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July 18 - 24, 2013
Just Do Art! BY SCOTT STIFFLER
MATT WONG: SUMMER 2013 TOUR
Chet Atkins, Merle Travis and Jerry Reed would be proud — and you’d be impressed — upon viewing one of the YouTube clips featuring West Windsor, NJ guitarist Matt Wong. The 15-year-old, who’s been working the strings and frets since he was six, is currently in his “fingerpick” style stage. When the Wong biopic gets made, that’ll probably be just one of the many notable stops along his career arc (think Picasso’s Blue Period or SNL’s original cast phase). Already composing jazz-based originals, arranging classics and touring in support of his debut album (“Fly me to the Moon”), Wong gives thanks to the aforementioned predecessors as well as fellow YouTube presence Tommy Emmanuel — credited for inspiring Wong to fingerpick (which allows him to hold down the melody, rhythm and bass parts simultaneously, while adding a little percussion). See what all the fuss will one day be about, and say you saw him in the early years, when Wong gigs at Caffee Vivaldi (the NYC stop on his summer tour of the Tri-State area and Pennsylvania). Free. Sat., July 27, at 7:15pm. At Caffe Vivaldi (32 Jones St., St, btw. Bleecker & W. Fourth Sts.). For info, call the venue at 212691-7538 or visit mattwong.webs.com. Also visit caffevivaldi.com.
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Photo by Bill Wong
Matt Wong’s summer tour touches down at Caffe Vivaldi, on July 27.
Photo by Liz Ligon, courtesy of Friends of the High Line
¡Arriba! Community Dance Parties bring a little swing to those hot summer nights.
¡ARRIBA! COMMUNITY DANCE PARTIES
Salsa to Latin mamba under summer skies, and be happy again. Part of High Line Live! and presented with HAI (Hospitals Audiences, Inc., an arts nonprofit that brings arts events to the city’s underserved communities) and Hudson Guild, ¡Arriba! Community Dance Parties bring together dancers and amateurs alike in an open-air Latin dance party! On July 24, the joyful, driving lyrics of Liliana Araújo and her band Forró da Madame bring Brizillian forró (a style of music characterized by percussive beats and the zabumba bass drum) to Chelsea, with vocals that will keep you dancing till you drop. August 21 features Nu D’Lux. New York’s “most original Cuban style dance band and perhaps the funkiest Salsa on the planet” combines a host of styles to make a sound that is lively, spicy and entirely their own. Wear through your dancing shoes, and then head down to a nearby restaurant or wine bar to mellow out the end of your night with laughter and conversation. As Nu D’Lux declares, “This party’s not for sitting, friends.” Wednesday, July 24 and Wednesday, August 19, 7-10 pm. Chelsea Market passage at 16th St.
— Maeve Gately