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Top entertainment picks for the first weekend in February.

I’ve covered arts and entertainment and written humor columns at The Day for almost a quarter-century. What I’ve learned is how privileged I’ve been to explore for readers an incredibly diverse, active, and creative cultural area – from local music clubs, galleries and museums to numerous nationally famous authors, performance organizations and the array of talent that flows through the Garde Arts Center, and Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos, and much more. Rick Koster I’ve covered arts and entertainment and written humor columns at The Day for almost a quarter-century. What I’v...

SAM BRIGER, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Sam Briger, sitting in for Terry Gross. Loudon Wainwright is best known for his confessional songs about family dysfunction and satirical songs about politics and other issues. But last year he took a slight turn, teaming up with Vince Giordano for a set of songs from the '20s and '30s, songs by Fats Waller, Harold Arlen, Frank Loesser and others. Giordano plays tuba, bass and bass saxophone and leads the 11-piece jazz band The Nighthawks. Before this project, he and Wainwright collaborated on the HBO gangster series "Boardwalk Empire" about bootleggin...

Just like another one of the lovers who fueled Taylor Swift’s musical themes and schemes, I was seduced, sedated and stuck on Swift with on first listening of “Folklore.” With an opening piano introduction straight out of a Bruce Hornsby playbook, seamstress Swift spins yarns that stitch her regrets, “What ifs?” and “What could have beens” of lost loves into a warm narrative cardigan sweater that everyone would love to wear. Composed and recorded in a year of quarantine, lockdown and postponed concerts, Swift writes and sings about previous lovers and affair...