July 22, 2006
Gamble Pays
Off For Tops
Words and pictures by Betsy Driebeek
Arts Commission Coordinator Mimsie Coleman was in
the mayor's office at 9 a.m. yesterday trying to decide if the
Four Tops, scheduled to play Meadowbrook that evening, should
be moved indoors.
"We had to decide by 9 because of the amount
of time it would take the band to set up their extreme amount
of equipment," Coleman said. "We were checking every
weather-related Web site. I was talking with Dr. Mel on the phone
[WTNH Channel 8]. It was a total gamble and nerve-racking once
we made the decision. We just crossed our fingers and watched
the weather reports all day long."
With a severe thunderstorm watch for early evening,
the Four Tops crowd was small at first. But as the threat seemed
to evaporate, Meadowbrook started filling up. Deputy Police Chief
Bo Kicak, who stood guard at the stage during the show, estimated
the crowd at 10,000.
Only one of the original Four Tops remains -- Abdul
"Duke" Fakir. The group sang the well-known hits such
as "Baby I Need Your Loving," "Bernadette,"
"It's The Same Old Song," "Ain't No Woman Like
The One I've Got," "Reach Out I'll Be There," Standing
In The Shadow Of Love" and "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar
Pie, Honeybunch)."
Theo Peoples reaching out to the ladies.
Mid-concert, three Tops took a seat at the rear
of the stage while the fourth, Theo Peoples a former Temptation
who joined the group in 1997, crooned "Always and Forever"
up close and personal to the ladies standing at the foot of the
stage.
Throughout the concert, the Tops satisfied their
fans with handshakes and kisses and at the end, a few sweaty towels
to boot.
HDN reporter Betsy Driebeek can be reached at betsydriebeek@hamdendailynews.com
July 19, 2006
Whatever, at The Space
Adam Arcuragi.
Story by Chris Clark; photos by Ellen Andrews
Open Mic Night at the Space has been a staple of the New Haven
music scene for years. Almost every Tuesday night, listeners are
treated to a wide variety of musical acts for just a $5 cover charge.
Everyone gets a chance to play whatever kind of music they want,
with whatever kind of instruments they want.
When I got to the club last night there was a decent gathering
of musicians eager to grab some stage time. Venue owner Steve Rodgers
put out a signup clipboard and they rushed over to get their names
down in ink for a 10-minute performance slot.
Aside from the local signups there were two featured acts, both
of which are touring bands. The first feature was Adam Arcuragi.
Adam is a singer/songwriter/guitar player who was accompanied by
three other musicians -- another guitarist, a fiddle player and
a guy who played the saw. I have never seen a saw used as a musical
instrument before. It was done by sliding a bow across the side
and stretching the metal body back and forth to make the right pitch
noise. They opened the show to a crowd of about a dozen.
Jim Goodin & Will Romano.
After Adam finished their set the locals began to hit the stage.
One included a band called Whackshack. This group was made of three
young guys. Their stage setup was one guy sitting in the middle
playing an acoustic guitar, while the other two stood on each side
of him and "sang" (to use the term loosely) some of the
strangest lyrics I have ever heard. Every once and a while one of
the two guys on the side would grab a bongo drum or a bass guitar
and hack in with the guitarist in the middle.
As Rodgers put it after their set was over, "Sometimes you
just have to ask yourself, What the hell?"
Other local artists included a very talented acoustic singer/songwriter
named Sean Fournier, an unbelievable blues guitarist named Ron Anthony
and frequent Space performer Robert Messori. These acts caught me
completely off guard. It's inspiring to see such musical talent
among people who live in your area.
The last featured act was Jim Goodin & Will Romano. They used
an acoustic guitar with a lot of added effects, and a drum set made
of random pieces including a whole guitar. The drummer would hit
these random pieces creating some very unusual rhythms while the
guitarist laid down some trippy lines. They were completely instrumental.
I guess you could call them a jam band.
Open mic nights are great because you never know what you're going
to get. It's also great for artists to have a club where they can
play whenever they feel like going public with their talent. I've
seen many friends show their creative side at open mics.
Next Tuesday there will not be an open mic. Instead, there will
be a standard show featuring The Alternate Routes, Bill Carleton,
Mike Greenberg, Will Dailey and Meika Pauley.
July 17, 2006
Tough
Gamble
The Hamden dancers: (front row, second from
left) Pauling Huynh (next to her) Kelley May and (fifth from left)
Jeanette Esposito; (second row, second from left) Carissa Laudano
(fourth from left) Kristiane Trasacco (next to her) Katie Esposito
(next to her) Jennifer Canelli and Melissa Maturo; (top row, second
from left) Emma Downing (fourth from left) Christine Furtak and
(next to her) Danielle Trasacco. Courtesy photo
Just back from a win in Las
Vegas, local girl edges a little closer to her ultimate desire
By Sharon Bass
Like every child, Emma Downing has a dream. One
she's been chasing for most of her 15 years on Earth. The Hamden
High incoming junior wants to be a professional dancer. And she
may have slid one step closer this past Saturday, when she and
a group of area teens learned they came in second in a national
competition in Las Vegas.
Emma and other students in the two highest-level
classes at the American
Dance Experience in Hamden were invited to the Dance
Educators of America nationals. They competed against dancers
from across the country plus Panama, Canada and Mexico. The event
was held at the Alexis Park Resort & Villas.
Last April, Emma and company placed first in a regional
contest in Stamford with their tap number, "Asian Drums."
They were asked to do a repeat performance in Las Vegas last Tuesday.
"It's just so much fun. I just love doing it.
I love getting on the stage. It gives a lot of enjoyment for other
people," said Emma, 15, daughter of former Mayor Carl Amento's
chief aide Jackie Downing. "I love being congratulated, but
even if I don't, it's still a lot of fun."
Right after celebrating her second birthday, Emma
said she began studying at the Dance Experience at 128 Church
St. Why so young? "Well, both my parents were in technical
theater and I guess they wanted to see what their first child
would do, performing or what," she said.
Now Emma wants to earn her bread and butter on stage
-- a risky career decision of a field that's overwhelmingly competitive.
But it's desire not practicality and caution that drives young
artists.
These days she takes two dance classes a week. She
knows ballet, tap and jazz and a bit of pointe. "But my strongest
is tap. It's really different and it's probably more difficult
for people to catch on quickly. But I've been doing it for so
long," said Emma.
She's also been competing "for so long."
When asked if this was one of her first competitions, she said,
"Oh, gosh, I've been doing this for seven or eight years.
It's tense, exciting, you end up hanging around with people you've
never met before. There are people with headsets hanging around.
And you're stretching and practicing dance steps."
"Asian Drums," described by Emma's mother,
is a "fast-paced, technically difficult tap number punctuated
with fans that flip from metallic gold to silver with the sharp
snaps of the dancers."
For their performance at the nationals, the dancers were awarded
a gold medal. They were up against 12 other groups.
July 15, 2006
Swingtime
in Hamden
Joan Shannon of Branford and Earl Cornish of
New London came to Hamden to hear the Big Band Sound and were
moved to boogie-woogie.
Words and pictures by Betsy Driebeek
The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra came swinging into town
last night, for another
Friday evening performance sponsored by the Hamden
Arts Commission and Quinnipiac University.
The orchestra played Jimmy's and his younger brother
Tommy's music, the brothers having been gone for almost 50 years
now. Nancy Knorr brought the vocal sounds of Helen O'Connell,
who was hired by Dorsey in 1939 to sing with male vocalist Bob
Eberly.
"Helen O'Connell," aka Nancy Knorr.
They performed what current director Bill Tole said
was the signature song for the group, "Tangerine." They
also played "So Rare," which Tole said "was the
last hit and basically the last big band hit. A new singer was
coming into the music scene. That's right, Elvis."
The Dorsey Orchestra threw in a little boogie-woogie,
which brought a few dancers up to the bricks in front of the stage.
When the orchestra was done with the fast-paced "J.D. Boogie
Woogie" and its reprise, Tole, who plays trombone, commented:
"The temperature was just raised five degrees up here."
July 8, 2006
Last Night
at Meadowbrook
Roots' Chris Merrell (left) and Rob Grill.
Words and pictures by Betsy Driebeek
The Hamden Arts Commission's 2006 free summer concert
series kicked off with Rob Grill and The Grass Roots. The band
came to fame in the late '60s and called it quits in 1975. However
Grill, the only original member, formed a new Grass Roots in the
early '80s and came to Meadowbrook Friday night playing some of
the band's original hits like "Sooner or Later," "Two
Divided By Love," "Don't Pull Your Love Out On Me Baby,"
"Mamacita," "Temptation Eyes" and "Midnight
Confession."
"We keep touring because we seem to know all
the words of all the old Grass Roots songs," Grill told the
crowd. "And you guys seem to know them, too. So if we're
confused we'll let you help us." And Grill did give the crowd
its solo moments.
Opening for the Roots was Murder
Mystery, a band from New York City. Arts Commission
Coordinator Mimsie Coleman, who orchestrates the concert series
each summer, is the mother of two of the three band members --
Jeremy 25, on guitar and vocals, and Laura, 21, on drums and vocals.
July 6, 2006
Rain Brings
Rust Inside
Words and pictures by Betsy Driebeek
Musician Mark Rust came to town yesterday to open
Hamden Parks and Rec's outdoor summer concert series at Larry's
Playground. But since it had rained earlier and not wanting to
chance a repeat performance, the event was held in Thornton Wilder
Hall instead.
The change in venue did not stop kids and their
significant adults from finding Rust and his guitar, banjo, fiddle,
hammered dulcimer, mountain
dulcimer and spoons.
Two-year-old Juliette Markman apparently thinks
the spoons sound better on mom's head.
After teaching the audience how to play the spoons
-- specifically the shuffle, drum roll and horse gallop -- Rust
dumped spoons near the edge of the stage so the members of the
"Greater Hamden Spoon Orchestra," as he called it, could
grab their requisite two.
"They look like regular tablespoons,"
he said, "except there is one difference: THESE ARE MARK'S
SPOONS. Don't leave with them."
Rust later had the audience dancing a reel with
their chosen partners, and closed the show by leading the group
in one big line dance.
June 29, 2006
Les Julian teaches the "Do The Dragon
Dance." Photo/Betsy Driebeek
By Betsy Driebeek
Local recording artist
Les Julian performed his engaging and interactive children's
music show at the Brundage Community Library Tuesday afternoon.
Some songs had the 27 kids dancing, like "Jump
Right Over The Moon" and "Do The Dragon Dance."
Others had them pondering, "Does a tuna fish?
Does an alligator cry crocodile tears? Can you teach a dog gnu
tricks?" Julian sang from "Animal Questions."
Many of his storytelling songs are drawn from childhood
experiences. For instance, he said when it stormed his brother
would take him up to the attic where the sounds were amplified.
Hence Julian's number, "Rhythm of the Rain."
Julian penned a clever tune about his favorite veggie
-- CHOCOLATE. "Well, the cocoa bean comes from a plant and
the sugar beet is a vegetable," he told his audience.
The performer will return to Hamden July 12, during Parks and
Rec's Family Summer Concert Series at Larry's Playground (corner
of Waite Street and Ridge Road).
June 16, 2006
'Longevity
is What I'm About'
Blessing Offor at home. File photo
Hamden High's Offor performs
at The Space tomorrow night
By Sharon Bass
Emerging musician/composer Blessing
Offor really wants it. He knows he has to in order
to make it in the music biz. The Hamden High junior is well aware
of the odds stacked against him. But he wants it bad.
So Offer has started out by making a local name
for himself by playing at school and community events, and has
two upcoming Hamden gigs. Tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. he will take over The Space for roughly two hours, singing tunes he's penned and playing the
88s. He's trying to raise money to cut a demo CD. There will be
a raffle, silent auction and donations are enthusiastically accepted.
"My music has been called 'new Motown.' It's
like jazz fused with the whole Temptation-Stevie Wonder thing
going. And then whatever element it is about pop music that attracts
people," said Offor, an affable, cool kid -- not to mention
a truly gifted artist (this reporter has heard him perform a few
times). "But I don't like to use the phrase 'pop' very often
because longevity is what I'm about, and pop doesn't make you
think of anything long-lasting."
He's got an impressive backup band. Tommy Lee, former
Mighty Purple member, on bass guitar; Jeremy Simmons on lead guitar;
Paul Garcia, also a former Mighty Purpler, on drums; and Michelle
Ferrucci and LaShawna Sayles on backup vocals. The Space owners
Steve Rogers and his brother John Rogers started Purple years
ago and keep it going.
Raffle prizes are hour-long lessons with the musicians,
said Offor. The highest auction bidder will be entitled to one
original song composed by the 17-year-old "and I'll perform
it wherever the winner would like."
Offor is also opening for Average White Band on
July 28 at Meadowbrook. It's part of the Hamden Arts Commission
concert summer series.
June 5, 2006
Eli's Art
Care to go for a swing?
Words and pictures by Betsy Driebeek
Despite Saturday's rain and Sunday's clouds, the
second annual Art and Garden Fair at Eli Whitney Park got its
chance to shine yesterday afternoon.
The triangular park is bordered by Whitney Avenue,
Davis Street and Eli Road in Whitneyville. "You think it's
a median and you drive right by and don't notice it," said
Mimsie Coleman, coordinator of the Hamden Arts Commission and
one of the event sponsors. "The purpose of the fair is to
show off this wonderful green space and bring life to it by combining
temporary site installations of sculpture with hands-on art for
the kids," she said.
Mimsie Coleman helps 8-year-old Bia Cassano
of Hamden make a button pin.
Treasurer of the Whitneyville
Civic Association -- the other event sponsor -- Susan
Sternberg said via a posted sign: "Our hope is that this
summer exhibit becomes a continuing annual event and one that
can be an outdoor experiment station for artists to play with
ideas that relate generally to the outdoors or specifically to
this park."
Artist George Clarke of New London said he
has wanted to paint manholes and gas meters for the longest time
but knew that was a no-no. Last year, after conferring with his
muse, he said he discovered that colored sand could decorate the
manholes and not cause permanent scarring.
There were craft tables for kids to make button
pins and flower petal cloths, and various mural projects set on
plexiglass or foil that will later be displayed in the lobby of
the Miller Cultural Center.
Kelly Pfeiffer, 11, of Hamden contributes her
artistic
talent to this foil mural, soon to be displayed
in the
Miller Cultural Center.
If you missed the fair you can still catch some
of the art that will remain on view until July 31.
