Jun 24, 2011 @ 7:08
By HarlemGal UPDATE: Harlem Tavern is having a soft opening this coming Wednesday, June 29! Not the 27th!
The day is near when Harlem’s newest beer garden will officially open to the public. Harlem Tavern recently had their gas turned on, all the hires are in place, and this week several days of training occurred. When I last spoke to the owners, they said “give us one more week.” That was this past weekend. Plus all the major traditional New York press are reporting what we have known all along, Harlem Tavern is scheduled to open next week.
We hope our series called Inside Harlem Tavern was helpful and that it provided you with first-hand information on what’s expected to be one of Harlem’s hottest establishments on restaurant row. See you at Harlem Tavern!
By HarlemGal
We walked by Paris Blues in Harlem this past Friday night on our way home from dinner at Yatenga. We wanted to check out the blues rock band The Goddess Lakshmi, whose been playing live at the Harlem music venue since April 17th. The band was not there. We forgot they play at Paris Blues every Sunday night. Not to worry. We are redirecting our efforts and plan on stopping by tonight to see The Goddess Lakshmi, which is named for the Hindu goddess of abundance. The band members include the owner of The Harlem Flophouse, Rene Calvo on vocals, whose also an established artist, Jeff Bauer on bass, Amos Fischer on drums, and featured vocalist, Kosi. The band plays all original compositions.
So if you want to see some live music in Harlem on a Sunday night, check out The Goddess Lakshmi at Paris Blues, 8 pm located at 2021 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. They are playing in Harlem every Sunday night until July 31!
Mar 1, 2011 @ 23:40 By HarlemGal
According to NY1, Zagat surveyors, the experts on rating everything, have bestowed our historic and charming Lenox Lounge in Harlem with strong ratings, not necessarily for drinks and music, but for food, i.e. dining out. Sharron Cannon, general manager of Lenox Lounge, said their entire menu has been revamped where they now offer homemade made items.
In the NY1 video, the Lenox Lounge food dishes look divine and they must be because Zagat issued Lenox Lounge high marks. Located at 125th Street and Lenox Avenue, Lenox received a 23 for appeal, nineteen for decor, twenty-one for service and an E for expensive. What can one expect from a place where legends like Billie Holiday, BB King and Miles Davis use to hang.
By HarlemGal
Back in April, I blogged about the top reasons to live in Harlem. One of the reasons I mentioned was Harlem has several famous songs about or that mention it. Well…there is another song out there to add to the list that has Harlem in the title. It’s called “Harlem River Blues” by Justin Townes Earle and it has been recently picked a Fall favorite for 2010 by Time Magazine. Listen to “Harlem River Blues” below and tell us what you think by taking our poll?
Mar 15, 2010 @ 23:09 By HarlemGal
I believe we can all agree there are a lot of video parodies and spinoffs out in cyberspace about popular TV shows or films, and some of those ideas take off and become contagious-if they are presented in a timely and creative manner. Here is one video trailer that embodies those qualities-and “is divine.” The video trailer How to make it in Harlem appears to be some sort of spinoff of HBO’s How to make it in America. I don’t know a thing about the artist rapping in this video and I can’t say that it is going to make me go out and buy their album. However, what I can say is I really like this video and it did get me to stop, pay attention and post. That’s some powerful stuff given this artist is entirely unknown to me…until now.
I just want to give the folks behind this video some serious props! I think this video is packaged perfectly. They created a darn good video featuring major buildings, people, monuments, and intersections that identify every beautiful inch of Harlem. And the timing in releasing this video couldn’t be better since HBO’s How to make it in America is airing right now, which I have not seen and will more than likely now check it out.
What do you think of this video trailer? Do you like it or not?
The largest gothic cathedral in the United States was a musical haven to rock star Sting and a sea of international musicians last night. Sting, who is performing two sold out shows December 8th and 9th at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, played songs from his latest album called If on a Winter’s Night …, “a seasonal contemplation mixing traditional English songs and carols with his own The Hounds of Winter and Lullaby for an Anxious Child.” Sting performed about 20 beautiful songs along with two encores to-what I am estimating-a few hundred people, who in my view, came from the tri-state area.
And St. John the Divine was the perfect backdrop for Sting and his musicians. The entire Cathedral looked magical. My guess is Sting’s production company was filming the entire concert from start to finish. Make-up on the ladies was perfectly done and all of the men and women were dressed in black tie for the camera that was located stage left and roaming.
What was fascinating about the concert was every musicial instrument imaginable was on the stage and played. Some I recognized and some I did not. The women who played the harp was interesting.
As for the music, it was the antithesis of what I have always known about Sting, which is generally rock music and a devout yogi. Sting was more of an opera star last night than a rock star, which goes to show the range of this artist. The music and the venue tied together perfectly. It made me feel like I was watching a performance for the King of England or an episode of Showtime’s The Tudors. It felt majestic, yet most of the songs performed were calming and appropriate for the holiday season. My favorite songs were Christmas at Sea, Ghost Story, which Sting said was about his father, and Lullaby For An Anxious Child. For the Lullaby song, he brought out the Newark Boys Choir on stage. They did a wonderful job singing with Sting and what a great opportunity for them. Way to go Newark Boys Choir! However, my question for Sting is “why didn’t he use the Harlem Boys Choir to perform with him?” I have no ill will against the Newark Boys Choir, but Sting was technically in Harlem last night. It would have been a nice and a respectful acknowledgment toward the Harlem community. Oh well, maybe next time.
Overall, the show was beautiful and well worth its price. I guess I was one of the few who was able to purchase tickets online in the first nine minutes when they were made available. Apparently, that is how long it took for both shows to sell out.
By HarlemGal
On 116th Street from Frederick Douglass Blvd to Lenox Avenue, there is always African music playing throughout the various stores. The music plays just right, not loud. It’s pleasant enough to where you notice and say to yourself, is that Fela! music I hear? If you live or have walked along this portion of Harlem before, you know exactly what I am talking about. It’s this Harlem experience along 116th Street that sparked an interest for me to go see Fela!-the Broadway musical.
I ventured down to the Eugene O’Neill Theater to see the show about legend Kuti in its first week of opening. All I can say right off the top is “this is not your standard musical.” This show ain’t no Mary Poppins or Lion King – quite the contrary. Fela! is a show where you will find yourself saying “yeah, yeah” or moving your hips to three o’clock and nine o’clock at the instruction of the lead actor or wanting to dance or stare in awe at the dancers and their AMAZING bodies. The dancers are spectacular! When you see the show, you will know what I mean by all these descriptions.
The creme de la creme of Fela! is the lead actor, who sings, dances and plays two different musical instruments, the trumpet and saxophone, in the show. The lead actor sings and plays the saxophone most of the time. The evening I went Sahr Ngaujah was the lead and watching Sahr was pure enjoyment. However, don’t take my word for it. I am just a blogger from Harlem. Read the reviews in New York Magazine about Fela! and decide for yourself. But do take my word that elements of Fela’s music are alive and well along 116th Street in Harlem. See you at the Shrine!
By HarlemGal
I am getting ready to journey out to Austin, Texas soon again and I noticed while I am there South by Southwest 2009 (SXSW) will be taking place, which is the equivalent of “sport’s March Madness” but for music. Since I blog about all things Harlem, I thought why not find out who is playing at SXSW that has some connection to mi gente y mi barrio. I narrowed my search to branding and found two bands using the name Harlem: Harlem Shakes and harlem.
Harlem Shakes is a New York City pop band. According to their bio, they are from Brooklyn formed in 2006. And the other is a rock band named harlem from the host city formed in 2007.
Both bands sound good and worth checking out. However, I don’t know which one to go see? Maybe one or both? Digame?
HarlemGal Inc. 