Roxy Bar Presents: Pianist Michael Garin

Michael Garin, Roxy Bar’s resident pianist, plays a live piano set on December 4. His Roxy performances blur the line between pianist and DJ, moving through a deliberately wide-ranging stream of music that the venue says can include Shaggy, Om Kalthum, Rossini, Jobim, Zappa and Raymond Scott. Expect a set shaped by quick shifts in repertoire, requests, and Garin’s own comic asides, rather than a conventional single-style recital.

A Drama Desk Award winner, Garin has been a presence in New York nightlife for decades. His résumé includes Elaine’s, the Monkey Bar, the Rainbow Room and the VIP Room at Limelight. Beyond the piano, 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 as a groundbreaking environmental musical, and hosted midnight burlesque shows in the mid-1990s that helped launch the burlesque revival. The venue also notes acting work with Spike Lee and a following for his Ogden Nash-style daily poems promoting his engagements. At the Roxy, his approach is marked by playful bits such as tap dancing from the piano bench and inviting children to play along.