by | Jan 30, 2023 8:41 am | Comments (0)
Karen :Ponzio Photos
Dan Soto's Artificial Energy.
Two bands shook up Best Video this past Saturday night — one new to town and one very familiar with the local performance space. Missiles to Malta, hailing from Bethel, was playing its first show at the beloved Hamden haunt, while New Haven’s own Dan Soto’s Artificial Energy was back bringing its own unique brand of high-octane hits to friends old and new.
by | Jan 27, 2023 3:52 pm | Comments (0)
Kimberly Wiplfer photos
Kolton Harris and film student Joaquín Morales.
At Thursday's BITE kickoff.
“Who would have ever thought I’d be back in here watching a film?” asked Tracey Massey, in a hushed whisper, in the back row of a film screening at the former Stetson Branch library building in the soon-to-be-demolished Dixwell Plaza.
On the projector played “Black Joy,” a musical short film by Kolton Harris, which tells the story of a group of Black students in detention who find pride and celebration in their Blackness through song and dance.
“I came to this library 40 years ago as a child growing up in this neighborhood. It is here where we learned the first stories of Black joy. Here’s where we read books about Martin Luther King Jr., where we heard the first Michael Jackson song, the first Nina Simone song. We learned about Malcolm X. All of those stories generated out of this library.”
“It was joy. It was magic. [Harris] is reminding us of that. It was really just like it is in his film,” said Massey.
Continue reading ‘"Black Joy" Film Fest Bids Farewell To Former Stetson’
by | Jan 27, 2023 9:00 am | Comments (5)
Brian Slattery Photo
Tripp and Godshall at Thursday's book talk.
Who built the iron fence around the New Haven Green? Where can we still see traces of the work of William Lanson? And what was possibly the biggest party in the city’s history?
Continue reading ‘New Book Illuminates How New Haven Builders Constructed City, Society’
by | Jan 27, 2023 8:52 am | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio Photos
Bluegrass Jamming
The back room at Next Door was jam-packed with bluegrass music lovers as the Humphrey Street restaurant featured its latest installment of the Bluegrass Jam, held on the fourth Thursday of every month and hosted by the New Haven-based band Five ‘n Change. According to band members Ken McEwen and David Sasso, the jam has been growing steadily since it began back in the spring of 2022.
by | Jan 27, 2023 8:00 am | Comments (0)
REINALDO GOYENECHEA/LA VOZ HISPANA image
"I am not going to the summit of the CELAC ... because I am afraid." ("I am a cowardly dictator.")
Ted Littleford image
by and | Jan 26, 2023 11:31 am | Comments (6)
Lisa Reisman photo
At a LEAP-organized Halloween party at the Q House last fall.
LEAP Executive Director Henry Fernandez at Monday's Q House board meeting.
A local youth tutoring and recreation nonprofit’s bid to keep the Q House humming with more bingo, ballet, farmers markets and line dancing took a big leap forward this week — as the Dixwell Avenue community center’s board voted to recommend approval of a new five-year, $500,000 contract between LEAP and the city.
by | Jan 26, 2023 8:53 am | Comments (0)
The improvisational jam duo P(x3) was on the stage of the State House Wednesday creating great grooves to dance to. But the figures leaping and spinning on the screen behind him weren’t dancing; they were fighting, in kinetic and ludicrous ways — as is the style of Super Smash Bros., the hit fighting video game from Nintendo that’s now almost a quarter-century old and still going strong. The audience members gathered to watch were in rapt attention. On a couch pulled up close to the stage, two players, their eyes glued to the screen, were in mortal combat, though one that would end with a smile.
by | Jan 25, 2023 3:05 pm | Comments (1)
by | Jan 24, 2023 8:50 am | Comments (0)
Still from "Forever 17."
One artist heads straight into the complexity of being queer in Hong Kong. Another heads out into the desert. And another heads into the dismal future. What all three artists — Kit Hung, January Yoon Cho, and Gary Sczerbaniewicz — have in common is a willingness to explore things that make them uncomfortable. And all three have solo shows at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art, running now through Feb. 19 concurrently with a few other shows after ECOCA took a brief holiday hiatus.
by | Jan 23, 2023 5:31 pm | Comments (6)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
Marcella Monk Flake: Acquiring club will help preserve Dixwell history.
The derelict former jazz club at 265 Dixwell.
Can the memory of Charlie Parker breathe new life into a controversial plan to publicly acquire a blighted former jazz club as part of a $1.3 million deal with an oft-cited megalandlord?
Elicker Administration officials and Dixwell Avenue cultural boosters gave it a try as they invoked the name of the late, great saxophone player — as well as the memories of fellow 20th-century musical titans like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk — in a bid to win public support for a tentative deal still making its way through the gears of city government.
Continue reading ‘Music-Lovers Hit The Mic For Monterey Deal’
by | Jan 23, 2023 8:51 am | Comments (0)
Courtesy KSO
Cabrera.
With something like a gambit, New Haven Symphony Orchestra music director candidate Donato Cabrera scored a pedagogical victory, showing the audience a wide range of sounds with a selection of pieces designed to show off different sections of the orchestra before bringing a full symphony orchestra at the close.
Continue reading ‘Guest Conductor Strides To Success In NHSO Concert’
by | Jan 23, 2023 8:47 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
PULSR.
Four bands — two based in New Haven, two based in Philadelphia and New York City — rocked the crowded floor of the State House on Friday night. It was an indication of how both New Haven-based and touring acts are starting to find their footing again after the pandemic, making the connections among one another to bring the music scene back for live audiences.
Continue reading ‘Four Bands Range Across State House Stage’
by | Jan 20, 2023 4:47 pm | Comments (0)
So long, Kahn. At least for a year.
by | Jan 20, 2023 12:00 pm | Comments (0)
REINALDO GOYENECHEA/LA VOZ HISPANA cartoon
"I'm thinking about the extradition of 'El Chapo Guzman.'" "How many favors we owe him!"
Ted Littleford cartoon
by | Jan 20, 2023 9:13 am | Comments (0)
Jules Larson introduces Carol at Best Video.
Best Video filled every seat in the house and then some on Thursday, the inaugural night of Queer Film Club, a new series in collaboration with East Rock House, New Haven Pride Center, and Hamden Pride that aims to share queer-centered films in a safe and friendly environment.
by | Jan 19, 2023 5:54 pm | Comments (3)
Paul Bass file photo
Krikko Obbott: “We’ve been wanting to do this for years."
The "warehouse" at 212 West St. Obbott is looking to convert into apartments.
A Hill illustrator and museum owner is moving ahead with plans to attract more creative talent to West Street, after winning a first slate of approvals needed for turning part of his property into artist apartments.
by | Jan 19, 2023 11:30 am | Comments (6)
by | Jan 19, 2023 9:45 am | Comments (33)
Allan Appel file photo
Sandra's owners Miguel and Sandra Pittman: Planning to push back on zoning board rejection.
Nora Grace-Flood photo
The contested outdoor refrigeration containers on Arch St.
City zoners turned down a Congress Avenue culinary institution’s bid to store five outdoor fridges in a residentially zoned area — following testimony from the restaurant’s neighbor that the restaurant’s expansion has resulted not just in nationally renowned chicken wings, but also pesky rodents and stenches.
The restaurant’s owners now plan to contest that decision so that they can continue to keep corn, sugar, flour and plenty of perishables nearby as they look to continue serving the neighborhood they’ve long called home.
by | Jan 19, 2023 8:40 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
185668232.
At the beginning of his set, 185668232 asked everyone in the audience to say their names while he held out a microphone. “One, two, three,” he said, and everyone in the audience said their names. The syllables blended in the air. 185668232 looped the sound. “Do you like your name? Can you say it with some energy?” he asked. We did, and he mixed the two samples together. Now it was a surging mass of noise, swelling and subsiding, creating a rhythm. Now 185668232 was ready to begin.
by | Jan 18, 2023 10:48 am | Comments (0)
Isaac Yu photo
City arts director Adriane Jefferson (right) with colleague Kim Futrell at Tuesday's "cultural vitality" presser.
More artists and artisans at city farmers’ markets. The return of a historic Black cultural parade to Dixwell Avenue. Pop-up events for young photographers, actors and dancers looking to show off their work and grow their audiences.
Continue reading ‘Artists, Orgs Land $187K For "Cultural Vitality"’
by | Jan 18, 2023 8:46 am | Comments (1)
Courtesy KSO
Cabrera.
“If I were to describe my aesthetic as a conductor, it would be about trying to find the narrative first,” said New Haven Symphony Orchestra guest conductor and candidate for NHSO music director Donato Cabrera in a phone interview last week. “It’s a reflection of how I believe music can be connected to the community.”
Continue reading ‘Guest Conductor Shakes Hands And Swings Batons At NHSO’
by | Jan 18, 2023 8:36 am | Comments (1)
Larry Bellorín and Joe Troop, of Larry & Joe, positioned themselves close to one another on the Cafe Nine stage Tuesday night, surrounded by instruments.
“Buenas noches,” Bellorín began. Troop translated. “Good evening.”
As Bellorín continued, Troop translated.
The two musicians were delighted to bring to New Haven “the best of our music — the best of Venezuela and the best of Appalachia.” Also, “as you’ll notice, we’re twins.”
That last line drew laughter from the healthy-sized crowd, but it was the right encapsulation of what the duo were about, in the sincerity and depth of their mission, the virtuosity and emotion they brought to their playing, and the humor and big-heartedness with which they delivered it all.
Continue reading ‘Larry & Joe Fuse Venezuela And Appalachia’
by | Jan 17, 2023 7:43 pm | Comments (9)
Yash Roy file photo
Lisa Dent: Headed to Mass MoCA.
The head of one of New Haven’s leading downtown art galleries is leaving town for a new museum job in the Berkshires, nearly three years after she first stepped into the Ninth Square role.
Continue reading ‘Artspace Director Leaving For Massachusetts’
by | Jan 17, 2023 8:49 am | Comments (1)
Brian Slattery Photos
Ngoma Hill at Monday's poetry slam.
On Monday afternoon, halfway through the Z Experience Poetry Slam, host Ngoma Hill remarked that this year — the event’s 27th — saw the event’s biggest turnout yet. It was a fitting return to in-person form for the slam, in honor of community organizer Zannette Lewis, as poets filled the O.C. Marsh Lecture Hall in the Yale Science Building and, for a few hours, turned it into one of the hottest slams on the East Coast.
by | Jan 16, 2023 2:21 pm | Comments (0)
Paul Bass Photo
The public had an opportunity to take a free trip down deep into downtown history — or make off with John Deere vehicles.
Continue reading ‘Public Invited To Trip, Fall, Gawk, Steal’