L ive music, mindful art and sea kayaking make a splash this week in New Haven.
Monday, July 31
Put on by the New Haven Climate Movement and the New Haven/León Sister City Project, an Environmental Arts Night “of great art, live music and food to show your love and awareness of the planet” is happening at BAR (254 Crown St, New Haven). The live music comes from The Foresters, a Zombies-esque, Ben Folds-ish, BC Camplight-like, “indie rock-type” band from Bethany; Fish House, a dreamy, jazzy, funky “groovedaddy” trio from Mystic; and New London’s The Brazen Youth, whose languorous meditations are most brazen when it comes to the lyrics. Free; donations welcome.
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Tuesday, August 1
In its shared backyard, a.k.a. the Park of the Arts, Neighborhood Music School (100 Audubon St, New Haven; 203-624-5189) presents the second and final concert in its 2017 Twilight Tuesdays series. Featuring the Black Art Jazz Collective, which includes Wayne Escoffery, a Grammy-winning saxophonist who lived in New Haven and studied at NMS during his youth, the show starts at 7:30 p.m., with attendees encouraged to bring a picnic dinner as early as 7. General admission tickets cost $15 (or $5 for ages 18 and under), while reserved table seats cost $30.
Wednesday, August 2
From 6 to 8 p.m. at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art (51 Trumbull St, New Haven), “artist, activist and entrepreneur Jay Critchley will open a conversation on social practice as art.” As the founder of the Old Glory Condom Corporation—an art project and business venture that used flag-inspired condoms to advocate for safer sex, particularly with respect to HIV and AIDS, and ultimately won a landmark trademark battle with the federal government—Critchley knows a thing or two about the topic of the workshop, which includes a chance for attendees to receive feedback on their own ideas and projects related to “civically engaged art.”
Thursday, August 3
On a 9 p.m. bill, Cafe Nine (250 State St, New Haven; 203-789-8281) hosts Rudeyna, the band, which is fronted by Rudeyna, the singer—“like Freddy Mercury co-writing with Thelonious Monk, Nina Simone starring in Ziggy Stardust or T. M. Thiagarajan composing for Charlie Chaplin.” The opener is Sub-Urban, a “neo-soul/hip-hop fusion group… with an intense live presence, a mix of originals and covers and a unique chemistry.” $5.
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Friday, August 4
Two retro things make comebacks. First up is legendary rhythm and blues act Tower of Power, performing an 8 p.m., seats-only bill at College Street Music Hall (238 College St, New Haven; 203-867-2000; $30-75). Then, at 11:30 p.m., it’s the original Predator (1987)—the one in the jungle with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and Jesse Ventura—screening at Criterion Cinemas (86 Temple St, New Haven; 203-498-2500; $5) as part of its “Insomnia Theater” programming.
Saturday, August 5
Staging through August 13, the finale of Yale Summer Cabaret’s 2017 season is Lear, a play inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear, in which “five twenty-somethings search for answers to life’s most troubling questions while their unseen fathers go mad in a storm that rages just offstage.” But it’s not just the “unjustly suffering” papas who lose it; their children “[pass] the time with drugs, alcohol, sex and small talk—driving themselves sublimely, deliriously mad in the process.” Regular tickets to tonight’s 7 and 10 p.m. performances cost $30 and $25, respectively, with discounts for students and Yale faculty/staff. 217 Park Street, New Haven. (203) 432-1567.
Sunday, August 6
The city’s final summer kayaking tour at Lighthouse Point Park (2 Lighthouse Rd, New Haven; pictured above) happens today from 10 a.m. to noon. Included in the registration fee of $35 for New Haven residents ($50 for others) is the presence of a guide, some basic instruction and a few loaners: a personal flotation device, a paddle and, naturally, a kayak to use. “No experience necessary.” To register, call (203) 946-8020 or (203) 946-8027.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
