New Haven eases out of wintertime this week with some indoor history lessons, one of the biggest outdoor events of the year, a concert of inner peace and a lively new take on an Elizabethan comedy. These are celebrations of black culture, Irish culture, Indian culture and 1960s Liverpudlian culture. The warming of New Haven has begun.
Monday, March 10
Catalina Calling
Catalina Gonzalez studies Music and Sound Recording at the University of New Haven, and puts that knowledge to use in her folk-pop club gigs around town. The Chilean-born singer-songwriter can be found tonight at Stella Blues (204 Crown St.; 203 – 752-9764).
Single Singing
Just down a bit further up Crown Street, at Café Nine (250 State St.; 203 – 789-8281), Xavier Serrano of the local band Kindred Queer, Michael Kusek of the band Elison Jackson, James Fonicello of the band No Program and Stephany Brown all do solo sets. 9 p.m. Free.
Tuesday, March 11
Feeling Secure
The Security Project is named for Peter Gabriel’s fourth solo album, which was called Peter Gabriel (as were his previous three solo albums) in Europe but retitled Security in the U.S. The band, unsurprisingly, covers Peter Gabriel songs. It is uniquely qualified to do so, as it features members of Gabriel’s own 1978 – 84 touring band, plus prog-rock contemporaries who played with King Crimson. The line-up includes Jerry Marotta on drums; Trey Gunn on bass; Fuzzbee Morse on guitar, keyboards, sax and flute; further keyboards from David Jameson and Larry Fast; and Josh Gleason aping Gabriel’s vocal style. It’s not a bad time to be covering Peter Gabriel material; Gabriel himself has been on something of a nostalgia trip, inviting major artists to cover his material, then returning the favor by covering their work (on his two-part project Scratch My Back…And I’ll Scratch Yours). Gabriel himself is still a stadium-filling star. The Security Project can be had for $20 tonight at Toad’s Place (300 York St.; 203 – 624-TOAD)
Wednesday, March 12
White Back at You
White Hinterland is a woman from Scituate, Mass., named Casey Dienel who has been known for a moody, ambient jazzy sort of sound. She’s reportedly changed that up for the new White Hinterland album, Baby. She’s also formed a band for a change rather than subsist on solos and sidemen. Dienel’s made great stylistic leaps before, as with her album Kairos, which jettisoned the piano playing she’d been known for. Check out the latest shades of White Hinterland tonight for free at BAR (254 Crown St.), two weeks before the official release of Baby. The pop/rock outfit Slander opens the 9 p.m. show, which has been rescheduled after some other white stuff — snow — postponed it last month.
Thursday, March 13
All Kinds of History
Last month was Black History Month. This month is Women’s History month. At New Haven Museum (114 Whitney Ave.; 203 – 562-4183), every month is Connecticut History Month. So…. At 6 p.m. tonight in the museum’s lecture hall there’s a signing of the new book African American Connecticut Explored,” with a discussion that emphasizes “several fascinating African American women in Connecticut history.” (www.newhavenmuseum.org)
Simrit of Spring
Composer/performer/yogini Simrit Kaur brings her meditative, transcendent band to Westville’s Lyric Hall (827 Whalley Ave.) for a 6:30 p.m. concert that seeks to uplift, change moods, and anticipate springtime.
Coley & Co.
Clinton Coley is a protégé of the great comedian D.L. Hughley, and something of a comedy entrepreneur, producing tours and concerts. As a performer, Coley’s opened for the Mike Epps & Friends tour, which included the Queen of Comedy Sommore (who is coincidentally playing New Haven herself this week; see Friday). Clinton Coley does a one-night stand at Joker’s Wild (232 Wooster St.; 203 – 773-0733) tonight, with Dame FK and Doug Key also on on the bill. $10.
Friday, March 14
Much Ado About All My Loving
These Paper Bullets begins performances tonight thanks to the Yale Repertory Theatre. The script’s a rough mix of Much Ado About Nothing and a certain Liverpool pop foursome. Just as importantly, the show reunites director Jackson Gay and playwright Rolin Jones, who collaborated on the Rep’s production of The Intelligent Life of Jenny Chow, which went on to a long Off Broadway run and a Pulitzer nomination in 2004, shortly after they both graduated from the Yale School of Drama. These Paper Bullets’ cast includes a brace of other YSD grads, such as Stephen DeRosa and Jeanine Serralles and James Lloyd Reynolds and Adam O’Byrne and Liz Wisan and Anthony Manna. Oh, and the expertly Beatlesque songs (including “Give It All to You” and “Follow You Around”), performed by The Quartos, have been composed by Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day. These Paper Bullets plays through April 5 at the Yale University Theater (222 York St.; 203 – 432-1234)
Saturday, March 15
Remember all those African-American “Kings & Queens of Comedy” tours of the ‘00s? Well, there’s still royal merriment to be had from established road-savvy comedians such as Bill Bellamy (from early MTV) , Tommy Davidson (from In Living Color), Tony Rock (who played Uncle Ryan on his brother Chris Rock’s series Everybody Hates Chris) and the show’s host, erstwhile Queen of Comedy Sommore (who lost 11 pounds as a contestant on Celebrity Fit Club). The Standing Ovation Tour — now there’s presumption for you! — plays the Shubert (247 College St.; 203 – 562-5666) 7 p.m. tonight. $50-$58.
Sunday, March 16
Saints Be Parades!
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade—the largest parade of its kind between Boston and New York, and the single biggest one-day spectator event in Connecticut—winds its way snakelike down Edgewood Avenue and Chapel Street (starting from around Sherman Avenue, with a just-this-year detour down Edgewood for a few blocks to avoid the hospital construction projects) to downtown New Haven (ending around Grove and Orange). The marching starts at 1:30 p.m. and may be most notable for a different assemblage of city leaders than we’re used to — there’s a new mayor, after all. More familiar will be the fife-and-drum brigades, the high school marching bands, the Governor’s Foot Guard, the various Irish societies, the police and firefighter groupings, and the FM radio station vans. For some, the celebrating starts much earlier than 1:30 — but gosh, hasn’t the whole event gone much more smoothly since the state started more rigorously enforcing its public-alcohol laws?
Jigs & Reels
After the parade, you’ll find parties at local bars and clubs, many of them featuring live music. Riley & Reidy play at Toad’s Place (300 York St.; 203 – 624-TOAD), while Café Nine (250 State St., 203 – 789-8281) opts for King Sickabilly & His Full Moon Boys.
