Selda and Derek: While The Coffee’s Still Hot
Joe's Pub425 Lafayette Street, New York 10003
Selda Sahin and Derek Gregor bring While The Coffee’s Still Hot to Joe’s Pub. Billed as Selda and Derek, the NYC songwriting duo will present the evening under that title; the available information does not specify the show’s musical lineup, instrumentation, guests, or program. What is clear is that this is a chance to hear two writers whose work moves between stage and screen in a live setting.
Sahin and Gregor describe themselves as an NYC-based writing team for stage and screen, best known for the music of the award-winning short musical film Grind, starring Anthony Rapp, Claire Coffee and Pasha Pellosie. Their credits also include songs for American Reject, featuring Keala Settle, Angelica Hale, Annaleigh Ashford, Juvenile and Billy Ray Cyrus. Their work has ranged across stage, screen, pop and country, with an earlier live description spanning “Electro-pop to Country-pop to New-Grass.” Gregor’s musical Unlock’d had an extended Off-Broadway run, while Sahin received an Atlanta Opera commission. Producer Peter Dunn has called their writing “some of the most powerful and honest music I’ve heard.”
The stage is set in a converted library space with a striped bar and photos of legends like Leonard Cohen and Amy Winehouse lining the walls. You'll find yourself seated on velvet couches or at candle-lit tables, close enough to hear every note from the back. The sound, engineered by technicians who've worked with John Legend and The Notorious B.I.G., is consistently ranked among the best in New York. Three shows a day, dinner and drinks served throughout, and a menu ranging from Italian small plates to craft cocktails; it's a place where music and conversation flow together, and where both rising stars and legends have made their U.S. debuts.