‘Village Nights’ brings back that ’60s vibe
BY GABE HERMAN
On Sun., Jan. 13, “Village Nights”
returns to the Washington
Square Hotel. Season two of
the monthly musical salon series continues
the vision of its founder, Richard
Barone, to keep alive the musical spirit
of 1960s Greenwich Village.
The guest on the fi rst Sunday night
will be singer-songwriter Terre Roche.
She also did the show last year and is
back by popular demand, according to
Barone, a musician and longtime Village
resident.
“That show sold out so quickly. It
was frustrating for people who wanted
to see her, so we had to add a second
time,” said Barone, who is also the host
of the series.
Barone teaches a course on the Village
at The New School called “Music
and Revolution.” He released an album
two years ago about the neighborhood
called “Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich
Village in the 1960s.”
Barone led the ’80s pop group The
Bongos, who were based in Hoboken.
It was back during that time that he
fi rst moved to the Village, into a place
on Third St. in 1984. He said he didn’t
really immerse himself in the neighborhood,
though, until the group stopped
touring after seven years. After then, he
spent more time in the Village, being
active with the community board and
working with local artists.
The origins of “Village Nights”
stretch back to a series of six events
he held at Jefferson Market Library,
featuring panel discussions and music
centered around the local ’60s scene.
Barone happened to be in the Washington
Square Hotel one day, at 103
Waverly Place, just across from the
northwest corner of the park, and he
saw its below-ground-level lounge and
thought it would be great for a show.
The hotel agreed and the series
kicked off last year with David Amram,
the composer, musician and author, in
March 2018.
Barone usually starts each show with
a song and a story about the Village, before
BY BEN ALLISON
Richard Barone, right, with Joey Arias after the latter’s performance
at “Village Nights.”
PHOTO BY RICHARD BARONE
”
David Amram, left, and his quartet playing at “Village Nights.”
handing things off to the featured
artist, who performs and mixes in storytelling,
as well.
“I love having guests that are either
related to the Village scene historically
or currently, or that carry on the songwriter
tradition that really had its birth
in Greenwich Village,” Barone said.
Terre Roche was in the trio sister
group The Roches, founded in the early
’70s.
“They were very important in the
Village scene,” Barone said.
The Roches were discovered by Paul
Simon, who produced their fi rst record,
and they sang backup on Simon’s classic
1973 album “There Goes Rhymin’
Simon.”
Barone said that Roche talks about
her Village connection in the show.
“She’s quite charming and wonderful,”
he noted.
After Roche’s performance on Jan.
13, there will be two shows on Sundays
in March. On March 3, Anthony
DeCurtis will read from his Lou Reed
biography “A Life” and perform Village
Underground songs with Barone; and
musician/writer Mary Lee Kortes will
read from her recent book “Dreaming
of Dylan,” which features dreams that
people have had of Bob Dylan, and she
will also perform Dylan tunes.
On March 31, singer-songwriter Jeffrey
Gaines will be the guest. Gaines
and DeCurtis performed last August at
a special “Village Nights” show in Central
Park that featured many performers
and drew thousands.
Barone said the ’60s revolution in
the Village that he teaches about at
The New School went beyond politics,
to include all aspects of expression, including
race, relationships, how people
dressed, and the Stonewall Riots.
And he noted that musicians began
writing their own songs, instead of relying
on Midtown hit factories. Barone
said that people would pay to hear what
artists like Dylan and Phil Ochs actually
had to say, along with what they
sang.
“You wanted to hear what they were
going to tell us,” he said. “They were
giving us news, even if it was personal
relationship news. Entertainment was
merged with reality. It’s a big deal and
it happened in Greenwich Village more
than anyplace else.”
Barone is also on the board of governors
for the Grammy Awards and has
performed locally at the Positively 8th
Street Festival.
He said he likes bringing music to the
Washington Square Hotel. Founded in
1902, it was formerly called the Hotel
Earle. The place attracted many musicians
and artists over the years for its
proximity to the park and Village scene,
including Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, the
Rolling Stones, Dylan Thomas and Ernest
Hemingway.
Each “Village Nights” show runs
about two hours and offers a full dinner
and drink menu. The cover charge
is $20 per person. The shows are in the
North Square Lounge, and Barone said
they create an atmosphere where people
can mingle and talk and connect.
The idea, according to Barone, was
to bring back the community feel of the
’60s.
“People wouldn’t just make connections
personally. They’d make creative
networking connections,” he said of
that era. “It’s how our Village worked
then. That’s what I’m trying to do with
this series.”
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20 January 10, 2019 TVG Schneps Media
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