Woody Allen's Old Jazz Band at Birdland, Then Dinner on Restaurant Row

Trumpeter Simon Wettenhall and pianist Conal Fowkes spent more than 20 years in Woody Allen's New Orleans jazz band, and both turn up in films like Midnight in Paris and Sweet and Lowdown. Their seven-piece High Society New Orleans Jazz Band now holds a Thursday residency downstairs in the Birdland Theater, playing 1920s tunes from the Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton songbook in the everyone-improvises style that started in New Orleans. In October the early set starts at 5:30 PM on the 15th, 22nd and 29th, with doors at 4:30 PM. Tickets run about 35 to 46 dollars, plus a 20-dollar food or drink minimum per person, per set, and the kitchen serves dinner during the show.

When the band packs up, walk two blocks north to Hold Fast Kitchen & Spirits on Restaurant Row. After the red curtains downstairs at Birdland, the brick walls and mismatched decor feel like a different night out, and it's an easy room to talk over what you just heard. Order the roasted bone marrow, which arrives with soft scrambled egg and salmon roe, and pick a bourbon cocktail from the house list. Prices are mid-range for the Theater District.

It's about a five-minute walk up Eighth or Ninth Avenue. Set lengths change from night to night, and a little slack before any dinner reservation saves a rushed exit. The 42 St–Port Authority Bus Terminal station is a few blocks from both stops.