A Case of Incidental Music in New York - Jazz Concert at City Winery NYC
We were asked to play a concert of “incidental music” in the new swanky space of City Winery - located on Hudson River and West 15th Street. New York State pandemic regulation states that live entertainment activities, including all ticketed events, have been prohibited since New York went on PAUSE in mid-March to stop the spread of corona virus. The goal was to maintain low rate of the virus avoiding high-risk gatherings where people congregate, mingle, and create congestion at points of ingress and egress.
The Department of Health guidance specifically stated that currently, only incidental music performances are safe and permissible. Incidental music is non-ticketed, unadvertised performances that accompany and are incidental to a dining experience; i.e., patrons have come to dine, and the music provided is incidental to the dining experience and performers must be 12 foot separate from patrons (any other type of event - concerts, dance, comedy, etc. - were deemed not incidental and is therefore impermissible at this time for health and safety reasons) .
This is why we were thrilled to be invited to perform - one of the first live shows at the venue - safely and incidentally - for diners at such iconic NYC venue. We have performed at the old City Winery many times for their Klezmer and Jazz Brunch Series (on Varick Street) - the new venue is a breathtaking hall overlooking Hudson River (just off West Side Highway on West 15th street) and, even thought it has just opened, it already become an iconic NYC institution.
We were also so excited to reconnect with an old friend, Ryan Young, our sound engineer from our weekly and monthly residencies at the Roxy Hotel, where we have performed for over five years, right up to the start of the pandemic (our last show there was scheduled for Friday March 13, and was cancelled hours prior to downbeat). Ryan is a superior engineer who had created sound for iconic NYC and national touring acts, such as Brian Newman and alike - we were very happy to see and work with him again (he also took a few photos from his sound booth featured in this blog!
City Winery is a unique New York establishment - fully operational winery in NYC - a private events space, a restaurant and an intimate (1100 capacity) music venue having hosted such luminaries of music world as Prince, Adele, and so many more. City Winery strives to deliver a unique high-end culinary and cultural experience to guests who are passionate about wine, music, and dining. By combining a fully functioning winery with intimate concerts, food & wine seminars, private events (in a variety of configurations), and fine dining, we have created a compelling mix for our sophisticated clientele of foodies and active cultural patrons. City Winer has now expanded the urban wine country experience beyond New York City to Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, Boston, DC, and Philadelphia.
The show featured our first call band, including Willerm Delisfort (piano and Nord organ), Norman Edwards (drums), Barry Stevenson (bass), Danny Jonokuchi, and Jonathan Beshay.
This was an evening to remember for Svetlana’s fans - and City Winery patrons which projected a little bit of NYC normalcy in these difficult times.
We welcome private event inquiries for events from spaces that adhere to NYS Covid safety guidelines!