New York City| Rudy's Music Stop| Guitars| 2013

This photo was taken at 169 W 48th St.(between 7th Ave & Avenue Of The Americas). I  was photographing anything as I waited on my family to shop.  Apparently every floor of this building is filled with guitars. They carry ukuleles and banjos also. From the reviews of this place they have some nice guitars but apparently too pushy of a staff (but it is NYC were the rent is high!). There is a good selection of vintage guitars also. If you love guitars it seems you will want to stop in here just to gawk. Yelpers give it a 4 out of 5.

Next door is Alex Music, the top NYC guitar repair shop. Carlo Greco is partners with his friend, top repairman, Alex Carozza here. Carlo is considered one of the best guitar makers (luthiers) in the world. If these guys cant fix a guitar it cant be fixed.

you can read more about it here:
http://www.rudysmusic.com/

Taken with my Nikon D300s and Tokina 12-24 f.4. No tripod

New York City | US Custom House and More | 2013

A city is a confluence of delirious angles. The array of geometric figures that meet each other near the ground or sky can make your mind spin.  New York City is no different. If you have been to the city and looked up frequently as you should have to get the full affect of life, you will know the dizzy feeling of the upward angles combined with the city noise. It is actually hard to look up at some buildings and stand steady. Walking in a crowded noisy city itself can make one dizzy.

Here is a unique photo I took while walking near the National Museum of the American Indian, on the left in this photo. Its a magnificent building located very near the South Ferry where we usually get off from Staten Island.

http://nmai.si.edu/visit/newyork/

If you are looking for something different to do in NYC this building not only is the Indian museum but is the home of the National Archives branch for New York City. 



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As well it is called the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House.  It was built from 1902-1907 and designed by Cass Gilbert who also designed the Woolworth Building. The building sits on the site of Fort Amsterdam, the fortification constructed by the Dutch West India Company to defend their operations in the Hudson Valley. The fort became the nucleus of the New Amsterdam settlement, and in turn, of New York City.    Its address is 1 Bowling Green.

Taken with Nikon D300S and Tokina 12-24 f/4 lens

The Bitter End | New York City | Greenwich | 2013

Here is a photo of “The Bitter End.” Sounds like the end of your own life, doesn’t it?

The “Bitter End” is another famous NYC music club. Lucky for us it still exists though maybe not with the same reputation. It is directly across from the other music club that I photographed, Cafe Au Go Go. It is located at 147 Bleecker St. It has its own website at http://www.bitterend.com. You can actually watch a live stream from this place now. While they don’t get quite as many famous people as they used to, they did in “the day.” The people who played at The Bitter End, be it comedy or music is almost unreal to me.

The Bitter End began in 1961, before the Vietnam War. It is the oldest Rock club in NYC! Unfortunately I never get to spend the night in NYC so I have yet to go there. Hey, anyone wants to road trip there from Central Pennsylvania for a good time let me know. We'll get a group! It is open every night and is in the heart of Greenwich Village. Go there if you get the chance.

Here are some of the people who performed there in the early days. Woody Allen, America, Joan Armatrading. Joan Baez, Blues Traveler, Albert Brooks, Jackson Brown, Dick Cavett, George Carlin, Harry Chapin, Judy Collins, Chick Corea, Bill Cosby, Jim Croce, Miles Davis, Neil Diamond, Bo Diddly, Cheech and Chong, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Ricky Nelson, Bette Midler, Lady Gaga, Billy Joel, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Joan Rivers, George Thorogood. And this is less than half the list of famous people!

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Cafe Au Go Go | New York City | Greenwich | 2013

The photo you see here is of a Capital One Bank. What is this crap you say?  Its really not even a good photo as it has lens flare and is not very interesting anyway.

But this is no ordinary place.  This was the former home of “Cafe Au Go Go.” This is where the infamous comedian Lenny Bruce was arrested in 1964 for using obscenities in his act.  It was a landmark case focused on the first amendment.  The even more famous Dustin Hoffman played in a movie of Bruce's life. Read about it here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071746/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_53. The comedian George Carlin was a regular here as well.

The real club was actually in the basement of this building. Its at 152 Bleecker Street. Not open long, from 1964 to 1969 it featured a large list of famous performers. This was where the Grateful Dead first played in NYC!  Other notables who played here were Linda Ronstadt when she was in the Stone Poneys and Jimi Hendrix. Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, the Youngbloods, John Hammond, Jr., The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Michael Bloomfield, Jefferson Airplane, Cream, Canned Heat, The Fugs, Country Joe and the Fish, all played here.

These places are thrilling yet sad to walk by.  Times are changing and things just aren’t as thrilling as the days when places like this were hangouts and nothing great was on TV or on a cell phone.  Plus a person could get as drunk or high as they wanted and barely get into trouble. Now you can't even have two drinks in a club without feeling paranoid that you may get into trouble.

Wonder how much those tiny apartments go for above.  It would be a cool place to live!



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Village Gate | New York City | 2013

Just another photo of the infamous Village Gate......

The Village Gate | Greenwich Village | NYC | 2013

As I approached the old "Village Gate" bar and theater in New York City I felt hyper and nervous at the same time. For those like me who love all kinds of music this is one of those special places from the past. If you look in the photo you can see the Village Gate sign on top of this now CVS drug store.  Its a shame it all went away. But this is where it was, at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Street. Bleecker Street is not really that long so do yourself a favor and walk the entire length of it in honor of the history of this famous street. I have written earlier posts on how we got there from the Staten Island ferry terminal.

I don't need to repeat much of the history of this famous night club, since it is all over the internet.  But lets say in "the day" such greats as the following played or got their start there. John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Vasant Rai, Nina Simone, Herbie Mann and Aretha Franklin (who made her first New York appearance there). The show 'Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris', debuted at the Village Gate in 1968.

This club opened in 1958 and was also responsible for popularizing Latin music in NYC. Other greats such as Sonny Stitt, Eddie Palmieri, Dexter Gordon with Machito, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, James Moody, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Hutcherson, David "Fathead" Newman, Slide Hampton, Pharaoh Sanders and Jimi Hendrix played here at least once.  It was jazz heaven in the day.

From 1971 to 1973, a musical comedy revue called "National Lampoon's Lemmings" had a successful run at the Gate. It starred future comic notables John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Garry Goodrow and Christopher Guest.

The Village Gate closed its Greenwich Village location in 1993. The off-Broadway capacity Village Theater, which hosted performances of the musically themed Love, Janis, Dream a Little Dream, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and Escape From Bellevue, occupied the sub-level performance space until Fall 2007.







Here is an atmospheric photo I took of the place with my usual Nikon D300s and Tokina 12-24 mm f/4 lens.


You can purchase many of my New York City photos at:

jordanphotography.artistwebsites.com

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Rocco's in Black and White | New York City | 2013

I like to try my photos in both color and black and white.  I get so many more vibes from a black and white photo if it is the right subject for such. I turn my photos into black and white using the best software there is, which is  Silver Efex Pro.

Rocco's Pasticceria | New York City | 2013

While walking down Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village we passed and stopped in Rocco's bakery. This was a somewhat popular bakery in the day but it seems to have gone down hill.  I wonder why? We bought some cookies and they were only average at best.  I feel a little ashamed by this since I am Italian and this is suppose to be  a  popular Italian bakery. Italians can cook like no one else when they have the money, equipment and time. Ok, the French are pretty good also.

http://pasticceriarocco.com/

Johns of Bleecker Street Pizza | Greenwich | NYC | 2013

Here is a photo of a typical day on Bleecker Street. In this photo we passed John's of Bleecker Street Pizzeria, one of  the most well known pizza places in all of NYC. Another pizza shop owner from my favorite pizza place in midtown (Belle Napoli) told me that Johns is one of the few pizza places in the city that is allowed to use a coal fired pizza stove, and that makes a unique pizza. These stoves were outlawed unless an established place already had one. We did not eat here as they don't serve slices and we did not want to sit and eat. We did eat at the other famous place down the street, Joe's Pizza, where many famous people have eaten also.  Joe's is basically a hole in the wall, in like a 15 by 15 foot store front.  The pizza there was good, not great, with huge slices, and not as good as Belle Napoli.

http://www.johnsbrickovenpizza.com/ 

Here is the location of John's. 278 Bleecker Street (between 6th Avenue & 7th Avenue):


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Magnolia Bakery II | New York City | 2013

Just another routine shot of the famous Magnolia Bakery in Greenwich Village on Bleecker Street. No big deal, just sharing all my photos.