In a musical Manhattan cellar called Basin Street one night last week, a thin-haired bandleader used an unorthodox method to get his crew going on a fast number. Dropping into a distance-runner’s ...

Though the red-checked tablecloths and steins of beer might as easily be found in Heidelberg or Hanover, the audiences are more akin to Hackensack. Some, of course, are college kids, but a surprising ...