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Archive for the ‘Art’ Category

Phoenix, Arizona is a vibrant city with a diverse cultural atmosphere and numerous attractions. There is a strong community support for many of the performance and arts organizations and the downtown entertainment scene is thriving. One of the more popular events that occurs regularly in the downtown area the First Fridays celebration. In the early evening and through much of the night of the first Friday of every month all of the local galleries and performance spaces open their doors and offer free tours and performances.

There is some great live music that can be heard throughout the area and the offerings include samples of the local scene as well as touring acts. In addition, the galleries are full of great art from various genres and sometimes you can find great deals on the items while you’re down there. Various other types of performance are taking place from poetry readings to comedy sets and staged productions. This is one of the favorite local events and every month large crowds turn out for it. And if you happen to plan on being in Phoenix near the first Friday of a month, you should check for availability and hotel rates Phoenix information, and see if you can arrange to be there. There is great food and a dynamic artistic culture waiting for you, so be sure and find it if you’re in Phoenix.

In between the glitz and the glamour of Broadway, and the fierce calls of punk rock, there are other cultural forces in New York, helping to shape its identity over the decades.  There are many different kinds of music that find their home here, just as many cultures find their home in the city.  It’s probably got the most spoken languages on the streets at any given time than any other city in the world, and if you’re looking for something, anything, you can find it here or it probably doesn’t exist.  Some of the greatest contributions to music in the world have roots in Latin America, and find their perfect expression in the hands of the people who live here.

Generations of skill are sometimes passed down, and sometimes it comes up spontaneously in a new generation, but its evolution is strong, and its roots are very deep, and also enormously complex.  It’s an exciting place to come to look into the history and the present, booking New York hotel suites so that you can stay here in style and luxury, and make your way to the Bronx to visit Casa Amadeo.  This a place where every lover of Latin music needs to go at least once in a lifetime.  The 75-year old proprietor Miguel Angel Amadeo will be there, and would probably enjoy teaching you a little about the history here.

The shop is the longest-running Latin music store in the Bronx.  It opened in East Harlem as Casa Hernández in 1927, and Amadeo took over in 1969.  He’s the son of the famous Borricua composer Titi Amadeo, and his knowledge of the records he sells is extensive.  He’s seen a lot of music history firsthand, and is very well-respected among the musicians who play the music in its current evolutions. He also still sells vinyl, and only takes cash, so this is the kind of mom and pop store that everyone misses, but in our lifetime, we can visit, and learn a little something about the music that shapes us in the process.

I will never forget the feeling of walking into Grand Central Station for the first time.  New York to me, presents a lot of excitement mixed with a bit of eeriness.  I have only visited the city twice, and so I am not familiar with the city in real life, but growing up and watching old movies, new movies, and various television shows or music videos, the city has been a standard backdrop for years, and so many of the buildings in the financial district, some of the famous and finest restaurants in New York, the skyline, and Grand Central Station are all very recognizable.

So many films have had scenes in this building, so when I walked in for the first time, I was blown away with first, just how big it really is and just how many people there were, then I felt a bit odd as it felt a little like coming home.  Not that I had ever thought that I “belonged” in the city, not in that way of coming home, but just coming to the familiar.  It is a strange feeling that is kind of deja-vu in a sense.

The station was constructed a ten year period beginning in 1903 and lasting through 1913.  There are sixty seven sets of tracks taking up two floors.  This is mind boggling.  This is the second incarnation of the station, as the first one constructed in 1869 was built for steam engine trains.  The smoke caused an accident in the Park Avenue Tunnel, as the visibility was greatly reduced by all this smoke.  They built the Grand Central Station of today, with electric trains, and by 1910, no steam engines at all were allowed within the city limits.

The art and the architecture of this building is just as impressive as it is breathtaking.  The ceiling mural was painted by Paul Helleu, who was inspired to paint the zodiac by a manuscript from the medieval time period.  The building and the design, is Beaux-Arts Design at it finest.  This is one of the icons of the city, and should you find yourself standing in the middle of it some day, you will understand the immense feelings that Grand Central Station evokes.