Roxy Bar Presents: Pianist Michael Garin

Michael Garin, the Roxy Hotel’s resident pianist, plays at Roxy Bar on this Thursday evening. His recurring downtown set is built less like a conventional piano recital than a freewheeling stream of selections and requests, deliberately blurring the line between pianist and DJ. The repertoire cited by the venue ranges from Shaggy and Om Kalthum to Rossini, Jobim, Frank Zappa, and Raymond Scott, with Garin also known to add comic, self-deprecating asides and the occasional tap-dance turn from the piano bench.

A Drama Desk Award winner, Garin has been a fixture of New York nightlife for decades. His résumé includes engagements at Elaine’s, the Monkey Bar, the Rainbow Room, and Limelight’s VIP Room. Beyond the keyboard, he has worked as a songwriter, singer, poet, actor, and song-and-dance performer. He co-created and co-starred in Song of Singapore, described by the venue as a groundbreaking environmental musical, and hosted midnight burlesque shows in the mid-1990s that helped launch the burlesque revival. His acting credits include work with Spike Lee, while his daily Ogden Nash-style poems promoting Roxy and other appearances have developed a Facebook following.