New Haven

Orange Street Goes To Hell

by | Apr 11, 2024 1:14 pm | Comments (0)

Hell Fairy at Mediterranea Cafe.

In the backroom lounge of Mediterranea Cafe, among centuries-old hookah pipes and patterned cushions, a fairy rising from the Underworld sang about darkness — and love, too. 

Hell Fairy is made up of lead singer Elizabeta (Elizabeth Voytershark), Kiki Van Damn (Killian Mitchell) on bass, Joe Russo on drums, and guitarist Dexx (Dexter Lourenco). The band was the first guest on WNHH FM’s new livestreamed concert series called Tuesday @ The Mediterranea Cafe, where local bands will perform in the Italian-Middle Eastern restaurant-hookah bar located at 140 Orange St. 

Continue reading Dereen's review

Deadpan Yoga

by | Apr 9, 2024 9:59 am | Comments (0)

La Práctica (The Practice) — the latest from Argentinian writer/director Martín Rejtman — is the story of a yoga instructor’s interactions with students old and new as he maneuvers his way through his ever-changing world, balancing humor and humanity. Presented in conjunction with the Latino and Iberian Film festival at Yale (LIFFY), the event included a post-film Q&A with Rejtman, moderated by LIFFY’s founder and executive director Margherita Tortora.

Continue reading Karen Ponzio's review

From Cameroon, With Futuristic Hope

by | Apr 8, 2024 1:05 pm | Comments (0)

A triple bill at Cafe Nine on Saturday Night featured a stunning set of music from Blick Bassy. Born in Cameroon and now living in France, the 50-year-old Bassy has been a musician all his life; he toured Cameroon as a younger man and now tours internationally, as far as New Zealand, playing clubs and festivals. In short, it’s very likely the next time we have a chance to see Bassy, it will have to be in a much larger venue.

Bassy and his backup band — two musicians, one of whom played programmable drum pads and touch pads and the other who played keyboards and trumpet — deployed a vast array of electronics and effects to create a huge sound. The programmable pads were used to make slippery bass parts. The trumpet was run through effects to allow it to sound like a horn section. Bassy himself sang through one of three possible microphones, two of which were run through processors to create harmonies for his voice. The marriage of organic and electronic sounds was seamless and endlessly inventive, and all anchored by Bassy’s voice: strong, raspy, somehow declarative and plaintive at the same time, always suffused with great depth of feeling. He sang in his native tongue of Bassa, but communicated his message loud and clear.

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.

Continue reading Brian's review

Cellist Doesn’t Miss A Beat

by | Apr 5, 2024 3:33 pm | Comments (0)

Johnathan Moore in the WNHH FM studio.

Johnathan Moore was ready to add a layer of sound. He reached for the Boss RC 600 loop station pedal and … nothing.

Moore said nothing. He made no excuses. He kept the beat going. He pivoted to a new plan — and the music played on.

Moore, a 26-year-old cellist making a name for himself as a composer and performer, was performing his piece​“Glory” while squished behind the tiny-tiny-tiniest-possible-tiny desk on WNHH FM’s​“Acoustic Thursday @ Studio 51” program. (Click on the above video to watch the full episode.) Moore describes his music as​“unorthodox cello,” with a style incorporating gospel, jazz, classical, and funk.

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Local” Lunch At IKEA

by | Apr 5, 2024 9:00 am | Comments (0)

Laura Glesby Photo

Lunch is self-served.

After a single bite, I realized I had ordered the wrong entree at IKEA. The​“veggie balls” were a blank slate: a mush of chickpeas, carrots, peppers, and other veggies I usually enjoy, mashed and blended until they amounted to something almost as thoroughly bland as the cauliflower rice I got on the side.


Continue reading Laura's review

Chappell Roan Rides The Next Wave

by | Apr 4, 2024 10:20 am | Comments (0)

Brian Slattery photo

The jury is still out on whether American culture, or the music industry, can create another superstar, like Michael Jackson or Prince, like Madonna or Bruce Springsteen. Maybe Beyoncé, now 42 years old, and Taylor Swift, 34, are the last of their kind. But if future superstars are still possible, one of its more likely candidates — Chappell Roan — played at College Street Music Hall on Wednesday night to an ecstatic, sold-out crowd that couldn’t get enough.

Continue reading Brian's review

New Songwriter Series Comes To Cafe Nine

by | Apr 3, 2024 9:56 am | Comments (0)

Brian Slattery Photos

Greco Tuesday night at Cafe Nine.

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.” 

Greco plans to make First Tuesdays a monthly night with a rotating cast of characters that Greco will invite to play. 

Continue reading Brian's review

The Earth Is Breaking Beautifully

by | Apr 2, 2024 11:44 am | Comments (0)

Susan Hoffman Fishman

Susan Hoffman Fishman’s painting seems at first to be an abstract, full of brilliant colors and bold lines. Soon, though, one can see how it’s derived from natural forms — but at what scale? It could be a cross-section of a tree or a landscape viewed from space. It turns out that it’s more the latter. 

It’s one way into​“Biophilia: In Excelsis,” an exhibition at the Institute of Sacred Music on Prospect Street, running now through May 2. The show​“focuses on the theme of our sacred ecosystems, including oceans and forests, and their imminent transformation due to increased global warming. The exhibit brings together 22 artists who represent different cultural backgrounds, generations and geographic locations, who explore the concept of biophilia, the love of life,” writes M. Annenberg, the show’s curator.

Continue reading Brian's review

MJ Bones Lives, Unplugged

by | Mar 29, 2024 11:13 am | Comments (0)

Paul Bass Photo

MJ Bones in the WNHH FM studio.

If love is like an ocean,” MJ Bones was singing,​“I’m lost at sea.”

Meanwhile, they sounded right at home, right where they belonged: Performing revelatory original songs on the ukulele, in New Haven.

Continue reading Paul's review

Kids Ring In iPeabody Era

by | Mar 27, 2024 10:34 am | Comments (0)

Nora Grace-Flood Photos

Derek Silva and company use iPhones to capture Peabody reopening.

Joanna Romberg shows the crew a fossilized fish.

The reborn Peabody Museum unlocked its doors Tuesday and ushered in a new era of kids ready to roam renovated dinosaur rooms — as the kids unlocked their iPhones.

Continue reading Nora's story

Shandy Lawson Sings Stories

by | Mar 25, 2024 5:36 pm | Comments (0)

Karen Ponzio Photos

Lawson performing at Best Video.

A chair and a guitar. A table holding an old-fashioned radio. A vase full of purple flowers. A teacup and saucer. Was this a scene from an oft-told tale or real life? At Best Video on Saturday, it was the setting for​“Stories: An Evening with Shandy Lawson,” in which the New Haven-based singer-songwriter shared a collection of songs that offered a bit of fiction, a bite of truth, and a tasty twist on each.

Continue reading Karen's review

Yale Gallery Goes Beyond​“The Scream”

by | Mar 22, 2024 5:30 pm | Comments (0)

The Yale University Art Gallery’s show​“Munch and Kirchner: Anxiety and Expression” — running now through June 23 on the gallery’s fourth floor at 1111 Chapel St. — begins with a moment at an art gallery over 100 years ago that feels like it could happen today, or any time. In 1912, the text relates, there was a​“monumental exhibition of modern art” in Cologne, Germany that​“aimed to illustrate how the most cutting-edge groups of the day drew inspiration from the work of a slightly older generation.” That big-tent approach, however, turned out to be fraught.


Continue reading Brian's review

Artists Explode The Runway

by | Mar 21, 2024 11:35 am | Comments (0)

Portrait of a Lady — Spilling the Tea; La Artillería De La Reina — Gimme My Flowers Now; Nefertiti of House Nubia — Bamboo Earring Only 1 Pair.

Sandy Clafford’s trio of paintings take over the space near the window of the Institute Library’s upstairs gallery for the show​“Look Book” — running now through May 23 in the Chapel Street library, with an opening reception tonight. They make a bold fashion statement, though not one that follows easy rules.

Continue reading Brian's review

Punks Rock For Choice

by | Mar 20, 2024 4:03 pm | Comments (0)

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.”

Continue reading Brian's review