Last night I happened to notice that "Chanteuse Extraordinaire" Marni Rice (also an old pal) was performing outdoors in the East Village so I pulled myself out of the AC and into the balmy humid night to trek over to the east side.
Marni was wonderful, as always. For those who haven't heard her: she taps into her years of busking in the streets of Paris to create a wonderful melange (sorry, couldn't resist) of English and French songs accompanying herself on the accordion.
The lineup was a mixed bag. Marni shared the stage with a handful of other singer-songwriters of varying degrees of talent and charisma. But what really charmed me hands-down was this neat little venue, tucked in the garden on the corner of 6th Street and Avenue B.
The curator of the series, Joff Wilson, an accomplished musician himself, was on hand to keep the night moving along and make us all feel welcome.
Performers play under a makeshift wooden lean-to decked out in Christmas lights and the audience sits on an assortment of wooden benches and plastic lawn furniture. Apart from a few drunk and obviously overly privileged twenty-somethings, the atmosphere is magical and this makes for one of those quintessentially New York performance experiences.
Check out their website for listings through the remainder of this Summer and early Fall.
In a city that seems locked in the grip of an inexhaustible run of corporate real estate speculation, it's heartning to discover one truly homegrown little gem that seems to be thriving.
