Through January 4 Through January 4 McCoy Tyner Following ...
Following up a week-long stint with his 14-piece big band, McCoy Tyner slims it to a trio and holds court at the Iridium Room through Sunday. Special guests include Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone and Joe Lovano on sax. 1650 B'way (51st St.), 212-582-2121, 8, $35.
Good music may be guaranteed like a birthright when you walk through the door at institutions like the Village Vanguard and the Blue Note, but it comes with an admission charge and drink minimum to match. Since I'm not a tourist on holiday and don't bank a six-figure income, the most live jazz I get in this town these days is reading the entertainment listings.
But one can only spend so many nights at Northsix, so when I spot my friend Rob Wilkerson toting his saxophone off to another gig, I realize, who better to recommend a few places for a girl like me looking for a crash-course NYC jazz education. I want good music and a laid-back, friendly atmosphere-not a $30 cover, two-drink minimum and an abrupt forced exit immediately after the set ends. I want the excitement of name recognition when I read the club ads in the newspaper every week. Rob nods like a Buddha and directs me to check out the following.
Fat Cat, 75 Christopher St. (7th Ave.), 212-675-7369: The most formal of his suggestions, Fat Cat is the sister club of the famed (and now closed) Smalls. Sharing a roof with a billiard hall, most nights come with an admission charge of $15 that includes one free drink at the bar, but this has been the place for underground jazz (literally) for quite some time. It's an all-ages space, and they don't chase you out when the first set finishes.
Cleopatra's Needle, 2485 B'way (betw. 92nd & 93rd Sts.), 212-769-6969: For those who like to keep their nightlife uptown, this Upper West Side venue serves up Mediterranean cuisine along with a seven-day-a-week concert calendar. The highlight here among the musicians seems to be the regular late-night jam session that invites those brave enough to sit in with the band. There's no posted cover, but a $10 minimum is expected per set. The club keeps especially late hours, with jam sessions frequently running until 4 a.m.
K'av'eh'az, 37 W. 26th St. (betw. 6th Ave. & B'way), 212-343-0612: A recent transplant from Soho, this restaurant/bar/gallery/jazz club moved to Chelsea in August and is still working out how to balance the music on the stage with the volume of conversation at the tables. Here, again, there's no cover, but the $10 food and drink minimum makes this "coffee house" a good place to dine well and enjoy live music. It helps to be with someone you know so well you don't have to talk to him or her during the set, which is just about how the previous space worked, so veterans should feel instantly comfortable.
55 Bar, 55 Christopher St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.), 212-929-9883: Slip down below street level to get to this historic house in the Village. In operation since 1919, the club offers a mix of jazz, funk and blues, lots of regular talent, some new musicians on the scene and a really fabulous jukebox for the rare moments when the stage is quiet. Depending on the name on the bill, the cover can range from $5 to $15 plus a two-drink minimum.
Detour, 349 E. 13th St. (betw 1st & 2nd Aves.), 212-533-6212: If you're actually afraid of the jazz scene-perhaps from being shushed at a "listening club"?-Detour may be your re-entry. There's no cover, but two drink purchases are expected, and tips for the musicians are solicited. The artist bios for upcoming shows almost always include descriptors like "unique," so you can likely expect an interesting evening.
Miles and Coltrane may or may not (depending on who you ask) have played in any of these particular rooms, but the next musician in line to take over their spiritual role in the evolution of the music may very well be taking the stage right now. And it would be cool to be able to say years from now, "Yeah, I remember that kid. Used to hear him play like he was on fire at that little place down the street."
Wednesday
New Year's Eve
After a morning spent waving signs outside the Today Show studio in Times Square, what better way to close out 2003? Be on television and see cordon after cordon of real cops and their horses-way up close. After 9, free, have a blast.
John Zorn's Electric Masada
God bless him-admire him as we do, John Zorn (and whatever ensemble he happens to be touting at the time) has always made our head hurt. So that gave us an idea. Why not get a jump on the traditional New Year's Day hangover by seeing Zorn play a marathon set on New Year's Eve? That way, the headache would just blend right into the first minutes of 2004. Tonic, 107 Norfolk St. (betw. Delancey & Rivington Sts.), 212-358-7501, 7, $30-35.
Gov't Mule
Formed in 1994 by lead guitarist Haynes and the late Allan Woody (both Allman Brothers at the time, despite their last names), Gov't Mule is a heap of funk, a helping of jazz and a dash of the blues. The band performed with 25-plus bass players over the last three years in search of Woody's replacement before settling on the relatively unknown Andy Hess. Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway (betw. 74th & 75th Sts.), 212-496-7070, 9, $46.50-$66.50.
Djs Louie Vega and Timmy Regisford
Don't tell me you could resist the sound of the Neptunes this year. Chad Hugo and Pharell Williams were behind 2003's most pleasing ear candy, proving popular music could be fun and catchy without being corny.
If you couldn't get down to Justin Timberlake's "Rock Your Body," I feel sorry for you and recommend you see the heiney doctor to get that excess pretentiousness removed. The MJ-inspired tune seemed to have a pop-star, role-reversal effect on Timberlake: He turned hiphop-video black and started having intercourse with adults. And, well, you know about Mike. The poor guy hardly even has a nose anymore. Much less a reputation. Now that's off the wall. And so was the year.
But I'm not going to go on and on about how I spent all year with a tremendous hangover from some night I can't remember. There are plenty of writers out there who will gladly go that route. I'll just give you three words to describe my year as the club writer for New York Press: cash, cocaine, models.
Or, more accurately, how I failed to score any of them.
Now let's get to the dilemma of the new year on the horizon. Where will you spend the last night of 2003? Spending it in New York City is expensive, to say the least. The big names of trance will be at many of the recently opened megaclubs: Sasha at Avalon, Oakenfold doing his thing, blah blah blah.
These events will cost you hundreds of dollars per head. For what? If I'm going to spend hundreds of dollars on one night, something incredible better happen. I'd even take a free t-shirt that said "Paul Oakenfold, Crobar, NYC, January 1, 2004." But that won't happen, and you and I will have wasted all that money and gone home smelling like cologne and booze.
You won't need a t-shirt to make it worthwhile if you go to Club Shelter for a dirty 30 Washingtons. You'll remember the music of Louie Vega, one-half of Masters at Work, the production duo that usually finds its way into my personal Best of the Year list. He and partner Kenny "Dope" Gonzales started the collaboration 10 years ago, crossing genres and mixing them up to ignite interest in dance music again. While Gonzales leans heavier on his hiphop- and funk-break-rooted youth in Brooklyn, Vega's Latin jazz background informs his percussion, horns and perfectly picked guitars over thick bass lines and house beats.
The dependable, almost superhuman set marathon man, Timmy Regisford, will be on the decks as well, providing a hap, hap, happy new year to all who dance to his soulful selections. Be safe. But don't think you're safe from being stupid.
Club Shelter, 20 W. 39th St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-719-9867, 9, $30.
-Dan Martino (soulstatik@hotmail.com)
Thursday
Coney Island Boardwalk
It's not just the Polar Bears this year, though they'll be taking their traditional chubby and chilly plunge into the Atlantic for the 101st time at 1 p.m. Coney's going to be a real action spot as the year debuts with an 11 o'clock Boardwalk wedding, an abundance of Jimmy Dean sausage products, a wide-open Ruby's Bar and of course King Neptune lording over the festivities. Coney Island Boardwalk (W. 12th St.), all day, free.
The Man Who Fell to Earth
What this 1976 space oddity lacks in coherence, it makes up for in?incoherence. The thin white duke fits the bill as an alienated alien, and there are a bunch of strange scenes sure to burn imprints in your eyeballs for years to come. Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center, 165 W. 65th St. (B'way), 212-721-6500, 2 & 7:30, $10, $7 st., $6 s.c.
Friday
Dial M for Murder
Most Americans can't go another day without celebrating the 50th anniversary of something. Thankfully the folks at Film Forum agree. Screenings of Dial M for Murder, the 1954 Hitchcock masterpiece starring Grace Kelly, start today and run through Jan. 8. The movie will be shown in 3-D. Prep yourself by digging up your scratchy vinyl copy of Pussy Galore's Dial M for Motherfucker. 209 W. Houston St. (betw. Varick St. & 6th Ave.), 212-727-8110, call for times, $10.
Sleepless Fishes
We never understood the appeal of The Rocky Horror Picture Show or Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but many of you apparently enjoy them. Nick Jones has created a twisted musical that we can all enjoy. Jones, the quirkiest sex symbol around, keeps updating his Jollyship Whizbang adventures of pirate puppets and filthy sea shanties. Cheer on the sweet cabin boy, Tom, as he challenges the traditions of ocean crime and sodomy, and hope for a happy ending that may never arrive. Sit up front if you can. Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery (betw. Bleecker & Houston Sts.), 212-614-0505, $7, 10.
Saturday
Gas-s-s-s
How many post-apocalyptic teen sex comedies feature Edgar Allen Poe as a main character, reenact the Kennedy assassination and star Laverne and Shirley's Shirley and Harold and Maude's Harold? Exactly one. Directed by B-movie czar Roger Corman, Gas-s-s-s portrays a world where everyone over the age of 25 has been killed by a mysterious gas. All that's left are hippies and jocks. The movie is weird, weird, weird and not to be missed. Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center, 165 W. 65th St. (B'way), 212-721-6500, call for times, $10, $7 st., $6 s.c.
Okayplayer Winter Break Tour
For the past decade, the Roots have been the driving force in creating new possibilities for hiphop as a musical art form. When the Okayplayer Winter Break Tour rolls through the city, the Roots alone may be reason enough to go, but the supporting cast makes your attendance mandatory.
Among those providing back-up is Little Brother, arguably the best act on the indie scene moving into 2004. Although Little Brother reigns from North Carolina, don't expect any of the "Kings-of-Crunk" bullshit that all too often pops up in Southern rap. With a sound and formula similar to that of Tribe Called Quest-two MCs and one DJ-Big Pooh, Phonte and 9th Wonder are often compared to the Queens trio.
Then there's Jean Grae. Receiving much praise from critics for marketing her talent and not her body, Jean Grae's allure comes not from what she does or doesn't wear, but what she does best-tear mics apart. Sometimes described as a female Eminem, Grae's music throbs with raw emotion and imaginative metaphors. Whether it's her struggle to get signed in a male-skewed rap world, her battles with bill collectors or her bouts with depression, Grae channels her rage into the music, weaving a flawless flow of anger and introspection into her raps.
On the political end, Mr. Lif's eight-track 2002 EP Emergency Rations is a scathing critique of post-9/11 America-a welcome and well-articulated voice of dissent. On his more recent full-length release, I Phantom, Lif switched lanes, after apparently concluding that one's personal and professional interactions can do more to affect the status quo than official government policy.
Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Pl. (15th St.), 212-777-6800, 8, sold out.
-Sean Griffin
Sunday
Dehydrated!
In the category of Great Things to Do With Your Sunday Hangover, the outstanding favorite is the charming, more than kid-friendly production of A Dolphin Up a Tree! Tina Talkington has turned herself into a dolphin and, for added spice, stranded herself in a tree. As a crackerjack idea to extricate herself, little Tina brings her stuffed animals to life and sets them to the task. Pitch your mind a little to the left of center, and this slapstick musical becomes a tour through modern psychology with a hearty dose of togetherness. By Kimberly Foster. 78th Street Theatre Lab, 236 W. 78th St. (B'way), 212-868-4444, 11 a.m., $12.95.
Bach's Christmas Oratorio
They can reduce the teachings of Jesus to a beer commercial and force that vexing Wham "Christmas Heart" song into your brain until you want to commit crimes against humanity, but they can't touch the power of this, the crowning achievement of Baroque music. Bach's 1734 Christmas Oratorio is as much a part of the season as St. Nick or Dickens. Be moved by it live as part of the "Cantatas in Context" series with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at St. Bartholomew's Church, 109 E. 50th St. (Park Ave.) 212-378-0248, 3, $15-$35.
These Very Serious Jokes
Target Margin Theater presents its adaptation of Goethe's Faust, part one, beginning today at HERE Art Center. Being the German and Goethe buff that you are, observe how closely Douglas Langworthy's adaptation follows the original. Seeing that sequels are the order of the day, TMT will present the remainder of Faust in separate productions over the next three seasons. No small feat when you consider Goethe worked on Faust from 1772-1832. That's 60 years. Unlike The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc., you won't be able to rent this production once its run ends, so be sure to catch part one before its Jan. 24 finale. 145 Sixth Ave. (betw. Spring & Dominick Sts.), 212-868-4444, 7 (Sat. at 2), $15, $10 members.
Adopt-A-Pet
What's worse than following behind a member of an inferior species and picking up its feces? Paying for the privilege, that's what. Animal Haven, an organization that works to find homes for rescued pets, will have a van full of adoptable dogs and cats parked outside Fetch Bar & Grill from 11 to 3 today. Who couldn't use a little more unconditional love and attention? Give a furball a good home, as any unclaimed animals will once again be forced to resort to living in the aforementioned van, down by the river. 1649 3rd Ave. (92nd St.), 212-289-2700, free.
First Sundays
Beware of the armies of handheld DV cam users and wannabe documentary filmmakers. Nearly invisible, they capture life in all its ridiculousness: A man dressed up as Santa singing a strange tune; the juxtaposition of Radio City's happy-go-lucky Christmas ornamentation across the street from Fox's ticker listing American casualties in Iraq; passersby saying the darnedest things.
Amateurish but insightful, they are tomorrow's Errol Morris and Michael Moore, providing fresh commentary and outlandish humor in the span of seven minutes. Look for them each month at First Sundays, a mini film festival of comedies and cartoons held at the Chicago City Limits Theater (although the festival's looking for a new home downtown).
Last month we met the White Blood Cell, a recurring cartoon character that's just that: a white blood cell (which, as creator Tate English pointed out, is our body's superhero). We experienced Elevator World, written and directed by Mitchell Rose. It's perhaps the funniest info-cartoon ever, and explained the internal logic of elevator etiquette and harmony. We got Cavalcade of Personalities, Nick Kroll's vaudevillian black-and-white spoof of the 1920s' rich and famous, which won best picture (the audience votes each month).
This Sunday's lineup includes Modern Daydreams, a look at dance sequences that use heavy machinery; New, an hilarious short film by Hotdogboy about using your brain on the outside of your head; How to Be a PI, an instructional video on how to be a private investigator. For a chaser, swing by the Venus Room after the show and receive a complimentary Stella.
Chicago City Limits Theater, 1105 1st Ave. (61st St.), 212-888-5233, 7, $10.
-Lionel Beehner
Monday
Writing New York
This reading about writers who turn our home into words features Jonathan Lethem, who has written two books about Brooklyn-Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude-and Colson Whitehead and Edgardo Vega Yunqué. Let's hope that Whitehead and Yunqué cover the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and Queens. See, we're big fans of titular comprehensiveness. 92nd St. Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. (92nd St.), 212-415-5500, 8, $16.
Tuesday
Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies
With good reason, New York has always been Hollywood's favorite location. From The Naked City to Panic in Needle Park to The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, you can always tell when something's really been filmed here and when someone was just playing make-believe on some Universal backlot. James Sanders' hefty new volume may not be the first book ever written about New York in the movies, but based on 15 years of research, it's certainly the most authoritative. He covers everything from the problems of location shooting to Hollywood's attempts to recreate subway stations, and he does it extraordinarily well. He'll be reading tonight at Barnes & Noble, 33 E. 17th St. (betw. B'way & Park Ave. S.), 212-253-0810, 7, free.
Contributors: Adam Bulger, Berrian Eno-Van Fleet, Jim Knipfel, Will Sherlin, Alexander Zaitchik.