by | Jan 5, 2024 9:04 am | Comments (1)
The New Haven-based bomba group Proyecto Cimarrón was already laying down traditional Puerto Rican rhythms in Keefe Community Center on Pine Street in Hamden, when families streamed into the room, ready to take part in the town’s first official celebration of Three Kings Day on Thursday evening.
by | Jan 4, 2024 8:58 am | Comments (3)
Brian Slattery Photo
The Kevin Saint James Band on Wednesday night.
It was 9:30 on Wednesday evening at the Owl Shop on College Street and already the Kevin Saint James Band had relaxed into an easy swing. Plumes of smoke rose in the air, from fans sitting close by, cigars lit. Lou Ianello took a ride on sax across the song’s changes. Steve Donovan followed suit on keys. Victor Ramirez on bass and Derrick Tappin on drums held down the rhythm for the others, until it was Ramirez’s turn. Each had time to express themselves. Each made sure to keep the vibe right. Singer Kevin Saint James then got up on stage, took a seat in the back, and lit a cigarette, like he had all the time in the world.
by | Jan 3, 2024 8:57 am | Comments (0)
A squelching keyboard. A bleeping melody. Finger snaps holding down a backbeat. Then a voice raps, defiant, powerful. “Mask on / me and my bitches paint the city / Queer bitch gang, put ‘em up if you with it / Flags out the window, it’s the 203 / not a cis het bitch that be fucking with me,” Indigaux intones. They keep going, gender blending, but the devotion to place unwavering: “Bitch I’m from New Haven,” they rap. “Every winter is a bump.”
by | Jan 2, 2024 9:09 am | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio Photos
Clare Byrne and Amy Larimer of The Celestials.
The penultimate night of the year can be a tricky one, especially if it falls on a weekend. Do you go out and do something fun, or do you stay in and get cozy? On Saturday, Best Video offered the best of both worlds as two bands brought a down-home celebratory atmosphere to the Whitney Avenue performance space with friends, family, and fans gathered together to both hunker down and jazz it up as the year said its final goodbyes.
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 15, 2023 9:07 am | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio Photo
Ceschi Ramos.
“It’s a good night for rap music,” said Pink Navel at the beginning of their set Thursday night at Space Ballroom. Anyone who was at the show would probably call that an understatement as four acts — Old Self, Pink Navel, Ceschi, and Open Mike Eagle — gave a master class in how to command an audience while also performing with friends and having a fantastic time themselves.
Continue reading ‘Four Acts Rap And Reminisce At Space Ballroom’
by | Dec 15, 2023 8:47 am | Comments (0)
Matthew Murphy Photo
Composer Valerie Coleman.
An oboe and a bass, traveling the American landscape. A brass band inverting and celebrating the musical language of the street. Two pianists sweating side by side. On Wednesday afternoon, all this and more was part of the latest installment — and last of the year — in the Yale School of Music’s Lunchtime Chamber Music series, in which students at Yale’s conservatory give far-ranging programs of classical music past and present at Morse Hall, inside Sprague Hall at 470 College St.
Continue reading ‘Lunchtime Concert Explores The Canon Of Reinvention’
by | Dec 14, 2023 8:56 am | Comments (3)
Setting up for a meeting of the Album Club at Never Ending Books on State Street, organizer and host Dean Andrade said that “I think this album will be kind of a revelation for our regulars.” On Monday night, the club assembled for the 16th time since starting in 2022 to discuss Alice Coltrane’s 1971 album Journey in Satchidananda — the first time, according to Andrade, the group had discussed a jazz album, or anything without lyrics.
Continue reading ‘Album Club Dives Into Spiritual Jazz Classic’
by | Dec 13, 2023 8:20 am | Comments (1)
Cover of Nu Haven Style.
“Turetskaya,” the opening number on the Nu Haven Kapelye’s new album, Nu Haven Style — to be officially released the day of the klezmer orchestra’s annual concert at Congregation Mishkan Israel on Ridge Road in Hamden — gallops out of the gate, with horns, strings, and winds belting out the melody in unison while the rhythm section surges beneath them, an irresistible force, exploding with emotions, carrying, as so much klezmer does, simultaneous senses of deep happiness and sadness together.
by | Dec 11, 2023 4:25 pm | Comments (2)
Lary Bloom Photo
Battell on Sunday.
I kept my eyes on the timpanist, my ears open to astonishing sounds, and, because I didn’t know the lyrics and couldn’t sight-read the baritone part on the score, kept my big mouth shut.
Continue reading ‘Joy to the Elm City: 499 Voices and 1 Silent Baritone’
by | Dec 11, 2023 2:41 pm | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Punchlove.
John Zaccaria of the Knife Kickers spoke for many — including other musicians later in the evening — when he asked a vital question: “Why am I sweating in December?” It was warm with torrential rain outside, but the question was more about the temperature inside, as four bands blazed their way through sets of indie rock to an enthusiastic audience that arrived early and stayed late to bob their heads and hang at Best Video in Hamden.
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 8, 2023 8:48 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
Barrett, Deupree, Morris.
In between sets of improvised music at Never Ending Books on State Street, the band joked with each other with the ease of old friends. Ringleader Joe Morris introduced the band to newcomers. Horn player Taylor Ho Bynum used to live in New Haven, Morris said, but relocated to Vermont; shortly after his arrival, he got 40 inches of snow.
“And I stayed!” Bynum interjected, to laughter. Morris then introduced bassist Brad Barrett. “I don’t have any good snow stories about Brad,” Morris said. He was killing time. Seeing that most of the audience had settled in, he then turned to his fellow musicians.
“All right,” he said, “Enough reality.” And began to play.
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 | Dec 7, 2023 8:23 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photos
As the temperature outside dropped to feeling downright wintery, Space Ballroom in Hamden on Wednesday was filled with warmth, as indie-folk favorites Darlingside, with Field Guide opening, created a night of hope and good cheer for a packed house of fans ready to receive it.
by | Dec 4, 2023 8:33 am | Comments (2)
Tyshawn Sorey Trio.
Did you hear thunder Friday night or see lightning? Probably not, unless you were one of the lucky few to attend the sold-out Tyshawn Sorey Trio show at Firehouse 12. Part of the venue’s 2023 Fall Jazz Series, these three acclaimed musicians — Tyshawn Sorey on drums, Aaron Diehl on piano, and Matt Brewer on bass — presented a scintillating set of spontaneity and skill, coupled with unbridled joy, that became a master class on how live music can be downright magical.
Continue reading ‘Tyshawn Sorey Trio Cast Spell On Firehouse 12’
by | Nov 30, 2023 9:23 am | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio Photos
The Nick Di Maria Quartet
Wednesday night’s luminous lunar display recalled the opening line of “That’s Amore”: “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie…” so it seemed apropos that I was on my way to see The Nick Di Maria Quartet at Nolo, the State Street purveyor of New Haven’s most well-known meal and so much more.
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 27, 2023 8:19 am | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio photo
Michael Slyne at Volume 2.
On the day after Thanksgiving, many scattered through stores to find the best prices on holiday presents. Others settled into couches to catch college football. A select few found themselves making their way to FiFac’s House, a monthly music series held on the last Friday of each month over the past year at Never Ending Books. Not unlike the multitude of series held at the State Street gathering space — both before and after its reimagination under the Volume Two collective — the night offered an array of performers that established a symbiotic relationship between creator and listener via dissonance, dreaminess, and experimentation.
Continue reading ‘FiFac's House Makes A Home At Never Ending Books’
by | Nov 21, 2023 11:01 am | Comments (6)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
F.A.M.E. Middle Schoolers from dance Cumbia with their senior citizen counterparts in Fair Haven.
Fair Haven school kids filed into the Atwater Senior Center to keep their senior counterparts company in advance of Thanksgiving — and to dance cumbia with New Haveners like 73-year-old Yvonne Sheppard, who said the celebration was less a loneliness intervention than it was a special occasion among a vibrant city full of friends.
Continue reading ‘Atwater Thanksgiving Brings Fair Haven Together’
by | Nov 21, 2023 8:58 am | Comments (1)
Composer Daniel Bernard Roumain.
The New Haven Symphony Orchestra, one of a few American orchestras working to address injustices in the past and present of professional classical music, made two important — and increasingly common — choices at their Sunday afternoon concert at SCSU’s Lyman Hall.
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 20, 2023 8:50 am | Comments (1)
Karen Ponzio Photos
Them Airs.
Sunday night is not typically known for being festive, unless you are part of the local music scene. This Sunday at Best Video, three bands — New Haven’s own Big Iron and Them Airs, along with Bruiser and Bicycle from Albany — jammed out and turned the night into something reviving.
by | Nov 16, 2023 11:47 am | Comments (3)
Paul Bass Photo
Attorney/musician Steve Mednick at WNHH FM.
By day Steve Mednick has been helping cities rewrite their constitutions. By night he has been writing songs about the storms in our political universe.
by | Nov 8, 2023 12:23 pm | Comments (1)
Jonathan Q. Berryman at WNHH FM.
Dr. Jonathan Q. Berryman isn’t lamenting how technology has changed our world. Instead he’s harnessing it to help young people find their voices in the choir.