Wes O’Brien’s Piano Jazz

February 7, 2025 By Craig OConnell

First Friday Lounge Night at Best Video Film & Cultural Center from 5:30 – 7:30 pm on Friday, February 7th, featuring Wes O’Brien’s jazz piano. There is no cover charge, and the Best Video Coffee Bar will be open throughout for all your beverage needs, with Happy Hour pricing on beer and wine.

5:30 – 7:30 pm Come on by Best Video for a nice glass of wine with a friend or a cup of tea and your book. Sit back, relax, and enjoy as Wes O’Brien delights with his great anecdotes and wonderful selection of jazz standards, show tunes, and ballads.

Tonight’s all about good vibes, great music, and having a blast together. Let’s make it a night to remember, everyone! 🎹

Allen Lowe & The All Stars

January 29, 2025 By Craig OConnell

Allen Lowe & The All Stars perform at Best Video Film & Cultural Center in Hamden on Wednesday, January 29 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. $10.00 cover. Free on-site and on street parking.

Allen Lowe is a composer, saxophonist, and music historian. He was voted Artist of the Year in the 2021 Jazz Times Readers’ Poll. He has recorded as a leader with: Julius Hemphill, Gary Bartz, Marc Ribot, David Murray, Nels Cline, Matt Shipp, Roswell Rudd, Don Byron, Doc Cheatham, and others.

“This fall, the jazz composer, saxophonist, and music historian Allen Lowe released what I consider to be his magnum opus, a four-cd set containing 69 tracks exploring almost every musical element and style that could be subsumed under the expansive rubric of “jazz.” One can hear elements of blues, R&B, bop, funk, rock, punk, avant guard, and much more, all beautifully composed and magnificently played (by Lowe himself and his colleagues). I’ve been digesting this music slowly, gradually, and repeatedly, and it just sounds better with each listen.
It’s Allen’s unequaled grasp of the entire history of American music that emerges in such idiosyncratic and creatively beautiful ways throughout this collection. I can’t think of anyone else who could have pulled off such a remarkably ambitious undertaking. He is a genius, without question.” -Professor Jon Karp, SUNY Binghamton

Allen Lowe & The All-Stars

January 22, 2025 By Craig OConnell

On Wednesday, January 22^nd from 7 – 9 pm, it’s Allen Lowe & The All-Stars at Best Video Film & Cultural Center, 1842 Whitney Ave., Hamden, for the monthly jazz session with “a coterie of musical guests” including guitarist Gary Grippo, drummer Barry Ries, bassist Jeff Fuller, and saxophonist Mark Kaplan. $10 cover. Free parking on site and at street.

Isabella Mendes & Flavio Lira

January 18, 2025 By Craig OConnell

Saturday, January 18th, 7:00 pm – Isabella Mendes & Flavio Lira team up for an evening of Brazilian jazz at Best Video Film & Cultural Center in Hamden. Cover = $15.00. Free on-site and street parking available.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

Singer, songwriter, composer, pianist, and educator Isabella Mendes is quickly becoming one of New Haven and Hartford County’s top Brazilian and Jazz entertainers in the industry and has earned an impressive list of accomplishments well beyond her years.

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Isabella started to study music at age four and hasn’t stopped since. She has been studying with Grammy Winner pianist Fabio Torres and Emmy Winner vocalist Michal Towber. Isabella is also a leader in education, studying at Carnegie Hall as part of the Music Educators program. She is the founder and teacher of IMMusic Studio, a private music school, where she teaches piano and voice. She is an advocate for women and diversity in the arts, and is leading workshops bringing diversity through music in schools and community events.

Brazilian native bassist, Flavio Lira is very active and eclectic, musical styles have never been a restriction for him, and since the beginning, he has performed with groups ranging from Popular Samba to Classical Chamber Music. Now in New York, Flavio Lira is able to fully employ his versatility as a musician, collaborating with different artists and performing in prestigious venues, such as Birdland and Jazz at Lincoln Center.