BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//The CT Beacon - ECPv6.18.0//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://thectbeacon.com
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The CT Beacon
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20250309T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20251102T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20260308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20261101T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20270314T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20271107T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260925T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260925T220000
DTSTAMP:20260924T180015Z
CREATED:20260924T180015Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260924T180015Z
UID:10008605-1790364600-1790373600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Nick Di Maria Brings Connecticut Jazz to New London’s Newest Music Room
DESCRIPTION:Nick Di Maria Brings Connecticut Jazz to New London’s Newest Music Room Friday\, Sept. 25\, when the New Haven trumpeter\, composer and bandleader takes the stage at The Marquee on State Street for a 7:30 p.m. performance. \nDi Maria arrives with bassist Jason Santini and drummer John Soni\, giving the night the compact instrumentation of a trumpet-led trio. For a musician whose career has moved between straight-ahead jazz\, funk\, fusion and more experimental territory\, that stripped-down lineup leaves plenty of room for improvisation. \nIt also puts one of Connecticut’s established jazz musicians inside a venue that is barely two months old. \nFrom Straight-Ahead Jazz to Funk and Fusion\nDi Maria has been leading his own groups on the Connecticut jazz circuit since 2006. \nA graduate of Western Connecticut State University’s jazz performance program\, he studied with acclaimed trumpeter Eddie Henderson and has worked with musicians including Abraham Burton\, Brian Charette\, Peter Bernstein and Mike Clark. \nBut Di Maria’s musical history doesn’t stay neatly inside jazz. \nHe spent part of his early career playing in Connecticut’s ska and punk scene with The Flaming Tsunamis before developing his own jazz projects. Over the years\, his original music has incorporated post-bop\, electronic jazz\, funk\, groove music and fusion. \nThat range is particularly apparent in SkyLab\, Di Maria’s jazz-funk-fusion project. \nIts 2025 album\, SKYLAB\, was recorded at New Haven’s Firehouse 12 and moves through electric keyboards\, horns\, bass and drums with an emphasis on groove and improvisation. Di Maria wrote and arranged the album’s music\, with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt producing several tracks. \nIt’s music that can reward close listening without treating jazz like something that has to be studied before it can be enjoyed. \nMore Than a Performer\nDi Maria has also spent years working on the other side of Connecticut jazz: creating places for musicians to actually play it. \nHe founded and directs the New Haven Jazz Underground\, a grassroots organization devoted to producing and preserving jazz in Connecticut. \nThat matters in a genre where the ecosystem depends heavily on small rooms. \nMajor jazz festivals and concert halls may attract the attention\, but working musicians develop bands\, test material and build audiences in clubs\, bars\, restaurants and listening rooms. \nWhich makes Friday’s location particularly interesting. \nThe Marquee Is Brand New\nThe Marquee on State Street opened in July 2026 at 312 State Street\, in the former DEVS/Nico’s space in downtown New London. \nThe concept combines a jazz bar with the visual atmosphere of classic cinema. \nThe intimate room has seating for roughly 45 people\, a performance stage\, classic-movie memorabilia\, cocktails and small plates. The venue describes the atmosphere as bringing together the glamour of old movies and live jazz. \nThat adds another music room to a downtown already unusually rich in performance spaces. \nThe Garde Arts Center is just down State Street. The Oasis Room operates inside the Garde complex. Hygienic Art has its outdoor and indoor performance spaces nearby\, while clubs and bars around downtown regularly book local and regional musicians. \nThe Marquee fills a somewhat different niche: a small room deliberately built around sitting down with a drink and listening to musicians play. \nFor jazz\, that’s a useful thing to have. \nA Trio Leaves Nowhere to Hide\nFriday’s lineup should also make for a different Di Maria performance than one of his larger ensembles. \nWith trumpet\, bass and drums\, there isn’t a dense arrangement surrounding the soloist. \nSpace becomes part of the music. \nThe bass can move from accompaniment into melody. The drums can shift the direction of a piece without waiting for an arrangement to tell them where to go. And the trumpet has enormous freedom to move over both. \nIt’s one of the things that can make a small jazz group fascinating even when the audience doesn’t know the composition. \nYou don’t have to know what is supposed to happen next. \nOften\, neither do the musicians. \nThat’s the point. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nDetails\nEvent: Nick Di Maria at The Marquee on State Street\nDate: Friday\, Sept. 25\, 2026\nTime: 7:30 p.m.\nVenue: The Marquee on State Street\nAddress: 312 State St.\, New London\, CT\nPerformers: Nick Di Maria\, trumpet; Jason Santini\, bass; John Soni\, drums\nMusic: Jazz and improvisational music\nVenue: Intimate jazz bar and performance room with cocktails and small plates \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/nick-di-maria-brings-connecticut-jazz-to-new-londons-newest-music-room/
LOCATION:The Marquee on State Street\, 312 State Street\, New London\, CT\, 06320\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Marquee on State Street
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Nick-Di-Maria-Brings-Connecticut-Jazz-to-New-Londons-Newest-Music-Room.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260911T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260911T223000
DTSTAMP:20260910T185939Z
CREATED:20260910T185939Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260910T185939Z
UID:10007545-1789155000-1789165800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Phred & Friends Jazz Trio at The Marquee
DESCRIPTION:Phred & Friends Jazz Trio at The Marquee on State Street\, New London\, Friday\, September 11\, for three hours of jazz led by New London vocalist Phred Mileski\, with Ken Fischer on keyboard and James Hunter on bass. \nThe trio performs from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the recently opened downtown New London jazz bar\, giving Mileski a particularly appropriate room for a repertoire that can move from classic jazz standards into funk and R&B. \nAnd because The Marquee opens at 3 p.m. Friday\, there’s an earlier option for anyone making a night of it: Happy Hour runs from 4 to 6 p.m. \nPhred Mileski Has Sung Jazz From Connecticut to Bulgaria\nMileski is a familiar name in southeastern Connecticut’s music community\, but she’s difficult to confine to one musical category. \nHer own description of Phred & Friends is wonderfully concise: jazz\, funk and classic R&B. \nJazz\, however\, has been a major thread throughout her career. \nMileski is known for a notably wide vocal range and an improvisational approach that allows her to treat standards as something to interpret rather than simply reproduce. Her performances can move between straight-ahead jazz\, funkier arrangements and familiar American popular music. \nShe’s performed throughout Connecticut and well beyond it\, including appearances in New York and Bulgaria. \nCloser to home\, her long list of venues includes the Arts Café Mystic\, Foxwoods\, The Bee and Thistle Inn\, Captain Scott’s Lobster Dock\, Friday Night Folk in New London\, the Essex Yacht Club and the Lighthouse Inn. \nShe’s also appeared in enough different musical configurations that southeastern Connecticut audiences may have encountered her without realizing how much ground she covers. \nPhred & Friends Is Only One Side of Mileski’s Musical Life\nPhred & Friends is Mileski’s jazz-oriented project\, but her other groups reveal just how broad her musical interests are. \nSimply Phred is her eclectic solo act. \nWith Kenny & Phred\, she reworks classic rock and pop songs in a largely acoustic setting. \nThe Too-Timers\, her duo with Kipp Sturgeon\, gleefully jumps among American standards\, jazz\, folk\, country and calypso while using an assortment of instruments that can include guitar\, banjo\, ukulele\, melodica\, harmonica and percussion. \nMileski was also a member of The BeeKeepers\, an alternative-folk group with Amanda Sullivan-Schneider and Sylvie Abate. The trio concentrated on original songwriting alongside music written by women from the 1950s forward\, with Mileski contributing vocals\, piano\, accordion\, hand percussion and ukulele. \nThe BeeKeepers’ Songs from the Hive earned recognition as Best EP in the folk/singer-songwriter category from the Akademia Music Awards in 2017. \nBefore that\, Mileski performed with Sullivan-Schneider and flutist Megan Nelson in Celticity\, a chamber trio that created classical arrangements of traditional Celtic music. \nJazz is part of a much larger musical vocabulary. \nFriday’s Trio Keeps Things Intimate\nFor this performance\, Mileski pares things down. \nKen Fischer accompanies her on keyboard\, with James Hunter on bass. \nThat leaves considerable room inside the arrangements. \nWithout a large ensemble filling every measure\, a singer can interact directly with the keyboard and bass\, stretching phrases\, changing dynamics and allowing a familiar standard to develop differently from one performance to another. \nIt’s one of the reasons the jazz trio remains such an effective small-room format. \nAnd The Marquee is very much a small room. \nThe Marquee May Be New London’s Newest Music Venue\nAnyone who hasn’t heard of The Marquee on State Street can be forgiven. \nIt only opened this summer. \nThe new bar made its debut in July 2026 at 312 State Street\, in the downtown space previously occupied by DEVS\, Nico’s and Hanafin’s Public House. \nChristopher Leffert created the business with his parents\, Sean and Sayra Leffert\, combining three ideas that don’t normally occupy the same room: a classic movie palace\, a 1920s-style jazz club and a speakeasy. \nThe result is deliberately theatrical. \nClassic-film memorabilia helps establish the movie-house theme\, while a small performance stage makes live music central to the room rather than an occasional addition. \nThe main space seats a little more than 45 people. \nThere’s also a separate speakeasy area with room for approximately 20. \nFor a trio built around voice\, piano and bass\, that’s almost exactly the scale you’d want. \nClassic Movies Meet Live Jazz\nThe Marquee’s owners describe their concept as a place where classic cinema meets live jazz. \nThat pairing isn’t as arbitrary as it might initially sound. \nJazz and Hollywood grew up together during much of the 20th century. \nThe Great American Songbook that eventually became central to jazz included music written for Broadway shows and Hollywood films. Composers including George Gershwin\, Cole Porter\, Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern wrote songs that later became raw material for generations of jazz musicians. \nA song could begin life in a musical\, become a pop hit and eventually turn into a jazz standard interpreted hundreds of different ways. \nThe Marquee takes some of that atmosphere and makes it literal\, surrounding live musicians with reminders of classic cinema. \nThe Bar Was Built Around Entertainment\nLive music isn’t an afterthought at The Marquee. \nIt was part of the concept before the doors opened. \nWhen the Leffert family sought approval for the business earlier this year\, plans called for live jazz and other music alongside entertainment that could eventually include comedians\, karaoke and DJs. \nThe goal was to contribute another venue to downtown New London’s existing arts district. \nThat’s a particularly interesting location for it. \nThe Garde Arts Center is only a short walk away on State Street. Hygienic Art sits nearby on Bank Street. Restaurants\, galleries and small music venues extend through the surrounding downtown blocks. \nThe Marquee is positioning itself between those worlds: somewhere to stop before a show\, somewhere to hear a show of its own and somewhere to stay afterward. \nFriday Night Starts Before the First Note\nThe music doesn’t begin until 7:30 p.m.\, but Friday’s poster points out another option. \nHappy Hour runs from 4 to 6 p.m. \nThe Marquee is cocktail-forward\, with classic cocktails and its own house creations forming an important part of the concept. \nFood is available as well. \nThe venue serves traditional pub food\, specialty pizza and shareable small plates\, making it possible to arrive early for food and drinks rather than treating the room solely as a late-night bar. \nFriday hours extend until 12:30 a.m.\, so the night doesn’t have to end when the trio finishes at 10:30. \nA Local Singer in a Brand-New Jazz Room\nThere are bigger concerts happening around southeastern Connecticut this weekend. \nThis isn’t one of them. \nThat’s part of the appeal. \nPhred & Friends puts a singer with years of experience in the region into a room built specifically to make small-scale live music feel like an event. \nNo arena. \nNo enormous stage. \nNo need for elaborate production. \nJust Phred Mileski singing\, Ken Fischer at the keyboard and James Hunter on bass\, with a few dozen people close enough to hear what happens between the notes. \nFor a new venue trying to establish jazz as part of its identity on State Street\, that’s a pretty good Friday night. \nDetails\nEvent: Phred & Friends Jazz Trio\nDate: Friday\, September 11\, 2026\nTime: 7:30–10:30 p.m.\nVenue: The Marquee on State Street\nAddress: 312 State Street\, New London\, CT 06320\nPerformers: Phred Mileski\, vocals; Ken Fischer\, keyboard; James Hunter\, bass\nMusic: Jazz\, funk and classic R&B\nHappy Hour: 4–6 p.m.\nFriday Venue Hours: 3 p.m.–12:30 a.m.\nSetting: Indoor jazz bar and cocktail lounge\nFood: Pub fare\, specialty pizza and shareable small plates are available\nDrinks: Classic and signature cocktails are a focus of the bar program\nVenue Phone: 860-446-6037\nSeating: The main room is an intimate space with seating for more than 45; a separate speakeasy area seats approximately 20 \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/phred-friends-jazz-trio-at-the-marquee/
LOCATION:The Marquee on State Street\, 312 State Street\, New London\, CT\, 06320\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Marquee on State Street
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Phred-and-Friends-Jazz-Trio-at-The-Marquee.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260822T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260822T223000
DTSTAMP:20260820T173308Z
CREATED:20260820T173308Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260820T173308Z
UID:10007241-1787427000-1787437800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Kosmographers Jazz Trio at The Marquee on State Street
DESCRIPTION:Kosmographers Jazz Trio at The Marquee on State Street offers an evening of live jazz\, cocktails and downtown atmosphere on Saturday\, August 22\, inside one of New London’s newest music venues. \nThe trio performs from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.\, with guitarist Scott Drouin\, bassist Ian Hagan and drummer Tom Tefcale bringing a stripped-down guitar\, bass and drums lineup to The Marquee. \nDoors open at 4 p.m.\, giving guests the option of arriving early for happy hour before settling in for the evening’s performance. \nMeet the Kosmographers\nKosmographers brings together three musicians in the classic jazz-trio format of guitar\, bass and drums. \nScott Drouin — Guitar \nDrouin has been part of the southeastern Connecticut jazz community for years. His appearances have included performances with musicians from New London’s jazz scene\, including bassist Ian Kelly and saxophonist Doug Rice. \nWith Kosmographers\, Drouin takes the melodic and harmonic role normally divided between instruments in a larger jazz ensemble. The absence of a piano leaves plenty of open space for guitar\, bass and drums to interact. \nIan Hagan — Bass \nHagan provides the trio’s low-end foundation\, giving the guitar room to move while connecting its melodic lines to the rhythm of the drums. \nIn a small jazz group\, the bassist does considerably more than keep time. Walking bass lines can establish the harmony\, change the direction of a solo and create a musical conversation between the other players. \nTom Tefcale — Drums \nTefcale completes the trio on drums\, providing the rhythmic framework for a format that depends heavily on musicians listening and responding to one another. \nThat’s part of what makes a trio interesting to watch. There isn’t much room to hide. With only three instruments onstage\, each musician can change the direction and energy of a piece almost instantly. \nJazz in an Intimate Room\nThe setting may be almost as interesting as the band. \nThe Marquee on State Street opened in July 2026 at 312 State Street\, bringing a new jazz-focused cocktail bar and performance space to downtown New London. \nThe family-owned venue was created by Christopher Leffert and his parents\, Sean and Sayra Leffert\, who transformed the former DEVS/Nico’s location into a space inspired by old movie palaces\, classic cinema and the atmosphere of a 1920s speakeasy. \nThe main room seats a little more than 45 people and includes a small performance stage. There’s also a separate speakeasy area with seating for approximately 20. \nThat relatively small scale is intentional. \nInstead of putting musicians at the far end of a large restaurant\, The Marquee was designed around the idea of combining cocktails\, conversation and live music in the same intimate room. \nClassic Movies Meet Live Music\nMovie memorabilia and vintage-inspired details reinforce The Marquee’s cinema theme\, while the bar emphasizes classic cocktails and its own signature creations. \nSmall plates are also available for guests who want something to eat during the evening. \nThe concept grew partly from Christopher Leffert’s interest in classic and experimental films and partly from the family’s desire to bring another live entertainment option to downtown New London. \nJazz has been central to the venue from its opening\, although its entertainment plans extend to other forms of live music\, comedy\, DJs and special events. \nThe Marquee celebrated its grand opening on July 17 with a live jazz performance\, making Saturday’s Kosmographers appearance part of a music calendar that’s still very new to the city. \nAnother Piece of New London’s Arts District\nThe location puts The Marquee in the middle of a downtown neighborhood already anchored by music\, theater and visual arts. \nThe Garde Arts Center is just down State Street\, while Hygienic Art\, galleries\, restaurants and other live music venues are scattered throughout the surrounding blocks. \nThe Marquee’s owners have said they want the business to become part of that larger creative community rather than simply another downtown bar. \nA local jazz trio playing in a room specifically created with live jazz in mind fits that idea rather nicely. \nSaturday night’s show also offers something different from a large concert. There are no arena seats or distant stage. It’s three musicians\, a small room and the kind of musical interplay that’s much easier to appreciate when you’re sitting only a few yards away. \nEvent Details\nEvent: Kosmographers Jazz Trio\nDate: Saturday\, August 22\, 2026\nDoors Open: 4 p.m.\nPerformance: 7:30–10:30 p.m.\nAcross from the Garde \nMusicians:\nScott Drouin — Guitar\nIan Hagan — Bass\nTom Tefcale — Drums \nGuests can arrive early for happy hour before the trio takes the stage for an evening of jazz in The Marquee’s intimate\, cinema-inspired setting. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/kosmographers-jazz-trio-at-the-marquee-on-state-street/
LOCATION:The Marquee on State Street\, 312 State Street\, New London\, CT\, 06320\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Marquee on State Street
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Kosmographers-Jazz-Trio-at-The-Marquee-on-State-Street.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR