NYC Day 10: Short Sharp Shocked

MICHELLE SHOCKED RESIDENCY AT CITY WINERY
Michelle Shocked joins City Winery (155, Varick Street, New York City) for a summer residency performing a different album in its entirety each night and more.

The indie folk-singer took the music scene by storm in 1988 with her debut album, Short Sharp Shocked, which went on to receive a Grammy nomination and win Folk Album of the Year. Her powerful and versatile music incorporates various styles from blues to rock to traditional fiddle tunes. Tonight she kicked of her residency with a performance of Short Sharp Shocked. 

Short Sharp Shocked was the second album by Michelle Shocked, and was originally released in 1988. The photograph of Shocked that appears on the cover was taken by Chris Hardy of the San Francisco Examiner at a protest in San Francisco during the 1984 Democratic National Convention.

Michelle and her three fellow musicians put on a great performance, and I came away from the gig more than happy with my decision to book a place at all three shows of her City Winery residency as they are billing it (despite the fact that the gigs are each about a month apart). The seat I had chosen, while close to the stage, was not exactly located in the best position since I had to twist my body to the right to see the performers. Thankfully I was able to reposition my chair for a more comfortable look.

Since Michelle was there to perform her now classic album, Short Sharp Shocked in full, that constituted the set list. However, towards the end of the night, to the audiences surprise, she brought her father onto the stage, and recounted a story about how he had taught himself to play mandolin when she was still a child. To our delight, with mandolins in hand they both played Woody's Rag, an instrumental attributed to Woody Guthrie. 

You might assume that the night was 'over before it had begun' if only because the original album had maybe 35 minutes or so of music on it. No so. By adding several longish stories and song introductions, as well as extended instrumental breaks which allowed the musicians to shine, the show went for almost 90 minutes, and this does not include the 20 minute opening set provided by guitarist and Short Sharp Shocked record producer, Pete Anderson and his fellow musicians, who then backed Michelle throughout her set.

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Monday 26, June | Expenses $78.00 ($101.50)

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New York City Day 9: Walk Like an Egyptian to The Bitter End!

The Chrysler Building basks in the glow of
late evening sunlight. 

GIGS, GIGS, AND MORE GIGS
I wrote in an earlier post that I had dubbed this visit to New York as my Music and Art Tour, and nothing that has happened since my last series of posts a week ago to change this designation. Since last Sunday 25th my evenings has included a night at The Bitter End to catch the Singer/Songwriter Sessions and the All Star Jam that follows it. On Monday night I returned to City Winery to see Michelle Shocked and the Pete Anderson trio run through her now classic album, Short Sharp Shocked, and again on Tuesday night I was there to help celebrate the 30th birthday of Jesse Paris Smith with a host of guest musicians including her brother Jackson and legendary mother, Patti Smith.

I had a night off on Wednesday, but I had reserved a ticket to see Cassandra Wilson at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village on Thursday night. In the end, I decided to cancel that booking, and reschedule for tonight, Sunday, July 2. My final big gig for the week saw me visiting the Highline Ballroom for a rollicking performance of the Playing For Change Band, of which more later.

A MORE FOCUSED NYC VISIT
It occurs to me that by building this visit around art and music, I am a lot more focused than I might otherwise have been. On previous visits to New York, I have concentrated on free music events more than anything else, and then left pretty much all other activities to the whims of the day. Purchasing two museum memberships (MoMA, and The Met), has allowed me to pick and choose talks and tours to attend, and while my general museum visits are still unfocused, I am enjoying the return visits to the Met Cloisters and The Met Museum in particular. While I have only made one visit to the Met Breuer at this time, I will go there again this week to take in any new works on show. I will also return to MoMA for a deeper look at the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition.

Here's my week in review along with my daily expenses in US and Australian dollars.

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM MEMBERS EVENT
The Met Fifth Avenue Members Event -- Irving Penn: Centennial. Learn about the life and work of the great American photographer Irving Penn with New Yorker writer Vince Aletti, Vogue executive fashion editor Phyllis Posnick, and Curator in Charge of the Department of Photographs, Jeff L. Rosenheim.

I went to The Met Museum in time to attend the Irving Penn talk. I must say I found the talk and the information about Penn's career as a (mostly) fashion photographer for Vogue magazine more interesting than I thought I would. I have never had a lot of time for fashion or the designers, their famous models or the magazines that thrive on haute couture, or the world of high fashion. However, Irving Penn took his role very seriously, and did not just shoot fashion for anyone, and that included Vogue. Phyllis Posnick, worked at Vogue for many years, and said she constantly had to persuade and convince Penn to take on assignments for the magazine. I had a quick look at the Centennial exhibition after the talk, but will return for a more leisurely look on a future visit. I also had a little time to walk through some of the Egyptian rooms and again I will return to these at a later date for a more careful look. 

However, it occurs to me after several somewhat disorganized visits to the Met Museum, that I need to be more focused about my examination of the massive art collections on offer. The best way of doing this, it seems to me is to use the museum map to plan each visit so that I can concentrate on one section at a time and so work my way through the whole building floor by floor and all 20 major departments.

Above: The Temple of Dendur

Above: detail of inscriptions on Temple of Dendur wall.

Here are the main departments moving clockwise around the First Floor: Greek and Roman Art; Africa, Oceania and the Americas; Modern & Contemporary Art; European Sculpture & Decorative Arts; Medieval Art; Robert Lehman Collection; The American Wing; Arms & Armor; Egyptian Art.

The Second & Third floors: Greek & Roman Art; Ancient Near Eastern Art; Art of The Arab Lands; 19th and Early 20th Century European Paintings and Sculpture; Modern & Contemporary Art; Photography; European Paintings 1250-1800; European Sculpture & Decorative Arts; Musical Instruments; and American Wing (mezzanine). Then there are the collections at The Cloisters, the Breuer, and of course MoMA. 

And let's not forget all the allied programs that each museum runs like talks, tours, film screenings and musical performances. And this is without visiting any of the dozens of other museums and galleries across the city! Far out! I really have to get my act together.

Above: Bat-or Kalo on stage at the Bitter End and below

posters from the 60s and 70s decorate the walls of the venue.

THE BITTER END: Singer/Songwriter Sessions & All Star Jam
I've written about the Bitter End numerous times on this blog so I won't go over old news. I will say that as a big supporter of new and emerging performers, I love how this venue has stayed close to its roots and continues to support young talent through the singer/songwriter sessions and in many other ways. It is interesting to see young performers working on their stagecraft, and sharing their songs and music in a small, intimate venue like this, knowing as I hope they do, that some of the greatest musicians, comedians, and other performers have also trodden the boards of the narrow stage on which they themselves are standing.

Note: Click on images to view full sized.

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Sunday 25, June | Expenses $49.00 ($64.55)

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NYC Day 8: The Met Cloisters, and Week 1 Expenses

Click on images to view full sized.

THE MET CLOISTERS
Yet another first visit, this time to the Met Cloisters, a Medieval museum located in Fort Tryon Park, at the top end of Manhattan. I timed my visit to catch a midday tour/talk entitled Wings in the Middle Ages: Birds, Beasts, Angels, and Altarpieces, led by Michael Morris an expert in this particular area. Between now and the end of August there are another eleven different gallery talks/tours that I could participate in. These take place on weekends at 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM. There are also daily Highlights tours (at 3:00 PM), and daily Gardens of the Met Cloisters tours (at 1:00 PM).

Among many other treasures, the Cloisters Museum if famous for its numerous medieval tapestries, and the most famous of these are the magnificent tapestries that are known as the Unicorn Tapestries.

Even though I have only managed to visit each of the museums and their offshoots once each to date, purchasing memberships to MoMA and The Met Museum is fast turning out to be the best thing I have done in preparation for this visit. Since I feel no obligation to exhaust myself trying to see as much as possible each time I visit one of these institutions, I find my outings are much more relaxing and less stressful than they might have otherwise been if I was trying to pack too much into each visit.

WEEK 1 EXPENSES: USD$483.00
As near as I can work it out, the weekly spend for my first week in New York was just $483, which averages out to a daily figure of $69.00. This includes transport, accommodation, food, recreation, and shopping. For readers coming late to these updates, my expenses are so low due to the fact that I am apartment and cat sitting for a friend, and I am contributing a very nominal amount to help offset costs associated with maintaining this apartment. Hence the biggest expense of any trip, accommodation, is turning out to be my least expensive cost, something for which am incredibly grateful for.