05-12-14 Jive

Hello, it’s Monday, May 12th. 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. We’re in the midst of celebrating our seventy-fifth year of Community radio that Matters and we just kicked off our Spring Pledge drive. If you value the service we provide, we you’re your support. You can make your donation on our website, www.wesufm.org.  

The Buttonwood Tree in Middletown offers the paintings and photographs of Bill Revill in the exhibit “Down by the Sea,” which runs month-long.  Tonight at 8,  the Anything Goes Open Mic is hosted by Alan Bradley.  You can showcase your talents in song, dance, or spoken word.  Tomorrow at 8 p.m. brings the “Evening Oasis” Belly Dancing presentation; refreshments are served. Friday at 8 p.m. there’s a CD Release Party for Cricket Tell the Weather, winner of the 2013 FreshGrass Award, an indie string band with bluegrass-inspired original music. Saturday morning, beginning at 7:45, it’s the usual offerings of quigong (Chi Kung), tai chi, and community yoga. Saturday night at 8, there’s Ricky Alfonso, a trumpeter and mainstay on the East Coast jazz scene, playing compositions with elements of blues and swing. On Sundays, Food Not Bombs serves food outside the Buttonwood at 1 pm; all are welcome. You are also invited to help prepare the meal beforehand at 11 am at First Church Congregational on Court Street.  More at www.buttonwood.org

Up in Hartford, at Blackeyed Sally’s, tonight is Jazz Monday.  Tomorrow, Michael Palin’s Other Orchestra, an 18-piece big-band, works out new material.  On Wednesday, the Blues Jam, one of the longest running in New England, is hosted by Brandt Taylor. And Thursday brings the CT Blues Challenge to the Sally’s stage, with bands competing to represent CT at the finals in Memphis. Friday at 8:30, it’s The Superpowers, a Afrobeat group that has reuinited after a hiatus in 2009. Saturday at 9 they offer singer/songwriter and guitarist John Fries and the Elements, highlighting Blues and Roots Rock and Roll. Other details at www.blackeyedsallys.com .

Tonight, down at Toad’s Place in New Haven, you can catch A Night of Smooth Jazz with Rohn Lawrence and Friends in Lilly’s Pad. Thursday’s Jammin Thursdays lineup includes Back From Earth, Balkum Brothers, The High Council, Lewd Buddha, and Stealhead.  Friday at 9:30 there’s the Bright Night EDM Glow Party, featuring  ChiCe, Scatz, UP Tone, and ZTB. Saturday’s Viral Sound show includes Eggy and Neon Ducks.  On Sunday in Lilly’s Pad you can enter your band for a cash prize in Aspen Presents:  Soundcheck, a Pilot TV show taping, hosted by Jessica Wolf. ??

Also in New Haven, tonight at 8 pm at Café Nine, Oddball Events presents CJ Ramone, along with The Lost Riots and Damn Broads. Tomorrow, they’ll have John Moreland, M. Lockwood Porter, and Pat Dalton.   Wednesday, the New Haven Improvisers Collective gives you their own Large Magic Ensemble, Daniel Levin, and Juan Pablo Carletti, and they highlight ElectronicHIC and Guitar Trio E.  ??  Thursday at 8 is the  Manic Productions presentation of Kingsley Flood, Golden Bloom, and Jay Prince (of Eurisko).  Then Friday brings Peelander-Z, Guerilla Toss, and The Hymans to Café Nine. Saturday afternoon’s jazz jam session is with Garry Grippo & Friends  at 4:30, and Saturday night there’s a Blue Grass Supergroup event with The Deadly Gentlemen and Goodnight Blue Moon at 9. Sunday they’ll have Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School at 3:30, followed by The Original Sunday Night Jam featuring The Langley Brothers Band at 8 p.m.  www.cafenine.com

Manic Productions presents a number of shows this week, starting Wednesday at Bar in New Haven with Breton, Kid Karate, and Fake Babies.  On Friday, Brick + Mortar, Yuppy Flu, and Branchwater will be at The Outer Space in Hamden.  On Sunday, at the Ballroom at the Outer Space, they offer Geographer and Hooray for Earth at 8 p.m. www.manicproductions.org.

The Middletown Commission for the Arts is now accepting applications for the summer Kids Arts enrichment program.  860-638-4510 (MCA Office).

At Wesleyan University, ongoing art exhibitions include Silent Faces/Ahgkor, a multidimensional exhibition by Mary Heebner at the Freeman Center.  Hyperrealist drawings by Julia Randall are found in the “Oral Exhibitions” collection shown at the Davison Art Center.  The Zilkha Gallery showcases the work of 2014’s thesis students of Art and Art History, and they’re celebrating the center’s fortieth anniversary on Friday with the exhibition:  Roche and Dinkeloo’s Architecture for the CFA.  The Film Studies Rick Nicita Gallery is showing posters representing thirteen collections from the Wesleyan Cinema Archives, also on Friday.  More information about all shows can be found at www.wesleyan.edu/cfa or by calling 860-685-3355

Wesleyan Potters on South Main St in Middletown is presenting, through the week, “Black and White:  a Member’s Show.”  www.wesleyanpotters.com

At Oddfellow’s Playhouse in Middletown, the Kids Company presents “For Feet’s Sake” this Friday and Saturday, by Krista Knight.  It’s a take on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid.  More at www.oddfellows.org

Wadsworth Mansion tours continue every Wednesday at 2 p.m.  This week you can have Tea with your Tour.  Call 860-347-1064 for reservations. 

Also on Wednesday, Middlesex Community College and the Historical Society present Victor Triay’s story of the Cuban Underground freedom fighters, in Chapman Hall on the Middletown campus at 8 p.m.  Call 860-346-0746 for more information.  Copies of his books from the Unbroken Circle of historical fiction will be available for purchase at the event.

The Russell Library in Middletown will have at workshop on Introduction to Digital Photography tonight at 6 p.m.  On Tuesday they offer Twilight Tales at 6:30, with stories and crafts for kids age three to five and their caregivers.  On Thursday, author Elizabeth Petry leads the Veterans Writers Group at 7 p.m.  Also for kids, there’s the Builder’s Club on Friday at 4, with a chance for six to twelve-year-olds to build with Legos.  Details about all events at www.russelllibrary.org.

Wednesday at 7 p.m. First Church on Court St. in Middletown hosts the Middletown Scottish Dancers.  Partners not necessary.  Call 860-347-0278 for information.  They also offer Argentine Tango classes on Friday starting at 7:30 p.m. Teacher Jorge “Gem” Duras  has information at 203-543-8099.

Also on Friday, Dave Downs hosts an open mic at The Nest, 129 Church St. in Middletown. As president and CEO of The Highly Unsuccessful Songwriters Association, he invites songwriters to bring their worst songs to perform, starting at 9 p.m. Details at 860-788-2736.  ?? ongoing ??

On Saturday, Middlesex Hospital’s Vochal Chords group will present its annual spring concert at Portland High School, 95 High St.  This year’s performance includes ballads, Broadway hits, classic pop and selections from the Great American Songbook.  Call 850-342-3120, or visit www.vochalchords20.org.

An author’s luncheon and Southern Style Tea is happening this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Scatz Restaurant and Jazz Lounge, Middletown.  Call 860-685-0348, or visit www.soulpassages.org.

Spring Bird Walks happen every Saturday at 8 a.m. at The Audubon Shop, 907 Boston Post Rd in Madison.  Call 203-245-9056.

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

At Real Art Ways in Hartford, the films Mistaken for Strangers, a band documentary, and Finding Vivian Maier, about a mysterious nanny who took over 100,000 photographs that went unseen in her lifetime continue tonight through Wednesday. On Thursday at 6 they’ve got Creative Cocktail Hour, when creative people meet for conversation, art and music.  This week they feature the Raya Brass Band, and there’s free admission for anyone who rides their bike to the event.  It’s also the reception night for their two new exhibits:  iPad Prints by Olu Oguibe, and Cat Balco’s The Ellipses Project, which explores how art-making can help individuals connect with hidden aspects of themselves.  On Friday through Sunday they’re showing For a Woman, a French film about a woman examining her parents’ lives through old photographs and letters, and God’s Pocket, a drama directed by Mad Man’s John Slattery.  On Saturday at 8 is Speak Up, an evening of live true stories with a common theme.  Details at www.realartways.com.

Cinestudio, Trinity College’s cinema in Hartford, continues its week-long run of Nymph()maniac, Volumes One and Two, about a woman’s erotic adventures with the chilly intellectual who found her collapsed on a Parisian street.  On Sunday at 7:30 they open the newly-restored 1952 classic, Orson Welles’ Othello. www.cinestudio.org.

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

5:05‑6pm Afternoon Jazz with Charles Henry

6‑6:30pm Real Talk with Jack Spira

6:30‑8pm Life is a Killer with Johnny Analog

8‑9:30pm The Rumpus Room with Lord Lewis

9:30‑11pm The Attention Deficit Disk Jockey with Lee

11pm‑12am Girl Power Hour  with DJ Jeffrey and DJ Moe

12‑12:30am Romancipation with Dr. Love and DJ Smooth

12:30‑1:30am The Laugh Infection with DJ Willie Zabar

1:30-2:30 Good Times with MKC, Omardaslayer, and djspecialk

2:30‑4am Free Association with DJ Robin Hood

4‑5am BBC World News

5‑10am Morning Edition from NPR

And 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 wesufm.org/jive.

2014 marks 75 years of alternative music, public affairs, and community service from WESU. Look for information on special programming and events online at www.wesufm.org.

Thanks!

Now stay tuned for Charles Henry.