BEPW & Brian Larney – Sat., Aug. 13th, 5pm

Brian Larney and BEPW play an outdoor show at Best Video Film & Cultural Center Sat., Aug. 13. The event starts at 5 PM.
Haunted by hooks and good old fashioned song-craft, Brian Larney is an eclectic, non-stop music-making machine. The Connecticut native and New England Music Awards nominee splits his time performing as a solo acoustic act, as the front-man of his band Brian Larney and The Town Hall, and as part of the harmony pop group Pigeon English.  Larney will be accompanied by Tom Smith on Drums, Bobo Lavorgna on bass and Peter Greco on lead guitar.
BEPW (Brian Ebin Parker Wolfe) has been playing original music on guitar, mandolin and tiple since the late 60’s. His earliest gigs at The Exit Coffeehouse shaped his ambition to do little more than hang out on the New Haven Green for most of his young adult life. Little has changed since then.
There will be donation vases for the musicians and the venue. Please consider being generous in supporting musicians—opportunities to perform have been fewer the past couple of years. Suggested donation of $10.
The parking lot is closed off for seating. There is on-street parking on Thornton Street, as well as parking behind our building and across the street at Spring Glen Church.
August 9, 2022 by
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Semaphora & Gold Eris – Thurs., Aug. 11th, 7 PM

Semaphora and Gold Eris share the bill at Best video Film & Cultural Center on Thurs., Aug. 11. The show starts at 7 PM and the cover is $10.
SEMAPHORA (pan-coastal CT): the original music of composer and multi-instrumentalist Lydia Arachne, Semaphora combines a dense academic lyricism with floating grooves and fragrant harmonies to create unique songs that are often about animals or computers.  Indie/jazz/folk/prog for the NPR crowd, Semaphora aspires to be the sort of band whose fans are accused of belonging to a cult.
GOLD ERIS (Bridgeport, CT): indie rock with an artpop/electronic twist, an original music project created by singer/songwriter Thomas Oliverio.  Originally a theatre nerd from Somers, NY, Oliverio started composing music at age 15 before pursuing acting in college, instead triple-majoring in heartbreak, disappointment, and self-doubt.  The debut GOLD ERIS record Born a Quitter  (available on all major platforms) came out of processing those experiences.  A second LP, which Oliverio describes as more reflective, cathartic material based in truth, is planned for release in the coming year.
This is an inside show so proof of vaccination and masks are required.
August 9, 2022 by
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The Sawtelles – Sat., 8/6/22 @ 7 PM

The Sawtelles—first group ever to play Best Video’s performance space, in June, 2011—play Best Video Film & Cultural Center Sat., Aug. 6. The show starts at 7 PM and the cover is $10.

Husband and wife duo Pete and Julie Riccio are the foundation of the Sawtelles. Their music is a balance of four elements: alternate-tuned guitar, small drum kit and two voices. Peter plays guitar and Julie plays drums; they both sing. Their sparse but intricately arranged pop is as lush as it is captivatingly unique; what is played as important as what isn’t.

This is an indoor show so proof of vaccination is required to enter and masks are required.

 

August 2, 2022 by
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Will Parker – Sat., 8/6/22 @ 10:30 AM Outside – weather permitting

Will Parker plays children’s music at Best Video Film & Cultural Center Sat., Aug. 6. The event starts at 10:30 AM.

Will Parker is an award-winning children’s songwriter and teaching artist based in New Haven, CT. He writes and performs music for “kids ages 1-100.” During Will’s whimsical and interactive shows, he plays guitar and harmonica and sings original songs that engage the audience in singing-along, dancing, high-fiving, and imaginative play. He travels nationwide playing shows at libraries, schools, daycares, and festivals.

This will be an outside show. In the case of excessive heat or inclement weather, it will be moved indoors. Suggested donation is $5-10 per family but nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. Parking available behind Best Video and on Thornton Street.

 

August 2, 2022 by
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Lucy’s Neighbor – Thu., 8/4/22 @ 7 PM

 

Lucy’s Neighbor plays Best Video Film & Cultural Center Thursday, Aug. 4. The show starts at 7 PM and the cover is $10.

Lucy’s Neighbor—named after the Mrs. Matilda Trumbull character in the “I Love Lucy” Sitcom—is an original indie rock/power pop band from New Haven. The members are Derek Di Fronzo (vocals); Dave Esposito (guitar); Tom Quagliano (drums) and Ed Flynn (bass). They will be playing songs from their three self-released CDs, the self-titled “Lucy’s Neighbor” (2011), “Over Easy” (2018), and “Till It’s Gone” (2020).

As this is an indoor show, covid protocols are proof of vax and masks required.

 

August 2, 2022 by
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Sambeleza – Sat., Jul. 30 @ 5:30 PM OUTSIDE (weather permitting)

Sambeleza plays Best Video Film & Cultural Center outdoors on Sat., July 30. The show starts at 5:30 PM. The group will feature Jeff Fuller (bass), Joe Carter (guitar), Isabella Mendes (vocals, piano), and Graciliano Zambonim (percussion).

Sambeleza performs a wide variety of Brazilian songs, both old and new, with a jazz twist. Featured composers include Tom Jobim and Ary Barroso, as well as younger composers like Djavan, Debora Gurgel and Arlindo Cruz. A few originals by group members are added to the mix.

Their first CD, “Sambeleza Live,” was released in the spring of 2015. It was recorded live at Summer Solstice Samba in June, 2014 at Voices Cafe of the Unitarian Church in Westport in association with WPKN-FM. Along with Sambeleza members Isabella Mendes, Jeff Fuller and Joe Carter on that date were special guests Ali Ryerson (flute), Adriano Santos (drums) and Ze Mauricio (percussion).

Brasil (spelled with an “s” in Portuguese) is well known for its rich heritage—a blend of indigenous, African and European cultures—from which the music has risen with fascinating rhythms, soaring melodies and colorful harmonies. The musicians of Sambeleza are outstanding U. S. and Brazilian interpreters of the great songs of the bossa nova and samba traditions, as well as outstanding jazz artists in their own right. Sambeleza derives its name from two words: samba, the national dance of Brasil, and beleza, Portuguese for “beauty.”

There will be donation vases for the musicians and the venue. Please consider being generous in supporting musicians—opportunities to perform have been fewer the past couple of years. Suggested donation of $10.

The parking lot is closed off for seating. There is on-street parking on Thornton Street, as well as parking behind our building and across the street at Spring Glen Church.

July 26, 2022 by
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Restless Mountain Bluegrass Band – Fri., Jul. 29 @ 5:30 PM OUTSIDE (weather permitting)

Restless Mountain Bluegrass Band returns to Best Video. The band plays at Best Video Film & Cultural Center in an outdoor show on Fri., July 29. The music starts at 5:30 PM.

Restless Mountain Bluegrass Band is a Connecticut-based bluegrass band that always offers a fun mix of traditional standards, entertaining classics and originals that bring fond memories and a smile. In the tradition of bluegrass, Restless Mountain is an all-acoustic band, serving up heartfelt vocals, 3-part harmonies and spicy instrumentals. Restless Mountain Bluegrass Band has been active in Connecticut for over a decade, featuring veteran musicians who love to play and entertain.

Band members are Matt Fleury (vocals, banjo), Jerry Devokaitis (vocals, guitar), Gracin Dorsey (vocals, mandolin), Scott Camara (resophonic guitar), and Dave Aston (bass).

There will be donation vases for the musicians and the venue. Please consider being generous in supporting musicians—opportunities to perform have been fewer the past couple of years. Suggested donation of $10.

The parking lot is closed off for seating. There is on-street parking on Thornton Street, as well as parking behind our building and across the street at Spring Glen Church.

 

July 26, 2022 by
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James Limerick Kerr – Thurs., Jul. 28 @ 7 PM

James “Limerick” Kerr plays a set of solo dobro with vocals at Best Video Film & Cultural Center Thur., July 28. The show starts at 7 PM and the cover is $10.

Dr. James Limerick Kerr is a resonator steel guitarist, vocalist, and educator based in the NYC/Connecticut area. His solo concerts feature a unique mixture of original and classic gospel blues and bluegrass. Although his performances are solidly rooted on the foundations of Delta blues, gospel, and bluegrass, James incorporates a broad array of influences and enjoys the musical challenge of attempting to expand genre boundaries and expectations for the resonator steel guitar (Dobro). In addition to his performance endeavors as a resonator and steel guitarist, James is a music professor who holds a doctorate in classical guitar performance from Stony Brook University (SUNY).

James is the author of A Twenty-First Century Guidebook for Guitarists: Practice, Performance, and Teaching (Kendall Hunt), a textbook for college guitar students.

Dr. Kerr directs the Bluegrass Ensemble and teaches guitar at Columbia University. He also teaches guitar at Naugatuck Valley Community College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY), as well as at the Neighborhood Music School in his hometown of New Haven, CT.

As this is an indoor show, covid protocols are proof of vax and masks required.  The cost of the show is $10 at the door.

July 26, 2022 by
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Final screening of Japanese Horror – “Audition” – 7/26/22

Concluding the series on Tues., July 26, is Takashi Miike’s “Audition” (1999). Infamous upon its release, “Audition” places the viewer in a corporate setting inhabited with corrupt, arguably sexually-repressed film producers. Casting has never been so important… or life threatening.

“Audition” was a New York Times Critic’s Pick in 2001. Critic Elvis Mitchell wrote, “The Japanese psychological horror film ‘Audition’ has been responsible for throngs of shaken filmgoers staggering out of theaters for the last year or so; it’s ‘Fatal Attraction’ with a sense of morality instead of a need to pander—specifically, the movie’s theme is the objectification of women in Japanese society and the mirror-image horror of retribution it could create.”

Suggested donation is $7 at the door.

Support for this series has been provided to Best Video Film & Cultural Center from Connecticut Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.

July 26, 2022 by
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douxreves w/Conor Perrault – Fri., Jul. 22 @ 7 PM

douxreve fuse elements of Art Rock, Post-Punk, and Free Jazz into well-crafted, concise songs with an eye towards an abstract, yet hopeful future.

Jeff Cedrone (Light Upon Blight, Floating Lanterns, NHIC), Ben Hecht (Drifting North), Tom Hogan (World Game, NHIC)
Conor Perreault is a Hamden based father of two. He is a dabbler, a tinkerer, and an experimenter in sound, using whatever and whomever happens to be around to make sounds that he hopes are fun and/or interesting to hear. He’s a founding member of the psychedelic firecracker zone brothers Human Flourishing (humanflourishing.bandcamp.com) and a semi-regular on the local free improv scene.
This concert will be inside and the cover charge is $10 at the door.  Masks are required.
July 20, 2022 by
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