04-22-15 Jive

Good evening, it's Wednesday, April 22^nd and 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 Bill Denert, producer and host of Thursday night’s Evening Jazz where “hearing is the best experience” and Connecticut’s number 1 Washington Nationals fan!

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, a Taste of India, an Indian cooking demonstration, this evening at 6:30. 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, 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 which are free and open to the public.  Check their website for details. 

 In progress now at the Wesleyan Center for the Arts, Noah Baerman leads a colloquium on the philosophical origins of his suite “The Rock and the Redemption”.

Eugene Lonesco’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 Brahms, Chopin, Scott Joplin, and more takes place at Memorial Chapel tomorrow evening 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 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, it’s their Wednesday night Blues Jam hosted by 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 Lazy Eyes, Laundry Day, and Spectral Fangs tonight 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 tomorrow 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 and Co. 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 featuring, Del Harrison, Marlen Baker, and Hassan Oliver, Hosted by CT’s own Chris Clark followed by an after Party downstairs in lounge area.. www.scatzrestaurantandlounge.com   and that’s Scatz with a “Z”!

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 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

This Sunday, at First Church onCourt St in Middletown 11:30am,  Millicent Malcolm APRN and Cathy Zack MD will talk about what to expect as you get older and share tips on healthy aging. This event is free and open to the public and is presented by The Rite of Passage for Elders group at First Church. For more information call (860) 346-6657

You are invited to celebrate Poetry Month with The James Merrill House Spring Fellows, Moira Egan & Damiano Abeni who will discuss their work translating the poems of James Merrill, Allen Ginzburg, Elizabeth Bishop, Frank Bidart, and other American poets, into Italian. Egan, an award-winning poet will also present a reading of her own work. The event will be held at the Stonington Free Library, 20 High Street on Sunday April 26, 2015 at 5pm. The event is free and open to all. Reception to follow. For more information, go to Facebook or jamesmerrillhouse.org.

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

Through tomorrow, Real Art Ways in Hartford continues their run of   “The Wrecking Crew,” about the unsung studio musicians that provided the backbeat for many 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 evening 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, opens “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 the Explorer’s Hour with DJ Pickup Sticks. An exploration of rock, pop and experimental music, this show will take you places you’ve never been before!

From 6-6:30, it's Mind Matters with Helen Evrard, M.D. The show provides information and guest interviews on issues concerning mental illness. The focus is exploring holistic therapies and stories of individual achievement.

At 6:30, it's Fusion Radio with James Fusion. Techno from around the globe mixed live since 1992.

From 8-9:30pm, it's The Warehouse with Mike NyceThe best of underground house music, mixed live for your listening pleasure.

Starting at 9:30 it's NE Tempo with DJ Berk who flexes his serious turntable skills as he mixes Dubstep, DnB, techno, ragga jungle, break-beats mixed live.

And at 11pm it’s Space Music for Space with Cadet Q. playing all the electronic music that belongs with the world music that belongs in space.


And at midnight stay tuned for Romancipation with Dr. Love and DJ Smooth a late night 30 minute love advice talk show.

At 12:30, stay tuned for  HD/User’s Desktop, fondling the violence of the radio signal.
Then at 1:30, stay tuned indigenous music from radio Pacifica featuring Interviews and a mix of new music from indigenous musicians from around the Western hemisphere.


From 2:30 to 3:30, it’s Full Moon Hacksaw. Syndicated jazz and blues radio from Phoenix. And at 3:30, it’s the Graveyard Shift with DJ Otto Nation.


 The BBC world news kicks on at 4 and we start tomorrow’s broadcast day at 5am with Morning Edition from NPR. That’s all for today’s Jive At Five. 

Tune in each and every weekday at 4:55 p.m. to hear about what’s going on in the community and on the air right here at WESU 88.1 FM, a community service of Wesleyan University since 1939.

And if you value WESU as a source for information and entertainment in your life, how about supporting the station with a donation? You can make that donation online at http://www.wesufm.organytime. Thanks for listening! Now stay tuned for the Explorer’s Hour with DJ Pickup Sticks!