By Will Friedwald Celebrating
Adolph Green
: 100 Years of Wonderful
Friday & Saturday
One Night of Peace & Music -- A Tribute to Woodstock
Sunday
54 Below
254 W. 54th St., (646) 476-3551
When they're not featuring headliners, such as Tony DeSare (who
opens on Tuesday), "Broadway's Nightclub" has become the focal
point for a series of all-star shows built around specific (though
widely diverse) themes and featuring an impressive lineup of
talent. Tonight and tomorrow, 54B concludes its three-night
centennial salute to the legendary musical theater lyricist, book
writer, and irrepressible entertainer Adolph Green. On Sunday,
singer-producer Lauren Fox mounts the eagerly awaited second
edition of her Woodstock celebration, with a cast of mostly
cabaret-oriented headliners, although singing in an authentic
folk-rock style, joined by the formidable Broadway baritone Matthew
Saldivar.
'Ezz-Thetic Thoughts: The Music of
George Russell
(and
Gerald Wilson
)'
John C. Borden Auditorium, Manhattan School of Music
120 Claremont Ave.,
(917) 493-4428
Friday
Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola
10 Columbus Circle, Fifth Floor, (212) 258-9595
Monday, Oct. 6
The music of the late George Russell and Gerald Wilson is a
perfect contrast: Russell (1923-2009) presented himself as
primarily a musical theorist and yet his music was surprisingly fun
to listen to; Wilson (who died a few weeks ago at 96) was a
bandstand cutup entertainer and an avuncular comic on stage, but
his original compositions had profound intellectual depth. It will
be instructive to hear how the Manhattan School of Music manages to
combine the two; they've haven't been presented on the same program
lately, even though they both were on various sides of the bebop
revolution.
Jumaane Smith
The Metropolitan Room
34 W. 22nd St., (212) 206-0440
Wednesday
The trumpeter's first album, "I Only Have Eyes for You" (being
christened Wednesday with his first gig as a leader in New York)
has him evoking classic standard songs as well as artists that have
inspired him over the years: "La Vie en Rose" pays homage to Louis
Armstrong, not Edith Piaf, while others recall the lyricism of
Bobby Hackett and the jagged edge of Miles Davis. But in his desire
to exult melody and accessibility, the trumpeter that Mr. Smith
reminds us the most of is Chris Botti. The new album leads off with
"Come Rain or Come Shine" as a voice-trumpet duo with longtime
associate Michael Bublé, and offers one of that superstar's
best-ever renditions of a classic song, making us wish that the
brassman and the Canadian crooner would undertake a full-length
album and / or concert together.
Rita Wilson
The Café Carlyle
35 E. 76th St., (212) 744-1600
Through Oct. 4
The Hollywood notable has made the transition to Carlyle
headliner by working hard for what seems to have been years and
years to put together a compelling program. Ms. Wilson has chops,
both as a vocalist and a composer, but what elevates her production
to the A-list level is her remarkable charisma and the ease with
which she relates to the audience. Her original songs are
idiomatically authentic to the music of her youth: "Woodstock"-era
folk-rock, 1970s-style singer-songwriters (including a touching
homage to Joni Mitchell), and sunshiny zoological pop in the
general species of the Turtles and the Monkees.
David Chesky
: Jazz in the New Harmonic
Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola
10 Columbus Circle, Fifth Floor, (212) 258-9595
Wednesday
This music is original and different--although, admittedly, it
isn't the most cheerful that you're likely to hear in the city this
week. The veteran pianist, composer, and producer David Chesky has
assembled a stellar quintet, with saxophonist Javon Jackson,
trumpeter Terell Stafford, bassist Peter Washington and drummer
Billy Drummond, to play a very distinct set of new works.
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