A Sunday Kind of Love

A tale of music and brews.

Sunday's in CT. A time to reset before the daily grind begins again. To gather with friends and family.

There has been a growing trend over the last few years of breweries popping up everywhere. In Connecticut alone there is well over 50 with new ones opening all the time.

It's no wonder that a popular afternoon activity would be to grab your children, your dogs, meet up, grab a flight, and order some grub from a food truck.

The natural next step would be to offer live music. I love this idea as more often than not establishments tend to go for just a digital playlist.

So this past Sunday we followed suit and chose the following breweries based on the fact that they offered live music.

Our first stop on this snow filled afternoon was

New Park Brewery in West Hartford. They have a “live music” tab on their website and reserve Sundays for their “Sunday Sessions.”

They featured a talented guitarist, Lyle Brewer. He plays original instrumental music and is influenced by folk, jazz and classical music. Studying at The New England Conservatory of Music is evident in his skill and style.

The crowd loved his guitar stylings and many flocked to him during his set break to buy a cd or just get a few words in.

The second stop was the beautiful and always packed Kinsmen, located in Milldale. There was actually a wedding going on when we arrived! Check out the beautiful back room.

The performer playing was called Marty Q. While he opened with your typical classic rock tunes, he did end up sneaking his sax out. Crooning some Frank tunes along the way.

These were the songs people got up to dance to. These were the songs people hushed to turn and listen to.

It seems to me people don't even realize how much they enjoy Jazz. They have misconceptions about it being “noise.” Yet some of the more loved moments from these artist where Jazzed based. It leaves me wondering why there isn't more Jazz performances?

It's something that has puzzled and bothered me for some time. What better than to listen to Jazz while you drink and eat? People flock to New Orleans for just this.

I don't think it’s for the lack of Jazz Artist either. Especially since we have University of Hartford right here. Not to mention New York and Boston are both within traveling distance.

Most of the artist performing at these brewery's will even mention in their bio’s they play Jazz. So my question of the day is why aren't we hearing it more?

It seems to me the logical next step for Jazz Artist would be to seek venues like these out to showcase their music.

Jazz is meant to be heard live and in social settings. Like days of old when one could walk down to your local nightclub or bar. Some where along the lines I feel people felt it should only be heard in places like Lincoln Center or Carnegie Hall. And while I love going to places like these, I would love the chance to see new exciting artist play at my local brewery.