As we make final preparations for our upcoming auditions across the pond in London, we look back fondly on our last SOS Team rendezvous in New York City. No joke, NYC never sleeps, and it totally rocks your senses.
For musicians in town with new tracks to lay down, stop by to say hi and check out our studio, Taste Sounds, on the Lower East Side. Start off down Grand Street on the corner of Essex at Kossar’s, where bagels are baked fresh daily, or if you have the time, sit down for breakfast at the well worth the wait Clinton Street Bakery near Essex St Station. New York is full of endless foodie opportunities: Himalayan, Italian, Asian, Greek, you name it from Brooklyn to Uptown and over to Queens--so much pizza, all the pizza. Check out the infamous Joe’s Pizza in Manhattan or Brooklyn, you might run into a celebrity.
In addition to all the Halal food carts along the sidewalks to the corners where the bodega game is strong, you can also hear some fine, perhaps some of the finest musical talent the current scene holds. You can trade in tokens for a pint at the Brooklyn Brewery and then catch any number of bands lay down funky, fun, and diverse musical shenanigans onstage at the Brooklyn Steel (we snagged two last minute tickets to sold out “Vulfpeck”). A bit farther south in Williamsburg there are always tasty tunes and micro-brews at Skinny Dennis and Duff’s goth bar down the street, to roll into after a couple matches of skeeball.
In the fall you can dance the weekend away with your favorite new artists or 90’s bands at the Meadows Fest in Queens before you head back over the Queensboro Bridge to Manhattan, where on any given evening you can catch intimate shows such as Julian Lage at John Zorn’s historic downtown jazz club, The Stone**, or Norah Jones at Le Poisson Rouge.
And we haven’t even talked about Broadway yet. Once the full team arrived and the work was done (we hosted a tremendously successful audition at the Ripley Grier Studios in Midtown), we went and spun around snapping selfies in Times Square before “team building” activities began. First we caught the side-splittingly hilarious Book Of Mormon and got a full tour backstage!
After a show, there is a perfect place to meet old friends, Rudy’s on 9th ave where $5 gets you a hotdog, beer and a shot, why not!? It’s also right down the road from Birdland.
For more music head south to Greenwich Village where it is well worth taking a $3 trip down the stairs (careful not to stumble) to the Fat Cat for some live jazz and a game of pool or chess. The Blue Note, The Village Vanguard and The 55-Bar are also nearby. Just across the street, if you skipped the Broadway show and got in line early, you would likely run into a familiar face down at Smalls (only holds 60 people, hence the name) while Chris Potter and Ari Hoenig trade choruses.
By day, you’d have no problem getting in your 10,000 steps in as you meander around town and up to Columbus Circle. Take a moment to flip off the Trump tower, catch a couple innings of slow pitch softball, and have a lakeside lunch at the boathouse in Central Park. Throw in a small donation and wander through a few exhibits at the MET and up to the rooftop overlooking the park. Finish up your final evening with rooftop Martinis on Wall Street before you hop back on skateboards, trains, and planes, east and west across country and overseas to your prospective destination. Leave with your belly and mind full. Happy and alert, all your senses fully engaged, in some cases overwhelmed.
Thank you New York City, we know you never sleep… but while we do, we will see you in our dreams.
- SOS
#supports #urban #living #work #play #brooklyn #manhattan #williamsburg #Broadway #music #live #jazz #teambuilding #planes #trains #taxis #skateboards
*Sadly, the Stone, a gem of a venue closed in February 2018