The Gusto Blog

Easter is here and Buffalo is warming up for Dyngus Day. Like a giant, fat butter lamb, the Polish festival, which happens on Easter Monday, is getting bigger and bigger.

The Dyngus Day Parade begins at 5 p.m. Monday (April 9) in front of Corpus Christi Church, at the corner of Clark and Kent just east of the Broadway Market. The corner bars in the surrounding neighborhood will be hopping with polka music and even a singing bartender or two.

But why wait until then? The doors open today (April 8) at the Dyngus Day Millennium Hotel (2040 Walden Ave., Cheektowaga). At 7:30 p.m. Bishop Edward Grosz kicks off the festivities by blessing the instruments. After that, all heck breaks loose: John Valby sings his Dyngus Day Song, the Piatkowski Brothers play polkas, and Al Crew entertains from 10 p.m. until closing in the lounge.

On Monday (April 9), the hotel is rocking again, from 6 p.m. on into the night. Valby will be back, and you can also enjoy the stylings of Polka Family, Jimmy K and Ethnic Jazz and Joe & The Schmoes.

Admission either night is $10. For info on the Millennium Hotel, call (800) 323-3331.

For other events, check out www.dyngusdaybuffalo.com.

-- Mary Kunz Goldman

Michael Basinski is the featured performer at Big Night

The next Big Night is upon us. The popular monthly cross-cultural event, launched by Michael Kelleher and Aaron Lowinger in 2009 and presented by Just Buffalo Literary Center, Talking Leaves Books and the Western New York Book Arts Center, gets going at 8 p.m. today (Feb. 25) in the Book Arts Center (468 Washington St.).

The featured performer is Michael Basinski, curator of the University at Buffalo’s Poetry Collection and a prolific poet with many publications to his name, including "Trailers," "Poems Popeye Papyrus" and "Strange Things Begin to Happen When a Meteor Crashes in the Arizona Desert." The evening will also feature music by local composer, musician and Burchfield Penney Art Center curator Don Metz, who recently collaborated with Basinski on a music project called "Funginii."

The evening, as usual, will feature food from local chef and BlazeVOX books publisher Geoffrey Gatza. Admission is a cool $5, or $4 for members of Just Buffalo, WNYBAC and CEPA Gallery. More information
is at www.justbuffalo.org.

-- Colin Dabkowski

Gene McCarthy's Tavern, the historic Irish pub on McCarthy Street in the Old First Ward, is changing hands just in time for the busy St. Patrick's Day season. That is the late Gene McCarthy himself pictured at left. McCarthy, who passed on last June, semi-retired in 2006, passing the tavern over to Gerhardt Yaskow in an elaborate and well-attended ceremony.

Now Yaskow is selling the tavern, to Bill Metzger, the publisher of the Brewing News. Bill is buying the pub with three partners.

The closing is Monday, Gerhardt reports, so on Sunday they are having a party. It starts at 4 p.m., with free roast beef sliders and other amenities. The address, just so you know, is 73 Hamburg St. As the pub appears in the phone book: "McCarthy Gene Tavrn 73 Hamburg."

Gerhardt's six years have been a great era for the picturesque tavern. He bought it not knowing exactly what he was getting into, and you could say that he -- and his sister Suzette -- have not only owned it, they husbanded it. They have done a wonderful job of looking out for the beer necessities (sorry, I could not help that). Once when I went there early on in his tenure, Gerhardt had just returned from a bingo supply shop in Clinton Street, buying balls for a game of chance. The originals had been tossed somehow, and regulars were frantic.

He has issued a statement: "Bill and his new partners will be there to introduce themselves to you this Sunday night, as we remain committed to support their future endeavors at our historic neighborhood pub, and finally, to wish them well in their important work going forward."

Surely Metzger's purchase will usher in another rich era. There is no doubt that the ale will keep flowing.

It is edifying to read about Gene McCarthy's and examine pictures on the Forgotten Buffalo website.

-- Mary Kunz Goldman

The holiday season has begun!

Just this morning I heard the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's commercial hyping its Christmas show. You have probably heard it too. It is here to stay! We are going to be hearing that "Carol of the Bells" daily until Christmas. Matter of fact we will be hearing it after Christmas. The show is not until Dec. 27!

You definitely cannot beat this thing. So let's join it.

We surrender. It is Christmas!

Here is one creative video of "Carol of the Bells."

A person commenting on that video points out testily that the composer of "Carol of the Bells" was Mykola Leontovych. The actual name of the tune is "Shchedryk." That is good knowledge to be armed with when you go to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's concert! When they blast off with this song you may turn to your neighbor and say, "Ah, 'Shchedryk.'"

Here are the Muppets singing "Shchedryk." I am sitting here laughing at my desk!

The Vienna Choir Boys give us a traditional take.

Are you psyched yet for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra? If you're not yet, that's OK. You still have three months!

Meanwhile let's get started with that eggnog.

-- Mary Kunz Goldman

Charles Griffasi, the indefatigable arts advocate and community event organizer who has put his stamp dozens of cultural festivals and initiatives over the past half-century, is at it again.

His Cultural Walk of Fame, a sort of idiosyncratic tribute to some of Western New York's most interesting cultural exports, has been an curious fixture on a short stretch of Elmwood Avenue for the past several years. And last Friday, Griffasi and his organization, Cultural Concert International, added 10 new names to the sidewalk tribute.

They include the composer David Shire, Lucille Ball, dancer Tony DeMarco, actress Amanda Blake, television writer Tom Fontana, concert pianist Leonard Pennario, singer Rick James, philanthropist Seymour H. Knox, Jr.

I haven't been by yet to see if the suggestion I made last year -- for Griffasi to hire a copy editor to avoid the sorts of embarrassing mistakes that have appeared in past additions to the walk -- was taken to heart. But typos or no, the Cultural Walk is a welcome addition a busy pedestrian thoroughfare and a worthy tribute to the region's cultural heritage.

--Colin Dabkowski

My Spotlight story today about the resurgence of Black Rock takes a look at a recently flurry of activity on Amherst Street, from new restaurants like Mark Goldman's Black Rock Kitchen and Bar to popular arts venues like 464 Gallery. News photographer Bill Wippert took a ton of pictures of the burgeoning activity on the street, and I cobbled them together (along with interviews with Mark Goldman and Susan Cholewa) into this audio slideshow. Take a look!

--Colin Dabkowski