8-4-14 jive

Good evening! It’s Monday, August 4, and this is the Jive at Five, our community calendar and rundown of nighttime 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 Maria Johnson, producer and host of Reasonably Catholic: Keeping the Faith, which airs every first, third and fifth Tuesday, from 4 to right before the Jive at Five. Tomorrow, the other pro-life issue, the one that doesn't get railed against in church: the death penalty. The Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty tells why, despite their success in this state, their work goes on. Can’t listen live? Find the audio archived at www.wesufm.org and www.reasonablycatholic.com.

Now here’s a look at some of what’s going on in our area this week.

Tonight at Blackeyed Sally’s in Hartford, the featured Jazz Monday performer is the Haneef Nelson Group. Tomorrow, Michael Palin’s other orchestra, an 18-piece band, works out new material. Wednesday’s Blues Jam at 8 is with Brandt Taylor. Then Friday at 9, Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts plays. Saturday, Cynthia Fabian and Co. perform roots music and torch songs. www.blackeyedsallys.com.

Down in New Haven, at Toad’s Place, tonight at 9:30 brings Rohn Lawrence and Friends. Thursday’s feature is a local band showcase; among them: Something Simple, Montgomery Parkway, Drained Glory, Grawlix, Honestly, and Standby. Friday, it’s an evening of comedy with Boston-based stand up comic Dan Boulger making his Toad's Place debut. Saturday night brings the Bright Night 3 Electro Glow Party to the Toad’s stage, featuring EDM/DnB/Trap/Trance/and House music. www.toadsplace.com.

Also in New Haven, at Café Nine, tonight at 8, it’s Jazz in the Living Room with Kevin St. James. Tomorrow at 9 brings Alice Limoges, with The Tet Offensive and Xavier Serrano.Wednesday’s entertainment begins at 5 with La Cantina Flamenco, followed at 8 by the Travis Moody Band. Thursday at 9 at Café Nine, it’s Gasoline Therapy with Kings and Liars. Friday’s weekly wind-down happy hour at 5 is with Sean Bowen, followed at 9 by Funk and Soul Night, with The Greg Sherrod Band and The Langley Project. Saturday’s afternoon jazz jam session is with Gary Grippo and Friends, followed at 9 by Big Lazy and The Claudettes. Sunday at 8, the original Sunday Night Jam is with the George Baker Band. www.cafenine.com.

Tonight’s Monday Night Jazz series at Bushnell Park opens at 6 with N’dea Lloyd               opening for the Renee Rosnes Quartet.  www.hartfordmondaynightjazz.com.

*Tomorrow at 6, at the Buttonwood Tree in Middletown, it’s laughter yoga with Mimi Claire, and a vegetarian potluck. Friday at 8, Isra-Alien performs high-energy Balkan, Israeli, Russian guitar music, finding the deep ties that bind rock and jazz. Saturday afternoon at 1 brings a Chinese painting class to the Buttonwood Tree. Then at 8 on Saturday, Seattle folk singer and songwriter Naomi Wachira sings about the tension of being an African living in America. www.buttonwood.org.

Middletown’s Summer Sounds Tuesday Evening Concert Series at Harbor Park brings you jazz by Vintage Vox. 

Tomorrow as 12, at Connecticut’s Old State House in Hartford, singer and multi-instrumentalist Rick Spencer performs a free concert of historical tunes in the folk tradition, along with original compositions. Supported in part by the Greater Hartford Art Council’s United Arts Campaign.www.ctosh.org

On Wednesday starting at 6, and every Wednesday in August, WESU’s own DJ Lord Lewis, the Velvet Knight, longstanding host of the legendary Rumpus Room radio show, will be returning to the Canoe Club at Harbor Park in Middletown to play all-vinyl sets of the best in contemporary and vintage funk, soul, afrobeat, reggae, rare groove and more from one of CT’s most heavyweight collectors and taste-makers. www.mattabesettcaneoeclub.com. 

Also on Wednesday, this week’s Music at the Mansion Summer Series at Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown features Goza, Spanish for joy, playing dance rhythms from Latin America. www.wadsworthmansion.com

Manic Productions presents a number of shows at area venues this week. Wednesday, at Bar in New Haven, you can catch Bob Log III, The Pork Torta, and Rusty Things. Thursday at the Outer Space in Hamden, it’s David Dondero with Jacket Thor and Mike Kusek (of Elison Jackson). www.manicproductions.com.

At 7 pm on Thursday, Author Elisabeth Petry will continue to lead The Veterans' Writing Group at 7pm  in Meeting Room 2 at Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Middletown.  Also, the Friends of the Library’s book sale is on Friday and Saturday. www.russelllibrary.org.

On Friday, at Scatz Restaurant and Jazz Lounge in Middletown, Michael Augeri and Friends perform. Saturday brings the Rahsaan Langley Project. www.scatzrestaurantandlounge.com. That’s scatz with a z.

Every Friday, at 9 p.m., Dave Downs hosts a new weekly open mic and invites songwriters to perform at The Nest, located at 129 Church Street, Middletown.  Info at 860.788.2736.

Connecticut’s summer farmer’s markets are in full bloom, and are located: in Middletown on Tuesdays; in East Haddam and Old Saybrook on Wednesdays; in Clinton, Durham, and Middletown on Thursdays; in Higganum and Middletown on Fridays; in Ivoryton on Saturdays, and in Chester on Sundays.  www.ctnofa.org fills in the details.

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

At Real Art Ways in Hartford, “A Coffee in Berlin,” a German film about the twists and turns encountered by a solitary observer drifting through the streets of Berlin, runs through Wednesday. “Snowpiercer,” a futuristic action thriller about a perpetual motion train that travels the world in a post-apocalyptic setting, runs through Thursday. Thursday, at 7, there’s also an unusual improv event at  RealArtWays:  In what’s called “Improv’d Cinema: Summer Mockbuster,” the audience will choose among five bad B movies to play. Then the improv troupe Sea Tea will hit mute and drastically improve this terrible film by voicing over the entire movie - on the spot! Opening Friday is the documentary Gore Vidal: United States of America, in which the controversial and brilliant late writer recalls his remarkable life as America's most outspoken intellectual. Also opening Friday , in an exclusive East Coast premiere, is  Breathing Earth exploring the works of Japanese kinetic sculptor Susumu Shingu, who works with wind.www.realartways.org

At Cinestudio, Trinity College’s cinema in Hartford,  the restored 1967 film “Accident” continues through Wednesday. It’s a psychological thriller by Harold Pinter, starring Dirk Bogarde as an Oxford Don whose involvement with one of his students ends in a fatal outcome. Thursday, Cinestudio and Out Film CT First Thursdays bring  a one-time showing of the remastered 1967 film Valley of the Dolls. Then Friday begins a run of The Immigrant, a reminder that New York City has long been a beacon for immigrants that impassively turns its back on anyone not lucky or scrappy enough to get by. www.cinestudio.org.

Now, here’s a rundown of tonight’s programming on WESU Middletown.

5:05‑6pm Afternoon Jazz with Charles Henry

6‑8pm 75% Folk with Michael Benson.

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

9:30‑11:30pm   Aargh with Tom Gatzen

 11:30pm‑2am Space Music for Summer with Cadet Q

 2‑2:30 Bassment Beats with DJ LOKASH

 2:30‑3am New World Show with DJ LOKASH

 3‑4am  The Graveyard Shift w DJ Otto Nation with playlist

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 www.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.