This Live Music Series Wants To Transform A Midtown Sidewalk Into Hot New Venue

MIDTOWN, NY — Plaza33, a relatively new sidewalk plaza on 33rd Street flanking Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, is hoping to become an attraction in its own right with a new live music series starting next Thursday evening.

Golden Hour, a free live music series with Thursday 6 p.m. shows running through September, features established and emerging musicians spanning jazz, folk, indie and more.

All the shows are curated by major local cultural partners including The Jalopy Theatre, a folk music theater and school, The Jazz Gallery, a non-profit jazz venue in NoMad, the New Colossus Festival, a downtown festival curating indie bands, and the Jazz Foundation of America, a nonprofit jazz organization and performance space in Midtown.

Plaza33, with its bistro tables, stone-tiled grounds and planters on 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues, opened just last May, and this festival represents the biggest production to date in the space, Ben Bryden, the operations and programming manager of 34th Street Partnership, told Patch.

"This being the second year of the space, it's still somewhat experimental," Bryden said. "I think a lot of the things we're doing this year, we're challenging ourselves to add a bit more polish, a higher production value, than the things we did last year."

The 34th Street Partnership is a not-for-profit management company that manages the business improvement district along 34th Street from Park Avenue to 10th Avenue.

"More pedestrianized space obviously means safer spaces, but it also allows us to use it in a more imaginative way," Bryden said.

Before it was a public plaza with event programming, it was a traffic-filled roadway. The new plaza adds sorely needed public space in Midtown, Bryden said.

"It gives folks a reason to be there and to use the space in productive ways where once there just used to be traffic," Bryden said.

Some of the standout acts include Rachel Therrien, a Canadian jazz trumpet player and composer, on July 10, and Olivia Ellen Lloyd, a country musician with a trio, on July 25.

"We've worked with her before at Bryant Park, and it's a very endearing, heartwarming show that makes a strong connection to even a passerby," Bryden said of Lloyd.

For each show, there will be bistro-style tables and chairs to sit at, though for the events curated by the New Colossus, there may be standing room only, Bryden said.

With a similar set up to the Bryant Park picnic concerts, it's a completely free event with no tickets required.

"These performances start at 6 p.m., during that magic time when the sun is low in the sky, the light is glinting off the buildings, and folks are coming out of work and heading home and perhaps stopping by for some culture on the way, or coming specifically to Midtown to experience culture in the wild," Bryden said.

Here's the full lineup.

• May 29 – Jalopy Theatre: Ali Dineen & Feral Foster
• June 12 – The Jazz Gallery: Nicola Caminiti
• June 19 – Jalopy Theatre: Guachinangos
• July 10 – The Jazz Gallery: Rachel Therrien
• July 17 – Jazz Foundation of America: George Braith
• July 24 – Jalopy Theatre: Olivia Ellen Lloyd
• July 31 – New Colossus: monarch, Le Charme, & Polaroid Fade
• Aug. 7 – Jazz Foundation of America: Jack Walrath & the Masters of Suspense
• Aug. 14 – New Colossus: Ranch Ranch, Eclectic Charango Beats, & Big Girl
• Aug. 21 – Jalopy Theatre: Wilson & Walsh
• Aug. 28 – Jazz Foundation of America: Cucho Martinez & Friends
• Sept. 11 – New Colossus: Emmrose, Whisper Doll, & Ok Cowgirl
• Sept. 18 – The Jazz Gallery: Kazemde George

Plaza33 is located at 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. Learn more about the music series here.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.