Music – November 30
BUTLER WILL DO IT
Crescent City piano man Henry Butler and his New Orleans All-Stars fire up the Iridium with a Big Easy blend of jazz, blues, R&B and everything else, tonight through Sunday. Butler – who has been blind since birth and is also a photographer – and his varying special guests will perform two sets each night at 8:30 and 10:30. Tickets are $35. 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street; (212) 582-2121; iridiumjazzclub.com
– Mary Huhn
Stage – December 1
CURTAINS AND CORKS
Trying to decide which play to see during the holiday season can drive you to drink, but Triad Theater’s “Wine Lovers” has oenophiles and theatergoers covered. Possibly the first-ever “wine-tasting musical,” this show pairs an onstage performance – by two wine-tasting students and their teacher – with an audience that quietly samples the same six wines as the actors, but from the comfort of their seats. The limited run starts tomorrow night and continues with performances Sunday, Monday and Dec. 8-10 at 7 p.m. 158 W. 72nd St.; (212) 362-2590. Tickets are $65 at wineloversthemusical.
Etc. – December 1
SNOWGLOBE TROTTERS
More that 100 businesses will take part in the first “Harlem for the Holidays” extravaganza, where food, clothes and other potential gifts items are discounted (and in some cases given away) throughout the neighborhood Dec. 1-24. The festivities start tomorrow at 2 p.m. with a three-hour party at the Nubian Heritage of Harlem store (2037 Fifth Ave., at 126th Street). Deejays from radio station WBLS will spin holiday tunes, Harlem Vintage Wines will host a vino tasting, and Boma Coffee and Tea will provide gratis baked goods. The hosting venue will be filled with vendors’ tables, and gift-wrapping is free. For listings of participants: nycvisit.com or (212) 484-1222.
Rock – November 30
CHICKS WITH PICKS
Shakira? Ashlee? Avril? Sure, they sell records, but they don’t “rock.” Bands like G-Spot, the Rosies and Cheap Perfume, however, know that your guitar needn’t match your cosmo, and they will be rocking and rolling at Ace of Clubs (9 Great Jones St., between Lafayette Street and Broadway; [212] 677-6963) tonight at 7:30, when the Sixth Anniversary of NYC’s Girls Rock & Girls Rule Showcase gets under way. Some proceeds from this 12-city tour will benefit the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, which is a nonprofit New York City-based day camp where girls ages 8-18 learn to play music and write songs, so they might someday join the 35 guitar heroines you can see tonight. Admission is $10; advance tix are $6 at revolutionaryrecords.com.
Film – November 30
CINEMAX
BAM Rose Cinemas is taking cinema to the Max – Max Ophuls (1902-1957), the German-born filmmaker, that is. A 12-film retrospective kicks off with “Letter From an Unknown Woman” (1948), the ultimate story of doomed love, unreeling through Tuesday. Louis Jourdan stars as a concert pianist who impregnates a neighbor (Joan Fontaine), then promptly forgets about her. The Ophuls salute runs through Dec. 18 at 30 Lafayette Ave., near Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn; bam.org.
– V.A. Musetto
Books – December 1
BOOK IT
If you liked blockbusters like “The Da Vinci Code” and “The Rules,” you’ll love … actually, you might be a bit confused by the 20th Annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair. Up to 4,000 literary-minded buyers and sellers will be on hand tomorrow and Sunday, trying to discover the next Mark Twain and networking to get their own great American novels onto store shelves. Go to nycip.org for a rundown of workshops and guest speakers. A $1 donation is suggested. The fair is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, 20 W. 44th St.; (212) 764-7021.
Art – December 1
NEW HISTORY
It isn’t every day that a new museum opens in the city, so the New Museum’s “opening day” begins at noon tomorrow and ends at 6 p.m. Sunday. The best part? Admission is free to see the 60,000-square-foot cultural center at 235 Bowery ([212] 219-1222; newmuseum.org), where there’s a theater, roof terraces, a café and contemporary pieces from artists including Paul Slocum, Kim Jones and Seth Price.