JOIN US at the HARLEM BREW GARDEN @MIST BAR HOME OF HARLEM’S BEER SUGAR HILL GOLDEN ALE THURSDAY and SUNDAY for FOOTBALL 6 SCREENS 30 FOOT SCREEN $30 BUCKET OF BEER AND WINGS!!!! THROWBACK FILMS ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY IN MIST THEATRE 10% off for KALAHARI RESIDENTS! 10% off for ALL TEACHERS AFTERWORK HAPPY HOUR #cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

#cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

#cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

By Kysha Harris Experiencing Harlem means to have witnessed or been part of the changes in our neighborhood. New places open that have become our favorite restaurants, stores, spaces and some of our favorites have unfortunately closed. We continue to site them for their contribution to the landscape as it now exists. This is why we were so happy to be invited to the first taste of Chef Alexander Smalls revival of the former Harlem hotspot, The Cecil, on 118th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. The freshly renovated space was clean, modern and open. The staff was ready to serve. We started with spicy shrimp over a yam flapjack with piri piri sauce, collard green salad with coconut dressing, and oxtail dumplings with apple curry sauce. You must go if just for those oxtail dumplings! We made sure to get a little something from each section of the menu for our entrees: fried black rice with smoked pork spare ribs and black pepper sauce from the wok menu, roasted poussin with sticky curry coconut rice and long beans, macaroni and cheese with pepper ham for two and a side of okra fries. Oh, those okra fries! The Cecil offers great African Asian flavor combinations in a friendly, bright and inviting space. We are looking forward to spending many hours there and in the new Minton’s next door. #cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

SAVE 25% with code EXPERIENCE Like jazz? You’re going to love JAZZ IN JULY! Come hear top musicians in tight, knockout ensembles—all paying tribute to the songs, styles and artists that put the art form on the map. Experience it in the hall that New York magazine called “the best concert space in New York.” Six one night stands with legends of jazz, including Chris Potter, Bucky Pizzarelli, Freddy Cole, Renee Rosnes, Anat Cohen, Warren Vaché, Dena DeRose, Bill Charlap and more! Tue, Jul 16   Fats Waller: A Handful of Keys Wed, Jul 17   Jimmy Van Heusen: Swingin’ on a Star Thu, Jul 18   West Coast Jazz Tue, Jul 23   The Mad Hatter: Music of Chick Corea Wed, Jul 24   Mancini, Mandel & the Movies Thu, Jul 25   Benny Goodman: Let’s Dance! All shows start at 8 pm. For tickets, visit 92Y.org/JazzinJuly or call 212.699.7299 and use code EXPERIENCE. #cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

Two decades ago, Wynton Marsalis composed and recorded In This House, On This Morning and began a creative exploration of how to reflect the forms of the African American church service onto a theme of universal humanism while raising a joyful noise. Marsalis refined this integration of sacred and secular expression with his definitive 2008 extended work Abyssinian 200: A Celebration, commissioned by the Abyssinian Baptist Church on West 138th Street in Harlem to celebrate its 200th anniversary. After a triumphant performance in London’s Barbican Centre, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis brings fresh eyes and ears to this masterwork. The sensational conductor Damien Sneed leads Chorale Le Chateau, his 70-person gospel choir, through the demanding compendium of shouts, chants, and joyous expressions required by this composition. Spirited sermonizing from the Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, adds further charisma to the presentation. Free pre-concert discussion, nightly, 7pm. To Purchase Tickets: Online: jalc.org By Phone: 212-721-6500, CenterCharge In Person: JALC Box Office Broadway at 60th Street, Ground floor Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm; Sun, 12pm-6pm All tickets subject to a $2 facility fee.  Tickets purchased through jalc.org subject to $6 service fee, and tickets purchased through CenterCharge subject to $7 service fee. #cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

APOLLO LIVE! BET’s hit talent show based on the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night is back! September 14, 15 & 16 @ Apollo Theater – 253 West 125th Street, Harlem, USA Apollo Live will return for a second season on Centric and BET and you can be part of the excitement! For nearly 80 years, aspiring performers from all over the country have come to New York to showcase their talents and take a shot at stardom at the world famous Apollo Theater. Apollo Live draws upon the traditions of the Apollo’s long-running weekly live Amateur Night talent competition. Host comedian Tony Rock and the all-star judging panel that includes R&B producer/recording artist Michael Bivins (New Edition), hip hop legend Doug E. Fresh and the “Empress of Soul” Gladys Knight are also back. Below is your opportunity to be in the audience to cheer or boo this year’s performers. There’s only one rule at the Apollo…be good or be gone! FREE TAPINGS: Saturday, September 14th   – 5p & 8p Sunday, September 15th – 5p & 8p Monday, September 16th – 5p & 8p Click here to RSVP to attend the FREE Apollo Live taping date and time of your choosing! Groups of 50+ Please email Toni Isreal for more information toni@walkercommunicationsgroup.com and/or toni.isreal@apollotheater.org Please note: You must be 18 years of age or older in order to attend an Apollo Live television taping. Entry is on a first come, first serve basis. Arrive early. #cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

It’s almost that time when kids throughout Harlem return to school. This school year, I hope you’ll join us in supporting Global Language Project (GLP), an educational 501(c)(3) that brings foreign language programs into underserved elementary schools and provides low-income students with learning and cultural activities that help to increase their test scores in core subjects like Math and Science, encourage them to embrace diversity, and prepare them to complete in our globalized world and workforce. This year, GLP will serve 1,500 students.  As a strong advocate of GLP’s work, I am campaigning to raise $1,500 – one dollar for every child – for the organization this August and September. Please support GLP kids today by clicking here: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/angiehancock1/angiehancocksfundraisingpage. All funds raised will go directly toward GLP students and programs. Thank you for helping me to transform the lives of low-income kids in Harlem! #cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

#cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

#cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

Thokoza, a company of six South African and African American women “of a certain age” will extend it’s current off-Broadway run of I SING FOR FREEDOM at Baruch Performing Arts Center August 19th and September 9th ​through December 16th. Conceived and directed by Thuli Dumakude, I SING FOR FREEDOM features women with a collective total of over 130 years of singing experience who sing acapella and unamplified the music that they love and that makes them feel free. Thokoza’s songs, many in six part harmonies, range from Southern church gospel to traditional South African Township songs sung in Zulu. Intertwined are personal stories from the performers’ rich and varied histories. Director Thuli Dumakude was born in Durbin, South Africa. She has acted internationally, playing roles as varied as Rafiki on Broadway in The Lion King to Lady Macbeth in A Zulu Macbeth. She was the featured soloist in the movie CRY FREEDOM. Joining Dumakude in I SING FOR FREEDOM are Ghanniyya Green, Dee Sims, Brenda Fair, Silindile Sokuto and Debbie Carter. Thokoza in I SING FOR FREEDOM is produced by veteran off-Broadway and Broadway producer Eric Krebs in association with Baruch Performing Arts Center. Performances are on Mondays at 7:00 PM and Sundays at 3:00 PM at Baruch Performing Arts Center, located at 55 Lexington Avenue. Enter on 25 Street between Lexington and Third Ave. All tickets are $30.00. Groups of 10 or more are $20.00.  Students and 65 and older are $15.00 Tickets: www.baruch.cuny.edu/bpac or call 646-312-5073. Further information contact Nicole Judd at Walker Communications Group 718-703-2260 or nicole@walkercommunicationsgroup.com. #cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY

As one of the ‘pioneers’ of the new FDB, Gorgui N’doye owner of Les Ambassades set the bar for new businesses coming into the area with its enticing array of freshly baked croissants, baguettes, sandwiches, and fresh squeezed O.J.  After ten years in Harlem,  Les Ambassades restaurant expanded. A take out counter serving mouth-watering pastries is now connected to a full-service restaurant next door with sidewalk cafe seating available. The French-American inspired cuisine includes $15 entrees, and extended hours serving breakfast beginning at 10AM, lunch, and dinner until 3AM. The grand re-opening celebration was last week. Les Ambassades has a sister restaurant with a full bar located on Lenox Avenue near 127th Street. Les Ambassades 2200 Frederick Douglass Boulevard Harlem, New York www.patisseriedesambassades.com All photos: ©2013 D. Bell Originally posted on Uptown Flavor. #cultural #guide #essential #event #Harlem #local #Uptown #culture #NewYork #experienceharlem #experience #ExperienceHarlem #NYC #shoplocal #harlemnyc #harlemites #NY