Mid-August Live Shows in CT

The final concert in the Hartford Jazz Society's "Monday Night in Bushnell Park" series features a band close to the Society's heart: Earl MacDonald and the HJS New Directions Jazz Ensemble.  Pianist, composer, educator (at the University of Connecticut/ Storrs) and blogger (read it here), MacDonald proposed the creation of this 10-member "little" big band to the HJS and they agreed to backing its formation in 2010.  He's the composer-in-residence and saxophonist Kris Allen is the artistic director;  the band is a blend of younger and older musicians from the Hartford area and they create quite a joyful noise. Opening the show on Monday August 13 will be the Mike Casey Quintet - saxophonist Casey is the 2011 winner of the Hartford Jazz Society Scholarship. The music commences at 6 p.m.  In case of rain (we seemed to have entered our "monsoon" season), the concert moves indoors to the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 814 Asylum Street.  Also, WWUH-91.3 FM in West Hartford will, as they almost always do, broadcast the show live.  For more information, go to wwuh.org or call 860-768-4701.

The Uncertainty Music Series continues its busy schedule on Wednesday August 15 when the Joe Moffett Quartet brings its exciting sounds to Elm Bar, 372 Elm Street in New Haven. Trumpeter Moffett, who studied with CT-based guitarist/bassist Joe Morris at the New England Conservatory in Boston, brings a group that features Noah Kaplan (saxophone), Dov Manski (Wurlitzer keyboard) and Jason Nazary (drums - Nazary and Morris recorded on Kaplan's recent "Descendents" CD while the drummer has also recorded with saxophonist Darius Jones.) The concert, the final one that the series will present at Elm Bar, begins at 9 p.m.  For more information, go to uncertaintymusic.com.  Next month, guitarist Michael Gregory returns to New Haven and the series, this time bringing his Trio to Neverending Books, 810 State Street.