Music: Robert Messore & friends Thurs., May 30 at 8 PM

Robert Messore brings his take on acoustic music to the Best Video Performance Space on Thursday, May 30. The music starts at 8 PM and the cover charge is $5. Messore will play solo and also with some special guest performers.

Robert Messore (meh-sor’-ee) has been called “Connecticut’s finest finger-style guitarist.” He plays beautiful instrumental guitar music and he is noted for composing tuneful pieces that work well as music, and not simply as fancy guitar playing. Robert has been called “the Heart of the New Haven Folk Scene” for his vital and many-faceted contributions as solo performer, side man, recording artist, teacher and concert presenter (working on several concert series and the Connecticut Folk Festival). Robert has passionately devoted himself to the guitar for 30+ years and was voted Best Instrumentalist in a New Haven Advocate readers’ poll.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCE SPACE EVENTS:

• Thursday, May 23. HOCKEY ROCK: THE ZAMBONIS

• Wednesday, May 29. No Event.

•Thursday, May 30. ACOUSTIC FOLK: ROBERT MESSORE

• Wednesday, June 5. PUNK/BLUES: SPACE ORPHANS

• Thursday, June 6. INDIE ROCK: ELISON JACKSON

• Monday, June 10. FILM SCREENING: “SAVING HUBBLE”

• Wednesday, June 12. SINGER-SONGWRITER: ANNA AYRES-BROWN

• Thursday, June 13. INDIE ROCK: THE MOUNTAIN MOVERS

• Wednesday, June 19. CABARET: RICH MORAN

• Thursday, June 20. INDIE POP: THE FURORS, AL HOWARD

• Wednesday, June 26. INDIE ROCK: THE JELLYSHIRTS

• Thursday, June 27. SINGER-SONGWRITERS: FRANK CRITELLI, MARK MIRANDO

• Wednesday, July 10. ACOUSTIC FOLK: SHELDON CAMPBELL

• Thursday, July 11. ACOUSTIC ROCK: JAMES VELVET & THE LONESOME SPARROWS

May 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Hank’s Recommendations 05/21/13

hank_paperSTAND UP GUYS — Val (Al Pacino), having taken the fall for his other partners, is released after 28 years in prison and is met by his good friend and former crime compadre, Doc (Christopher Walken). Val has kept his partners’ complicity from the law, but Doc has a secret, with which he’s been struggling for 28 years, in store for Val.

In one—and possibly final—night, the two renew old memories and bonds, including with their mutual good friend and former partner Hirsch (Alan Arkin), whom they rescue from a nursing home. Together they face the night’s serendipitous opportunities and dangerous events while reminiscing and reacquainting themselves with old skills.

This is not a straight-ahead action thriller. If that’s what you’re looking for, skip this film and see IRON MAN 3, or much better yet, IRON MAN 1 or 2. There are spare but thrilling moments here of action and even a proficient and amusing car chase. But what counts in this otherwise very leisurely movie is the reminiscing and patter as Val and Doc see where the night is going to take them and where it’s going to take their friendship. The dialogue is the hook, along with the pleasures of seeing these three actors still at the top of their game. Yes, it’s a slow movie, like the three characters who have to take it slow—until circumstances plus their own whimsy demand they ratchet it up a notch or two. The “iron” here is friendship and fealty, exerting its own memorable impact in a film that takes its time about time running out.

P.S. As a longtime fan of Christopher Walken, whose performances have mostly been edgy and deviant ones, it’s good to seem him taking on straight, emotionally moving dramatic roles (as in the film above). If you haven’t seen his prior DVD release (also in Top Hits) I strongly recommend LATE QUARTET, a very New York-ish movie that also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener. It’s my favorite film this year.

May 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Music: Zambonis to offer hockey rock Thurs., May 23, at 8 PM

The hockey rock band The Zambonis will play the Best Video Performance Space on Thursday, May 23. The cover charge is $5 and the music starts at 8 PM.

Few rock bands have been featured in both Sports Illustrated and Billboard. Few have played both punk-rock clubs and hockey arenas like Madison Square Garden. Few have appealed to fans young and old. But the quirky 100% hockey-rock Zambonis have somehow prevailed—impressing music snobs, sports freaks and critics simultaneously.

The Zambonis formed in 1991 as a group that played nothing but songs about hockey. What started as a fun “little thing” is now the most popular sports-rock band in North America. Explaining the band’s unique style, Captain Dave Zamboni says, “We’re the only band in the world whose two biggest influences are The Beatles and Wayne Gretzky!”

Commenting on the disc, the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Slapstick meets slapshots…For the true hockey fan, this is a must. For the casual fan, it’s still one big smile.” While Billboard added, “They have a sense of humor about themselves…A timely and surprisingly appealing release.” Time Out New York chimed in, anointing the band “the Pearl Jam of hockey rock.”

Watch The Zambonis’ official video for their song “I’m a Puck”:

UPCOMING PERFORMANCE SPACE EVENTS:

• Sunday, May 19. MUSIC, IMAGE & SPOKEN WORD: MARK SABA & TOM IZZO

• Thursday, May 23. HOCKEY ROCK: THE ZAMBONIS

•Thursday, May 30. ACOUSTIC FOLK: ROBERT MESSORE

• Wednesday, June 5. PUNK/BLUES: SPACE ORPHANS

• Thursday, June 6. INDIE ROCK: ELISON JACKSON

• Monday, June 10. FILM SCREENING: “SAVING HUBBLE”

• Wednesday, June 12. SINGER-SONGWRITER: ANNA AYRES-BROWN

• Thursday, June 13. INDIE ROCK: THE MOUNTAIN MOVERS

• Wednesday, June 19. CABARET: RICH MORAN

• Thursday, June 20. INDIE POP: THE FURORS, AL HOWARD

• Wednesday, June 26. INDIE ROCK: THE JELLYSHIRTS

• Thursday, June 27. SINGER-SONGWRITERS: FRANK CRITELLI, MARK MIRANDO

• Wednesday, July 10. ACOUSTIC FOLK: SHELDON CAMPBELL

• Thursday, July 11. ACOUSTIC ROCK: JAMES VELVET & THE LONESOME SPARROWS

May 16, 2013 by 1 Comment
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Music: Lyric Hall Big Band to perform Wed., May 22, at 8 PM

Lyric_Hall_Big_Band_WebThe Lyric Hall Big Band—an offshoot of the Lyric Hall Orchestra, renowned for accompanying silent films at the restored vaudeville hall in Westville—plays the Best Video Performance Space on Wednesday, May 22. The music starts at 8 PM and the admission is $5. The Lyric Hall Large Band plays everything from Perez Prado to Kool and the Gang. Star Wars tunes to Thelonious Monk.

Come hear Steve Asetta (sax), Keith Yarbrough (tuba), Tim Kane and Nick Di Maria (trumpets), Jim Berger and Nate Trier (euphonium) and Matt Moadell (drums) play their way from Jamaica to New Orleans, Cuba, Manhattan and more.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCE SPACE EVENTS:

• Sunday, May 19. MUSIC, IMAGE & SPOKEN WORD: MARK SABA & TOM IZZO

• Thursday, May 23. HOCKEY ROCK: THE ZAMBONIS

•Thursday, May 30. ACOUSTIC FOLK: ROBERT MESSORE

• Wednesday, June 5. PUNK/BLUES: SPACE ORPHANS

• Thursday, June 6. INDIE ROCK: ELISON JACKSON

• Monday, June 10. FILM SCREENING: “SAVING HUBBLE”

• Wednesday, June 12. SINGER-SONGWRITER: ANNA AYRES-BROWN

• Thursday, June 13. INDIE ROCK: THE MOUNTAIN MOVERS

• Wednesday, June 19. CABARET: RICH MORAN

• Thursday, June 20. INDIE POP: THE FURORS, AL HOWARD

• Wednesday, June 26. INDIE ROCK: THE JELLYSHIRTS

• Thursday, June 27. SINGER-SONGWRITERS: FRANK CRITELLI, MARK MIRANDO

• Wednesday, July 10. ACOUSTIC FOLK: SHELDON CAMPBELL

• Thursday, July 11. ACOUSTIC ROCK: JAMES VELVET & THE LONESOME SPARROWS

May 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Film on the Hubble Space Telescope to be screened Mon., June 10

Director David Gaynes will screen and discuss his documentary “Saving Hubble” at the Best Video Performance Space on Monday, June 10, starting at 7:30 PM.  The film is about the successful effort to save and repair the space telescope and how that complex piece of equipment connects humans to the wider universe. Gaynes has been showing the film as part of his “Hubble Roadshow,” events that often include panel discussions about related issues and—weather conditions permitting—post-screening star viewing through the telescopes of amateur astronomers.

We will post more information about this event closer to the date. In the meantime, view the trailer for “Saving Hubble”:

May 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Hank’s Recommendations 05/14/13

hank_paperROBOT & FRANK — This simple story that’s simply produced features Frank Langella as a long retired cat burglar who has twice served time and is now living alone on the cusp of dementia in a New York state suburban house. He is given a caretaking robot by his dutiful long-distance son, which he resentfully rejects out of hand, until he starts instructing the robot about burglary, enlisting his special abilities in a caper.

Despite a couple of holes in the plot and a lameness in a couple of the characters, this quietly cautionary tale offers a Ray Bradbury-ish sweetness as well as the simple eloquence of one of that author’s enduring and prescient themes: the supplanting of our contemporary life by a virtual world that seems more real than life itself.

May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Music, Image & Spoken Word: Mark Saba and Alphonse Izzo Sun., May 19, at 3 PM

MarkSaba_72dpiBest Video Performance Space will host a multimedia event by poet Mark Saba and composer Alphonse Izzo on Sunday, May 19, at 3 PM. Admission is $5.Mark will read poems from his recently-published collection, “Painting a Disappearing Canvas” (Grayson Books) against an original score composed by Alphonse as well as images produced by Mark in iMovie. Images will also accompany Alphonse’s composition, “Special Green Interlude,” before Mark concludes the evening with one of his short stories.

Mark Saba has been writing fiction, poetry, and nonfiction for over thirty years. In addition to his poetry collection, he has had two short novels published, as well as many stories, essays, and poems in literary magazines and anthologies around the U.S. and abroad. Several of the poems in “Painting a Disappearing Canvas” reflect his Pittsburgh roots.

Tony Norman reviewed “Painting a Disappearing Canvas” for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, writing:

There are poets who exercise admirable restraint, yet somehow manage to squeeze in a lot of images between the lines. Former Pittsburgher Mark Saba falls into this category. His language is rich and imagistic, but nuanced; tender, yet suspicious of false sentiment. A few poems touch on Pittsburgh in this collection, but most are about other states of mind and being. “Painting a Disappearing Canvas” is sublimity guaranteed to linger.

Mark is a graduate of Wesleyan University (BA) and Hollins College (MA), where he won an Academy of American Poets Award as well as the Andrew James Purdy fiction award. He is also a painter. See some of his work at his Web site.

Alphonse_IzzoAlphonse Izzo, a graduate of the Hartt School, is a composer and performer based in New Haven, CT. His music has been performed throughout the USA, most recently at Carnegie Hall, in Canada, Europe and Argentina.

He has composed music for fixed media, film, dance, chamber ensembles and rock bands. Alphonse Izzo’s music is represented by Honey Rock Publishing and Canondale Publishing. His music appears on CD via Trace Label and Vox Novus. See his Web site for more information.

UPCOMING PERFORMANCE SPACE EVENTS:

• Wednesday, May 15. JAZZ: THE NICK Di MARIA QUARTET

• Thursday, May 16. ROCK—ROPE

• Sunday, May 19. MUSIC, IMAGE & SPOKEN WORD: MARK SABA & TOM IZZO

• Thursday, May 23. HOCKEY ROCK: THE ZAMBONIS

•Thursday, May 30. ACOUSTIC FOLK: ROBERT MESSORE

• Wednesday, June 5. PUNK/BLUES: SPACE ORPHANS

• Thursday, June 6. INDIE ROCK: ELISON JACKSON

• Wednesday, June 12. SINGER-SONGWRITER: ANNA AYRES-BROWN

• Thursday, June 13. INDIE ROCK: THE MOUNTAIN MOVERS

• Wednesday, June 19. CABARET: RICH MORAN

• Thursday, June 20. INDIE POP: THE FURORS, AL HOWARD

• Wednesday, June 26. INDIE ROCK: THE JELLYSHIRTS

• Thursday, June 27. SINGER-SONGWRITERS: FRANK CRITELLI, MARK MIRANDO

• Wednesday, July 10. ACOUSTIC FOLK: SHELDON CAMPBELL

• Thursday, July 11. ACOUSTIC ROCK: JAMES VELVET & THE LONESOME SPARROWS

May 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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