring-dule-hill-and-jennifer-mudge-live-stream-tickets-112738265186
It's truly damning of contemporary reality that although Leroi Jones (as Amiri Baraka then was) thought he was telling the present with 1964's Dutchman, we now know that he was telling the future as well. We can only hope this incendiary play won't remain exactly descriptive of contemporary reality in another 60 years.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A drink as big and biting and bitter as this play: the Archbishop. Pour 1-1/2 oz. overproof Rum, 1 oz. Campari, and 1/2 oz. green Chartreuse into a rocks glass. Add ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Saturday, August 8, 2020, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Sibyl Kempson & 7 Daughters of Eve Thtr. & Perf. Co.: Contemporary Religious Service: AMENDMENTS TO REALISM
PERFORMANCE
SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 2020
11:00 AM
Zoom
Free (with registration by FRIDAY, AUGUST 7)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/7-daughters-of-eve-contemporary-religious-service-amendments-to-realism-tickets-115647176819
Surrealist/absurdist playwright Sibyl Kempson continues her attempt to invent a new religion. It does seem to me, though, that amending realism is what got us into this mess we're in in the first place.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Start your Sunday off right with an Arsenic and Old Lace: rinse a chilled Martini glass or coupe with Absinthe. Then, pour 2 oz. Gin, 3/4 oz. dry Vermouth, and 1/4 oz. Crème de Violette into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into the rinsed glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Friday, August 7, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Bill Frisell Trio
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020
9:00 PM
Village Vanguard Live Stream
$10
https://villagevanguard.com/event/bill-friday-stream
Guitarist Bill Frisell virtually invented Americana. But don't blame him that when almost anybody else does it, it cloys; it certainly doesn't cloy when Frisell does it. His perfectly tuned trio also includes Thomas Morgan on bass and Rudy Royston on drums.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: La Louisiane: pour 1-1/2 oz. Rye, 3/4 oz. each of sweet Vermouth and Bénédictine, and 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe, with two dashes of Peychaud's bitters, into an Old Fashioned glass. Stir. Add ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Friday, August 7, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Virtual Community Salon
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020 (Biweekly)
7:30 PM
Contemporaneous
Zoom
Free (with registration)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-community-salon-tickets-109687016820
A virtual salon. Artists and performers can share pieces in whatever stage of completion. Everyone else can comment and converse.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Brandy and Soda: pour 3 oz. good but not great Brandy into a Collins glass over ice. Top with club soda.
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Friday, August 7, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Autumn Knight
PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 2020
6:00 PM
The Kitchen
Twitch
Free
https://onscreen.thekitchen.org/autumn-knight
Multidisciplinary artist Autumn Knight culminates her residency in The Kitchen's building, in which she has engaged with the building and its maintenance while addressing her current principal themes of inclusion and the ongoing gaslighting of America, by crafting her prior live durational performance videos into a more concise video edit.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Dear Jane: pour 1 oz. Gin, 3/4 sweet Vermouth, 1 oz. Campari, and 1/4 oz. Saint-Germain into rocks glass or tumbler. Add ice. Stir. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Friday, August 7, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Sandbox Percussion: Culminating Seminar Concert
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020
6:00 PM
YouTube
Free (donation requested)
https://www.youtube.com/user/sandboxpercussion
Sandbox Percussion and all the members of their NYU percussion seminar (this summer conducted remotely) get together (remotely) to perform the world premiere of a percussion piece by Huge List Fave Molly Joyce!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Santa Cruz Daisy: pour 1-1/2 oz. Rum, 3/4 oz. each of Curaçao and lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of club soda, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Friday, August 7, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
ETHEL and Friends: Balcony Bar from Home
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020 (Weekly)
5:00 PM
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Facebook
Free
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-live-arts/ethel-online
The fab alt string quartet ETHEL brings its weekly recitals in the Met Balcony Bar home (theirs and yours). Expect old and new music, and surprise guests (from still more homes).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Old Hickory: pour 1 oz. each of sweet and dry Vermouth, with 2 dashes of orange bitters and 1 dash of Peychaud's bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Friday, August 7, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
John Luther Adams: Ten Thousand Birds
MUSIC
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020
4:00 PM
Alarm Will Sound
PS 21 "Open Air" Pavillion Theater
2980 New York 66, Chatham, New York
$80-$90 for two tickets (two-ticket minimum)
https://ps21chatham.simpletix.com/e/55921
Another show you can Go Out to — WAY out. Chatham seems far away to this isolated hermit, and the two-ticket minimum seems oppressive to this solitary misanthrope (although you can obviously understand why they're imposing such a minimum in light of social distancing requirements — another example of how live performances might not be fully viable until there's a vaccine). But John Luther Adams's time-erasing nature-based music has been manna from heaven during The Quarantine, and Alarm Will Sound's music video of an excerpt from this piece is priceless, one of the great artifacts of The Quarantine (AND you can see my living room and dining room windows in it!). So if you happen to be near Chatham . . . .
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Mediterranean-inflected New American available for pick-up at Blue Plate.
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Thursday, August 6, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Susanna Loewy feat. Randall Woolf: Soloing2020
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
9:00 PM
NakedEye Ensemble Live Stream
$5
https://www.nakedeyeensemble.com/tickets/soloing2020-randall-woolf-and-susanna-loewy
I love Randall Woolf's music. But then I would. Woolf is approximately of my cohort, and he's one of the best of the composers bringing rock/jazz/blues inflections to Contemporary Classical. Now, however, those forms must seem kind of archaic to the current generation of Contemporary Classical composers, who bring EDM/hip-hop/post-jazz inflections. But you can't quibble with Woolf's cagey directness, nor his uniquely personal yet immediately appealing way with sound. So the highlight of this highly attractive program of solo flute music will be not just the first but also the second performance of Woolf's brand-new Quarantine piece, written for flautist Susanna Loewy.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bow and Arrow: pour 1 oz. each of Bourbon and Mezcal, 3/4 oz. each of pineapple juice and lime juice, and 1/2 oz. of Cane Syrup (go ahead and use Simple Syrup if you don't have any Cane Syrup around — but in that case make it a full 1/2 oz.) into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with cinnamon.
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Thursday, August 6, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Yuko Otomo & Matt Mottel feat. William Parker & Matthew Shipp: The Steve Circuit: CBGB's Gallery & 6 & B Garden
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
8:00 PM
ISSUE Project Room Stream
Free
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/steve-circuit-yuko-otomo-matt-mottel-cbgb%E2%80%99s-gallery-6-b-garden-william-parker-matthew-shipp
ISSUE Project Room continues its weekly video feature paying tribute to the late Downtown poet Steve Dalachinsky, created by Dalachinsky's widow, the painter and poet Yuko Otomo, and interdisciplinary artist Matt Mottel. The various episodes take you around Steve Dalinchinksy's New York (in a very suggestive, figurative way); this week we go spend time in the East Village at CBGB's Gallery and the 6 & B Garden. The assisting musicians are kind of awesome: bassist William Parker and pianist Matthew Shipp, two stalwarts of the NYC Free Jazz scene who are so supremely great, so transcendentally excellent in every respect — chops, conception, vision, distinctiveness, sound — that you kind of pinch yourself to see if it's really true you're lucky enough to be alive at the same time as them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: I don't know about you guys, bu all I ever had at any of the CB's venues was Beer and straight Whiskey.
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Thursday, August 6, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Livestream Concert: Ben Williams
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
8:00 PM
Jazz Gallery
YouTube
$10
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/livestream-ben-williams
This Jazz Gallery initiative presents full-scale concerts (as opposed to solo recitals). Tonight's featured artist, Ben Williams, is an excellent bassist and a very good bandleader and composer.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Fumata Bianca: pour 1 oz. each of Carpano Bianca (or other Vermouth Blanc) and Suze, and 1/2 oz. Mezcal, into a Collins glass. Stir lightly. Fill the glass with ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
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Thursday, August 6, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Yuko Otomo & Matt Mottel feat. Jean Carla Rodea & Gerald Cleaver / white out: The Steve Circuit: The Knitting Factory & Tonic
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
8:00 PM
ISSUE Project Room Stream
Free
https://issueprojectroom.org/event/steve-circuit-yuko-otomo-matt-mottel-anthology-film-archives-andrew-lampert
ISSUE Project Room continues its weekly video feature paying tribute to the late Downtown poet Steve Dalachinsky, created by Dalachinsky's widow, the painter and poet Yuko Otomo, and interdisciplinary artist Matt Mottel. The various episodes take you around Steve Dalinchinksy's New York (in a very suggestive, figurative way); this week we go to the two lamented LES experimental music venues, the original Knitting Factory and Tonic. Assisting in this week's episode are two experimental duos who would have been fully at home at those venues.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Tequila Gumption: pour 1 oz. each of Reposado Tequila and Mezcal, and 1/4 oz. Maraschino liqueur, with 2 dashes of Angostura bitters, into a rocks or Old Fashioned glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Thursday, August 6, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Buster Keaton feat. Matan Porat: The General
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
7:30 PM
92nd Street Y Live Stream
Free
https://www.92y.org/archives/buster-keaton-the-general
To me, Buster Keaton is one of the signal American artists, up there with Fitzgerald and Whitman and Warhol. The General is his capital-M Masterpiece, which brings with it the disadvantages as well as advantages of that portentious designation (I'd rather watch something less self-importantly preposessing, like say The High Sign — surely the funniest movie I've ever seen — or Seven Chances) (not to mention that the Confederate nostalgia that was endemic in early-20th American popular culture, of which this film is a product, sits very badly today). But The General is a very great film: that can't be denied. Tonight it's shown with accompanying music improvised at a live show in 2016 by pianist/composer Matan Porat, who specializes in this kind of thing.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: In for a penny, in for a pound: a Mint Julep. Muddle 6-7 mint leaves, 2 oz. Bourbon, and 1 teaspoon of Simple Syrup in a Julep cup (or a Highball glass if you must), using a spoon rather than a muddler. Fill the cup with shaved ice. Press the spoon into the ice and shake it gently, so that the ice incorporates the liquid. Garnish with a mint sprig.
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Thursday, August 6, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Sandbox Percussion feat. Conor Hanick
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
7:00 PM
Caramoor Live Stream
$10
https://sandboxpercussion.com/event/caramoor-with-conor-hanick/
Trust me, the world premiere of a new piece for prepared piano and percussion by Christopher Cerrone, one of the best and most inviting and enthralling composers around, is a big deal indeed. Especially when the pianist is Conor Hanick and the percussionists are Sandbox Percussion.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Uptown Royale: pour 1 oz. Rye, 3/4 oz. Amaro (Averna by preference), and 1/4 oz. Curaçao into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled goblet. Top with Champagne. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Thursday, August 6, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Tesla Quartet
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/tesla-quartet
This rising quartet plays a kaleidoscopic assemblage of short new pieces supposedly reflecting the effects of The Pandemic on their composers — including Eliza Bagg, a perennial List fave for her usual work as a vocalist.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: This just feels like a night for Audrey Saunders's wonderful Intro to Aperol (a drink that has outlived its historical moment — the time of the introduction of Aperol to the U.S. market — but not its wonderfulness): pour 1 oz. Gin, 2 oz. Aperol, and 3/4 oz. lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist (if there's one thing we all have a plethora of during Quarantine, it's citrus rinds to use as cocktail garnishes).
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Thursday, August 6, 2020, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Dorothy Chan: Works for Toy Piano and Electronics
MUSIC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
2:30 PM
Acoustic+
Mise-En_Place #live
YouTube
Facebook
Free
https://place.mise-en.org/#live
I don't know about you, but there is very little I like more, generically, than music for toy piano and electronics. Seriously! Dorothy Chan brings it home.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Let's stick with the First Post: it's SO good! Pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. Suze, 1 oz. lime juice, 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup, and 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ice . Shake. Pour into a Highball or a Collins glass over ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge.
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Thursday, August 6, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sova Theater: Frogs Make Me Hoppy
THEATER
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
2:00 PM
La MaMa Kids Online
Free (donation requested)
http://lamama.org/hoppy/
Puppets! This time tracing the life cycle of a frog, from egg to tadpole to, well, frog. There will be a frog-making workshop afterward. Wait, I thought the whole show is about frog-making. I don't think you can do that at home (if you're not a frog)!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: End of life cycle: Frog in a Blender. Pour 1 cup of ice, 4 oz. Vodka, 2 oz. cranberry juice, and 2 lime wheels into a blender. Blend for no more than 5 seconds. Pour the blended contents into a glass big enough to hold a 10-oz. drink.
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Thursday, August 6, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, AUGUST 4 & 6, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases ace musicians associated with its excellent self, or in any event friends of the ensemble, playing solo contemporary, classical, and newly commissioned pieces from home. I don't think this is live-streamed — I hope they're not making these musicians perform at 10 AM (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Thu, Aug 6, 2020, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 9, 2020, 3:00 PM
Beethoven: To My Distant Love
MUSIC
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 6 – AUGUST 9, 2020 (continuing through AUGUST 23)
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM THURSDAY
7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM FRIDAY
1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM SATURDAY
1:00, 1:30 & 2:00 PM SUNDAY
On Site Opera
Via Telephone
$40
https://osopera.org/productions/distantlove/
I didn't List this initially, because Beethoven isn't just mainstream, but the definition of mainstream: the progenitor of the Masterpiece Complex that has stultified classical music since the dark days of the early-mid 19th Century. To be sure, he's also unbelievably great — and this piece is, for what it's worth, the first song cycle in the Western classical tradition. But really this event gets Listed for its innovative form: a singer — you get to chose between soprano and baritone — will phone you (that's right: you have to remember how to answer a telephone call) and, after engaging in amorous chitchat, sing the cycle to you over the phone (after having sent you longing emails in the week before the performance). Now some of us view that kind of one-on-one interaction with performers with horror (especially when, as is the case with the splendid soprano Jennifer Zetlan, her husband will be sitting in the room with her accompanying her love songs to you on the piano!). Some of us also wonder whether it's really worth paying $40 to listen to music over the phone — perhaps the worst vehicle for sound transmission in current mass use — when we can listen to, say, Christian Gerhaher brilliantly reproduced on our stereos (yeah yeah, I know: having a stereo is even more paleolithic than answering a phone call). But On Site Opera has to get points for coming up with a really clever response to the obstacles facing live music-making under The Quarantine. And the basic thesis of this List is of course that live performance is an unmatchable experience. So it's your call. IF you can get a ticket, that is: they're scarce (I mean, every performance has an audience of one). There are still a few available for the end of the run.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Absinthe Drip: pour 5 oz. of water into an Absinthe Fountain. Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into an Absinthe Glass. Place an Absinthe Spoon holding a sugar cube across the top of the Absinthe Glass under a spigot of the Absinthe Fountain. Drip water from the Absinthe Fountain through the Absinthe Spoon into the Absinthe Glass. The sugar cube should dissolve and the Absinthe take on a louche (i.e., turn milky). Stir briefly before drinking (happily, you don't need a special Absinthe Stirrer). (PS: you can get perfectly acceptable results by simply pouring ice water slowly into any old glass holding Absinthe with a sugar cube you've muddled at the bottom.
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Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM
big dog little dog
MUSIC
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020
7:30 PM
92nd Street Y Live Stream
$10
https://www.92y.org/event/jessie-montgomery-and-eleonore-oppenheim
Eleanore Oppenheim on big dog bass and Jessie Montgomery on little dog violin comprise one of the most vivacious Alt Classical duos around. Their vernacular-inflected original material is immediately accessible but of lasting interest. Another great show for people who think they don't like so-called Classical Music, or people who think they like so-called Classical Music but only if it's old.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A cocktail as nice and creamy as big dog little dog's music, the Pink Rose: pour 1-1/2 oz. Gin and 1/2 oz. each of lemon juice, Grenadine, and cream, with 1 egg white, into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ice. Dry shake. Fill with ice. Shake. Strain into a Martini glass or coupe (or, even better, a Nick and Nora glass if you have one).
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Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Sandbox Percussion feat. Conor Hanick
MUSIC
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020
7:00 PM
Caramoor Live Stream
$10
https://sandboxpercussion.com/event/caramoor-with-conor-hanick/
Trust me, the world premiere of a new piece for prepared piano and percussion by Christopher Cerrone, one of the best and most inviting and enthralling composers around, is a big deal indeed. Especially when the pianist is Conor Hanick and the percussionists are Sandbox Percussion.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Uptown Royale: pour 1 oz. Rye, 3/4 oz. Amaro (Averna by preference), and 1/4 oz. Curaçao into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled goblet. Top with Champagne. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Bedlam Theater
THEATER
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020
6:30 PM
Zoom
Facebook
Free (donation requested)
https://bedlam.org/benefit-reading/
Yeah, Shaw is bloodless and idea-bound. But what ideas! And what wit! Can't get enough myself.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Shaw was famously a teetotaler, but we don't have let that detain us. Martini: pour 2 oz. Gin and 1 oz. dry Vermouth into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Michael Mwenso & Vuyo Sotashe
MUSIC
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020
6:00 PM
Live@NationalSawdust
Free (artist donation requested)
https://live.nationalsawdust.org/event/michael-mwenso-vuyo-sotashe
South African jazz is The Shit, in case you don't know. It has a lilt and ebullience that are unique. Bandleader Michael Mwenso and singer Vuyo Sotashe are two of NYC's foremost exponents of the style.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: One of the most popular cocktails in South Africa (where they LOVE their Brandy) is an Ama-lekkerlicious: first, if you're really ambitious, dip a rocks glass in orange sherbert to rim it. Then, pour 1 oz. Brandy, 2 oz. cranberry juice, 1/2 oz. Peach Syrup, and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, with 3 dashes of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into the (rimmed, if you're being ambitious) glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Composers Concordance: Social Bubble Salon Concert — Piano Theme
MUSIC
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020
6:00 PM
Facebook
Free
https://www.facebook.com/events/698580587493500/
A bunch of (brief) new compositions involving piano — including a new Gene Pritsker piece (he being the master of R&B/hip hop/rock-inflected Contemporary Classical) featuring the composer on electric guitar and no less than Kathleen Supové on piano!
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Zebra: pour 1-1/2 oz. Tequila, 1/2 oz. Campari, 1 oz. lime juice, and 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup, with 1 dash of orange bitters, into a cocktail shaker WITHOUT ice. Shake. Pour into a Highball or Collins glass over ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge.
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Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
CyberTank Variety Show
THEATER / PERFORMANCE / DANCE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020 (Weekly)
4:00 PM
The Tank
Twitch
Free
https://thetanknyc.org/cybertank-calendar/2020/8/4/cybertank-variety-show
Performing artists share what they've been working on.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A Last Word variation that's almost . . . light (so it can start an evening rather than finishing one)! Thumb's Up: pour 1 oz. Gin, 1/2 oz. each of green Chartreuse, Aperol, and Maraschino liqueur, and 3/4 oz. lime juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Metropolis Ensemble: House Music
MUSIC
TUESDAY & THURSDAY, AUGUST 4 & 6, 2020 (Semi-Weekly)
10:00 AM
Free
https://metropolisensemble.org/house-music
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Metropolis Ensemble showcases ace musicians associated with its excellent self, or in any event friends of the ensemble, playing solo contemporary, classical, and newly commissioned pieces from home. I don't think this is live-streamed — I hope they're not making these musicians perform at 10 AM (especially the ones located in time zones west of here!) — but this is such a worthwhile initiative that it would be wrong not to List it.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Coffee.
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Monday, August 3, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Eugene Chadbourne
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020
9:00 PM
Option
Experimental Sound Studios: The Quarantine Concerts
Live Stream
$10 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/2020/8/3/option-eugene-chadbourne-interview-with-andrew-clinkman
NYC experimental improvising guitar legend Eugene Chadbourne plays (yay!) and is interviewed (boo!).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Country Life #2: pour 1-1/4 oz. Bourbon, 3/4 oz. Rum (Jamaican by preference), and 1 oz. sweet Vermouth, with 2 dashes Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into an chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Monday, August 3, 2020, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Words & Music: Melissa Aldana
MUSIC
MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020
6:00 PM
Zoom
$15
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/happy-hour-melissa-aldana-3
A Jazz Gallery initiative featuring remote sessions where jazz musicians play and chat with the audience (limited to 15 people per show). Tonight's performer, saxophonist Melissa Aldana has everything you'd want: chops, an immediately recognizable (and quite enjoyable) improvisational conception, and a distinctive compositional voice.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: A Cincinnati sounds like a terrible idea. But it's actually quite refreshing in the middle of a heatwave that seems like it will last as long as the fucking Pandemic: fill a pint glass half-full of beer (you'll be tempted to use something substandard, but this drink actually requires a very good, very full-flavored beer to work). Top it off with soda water.
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Mon, Aug 3, 2020, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 9, 2020, 7:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
MONDAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 – 9, 2020 (Ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
Free (soundtrack must be purchased)
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
Something you can actually Go Out to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand. Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inestimable Joe White (who seemingly couldn't write an unenjoyable tune if he tried). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (Bell insists you can also enjoy the soundtrack at home without going to the Cemetery, if you're not inclined to travel.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bring bottled water. As for afterward, 5th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets is designated for street dining, if you find that compelling. OTOH: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/07/23/reckless-driver-plows-into-sunset-park-outdoor-dining-area-injuring-patrons/
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Sunday, August 2, 2020, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Out of an Abundance of Caution
PERFORMANCE
SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2020 (Weekly)
8:00 PM
The Brick
Twitch
Free (tips encouraged)
https://www.bricktheater.com/event/out-of-an-abundance-of-caution-volume-twenty-anniversary-conversation/
Sadly, this month the great Out of an Abundance of Caution variety series turns from performance to discussion. I have so little interest in such things that I'll probably stop Listing it, but am noting this one for those misguided souls who actually enjoy watching people talk on the internet (or live, for that matter). Tonight's conversationalists are the three major forces in Brooklyn Alt theater who started this program.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: If you've already had dinner — I wouldn't have, but then hey I'm not watching this —a Dream would be nice: pour 2 oz. Brandy 2/3 oz. Curaçao, and 1/4 teaspoon of Absinthe, with 1 dash of orange bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or couple.
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Sunday, August 2, 2020, 7:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Sandbox Percussion: NYU Sandbox Seminar Opening Concert
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2020
7:00 PM
YouTube
Free (donation welcomed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z9oBOkK1Sw&feature=youtu.be
Compositions by some of the usual percussion-concert suspects, played by this great, fun ensemble: you just KNOW this is going to be great.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Northern Lights: pour 1-1/2 oz. Islay Scotch and 3/4 oz. each of Fino Sherry and Aperol into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Sunday, August 2, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Tanner Potter, Eric Jacobsen, Aoife O'Donovan
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2020
5:00 PM
Connecting ACO Community
American Composers Orchestra
$5
https://americancomposers.networkforgood.com/events/22357-connecting-aco-community-volume-iii-world-premiere-of-tanner-porter-s-new-work-for-cellist-eric-jacobsen-and-vocalist-aoife-o-donovan
LA singer-songwriter/composer Tanner Porter, whose dreamy dirges are seductive rather than boring, composes a piece for cellist Eric Jacobsen and singer Aoife O'Donovan (who are married to each other if, like me, you're interested in knowing that kind of stuff).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Cameron's Kick: pour 1 oz. each of Irish Whiskey and Scotch Whisky, and 1/2 oz. each of lemon juice and Orgeat, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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Sunday, August 2, 2020, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Galactic Zoo & Singleman Affair: Million Tongues Festival: Astro Folk Luminaries
MUSIC
SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2020
3:00 PM
Experimental Sound Studio: The Quarantine Concerts
$10 suggested donation
https://ess.org/esscalendar/million-tongues-day2
The famous Chicago psych festival of years past continues its new online iteration with an afternoon of psych-folk. Wait, is Peter Walker on the bill??????? Is Peter Walker even alive???????? I'm there, dude.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: We should all be drinking Sunflowers: rinse a chilled Martini glass or coupe with Absinthe. Pour 3/4 oz. each of Gin, Saint-Germain, Cointreau, and lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into the rinsed glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. Love everybody indiscriminately (until you finish your cocktail, at least).
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Saturday, August 1, 2020, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Eschaton
PERFORMANCE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020 (Weekly through AUGUST 8)
10:00 PM
Zoom
$10
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/eschaton
An immersive experience in which viewers wander from room to virtual room seeing different variety acts and interacting with them.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: It's late on a Saturday, so I'm going to recommend something strong. Don't blame me for how you feel Sunday morning. Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up: pour 2 oz. Absinthe, 1 oz. Gin, 1 teaspoon Simple Syrup, and 1 dash each of Angostura and orange bitters into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a wine glass, and fill the rest up with soda water.
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Saturday, August 1, 2020, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Alarm Will Sound & Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble: Anthem
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020
9:00 PM
2020 Mizzou International Composers Festival Online
Free
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2020-mizzou-international-composers-festival-online-finale-concert-tickets-112865832744
The fantastic New Music ensemble Alarm Will Sound joins Meredith Monk and her (literally) incomparable vocal ensemble for a performance of a brand new world-premiering Monk piece. Elsewhere on the program, members of Alarm Will Sound will join members of some other ensembles for some Pauline Oliveros. This is the music that's getting me through The Quarantine.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Rennaisance (a lovely drink): pour 2 oz. Brandy, 1 oz. sweet Vermouth, 1/4 oz. Limoncello, and 2 dashes of peach bitters into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Saturday, August 1, 2020, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
TJG Online Lockdown Sessions: Vijay Iyer / Eric Revis / Kokayi / Vanisha Gould
MUSIC
SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020
7:00 PM
Jazz Gallery Live Stream
Zoom
$20
https://www.jazzgallery.org/calendar/lockdown-session-16
Another Jazz Gallery initiative, this one featuring musical segments recorded by the participating artists during the week preceding the stream, and then live chat with the artists afterward. This week's show gets the nod principally for the great Vijay Iyer: pianist, composer, thinker.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Black Feather: pour 2 oz. Brandy, 1 oz. dry Vermouth, and 1/2 oz. Cointreau, with 1 dash of Angostura bitters, into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Stir. Strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Saturday, August 1, 2020, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
The TEAM: RoosElvis
THEATER
SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020
5:00 PM
Play-PerView
Zoom
$5-$50
https://www.play-perview.com/events.html
Another case where it's best to just quote the promotional materials: "On a hallucinatory road trip from the Badlands to Graceland, the spirits of Elvis Presley and Theodore Roosevelt battle over the soul of Ann, a painfully shy meat-processing plant worker, and what kind of man or woman Ann should become." Rachel Chavkin's The TEAM are GREAT.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: La Hora del Vermut: Spanish vermouth in a glass over ice garnished with an olive and an orange wedge. Heaven.
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Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 7:00 AM – Sun, Aug 2, 2020, 8:00 PM
Gelsey Bell feat. Joseph White: Cairns
MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 31 – AUGUST 2, 2020 (Ongoing)
7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
#stillHERE IRL
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park Entrance
35th Street at 4th Avenue, Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
Free (soundtrack must be purchased)
https://here.org/shows/cairns/
Something you can actually Go Out to (although it's not quite "live"). Gelsey Bell, that vocal star of NYC Alt Classical, has conceived of a piece that walks you around Green-Wood Cemetery (starting at the Sunset Park Entrance). You download the soundtrack on your phone beforehand. Bell wrote the text and narrates, with a co-composing assist from the inestimable Joe White (who seemingly couldn't write an unenjoyable tune if he tried). The Cemetery itself will do the performing. (Bell insists you can also enjoy the soundtrack at home without going to the Cemetery, if you're not inclined to travel.)
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Bring bottled water. As for afterward, 5th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets is designated for street dining, if you that's your thing. OTOH: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/07/23/reckless-driver-plows-into-sunset-park-outdoor-dining-area-injuring-patrons/
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Thu, Jul 30, 2020, 10:00 AM – Sun, Aug 2, 2020, 3:00 PM
Beethoven: To My Distant Love
MUSIC
THURSDAY – SUNDAY, JULY 30 – AUGUST 2, 2020 (continuing through AUGUST 23)
10:00, 10:30 & 11:00 AM THURSDAY
7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM FRIDAY
1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 7:00, 7:30 & 8:00 PM SATURDAY
1:00, 1:30 & 2:00 PM SUNDAY
On Site Opera
Via Telephone
$40
https://osopera.org/productions/distantlove/
I didn't List this initially, because Beethoven isn't just mainstream, but the definition of mainstream: the progenitor of the Masterpiece Complex that has stultified classical music since the dark days of the early-mid 19th Century. To be sure, he's also unbelievably great — and this piece is, for what it's worth, the first song cycle in the Western classical tradition. But really this event gets Listed for its innovative form: a singer — you get to chose between soprano and baritone — will phone you (that's right: you have to remember how to answer a telephone call) and, after engaging in amorous chitchat, sing the cycle to you over the phone (after having sent you longing emails in the week before the performance). Now some of us view that kind of one-on-one interaction with performers with horror (especially when, as is the case with the splendid soprano Jennifer Zetlan, her husband will be sitting in the room with her accompanying her love songs to you on the piano!). Some of us also wonder whether it's really worth paying $40 to listen to music over the phone — perhaps the worst vehicle for sound transmission in current mass use — when we can listen to, say, Christian Gerhaher brilliantly reproduced on our stereos (yeah yeah, I know: having a stereo is even more paleolithic than answering a phone call). But On Site Opera has to get points for coming up with a really clever response to the obstacles facing live music-making under The Quarantine. And the basic thesis of this List is of course that live performance is an unmatchable experience. So it's your call. IF you can get a ticket, that is: they're scarce (I mean, every performance has an audience of one). There are still a few available for the end of the run.
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: Absinthe Drip: pour 5 oz. of water into an Absinthe Fountain. Pour 1 oz. Absinthe into an Absinthe Glass. Place an Absinthe Spoon holding a sugar cube across the top of the Absinthe Glass under a spigot of the Absinthe Fountain. Drip water from the Absinthe Fountain through the Absinthe Spoon into the Absinthe Glass. The sugar cube should dissolve and the Absinthe take on a louche (i.e., turn milky). Stir briefly before drinking (happily, you don't need a special Absinthe Stirrer). (PS: you can get perfectly acceptable results by simply pouring ice water slowly into any old glass holding Absinthe with a sugar cube you've muddled at the bottom.)
