Highline Keeps Rockin'

The Highline might just be the most rockin' neighborhood in NYC.

Fresh off the Bowie curated arts festival, the area has a new 700-person music venue owned and operated by the family behind the B.B. King Blues Club and Blue Note Jazz Club. The Highline Ballroom (431 West 16th Street, 212-414-5994) opened its doors on April 30th with a performance by rock legend Lou Reed and has been buzzing ever since.

According to its promoters, the venue is dedicated to bringing music fans intimate performances by a diverse group of artists. Next up is Jesse Malin who plays the Highline Ballroom on June 6th. Presented by John Varvatos and SPIN magazine, the concert benefits Free Arts NYC, an organization that brings the healing power of the arts to abused and at-risk children and their families.

You might not have heard of Malin but he's collaborated with some of the coolest rockers in the biz including Ryan Adams (who produced Malin's debut album) and Pete Yorn. But, the real rockstar nod-of-approval came from an artist who Malin counts as one of his biggest inspirations - Bruce Springsteen.

The story goes something like this:

Malin meets Springsteen at the "Light of Day" charity concert. Malin sends Springsteen his latest CD. Springsteen calls Malin and invites him to join his Christmas show. Malin assumes he will be singing a Springsteen cover. Instead, the mentor and his band learn 3 of Malin's songs and sings back-up for the young artist. Pretty cool, right?

The love continues with Malin's latest album "Glitter in the Gutter," which features a duet with The Boss called Broken Radio. Check out the music video.

For the New York born musician who sings and writes about the struggle and triumph of the Everyman, nothing could be more fitting than kicking off Malin's U.S. summer tour with a concert to benefit the underprivileged children of his home town.

To purchase tickets for the June 6th concert with special guest Radio 4, click here. VIP Tickets (seated with open bar) are $150 while General Admission (standing only) are $50.

To watch videos and sample music, click here.

For more information or to make a donation to Free Arts, click here.

Bowie Takes The High Line

This week in New York, the buzz is all Bowie.

As the inaugural curator of the H&M High Line Festival (May 9th -19th), David Bowie has become our city's personal guide to the coolest line-up of music, film, comedy and visual art performance. The artists that he has chosen to showcase are as eclectic as Bowie himself from Brit comedian Ricky Gervais ("The Office") to French electro-pop duo Air to visionary Ken Nordine, the 87-year old musician who has been performing his beatnik-style spoken "word jazz" since 1955. Arcade Fire, the Montreal based indie rock band, kicked off the 10-day arts festival with a killer performance at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday night.

Buddha Bar with Ty KU, a new sake liqueur, played host to the festival's launch with a decadent after-party that followed their one-year anniversary celebration - a 250 person VIP dinner and auction (to benefit The Institute for Civic Leadership) for guests such as Kevin Spacey, Denise Rich, Marc Ecko, and Thom Felicia. Produced by my friends at Experiential Agency, Buddha Bar put on a spectacle of a show - a mix of performance art and acrobatics that descended from the vaulted ceiling - while revelers danced to soon-to-be-released tracks by legendary DJ Sam Popat, creator of the popular Buddha Bar compilations. Check out the NY Times video coverage of the event.


The goal of the annual festival, which continues through May 19th, is to highlight the particular taste of the artist curating it and to introduce New York to talented acts from around the world. Performances and events are being held at different venues near the High Line which runs through the Meatpacking, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hell's Kitchen. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales will go to benefit Friends of the High Line, an organization working with the City of New York to transform the 1930's elevated rail structure in a public space in 2008.

There are still some amazing events coming up. To buy tickets for shows including Polyphonic Spree and The Secret Machines, (photo below, left) visit the festival's web site www.highlinefestival.com. Claude Cahun's photography exhibit will run from May 18th -20th (photo below, right) in the gardens of the General Theological Seminary (175 Ninth Avenue). Open to the public and free of charge, it is not to be missed.

After seeing the photographer's work in Paris, Bowie was fascinated and had the following to say:

"You could call her transgressive or you could call her a cross dressing Man Ray with surrealist tendencies. I find this work really quite mad, in the nicest way."

Which coming from Ziggy Stardust is truly the finest of compliments.