May 30 – Jun 5, 2018
Onstage, On Air and In Class, Trumpeter Ray Vega Sets the Groove; United Way Cuts Shock Some Local Nonprofits; In Year 17, Spielpalast Cabaret Still Serves Up Sexy Satire
Cover Story
Onstage and On-Air, Trumpeter Ray Vega Sets the Groove
If you happen to walk down Burlington’s Cherry Street on a Wednesday night, you may feel a magnetic pull toward Hotel Vermont. Breezy strains of Latin jazz trickle out of the boutique hotel’s lobby, tantalizing passersby. Through the glass doors, you’ll find a diverse crowd of eager jazz-heads soaking up the hot sounds of swing,…
Seriously: Free Jazz
In this episode, Bryan celebrates the launch of the 35th annual Burlington Discover Jazz Festival with a jazzed up look at the news coming out of the Vermont Statehouse. CREDITS Written, filmed and edited by: Bryan Parmelee Artwork/photography by: Monika Rivard, Luke Awtry, Jeb Wallace-Brodeur, John Walters, Bryan Parmelee, Dreamstime Logo/art direction by: Don Eggert…
Obituary: Manfred Hummell, 1936-2018
Manfred K. Hummel of Newton Highlands, Mass., and formerly of Underhill, Vt., died on June 3, 2018. He was the beloved husband for 52 years of Margaret (Parmelee) Hummel. He was also the loving father of Paul R. and his wife, Jessica Greenfield, of Newton; Thomas R. and his wife, Rika Ochiai, of Los Angeles;…
Obituary: Andrew Nelson Musty, 1969-2018
Tampa, Fla. It is with deep sadness that we announce the sudden death of Andrew Nelson Musty in a traffic accident in Tampa, Fla., on May 30. Andrew was born January 14, 1969, in Burlington, Vt., to parents Sherrill (Nelson) and Richard Musty. With younger brother Jamie, he enjoyed a healthy mix of family, friends,…
Obituary: Karen Johnson, 1943-2018
South Burlington Karen Lee Cunningham Johnson, 74, made her final transition peacefully with family and friends present on May 30, 2018. Karen was the daughter of Raymond and Thelma Cunningham and the sister of Mira Lynn Glen and her husband, Donald, of Delray Beach, Fla. She died of complications after suffering from a rare neurological…
![Leaping from Farm to Stage [SIV534]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/episode534-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Leaping from Farm to Stage [SIV534]
5/27/18: We first met 14 year old Ezra Schenck back in December of 2017 when he was playing the Prince in The Green Mountain Nutcracker, a role he has played since he was eleven. He has also danced as Peter Pan, Puck and Toto in Moving Light Dance Company productions. Ezra balances his time at…
Movie Review: ‘Solo’ Takes Us on a Goofy Ride Through a Beloved Character’s Backstory
In the original Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) was the wisecracking sidekick who stole the show, earning the status of beloved main character in the sequels. So it’s no surprise that, for its second “Star Wars Story” (a stand-alone film within the franchise’s continuity), Disney chose to explore the…
Despite Forthcoming Law, Vermont Inmates Still Denied Addiction Meds
Jeffrey Adamski, a 39-year-old father battling opioid addiction, is doing time at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport after he was caught with 190 bags of heroin while driving from Massachusetts to Vermont. To stay clean, he relies on the addiction medication buprenorphine, which suppresses heroin cravings and staves off withdrawal symptoms. Last week,…
Soundbites: Jazz Fest, Winooski Style
Strap on your most comfortable walking shoes, because the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival is going to put your feet through the wringer this week. From strolling up and down Church Street to tapping your toes or cutting a rug to sprinting from one stage to another, your dogs are going to be yapping their little…
Scarlett Letters: The Summer Long-Distance Romance Conundrum
Dear Readers, Lately I have received letters from college freshmen concerned about how their romantic relationships will fare over the summer break. Some of them plan to study abroad or do an internship in a new city. Others plan to go home but are worried because their partner’s hometown isn’t close by. “Should we just…
Rapper Jarv is on the Verge of a Breakout
Windsor rapper Jarv — given name Nathan Jarvis — sports the long hair, demeanor and dress code of a skateboarder. In conversation, he is earnest and polite, a classic Yankee gentleman. The 24-year-old is also, without question, the most prominent MC in the state of Vermont. While that statement might rile his competitors, the numbers…
Theater Review: Spielpalast Cabaret in Year 17
The 17th annual Spielpalast Cabaret returns to the Main Street Landing Black Box Theatre this year for two weekends of music, dance and sketches featuring bawdy humor, zippy one-liners and spot-on satire. Though the entire show is newly written and choreographed each year, what remains the same is its inspiration: Weimer-era German cabaret. If current…
In a Third Term, Would Bernie Sanders Show Up to Work?
Brad Peacock is hoping that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will make a second bid for the White House in 2020. But the Shaftsbury farmer is not so sure that Sanders should do so from his perch as senator from Vermont. “This next presidential election is going to be a defining moment in our country’s history,…
This Burlington Farmer’s Crop Shares Her African Roots
On a sweltering May afternoon, Janine Ndagijimana exited a greenhouse at the Intervale Center in Burlington, balancing a tray of African eggplant seedlings in each hand. The seedlings’ stalks stood upright, while their leaves, lush and full, spilled out of the small black plastic pots. Her mother had requested 400 plant starts from her, said…
Main Street Landing Moves Gallery to New Home
If you’ve ever tried to visit the Gallery at Main Street Landing in Burlington, you likely got confused wandering the maze of elevators and hallways in the conference center-like building. No more. The gallery has moved to the CornerStone Building at 3 Main Street. With a street-level entrance and large windows, the new space is…
Recovered 1960s Works Sited at Bundy Modern Sculpture Park
In 2014, when Wendell and June Anderson purchased their midcentury Waitsfield gem — a former art center they would rechristen the Bundy Modern — the property needed significant restoration. Envisioned as a contemporary retreat in the 1960s by its architect, Harlow Carpenter, it had once held a formidable collection of modernist sculptures by local and…
Eat This Week, May 30 to June 5, 2018: Clam Shack
Montpelier’s pop-up clam shack returns for its second year, with chef Joe Buley dishing out Maine lobster rolls, New England steamer clams and other treats of the sea awash in melted butter. Pair a bowl of shells with cold brews from Citizen Cider, 14th Star Brewing, von Trapp Brewing and Zero Gravity Craft Brewing, among…
JAG Productions Tours ‘Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill’
After notable successes in the Upper Valley, JAG Productions is finally taking a show on the road. Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, a Tony Award-winning play by Lanie Robertson, chronicles the life of treasured jazz singer Billie Holiday. JAG founder Jarvis Antonio Green directed the Vermont production, which is currently touring the state,…
What Gives? Local United Way Chapter Revamps Its Funding Process
It took a group of volunteers at least half a dozen two-hour meetings over the course of the winter to vet 109 applicants seeking funds from the United Way of Northwest Vermont. They fully expected a record number, said Alan Tinkler, one of 22 community members involved in the selection process. It was the first…
Album Review: The Mountain Carol, ‘Starkiller and the Banshees’
(Self-released, CD, digital download) Oh, what a difference a year makes. Or, perhaps, what a difference a studio makes. When Plattsburgh/Saranac, N.Y., band the Mountain Carol first materialized in the summer of 2017, they offered a lo-fi self-titled EP dripping with reverb and charmingly chintzy beats. Singer, keyboardist and primary songwriter Bruce Wilson’s sphinx-like mumblings…
Free Will Astrology (5/30/18)
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): On February 17, 1869, Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleyev had an appointment with a local cheese-making company to provide his expert consultation. But he never made it. A blast of inspiration overtook him soon after he awoke, and he stayed home to tend to the blessed intrusion. He spent that day as…
As Many Schools Cut Arts Programs, BFA-St. Albans Doubles Down
Just hours before the curtain rose in the Performing Arts Center at Bellows Free Academy St. Albans, Rosie Bibona eyed the stage from a control booth high above the auditorium. She was directing the Junior Jam, a series of one-act plays performed by her fellow high school students, and the graduating senior was in full…
A Guide to No-Cost Fun at Burlington Discover Jazz Festival
For 35 years, the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival has drawn some of the biggest names in the genre — as well as funk, reggae, American roots and more — to the Queen City. This year is no different, with luminaries such as Leslie Odom Jr., Rhiannon Giddens, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and many others…
Album Review: Nina’s Brew, ‘Don’t Tell Mama’
(Self-released, CD, digital download) Context is important. For example, if you were to catch Queen City band Nina’s Brew between a set of speed metal and, say, a psychedelic 10-piece at Nectar’s, you could perhaps be forgiven for overlooking the folksy, acoustic-driven trio. Nice harmonies, you might think to yourself. A dude is banging on…
Movie Review: Javier Bardem Has a Ball as Colombian Drug Lord Pablo Escobar in ‘Loving Pablo’
It’s a crime the makers of Loving Pablo didn’t save a place for Al Pacino in its cast. Could one conceive of a more fitting cherry to top a telenovela sundae made with one scoop The Godfather and one scoop Scarface, topped with Donnie Brasco sprinkles and tasty chunks of Carlito’s Way? I think not.…
The Breast Express, a Lactation Lounge on Wheels, Stops in Burlington
Burlington mamas met over Ben & Jerry’s ice cream on Tuesday at the Breast Express, a 40-foot RV touring the country as a mobile nursing and pumping suite. More than just a meal on wheels, the RV is promoting pumpspotting, a social app to help mothers share support and advice, including tips on breastfeeding locations,…
Letters to the Editor (5/30/18)
Plane Unjust [Re Off Message: “Despite Opponents’ Efforts, F-35s Still Scheduled for Burlington,” May 24]: I just had surgery, and my friend from Chicago came to support me. As the F-16s woke us up to the feeling of being in a war zone and I told her louder planes were coming, she couldn’t believe it,…
Art Review: ‘Homomorphism’ by Tom Condon, Red Mill Gallery
The medium of photography has been ripe for subversion since its invention. The adage “seeing is believing” always requires caveats, whether one is speaking about the human eye or its mechanical extension, the camera. For Vermont Studio Center staff artist Thomas J. Condon, all the trappings of analog photography except the camera become the basis…
Hackie: Prom and Mom
“I’m a nurse, so I understand the process, but still I’m so frustrated,” said Sharon Bostwick as she settled into the seat next to me and we got under way. “I really wanted to be there for my daughter today.” Sharon was an attractive middle-aged woman with bobbed red hair, keen green eyes and a…
Unraveling Plan: More Questions Than Answers on Scott’s Big Idea
For Vermont lawmakers uneasy about Gov. Phil Scott’s school funding plan, he offered a bit of tough love at a press conference last Thursday. “Get comfortable,” he said. Problem is, there’s a lot of “uncomfortable” about the plan. The legislature returned to work May 23 for a special session ordered by the governor. Key committees…
At Barre’s Si Aku Ramen, Marlyn Brown Makes It Her Way
Afternoon sun streamed through the bay windows at Barre’s Si Aku Ramen last Thursday as co-owner Marlyn Brown sat at a table with Divina Haverick and Sol Gaiser. They looked up from a plate piled with stir-fried shrimp as two guests walked in the door. Haverick jumped up to greet them. “Hello, good morning. We’re…
New Restaurateurs to Open Gastropub in Shelburne
When the original, long-loved Café Shelburne closed at 5573 Shelburne Road in 2013, it left a big hole in the town’s dining scene. An immediate reboot under new ownership failed within months, and the excellent Taverna Khione, which took over the location in early 2014, was also short lived. Now, Charlotte residents John and Tina…
Mad Taco Opens Third Location, in Essex
The Mad Taco will open a restaurant in Essex on June 1, according to general manager Kit Perreault. The eatery at 21 Essex Way, in the Essex Shoppes & Cinema mall, will be the third Mad Taco in the region. It’s part of a mall refurbishing that includes the Essex Cinemas’ T-Rex Theater and will…
