New Year's Eve 2012: Some Live Music Choices in NYC

Looking for something music-related to do on New Year's Eve to welcome 2013? There are plenty of choices in the NYC area, as always. A good place to start is the Oh My Rockness guide to New Year's Eve gigs.

 Amanda Palmer plays "Purple Rain" and more at Terminal 5 on New Year's Eve.

Having been out of town for the last week, however, I haven't had time to check on which of these shows still have tickets available. Some are definitely sold out, including the Punch Brothers and Michael Daves at Bowery Ballroom and the Felice Brothers at Mercury Lounge.

Others still seem to be on sale as of this writing, a few of them being:

• The Hold Steady (at Montclair's Wellmont Theatre)
• They Might Be Giants (at Music Hall of Williamsburg) 
• Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra (at Terminal 5) playing Prince's "Purple Rain" all the way through, as well as their own original songs
• Gov't Mule (at the Beacon Theatre)
• Blonde Redhead, Beach Fossils, and Bubbles (at Irving Plaza), Oh My Rockness's own show

If you're in Hoboken and want a cheap evening with free tunes, head to Maxwell's for a FREE night of two DJs spinning tunes (including Maxwell's co-owner Todd "Todd-O-Phonic" Abramson).

If you're staying in and want some musical accompaniment that swings, WNYC Radio will once again broadcast a John Pizzarelli Radio Deluxe special for New Year's Eve. The show starts at 10 p.m. and can be heard on 93.9 FM and 820 AM. You should be able to listen online from the station's website too, if you're out of the station's listening area.

The description of Radio Deluxe from WNYC's website:
"Radio Deluxe
Airs Monday, December 31 (New Year's Eve) at 10pm on 93.9FM & AM820
Radio Deluxe returns for another New Year’s Eve program on WNYC.  Join musician John Pizzarelli and singer Jessica Molaskey, as they get together in their "deluxe living room" to make music, play CDs and have fun with their musical guests and introduce listeners to a new generation of performers who know the greatness of the American songbook."

Podcast Review: Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli

Along with being a top-notch jazz guitarist who has recorded about 40 albums and yet is only in his forties, John Pizzarelli is also a podcaster. Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli (apparently it's also a terrestrial radio program) has been around for about a year, but I've only just heard of it.

A quote on the podcast's Web page from the Los Angeles Times sums up the show pretty well: "...a syndicated radio show that combines the retro feel of a 1940s living room broadcast with a boomer's passion for the Great American Songbook..."

I don't know if the show is or isn't recorded in the living room, but co-hosts Pizzarelli and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey, share songs and stories while talking with guest musicians. So it does have a nice informal, at-home vibe to it, like these musicians are just sitting around at home jamming and shooting the breeze, and you're sitting there with them in a comfy chair.

The New Year's edition of Radio Deluxe is a good example of the broad range of music heard on the program, with songs from Mel Torme, Patti Austin, Tierney Sutton, Tony Bennett, Judy Collins, and of course Mr. Pizzarelli himself.

As far as I can tell Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli is not available through iTunes, but you can download it or stream it from the show's Web site above. It's definitely worth checking out.