04-21-15 Jive

Good evening, it's Tuesday, April 21st.  This is the Jive at Five, our daily community calendar and rundown of night time programming here on WESU 88.1 FM Middletown, your station for NPR, Pacifica, independent and local public affairs by day, and the best in free-form community programming week-nights and weekends.

I’m Marianne O’Hare, Producer of Conversations on HealthCare, hear Wednesdays her on WESU at 4:30pm.

Thanks for joining us – If you value the service WESU provides, then please help us out with a donation during our annual spring pledge drive happening right now.  Your support goes a long way at WESU. You can make your donation at any time online at www.wesufm.org/pledge

Now, here’s some of what’s going on in our area this week.

At the Russell Library in Middletown, it’s Money Smart Week, with a variety of informative talks and presentations. Tonight’s workshop,  “Dealing with Depression for Job Seekers,” at 6 p.m. will be facilitated by WESU’s own Dr. Helen Evrard, host of Mind Matters, which you can hear Wednesdays at 6pm.   A Taste of India, an Indian cooking demonstration, happens tomorrow/Wednesday at 6:30 at Russell Library. The Money Smart Week series continues with “Strategies for Maximizing your Social Security in Retirement” Thursday at 7pm. The Veterans’ Writing Group meets every Thursday at 7 as well.  There’s a Chair Yoga class on Saturday at 1, led by Sandra Koppell.     Visit  http://www.russelllibrary.org for details and information on additional community activities.

At the Buttonwood Tree in Middletown, tonight it’s Laughter Yoga with Mimi Poitras at 6, followed by a vegetarian potluck.  On Thursday the Middlesex Drum Circle meets.  Bring your own, or use one on site.  On Friday they bring you storyteller and southern singer/songwriter Eric Taylor. The Aligned with Source workshop series with Annaita Gandhy continues this Saturday at 10:30. This week’s theme is Miracles in Your Life.  Later at 8, they bring you Electronhic, to experience rhythmic drums and the Chapman Stick.  Food Not Bombs serves food outside the Buttonwood Tree every Sunday at about 1 p.m. Help prepare the meal at First Church on Court Street at 11:30. Next Monday morning at 10:30 the Hearing Voices Network meets. http://www.buttonwood.org

It’s a busy time of year here on the Wesleyan Campus.  The Wesleyan Center for the Arts is home to lots of senior recitals and presentations throughout the week,  many of which are free and open to the public. Check their website for details. 

The Friends of the Wesleyan Library annual meeting happens tonight (tues) at 7pm in Wesleyan’s Olin Library and includes a talk by Dione Longley on her new book, “Heroes for All Time:  Connecticut Civil War Soldiers Tell Their Stories.”

 Also tonight (Tues) at 8, at Wesleyan’s World Music Hall, Visiting Professor Jonathan Zorn presents two compositions for speech and Electronics:  “Language as Dust,” and “Perforation.”

 Noah Baerman leads a colloquium on the philosophical origins of his suite “The Rock and the Redemption,” on tomorrow/Wednesday at 4:15.

Eugene Ionesco’s  “The Bald Soprano,” a seminal play of the Theater of the Absurd, runs  Wednesday through Saturday at CFA Theater.

A cello recital with works by Brahns, Chopin, Scott Joplin, and more takes place at Memorial Chapel on Thursday at 7. 

The Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble perform this Friday at 7 in Crowell Concert Hall. Included is the world premiere of Noah Baerman’s “The Rock and the Redemption.”   

You can enjoy a Wayang Kulit, a Javanese puppet play with music, on Friday at 8 in World Music Hall.  Details about all of these events and more online at www.wesleyan.edu/cfa  

In New Haven tonight, at Cafe Nine, you can catch a bill featuring Circle//Circle, Record Affair, and Chris Kiley.  On Wednesday it’s Tall Tall Trees and more for a 9:00 show.  On Thursday they bring you The Radiation, The 509ers, and Rope.  Friday’s 5:00 feature is The Coracles, followed at 9 by The Fleshtones and The Split Squad. Saturday’s Jazz Jam Session at 4:30 is with the George Baker Band, and The Gravel Pit and Blockhouses take the stage later at 9. Their Sunday Soul Service happens at 8 p.m. http://www.cafenine.com

Up in Hartford, at Blackeyed Sally’s, on Tuesday nights, Michael Palin’s Other Orchestra, an 18-piece band, works out new material. Their Wednesday night Blues Jam is with Tommy Whalen this week.  Their CT Blues Challenge is back on Thursdays at 8.  Phonosynthesis takes the stage on Friday.  On Saturday they feature the SNL Live Band vocalist Christine Ohlman &Rebel Montez.   www.blackeyedsallys.com for more.

Manic Productions brings you Lazyeyes, Laundry Day, and Spectral Fangs this Wednesday at Bar in New Haven.  On Thursday it’s The Color Morale and more at The Space in Hamden.  On Friday at The Space, they bring you Speedy Ortiz, Mitski, Krill, and Blessed State.  On Sunday, at The Ballroom at The Outer Space in Hamden, it’s the Spirit Family Reunion, appearing with The Horse Eyed Men. http://www.manicproductions.org

Thursday through Sunday Oddfellows Playhouse in Middletown is home to Terri Klein’s Vintage Players / Hours Apart stage production., “You Can’t Be Serious!,” an evening of short plays with music interludes. All proceeds will be donated to Oddfellows Playhouse and Adath Israel. This is a.  Visit http://www.oddfellows.org for times and reservations. 

At Infinity Hall Hartford, they have singer/songwriter Howie Day, with Will Evans and The DuPont Brothers, on stage Thursday night.  Friday, the reggae band Mighty Mystic takes the Infinity Hall Hartford stage.  Saturday you can catch the Eric Clapton Tribute with The Bell Bottoms Blues Band at 8.  Comedian Ralphie May takes the Infinity stage on Sunday at 7:30.  http://www.infinityhall.com

Big Lee makes for a night of smooth Jazz at Scatz Restaurant and Jazz Lounge here in Middletown, Friday night.   Saturday night, Scatz presents their Spring Fling Comedy showcase. www.scatzrestaurantandlounge.com   

WESU DJ Karen Stein, host of the Imagine show, performs acoustic guitar every Saturday from 12:15 to 3 p.m. at the original Brewbaker’s on Main Street in Middletown. 

The Music at the Hubbard House series in Middletown presents Dogs Like Us, performing blues, folk, and more, this Saturday at 7:30.  Proceeds benefit the Children of Peace Project. http://www.artistsforworldpeace.org/

This Saturday brings the fourth annual Big Draw Middletown, celebrating drawing in all its forms, with workshops and events at many locations around town.  Details at www.arts2go.org

This Saturday, WESU’s own Uncle John, host of our Sunday night grateful Dead showcase. Dead Air, Celebrates 10 years of Radio with a WESU fundraising event at  New Britain’s  Austrian Donau Club located at 545 Arch St. Live music will be provided by Dead Show plus food, drinks, raffles, and surprises! Check out  the Dead Air 10th anniversary facebook event page for more details!

This weekend also brings one of central CTs most cherished live music festivals. The Meriden Daffodil fest is a free annual music festival in Meriden's Hubbard Park celebrates a return of Spring with "food, flowers, fireworks and fun." Amidst the 650,000 blooming daffodils in Hubbard Park, visitors can enjoy an arts and crafts sale; the crowning of Little Miss Daffodil; a carnival with Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, giant slide, pony rides, miniature train; and "Meriden's Silver Fork," the food tent that houses 50 food vendors all from community non-profit agencies, each selling at least one unique food item. Saturday night is capped by a fireworks display. The event attracts over 100,000 spectators annually. Rob DeRosa, host of WESU's Home grown local music show on Thursdays, right after the jive, has put together another diverse line up of entertainment for this year's festival featuring over 30 bands on three stages. Some of the acts you can find are

Kindred Queer, Giggle juice, All-Capps LADD, Wise Old Moon, Mark Mirando, Big Fat Combo, Graylight Campfire, Straight to VHS, The Balkun Brothers and The Funky Dawgs Brass Band plus much more. Details online at http://www.daffodilfest.com

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

Through Thursday,  Real Art Ways in Hartford, continues their run of   “The Wrecking Crew,” about the unsung studio musicians that provided the backbeat for may 1960’s hits.  Also continuing through Thursday is “White God,” a Hungarian film about a young girl separated from her beloved dog.  Dr. Laurie Santos, from Yale’s Canine Cognition Center, leads of discussion before Thursday’s film as part of the Science on Screen series.     There’s a one-time screening of “Planetary,” a cinematic journey exploring human origins and the future of the species, this Wednesday at 7.  On Friday they open “Hunting Ground,” an exposé of rape crimes on U.S. college campuses.  There’s a post-film discussion after Friday’s show led by University of Hartford faculty members.  It runs through the weekend.  www.realartways.com.

Tonight, Trinity College’s Cinestudio, ends their run of the award-winning “Red Army,” a documentary about the Soviet Union’s dominance of ice hockey during the Cold War. Tomorrow/Wednesday they open “Selma,” about Marin Luther King’s 1965 march, a seminal event in the Civil Rights movement.  It runs through Saturday.  Saturday night it’s their annual Reel Youth Hartford Film Festival, featuring shorts made by local middle school and high school students.  It includes a red carpet event and reception.  On Sunday their National Theatre Live series presents Tom Stoppard’s new play, “The Hard Problem.”  On Sunday they open a run of “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” with Maggie Smith and others managing a hotel in Jaipur for silver-haired British ex-pats.  http://www.cinestudio.org

Now here's what's on the air tonight on WESU:

 Right after the Jive at Five stay tuned for Wild Wild Live with DJ Hibiki and DJ Rachie for a sneak peak into the live music scene at Wesleyan.

At 6pm it’s The Movement with DJ Aiss and DJ Dani, your weekly radio guide to All Black Everything

At 8pm stay tuned for The Voice of the CITY with J-Cherry, a weekly show featuring the area’s finest artists and musicians of every genre.


From 9-10:30pm sty tuned for the free form musical romp that is  DJ Cheshire Cat’s Wonderland.

From 10:30-11:30 It’s the Fastes Gun in the West with DJ Zing and DJ Ping.

From 11:30-12:30am its Thinking out Loud with DJ Stinky, a Contemplation through music and audio art.


At 12:30am  Fictive Sound with DJ LN presents a new soundtrack on each show inspired by an adored novel.

From 1:30-2:30am its  The Blast Zone with Baggins and the G-O who will journey, drill, grab, sing, and banter our way through the wild world of sports.

From 2:30-3:30am stay tuned for  Occupy Radio from Pacifica, An extended conversation about the issues which gave rise to the Occupy Movement.

3:30-4am it's The Graveyard Shift with DJ Otto Nation

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

Stay tuned for Wild Wild Live with Rachie and Hibiki