Day 2: Rest day, New York, NY
Nau mai,
Yesterday I had a recovery day in New York City.
I slept until 2pm (which is 6am in New Zealand time), and then headed out into a pleasantly warm afternoon to find a bite to eat. Just around the corner from our hotel in the neighbourhood of Flushing, Queens, was a florist/bar/cafe called Florist Bar Co. They had a nice selection of fresh flowers, bourbons and whiskeys, and coffee and pastries. I ordered a sandwich from the menu called the HK Sandwich, a compilation of ham, tomato, lettuce, egg, and cheese, on toasted white bread.
I was lucky enough to be invited out to one of Tristan’s curated jazz nights. We caught the train from Flushing Main Street Station, transferred at Broadway, and whizzed under the East River to get to Manhattan’s Midtown.
Here we are exploring all the hustle and the bustle.
The first show we went to was Walter Smith III trio, led by the very capable saxophone player of that name, and also featuring legendary bass player Larry Grenadier and legendary drummer Bill Stewart. We arrived nice and early and were able to sit right in front of the stage, which was a treat for our eyes and ears.
The Walter Smith III trio performing at the newly opened Pocket Bar in Midtown.
We emerged from the basement to find a spectacular sunset echoing through the streets of the theatre district.
Looking west along 46th Street towards Times Square.
Manhattan is a geothermal hotspot and steam can often be seen emerging from manhole covers and cracks in the pavement. The orange chimney, installed to safely funnel the steam away from pedestrians is being hopelessly overwhelmed by the quantity of the vapour.
To get to the subway station we walked through Times Square and as always we were impressed by the brightness and definition of the billboards, and the quality of the street performers.
The second part of Tristan’s curated jazz evening was spent at the Village Vanguard. This extremely famous venue displays the evening’s performers on a narrow hand-drawn poster outside the front door.
See if you can figure out who was playing last night. Leave your answers in the comments below!
At the Village Vanguard you aren’t allowed to take photographs during the set but I did get a snap of Kurt’s pedal board before they went on stage.
I also got a snap of bass player Joe Martin’s music stand with the side extension added, enabling the user to read up to five pages simultaneously.
I restarted my phone and it fixed the focusing issue. To celebrate I took a slightly more focused but still quite mediocre shot of the Manhattan skyline before heading to sleep.