Archive for January, 2012

North Haven entrepreneur on ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’

Friday, January 20, 2012 by:Pat Quinn
Comment
Comments
|
|

Above: North Haven’s David Greco goes before the panel on ABC’s “Shark Tank.”

A North Haven entrepreneur could see his business dreams sink or swim.

David Greco, the owner of Salespreneur, an education system, will appear on ABC’s reality series “Shark Tank” on Friday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m.

A panel of five investors or “Sharks” — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, technology innovator Robert Herjavec, fashion and branding expert Daymond John and venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary — will hear Greco’s pitch for Salespreneur, which specializes in sales training and business development.

The show, which is now in its third season, stars a group of wealthy investors who hear pitches of business and product ideas from entrepreneurs, ranging from start-ups from stay-at-home moms and dads, to ideas that include children’s products, music, sports, automotive and even the nightclub scene.

Artists asked to join the herd for Stamford initiative

Thursday, January 19, 2012 by:Christina Hennessy
Comment
Comments
|
|

Above: DSSD President Sandy Goldstein listens as Bobby Valentine and Laurie Guzda auction off the Fiberglas cats and dogs of Stamford Downtown’s It’s Reigning Cats & Dogs at Seven Landmark Square Sept. 15, 2010. This year’s public sculpture event will ask artists to ‘horse around.’ Photo: Keelin Daly / Stamford Advocate

Downtown Stamford has seen its share of colorful cows, tricked out ‘Art-O-Mobiles,’ sensational safari creatures and whimsical felines and canines over the years, as part of the Downtown Special Services District’s Art in Public Spaces Initiative. And, this year, the district is looking for another group of artists to create a herd of 40 life-sized fiberglass horses, which will be part of this summer’s “Horsin’ Around.”

Artists are being asked to submit designs by Friday, Feb. 10. From there, the proposals will go before a jury. Artists with the winning designs will get the chance to see their work exhibited throughout Stamford’s downtown from June to August.

You can learn more about the program by reading Stamford Advocate reporter Martin B. Cassidy’s story the Thursday, Jan. 19, edition the Advocate, or by visiting the DSSD website or call 203-348-5285.

Jumaane Smith, Michael Buble’s trumpeter, at Danbury Palace

Thursday, January 19, 2012 by:Linda Tuccio-Koonz
Comment
Comments
|
|

Local trumpeter/singer Jumaane Smith, who has been touring with big band sensation Michael Bublé, will perform at the Palace Theatre in Danbury on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m.

Tickets for the show, which cost $25, can be purchased by calling 203-794-9944 or going online.

Smith, of Danbury, has seen his career take off in recent years, playing the Grammy Awards show with Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers, and recording the hit song “As I Am” with Alicia Keys. He’s also working on a solo album.

A native of Seattle, Smith went onto study at Julliard, having been one of only 17 musicians invited to join the inaugural jazz studies class at the school. A classmate wound up working with Bublé, and when Bublé’s band was expanding, Smith was asked to audition.

“At that point (in 2005), they wanted another trumpet player and I basically got the first go of it, and fortunately, I’ve been able to keep it,” said Smith, who lives in Danbury with his wife, Nicole, and children, Liam, 1, and Cora, 6 months.

Over the years, Smith has worked with Quincy Jones, Wyclef Jean, Justin Bieber, Diddy, Natalie Cole, James Ingram, Wynton Marsalis and Chris Botti, among many others.

The album he’s working on contains pop and jazz hits, such as “What a Wonderful World,” “Come Rain and Come Shine,” “Georgia On My Mind,” as well as “I Only Have Eyes for You.”

“I’m going to be doing music from my upcoming release (at Saturday’s show),” he said, adding the concert also includes a collection of pop and jazz standards from the Beatles and Van Morrison to Hoagie Carmichael. “You’ll hear some Stevie Wonder and Ella Fitzgerald, too.”

For more on Smith, see the Jan. 19 edition of GO magazine.

Print show features bold and bright works by Charlie Hewitt

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 by:Christina Hennessy
Comment
Comments
|
|

Large, colorful and bright — these are just some of the words used to describe the prints of Charlie Hewitt that will soon fill the walls of the Center for Contemporary Printmaking. (At right, ‘Calypso,’ 2011, color woodcut)

The center’s first exhibit of 2012, “Cut and Printed, Recent Color Woodcuts,” will feature more than 50 of Hewitt’s original works. On display will be the bold designs and vibrant colors that have marked this Lewiston, Maine-born artist’s work, which is in many private and public collections, including the Whitney Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Library of Congress and the Bates College Museum of Art.

The center’s artistic director and master printer Anthony Kirk, who is curator for “Cut and Printed,” first met Hewitt in 1975 at the Robert Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop in New York City, according to a recent news release.

In his curator’s statement Kirk notes:

Printmaking, not just the printing, but the incising of line in metal and the gouging out of line in wood, has long held an interest for Hewitt. He is a physical printmaker and his energy is clearly palpable, seen and sensed in every print, from sheet to sheet.

Later, Kirk adds that Hewitt’s latest work builds off his earlier influences and experiences, gleaned from growing up in Maine and from his many years working in New York. Those influences “are the foundation for the new imagery in his recent prints, including warning bells alerting sailors and fishermen to rocky coastal waters and lobster buoys.”

The show runs from Sunday, Jan. 22, to Sunday, March 18. An opening reception is set for Sunday, Jan. 22, from 2 to 5 p.m. The center is located at 299 West Ave., in Mathews Park, Norwalk. Hewitt is expected to be at the opening reception.

Hewitt also will be teaching a three-day printmaking workshop along with David Wolfe, Friday, Feb. 17, to Sunday, Feb. 19. All levels of art experience are invited to participate. The fees are $420, members; $460, nonmembers.

For more information, call 203-899-7999. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday; and 12 to 5 p.m., Sunday. Admission is free.

Ron Howard tapped to judge Greenwich Youth Film Festival

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 by:Scott Gargan
Comment
Comments
|
|

Oscar-winning director/producer Ron Howard (right) has been tapped to judge the Greenwich Youth Film Festival, according to the Junior League of Greenwich, the organizer of the event.

Howard, of Greenwich will be joined by producer Clayton Pecorin, “Fox & Friends” host Gretchen Carlson and film and television composer Jeff Cardoni in judging the contest. It is open to high school students throughout Fairfield and Westchester, N.Y. counties.

Video entries are now being accepted in five genres: creative, music video, animation, documentary and public service announcement. Cash prizes totaling $4,000 will be awarded to the five category winners, one of whom will be named the overall winner of the GYFF.

The winners will be announced at the Greenwich Youth Film Festival event, which is set for April 28 at 1 p.m. at Cole Auditorium in the Greenwich Library. Top film and video submissions from each genre will be shown.

Food to fuel funds for Stamford YMCA’s new teaching kitchen

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 by:Christina Hennessy
Comment
Comments
|
|

Above: Chefs are a key ingredient in the upcoming Jan. 30 benefit ‘Fine Food for a Cause,’ which will raise funds for the Stamford Family YMCA. More than a dozen participants gathered last week at Stamford’s Bartaco restaurant to finalize the details. From left, back row, Andy Nusser and Sam Epps of Tarry Lodge; Pietro Scotti of Da Pietro’s; Stephen Maronian of Sweet Lisa’s Exquisite Cakes; Adrian Pace of Forte Gelato; Massimo Stecchi of Tappo and Scott Beck, managing partner of Match. From left, front row, Michael Marchetti of Columbus Park Trattoria; David Raymer of Strada 18; Stamford Family YMCA Chief Executive Officer Ernest Lamour; Scott Quis of Barcelona; David Cingari of David’s Soundview Catering; Karla Sorrentino; and Charlie Lim of Sushi Village. Missing are Dusman Abdoulaye Tandia of Morton’s The Steakhouse, and Arik Bensimon of Napa & Co. Contributed photo

The Stamford Family YMCA will host the fundraising event “Fine Food for a Cause,” Monday, Jan. 30, at 203 Studios, 112 Southfield Ave., Stamford. The event will be emceed by Scott Wapner of CNBC’s “Fast Money Halftime Report.”

In addition to silent and live auctions, the event, which begins at 6:30 p.m., will honor restaurateur Joseph Bastianich and 2011 Miss America Teresa Scanlan. At right, Scanlan visits “Fox & Friends” at FOX Studios Jan. 17. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

Attendees of the fundraiser will be able to sample dozens of signature small plates created by the participating chefs.

The funds raised will be used for efforts to fight childhood obesity — specifically to support a multipurpose teaching kitchen. That facility will provide underserved local children and families with an opportunity to learn cooking skills and nutritional information.

Tickets are $150 per person; $250 per person for “Angel” VIP Access. Visit here for more information and reservations or call Katrina Dorsey at 203-357-7000, Ext. 129.

Blues legend Johnny Winter shreds on ‘Letterman’

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 by:Scott Gargan
Comment
Comments
|
|

Nearly 30 years since his last appearance at Ed Sullivan Theatre, legendary bluesman and Easton resident Johnny Winter performed on CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” on Jan. 12.

Winter was joined by his band — guitarist and Stamford resident Paul Nelson, drummer Vito Liuzzi and bassist Scott Spray — and the CBS Orchestra (led by Stamford’s own Paul Shaffer) for a performance of Robert Johnson’s “Dust My Broom.” The song was taken from Winter’s Grammy-nominated album, “Roots.”

The last time Winter performed on Letterman was on May 18, 1983, according to an episode guide. Author Rita Mae Brown and pianist Kirk Nurock were the guests that evening.

Check out the performance below:

Norwalk native dissects big beasts in new PBS documentary

Monday, January 16, 2012 by:Scott Gargan
Comment
Comments
|
|

Joy Reidenberg delights in dissecting some of the biggest beasts on Earth.

And now, the Stamford and Norwalk native will have the chance to share her inner-most passion with a national audience.

Reidenberg is set to appear on a new documentary series, “Inside Nature’s Giants,” that will air on PBS beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

“It’s a new take on natural history — you might say it’s natural history from the inside out,” Reidenberg, a professor of anatomy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, said in an email.

Reidenberg (above, with veterinary scientist Mark Evans) specializes in comparative anatomy of the upper respiratory tract in a wide range of mammals.

For more information, read Stamford Advocate reporter Maggie Gordon‘s full story in the Wednesday, Jan. 18 edition of the Advocate.

Page 3 of 7« First234Last »