57 stories by "Michael Hamad"
How do creative people recover from COVID-19? One musician wrote a children's song about personal hygiene and social distancing.
As Connecticut moves tentatively toward Phase 3 of reopening in mid-July, bars, indoor venues and larger outdoor events may be given the green light to stage concerts but the limitations are…
Nekita Waller, a singer from Middletown, will be Connecticut's 17th state troubadour, according to a statement released by the Connecticut Office of the Arts and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Walle…
Three major Connecticut theaters " Hartford Stage, Long Wharf and Yale Repertory Theatre " have announced what they'll be doing next year. Who better to break down trends and highlights than…
When all is said and done, the Kronos Quartet " violinists David Harrington and John Sherba, violist Hank Dutt and cellist Sunny Yang " might be remembered as the most eclectic musical ensem…
Every so often, you crave the middle: The heart of an artichoke, the center of a Tootsie Pop, the halftime show. In music, that could mean the stuff between the intro and outro; a groovy bri…
Power pop " think Big Star, Cheap Trick, the Knack, the Bangles " is often appallingly short on power, says New Haven guitarist Dean Falcone. "To me, it's the Who's 'I Can't Explain,' 'Anyti…
Jazz. At the library. Dig it. Starting on Jan. 7, the Hartford Public Library rolls out its 15th season of free, hourlong Baby Grand Jazz concerts, which take place on Sunday afternoons at 3…
Pull into a new city, just before sundown, and park the van. Load in, play a gig for adoring fans, pocket a wad of cash from the smiling venue owner, grab a delicious meal, and sleep between…
The year's most engaging urban-planning book comes from an unlikely source: activist and musician Dar Williams, a folk-festival and Lilith Fair veteran, who independently released her first …
Petra Jarrar, 20, writes hook-drenched, danceable, optimistic pop songs. She sings them with swagger at NYC venues like the Bowery Electric and the Bitter End. Recently, the Fairfield native…
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra's season-opening "Eroica" weekend just got even more heroic. On Oct. 7, before the second night of the HSO's "Beethoven's Eroica" Masterworks Series at the Bu…
Once a month, the Uncertainty Music Series injects a heady dose of spontaneous composition, white-knuckle improv and electro-acoustic weirdness into the New Haven nightlife scene. This has b…
At a small, unassuming church in Rocky Hill, Mike Wilcox hosts monthly concerts featuring some of Connecticut's greatest musical talent, both known and unknown. Now in its second full season…
The unspoken theme of this year's Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz, which takes place in Bushnell Park from July 14 to 16, might be this: Go ahead and dance. You've earned it. New Haven-bas…
Trumpeter Haneef N. Nelson never imagined he'd be a leader in the Greater Hartford jazz scene. "Before college, I didn't know anything about Connecticut north of New Haven," Nelson says. "Th…
Pianist Randy Weston has been a regular visitor to Hartford for more than 50 years, from 1950s jam sessions at Hartford Jazz Society president Art Fine's house in Bloomfield to more recent p…
It's a great time in history to discover new music " whether it's new to you, new to everybody, or somewhere in-between. DJ-curated streams play day and night on Internet radio stations. On …
Read these words out loud: Yogibogeybox. Mrkgnao. Peloothered. Mumchanciness. Now use "sausage" in a sentence. As a vowel. You've got it, you're there, you're soaking in it: The sound-world …
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra announced its 2017-2018 Masterworks Series Tuesday, offering music lovers a season full of traditional favorites and a few surprises. Music director Carolyn K…
Britten had a dachshund; Wagner, a Newfoundland named Russ. Pictures reveal that Debussy's collie was probably way happier than its owner. "Playing With Dogs," an upcoming pops concert by th…
Toward the end of the Jazz Age, the music world ushered in a new phenomenon: the all-girl band. Connecticut's contribution was the Novelty Syncopators, a New Britain-based group formed in th…
Get ready, 2017 listeners: Here comes the protest music. "Meditations on Freedom," a new album by tenor saxophonist and Connecticut native Noah Preminger, recorded in December and released o…
A few weeks ago, a tall man in a suit entered the lobby of The Courant. He was 30 minutes early for our meeting. "I don't like to talk about myself," says Ron Surrey, pastor of the New Mt. O…
Somewhere between a chamber music concert and a casual hang lies "Scribing the Void," an off-center offering by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra at Real Art Ways in Hartford on Jan. 26. "Scri…
