by | Apr 22, 2024 6:02 pm | Comments (3)
Mel Defilippo, a prevention services manager with A Place to Nourish Your Health (APNH), explains healthcare offerings to event attendees.
“I’ve never, ever gone to a place like this before,” said Darnell Ray, taking in the flurry of queer-affirming healthcare and self-care opportunities that filled the New Haven Pride Center.
Continue reading ‘Pride Center Offers Queer Health Check-Up’
by | Apr 8, 2024 12:45 pm | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photo
Blick Bassy.
A triple bill at Cafe Nine on Saturday Night headlined by Cameroonian touring artist Blick Bassy featured two younger New Haven acts who tipped their hats to those older than they were, even as they showed everyone in the room that the future of music in the Elm City is in safe hands.
by | Apr 3, 2024 9:38 am | Comments (1)
Brian Slattery Photos
Greco.
Pete Greco had a series of requests for the audience at Cafe Nine on Tuesday night. Did anyone know how to tune a guitar? Did anyone have any tattoos? The questions were all good-natured jokes in the service of serious music, as Greco and his band took the last slot on the inaugural night of First Tuesdays at Cafe Nine, billed as “a songwriter’s showcase featuring live bands, focused on shining a light into New Haven’s tremendously talented songwriting circuit.”
by | Mar 20, 2024 9:27 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Addie and Jacey of the Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America declared themselves “thrilled” to be on Cafe Nine’s stage Tuesday night. The DSA is involved in a number of political efforts, but this night it was focusing on raising funds for a cause: The REACH Fund, which, as its website states, “is a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance for abortion care in Connecticut.”
by | Mar 18, 2024 12:08 pm | Comments (3)
Bo Sandine with a signature gin and tonic in 116 Crown heaven.
The illuminated bar. The welcoming, gorgeous garden in the back. The carefully crafted cocktails, which were worth the extra time they took. Over its now-ended 17-year run, 116 Crown was a singular sensation.
by | Mar 18, 2024 9:50 am | Comments (1)
Kenneth Jimenez Photo
Lilith.
Ingrid Laubrock’s Lilith opened Firehouse 12’s spring season of shows at its concert space, recording studio, and bar on Crown Street with a fiery set of Laubrock’s compositions that paid homage to female energy and to the venue itself, which continues to be a hub for experimental music in New Haven, on the East Coast, and beyond.
by | Mar 11, 2024 10:24 am | Comments (1)
Brian Slattery Photos
A Drop of the Pure.
State Street on Sunday afternoon was filled with signs of the end of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, whether it was the lines of people in green shirts outside Modern, the full marching bands gathered on street corners, the policemen guarding the barricades for closed streets, or the long rows of parked cars. The parade has changed a lot over the years and continues to, reflecting New Haven as it is, a diverse place in which successive waves of recent immigrants find a home. And in Cafe Nine, a steadily growing crowd came to hear A Drop of the Pure, a quartet purveying traditional Irish music and pulling at the long cultural thread that connects the present to the past.
by | Mar 7, 2024 9:18 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Wow, Okay, Cool.
As a heavy rainstorm pounded the pavement outside on State and Crown, drummers pounded skins inside Cafe Nine, propelling a night of raucous guitar, muscular bass, and vocals that pushed the throats of their singers to the limit, as three bands filled the Ninth Square club with the sound of the latest iteration of a now-venerable music form: The rock band.
by | Feb 21, 2024 6:21 pm | Comments (6)
Hill Alder Carmen Rodriguez: The Hill's happening.
Two affordable housing developments are a step closer to materializing in the Hill, along with the nearby revival of the old Coliseum site, thanks to approvals from the Board of Alders.
by | Feb 13, 2024 2:17 pm | Comments (0)
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
In advance of Valentine’s Day, city officials gathered outside “Sweet Mary’s Bake Shop” and called on consumers to open their hearts (read, “wallets”) and shop local in support of their city.
I visited each of the Court Street small businesses courted by politicians at the event and made my own wish list.
by | Jan 29, 2024 8:55 am | Comments (0)
Mixed Company.
The band Mixed Company was doing its take on Abbey Lincoln’s “Throw It Away,” and the sound snapped into focus in the first chorus: “Throw it away / Throw it away / Give your love, live your life / Each and every day / And keep your hand wide open / Let the sun shine through / ‘Cause you can never lose a thing / If it belongs to you.”
Michael Carabello on keys, Conway Campbell, Jr. on bass, and Jonathan Barber on drums set up a strong and sultry rhythm. Taylor McCoy’s voice floated over the top.
Those in Jazzy’s Cabaret on Friday night stopped talking, paused over their meals, to listen. It was as if a signal had been sent across the room to pay attention to what was going to be a great night of songs.
by | Jan 26, 2024 9:15 am | Comments (2)
Brian Slattery Photos
New Cardiff Giants.
A Thursday night of churning rhythms, big guitars, barked lyrics, and dancing feet at Cafe Nine made the case that New Haven’s rock ‘n’ roll scene is alive and well, and possibly growing, as four Elm City bands kept people moving for hours.
by | Jan 23, 2024 3:31 pm | Comments (7)
Alder Rodriguez makes a dent in homelessness.
Alder Carmen Rodriguez donned a hard hat and struck a sledgehammer into a wall — and urged her counterparts in other cities to break down metaphorical walls as well to support the “cold, wet, and hungry.”
by | Jan 18, 2024 3:38 pm | Comments (7)
Laura Glesby Photo
Ribbon snipped at new LGBTQ+ hub.
Elaine Kolb held back tears as she took in the crowd celebrating the New Haven Pride Center’s new home – and absorbed the fact that she could roll through the whole place in her wheelchair.
“This is the first time in my 74 years that I feel like I finally have come home,” she said.
by | Dec 21, 2023 8:55 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Mezzi.
Gary Mezzi, a.k.a. Buzz Gordo, beamed from behind a 12-string guitar on the stage of Cafe Nine Tuesday night. “This is a song about the demise of a dog track,” he said, to introduce the song “White City,” by Shane MacGowan. “And even if there were another song about the demise of a dog track, this would still be the best.”
by | Dec 13, 2023 3:22 pm | Comments (32)
Laura Glesby photo
Carl Ferris at Ninth Square community meeting: "Feces all over the place" in portable restrooms on the Green. "It all gets blamed on homeless people."
Formerly unhoused activists, Ninth Square business owners, and city officials agree: New Haven needs a downtown public restroom that actually gets cleaned.
by | Dec 10, 2023 9:43 pm | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio Photo
Christine Ohlman and Jim Chapdelaine.
There are three things you can count on in December: stores jammed with holiday shoppers, roads jammed with holiday travelers, and Christine Ohlman jamming though The Beehive Holiday Blowout at Cafe Nine. The 10th annual event happened Sunday during the Sunday Buzz with the legendary Beehive Queen, her sweet as honey band, and a hive full of fans that sang and danced along nearly nonstop as the rain poured down outside.
by | Dec 7, 2023 1:16 pm | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio Photos.
Cherrie Cherrie through the eyes of Andres Madariaga
Music and visual art both went live Wednesday night at Cafe Nine when Color in Sound, an event organized and curated by local artist Andres Madariaga, brought together three musical acts and a number of visual artists, some who displayed their work, some who created art while the bands played, and some who did both.
Continue reading ‘Artists Create Sound And Vision At Cafe Nine’
by | Nov 30, 2023 8:22 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Mizu.
Sweeping music from cello and electronics that sounded as huge as the tide. A man on stilts, playing guitar, his hair nearly touching the ceiling. Another man singlehandedly turning the club into a dark lounge. Thanks to Mizu, Tall Juan, and Kyle Avallone, all these moments and more happened at Cafe Nine, bringing big vibes to a rapt audience on Wednesday night.
Continue reading ‘Guitars, Stilts, And New Classical Music Come To Cafe Nine’
by | Nov 20, 2023 8:57 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Audio Jane.
Four bands rocked the corner of State and Crown to a full house at Cafe Nine this Saturday night.
by | Nov 14, 2023 12:17 pm | Comments (5)
Laura Glesby Photo
The view from inside the Pride Center's future headquarters, formerly Artspace.
For a decade, the New Haven Pride Center has operated out of a buzz-to-enter, windowless basement, unmarked and invisible to pedestrians in the Ninth Square.
Now, the community center is coming out — into a much larger, glass-walled, ground-floor home, where a pride flag is already brightening the front window.
by | Oct 26, 2023 8:37 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Miguel Loor.
Three musical acts brought calming sounds on a warm fall evening to Cafe Nine on the corner of State and Crown, leaving smiles, deep breaths, and camaraderie in their wake.
by | Oct 23, 2023 9:45 am | Comments (3)
Laura Glesby Photos
Drag performer Judah brings outer space to Orange Street at Sunday's Pride fest.
Luis Rios and Bubbles: “You’re a legend.”
In a flurry of Pride flags, handmade crafts, and pedestrians-turned-dancers that filled the end of Orange Street in the Ninth Square, Luis Rios caught a glimpse of Tia Waters and had to say hello.
“Excuse me, is your name Bubbles?” he asked. “You’re a legend.”
by | Oct 18, 2023 8:32 am | Comments (0)
Paul Wolfer Photo
Chaser Eight.
Saturday night’s Cafe Nine show — starring New Haven-area rock ‘n’ roll favorites Chaser Eight, pop-punk Gen X‑ers The Dollyrots, and Maryland-based newcomers Kings of The Wild Things — brought a much-needed serotonin boost to the week’s end. Concertgoers drove hours, from places as far away as Syracuse, N.Y. and parts of Wisconsin, to join New Haveners in packing the nightclub, leaving little room between the front door and the stage.
by | Sep 26, 2023 11:56 am | Comments (0)
Lisa Gray photo
Buffalo Nichols at Cafe 9.
Saturday night was a great night for blues. As rain pattered on the windows of Cafe Nine on the corner of Crown and State Streets in New Haven, a small and diverse crowd of music lovers sipped beers and munched pretzels as they listened to Buffalo Nichols give a lesson in the music of musicians like Robert Johnson and B.B. King. That lesson, in time, made the joint jump, with a few couples two-stepping in front of the stage.
