12-3-13 Jive

Good evening! It’s Tuesday, Dec. 3^rd. This is the Jive at Five – our daily community calendar and rundown of night time programming here on 88.1 FM WESU Middletown - your station for NPR, Pacifica, independent and local public affairs by day and the best in free-form community programming weeknights and weekends.  I'm Marianne O’Hare, producer of Conversations on Health Care. Thanks for joining us!

Now for our rundown of some of what’s happening in our area this week.

Here in Middletown, at the Buttonwood Tree, this evening at 6 p.m. you can catch a laughter yoga session with Mimi Claire, complete with a vegetarian potluck. Wednesday evening at 7:30, it’s Kirtan, a musical form of yoga, with Shubalananda. Thursday at 7 p.m., it’s open mic night with Bob Gotta. Friday at 8, it’s Nor’easter Noel Songwriter Sessions at the Buttonwood, a stellar cast of emerging songwriters from the Northeast celebrating the season with original holiday songs as well as classics. Featured performers will be Lara Herscovitch, Lisa Martin, Marc Douglas Berardo and duo Michelle Rubin and Rick Gedney of Open Book. Saturday morning, it’s Qigong (Chi Kung), Tai Chi, community yoga and an empowerment workshop. From 1 to 4 on Saturday, it’s the Free Poets Collective. That’s followed at 8 by trumpeter and vocalist Ricky Alfonso with a showcase of tight, joyful and uplifting jazz music guaranteed to please the well seasoned and casual jazz fans alike. And on Sundays, Food Not Bombs serves food outside the Buttonwood at 1 pm, as Rumpus, an invitation to express the rhythm inside you, takes place inside. All are welcome. You are also invited to help prepare the vegetarian meal beforehand at 11 am at First Church Congregational on Court Street. www.buttonwood.org

Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts offers a jam-packed calendar of events this week. Tonight at 8 p.m. at Crowell concert hall, it’s the WesWinds Fall Concert, under the direction of Sarah Bouchard Stockton. Wednesday at 7 p.m., it’s the Wesleyan Choir Fall Concert, at Memorial Chapel. Also Wednesday night, at 8 in Crowell Concert Hall, the Center for the Arts presents the Braxton Ensemble Concert. Thursday afternoon at 1:30, John Cage’s “Musicircus” will be performed at Crowell. Thursday evening at 7, the Center for the Arts presents Javanese Gamelan at World Music Hall, 40 Wyllys Ave. Also on Thursday, at 9, at Crowell, the Mandé Music Ensemble presents the musical traditions of Mandé (Maninka and Bamana) peoples of western Africa, performing on guitars and ngonis (traditional lutes) under the direction of Wesleyan graduate student Samuel Dickey, class of '14. Friday evening at 7, the Center for the Arts brings West African Drumming to Crowell Concert Hall, featuring a full chorus and drumming ensemble of students in the "West African Music and Culture" courses directed by Master Drummer Abraham Adzenyah. More info is at www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Down in New Haven, at Café Nine, tonight,  Dan Rice performs, along with Izzy Furlo, Daniel Kalwhite, Stan Mikita, Shawn Murray, and Darren Sechrist. Wednesday, Department of Jazz and Rollaway hit the Café Nine stage. Thursday, DrinkDeeply presents The Dialtones and The Royal Swindle. Friday, Sean Conlon performs. And on Saturday, Manic Productions presents The Melodic, with Vikesh Kapoor and Bird Courage. The Saturday afternoon jazz jam is with the Mike Coppola Group. Saturday night, Go Kat Go presents The Throttles and Lynette and the Longshots. Then on Sunday at 8, the Original Sunday Night Jam features the George Baker Band. www.cafenine.com.

Tonight Manic Productions brings joins with The Needle Drop to bring King Krule and Ratking to The Space in Hamden. On Wednesday, Manic Productions presents Grandchildren, Snake Oil and Sway at Bar in New Haven. Thursday at the Spaceland Ballroom in Hamden, Manic Productions presents Eugene Mirman, Kurt Braunohler, and Derek Brown. And Sunday, at the Outer Space in Hamden, it’s Frontier Ruckus, with Brother Burnet. www.manicproductions.org

On Tuesday night’s up in Hartford, at Blackeyed Sally’s, you can catch Michael Palin’s Other Orchestra, an 18-piece band working out new material. Wednesday’s Blues Jam, one of the longest running in New England, is with Gene Donaldson. Friday brings Mixed Signals, a 5-piece rocking machine, to Sally’s. Saturday, it’s Mark Mercier & the Big Yams, an evening of swampy New Orleans funk and soul. www.blackeyedsallys.com

Down in New Haven at Toad’s Place this Friday, Shakedown plays The Dead and Beyond, along with Disable Time and Relative Souls.. www.toadsplace.com.

Back in Middletown, on Friday, at the new Scatz Restaurant and Jazz Lounge, 139 Main Street Ext., Middletown, Saskia Laroo performs. Saturday brings the Alvin Carter Project to Scatz. www.scatzrestaurantandlounge.com

Everyone's favorite Wesleyan band gone wild, MGMT, brings their tour to the Oakdale in Wallingford this Friday, 12/6. Tune in to Homegrown with Rob DeRosa right after the Jive at Five for your chance to win tickets and for live "homecoming" interview with the band on the show that gave them their first radio play EVER! more about the concert online at www.oakdale.com      

Saturday afternoon at 2, at the Russell Library,  hosts a panel discussion titled, “Mental Health Matters: Living Successfully with Mental Illness,” featuring people who live with a mental health diagnosis, sharing their experiences of Hope in Recovery.  The program will include successes in moving from homelessness to independently living in the community, experiences of working in a competitive job, creating and enhancing personal and family relationships and living a life that is thriving and not just surviving. www.russelllibrary.org.

Now here's a rundown of cinema off the beaten track in Central Connecticut:

At Real Art Ways in Hartford, Through next Tuesday you can catch, the documentary “Muscle Shoals” which tells the story of the unlikely breeding ground for some of the most creative music in American history. The film The Motel Life, about a pair of brothers working odd jobs, drinking hard and drifting from motel to motel, runs through Thursday. Opening Friday is Mother of George, an enlightening look at immigrant life in the Crown Heights' Yoruba community. www.realartways.com .

At Cinestudio, the Trinity College cinema in Hartford,  Wong Kar-wai’s latest film, The Grandmaster, the action packed historical look at Bruce Lee’s legendary martial arts teacher, continues through Wednesday. On Thursday, Out Film CT’s First Thursday series presents C.O.G, based on an essay by David Sedaris. Friday begins a two-day run of Rush, director Ron Howard’s take on Formula One racing. And Sunday begins a run of the 1956 French classic, Pig Across Paris, a dark comedy set in WWII Paris during the German occupation. www.cinestudio.org

And now let’s take a look at tonight’s programming on WESU.

Right after the Jive at Five stay tuned for: Wild Wild Live with Rachie and Hibiki - offering a sneak peek into the magical live music scene of Wesleyan.

At 6pm,”FEATURE STORY NEWS (no more FSRN) offers a daily dose of alternative international news and reporting from the Pacifica Network.

At  6:30 Acoustic Blender with Bill Revill presents  an eclectic selection of Americana, country, folk, folk-rock, bluegrass, acoustic, and other music that has a roots influence.

From 8-9pm The Voice of the CITY with J-Cherry and the Strawberries offer  live and local Connecticut arts and music at its best.

At 9pm it’s time for Wonderland with DJ Cheshire Cat who warns of a song in his heart, a chemical imbalance in his head and a musical library at his fingers.

From 10:30-11:30pm  This Southbound Train with Mary Barrett  features bluegrass, newgrass, and other acoustic sounds. 

Young & Restless with DJ Sleepy Girl comes your way next at 11:30  and from  12:30-1am get your dating advice from Dr. Love and DJ Smooth on Romancipation .

From 1-2am Zen and the Art of Radio with David Whitney features a  variety of audio  content, ranging from radio drama, excerpts of literature, articles of note, and almost anything else you can listen to.   From 2-3am it’s The Late Night Format with Adi Slepack.

Call it Anything with DJ Skim takes over from 3-4am profiling improvisational music of various traditions that transcend strict genre boundaries.


The BBC kicks on at 4, followed by NPR's Morning Edition at 5.

That’s all for today’s Jive at Five, if you didn’t get a chance to write down some of the information mentioned in our community calendar, the script is published online at www.wesufm.org/jive

And if you value WESU as a source for information and entertainment in your life, how about making a donation to help us kick off our Fall Pledge drive? You can make that donation online at www.wesufm.org  anytime.

Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Wild Wild Live with Rachie and Hibiki!