Thursday's Jive

Good evening, it's Thursday, March 14th. This is the Jive at Five, our daily community calendar and rundown of nighttime programming here on 88.1 FM WESU Middletown. By day, WESU offers talk radio from NPR and Pacifica, as well as independent and local public affairs sources. Weeknights and weekends our student and community volunteers bring you the best in free-form programming.

I'm JCherry producer and host of VOICE of the CITY,Tuesday from 8-9PM, Showcasing live and local music, arts, and culture., Thanx for tuning in!  

Now here's some of what's happening in our area this week:

Here in Middletown at the Buttonwood Tree, Simple Tai Chi with Mike McEwen Laughter Yoga happens Wednesday evenings and Thursdays at noon. Jim Paradis’ has a Record Release show on Friday night, at The Buttonwood for his new work, “Not Finished Yet.”  The Aligned with Source Workshop is on as usual Saturday morning, and there’s a Teen Open Mic in the afternoon. The Secondary Messengers perform jazz Saturday night. You’re invited to view the #Balance for Better Women’s Art Show that runs throughout March. www.buttonwood.org

Oddfellows Playhouse Junior Repertory Company presents the classic Italian comedy The Servant of Two Masters on stage nightly at 7pm through Saturday, March 16 at 7 pm. www.oddfellows.org  

The Russell Library in Middletown The Memoir Essays Writing Group meets Thursday night, and there’s an off-site Books and Brews session at Stubborn Beauty Brewing to discuss “Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots.” Yoga in the Hubbard Room happens Saturday morning. The Atwater-Donnelly Duo presents Irish Music in America on Sunday at 2 pm, along with vocalist Cathy Clasper-Torch. Check the Event Calendar website for more events and happenings, now color-coded by age group for easy browsing.   www.russelllibrary.org

In New Haven, at Café Nine, tonight  A Pallet for the Shoal, Big Fang, and Keesh/Phoebe.  Friday’s 5pm Happy Hour set at Café Nine features Buzz Gordo, and the Friday night performance features The Goddamn Gallows, Scott Biram, and Urban Pioneers. Saturday Café Nine’s weekly afternoon Jazz Jam Session is with Tony Dioguardi & Friends at 4pm. Saturday night Pinned and Sewtured presents a Puppet Cabaret & Variety Show. The Sunday Buzz Matinée brings you Andrea Gillis, and Joey Wit and The Definition, and they round out the evening with an Irish Pub Night, featuring Rich Bowering. http://www.cafenine.com/  

Up in Hartford at Black-Eyed Sally’s, it's  Liviu’s International on Thursday with special guests. Enjoy American roots on Friday with Neal Vitullo & The Vipers, and on Saturday night it’s the return of Jeff Pitchell & Texas Flood. http://www.blackeyedsallys.com/ 

The Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore in Middletown tonight Local Author event includes Dr. Marie Langworthy, Patrina Dixon, and Anthony Price, presenting books on retirement and finances. Check the website for all the Bookstore Event Kids’ sessions. www.wesleyanrjjulia.com

Down in New Haven, t Friday the Statehouse invites you to a celebrate the Ides of March with night of Burlesque, Aerial Art, Hoops & Games plus a toga contest and 90’s dance party.  Saturday brings a Statehouse Lust For Life Dance Party for a night of 80s/90s Alternative, New Wave and Post-Punk Music and dancing. On Sunday, “A Drop of the Pure” brings together a solid night of Irish folk songs while West Haven's West End Bistro sets up shop and to prove the corned beef sandwiches! https://statehousepresents.com  

At La Boca in Middletown this Thursday, its Acoustic Night with Local Act Chris Bepko. Friday night One Time Weekend takes the stage and Saturday brings La Boca’s St. Patrick’s Day Party with music from Sonic Nation. On Sunday it’s Karaoke Night with DJ Stephanie Rivkin at La Boca. http://labocamexican.com/

 Pat Stone & The Dirty Boots perform at the Hog River Brewing Company on Thursday. 

The free Spring Greenhouse Show & Tour at Elizabeth Park opens Friday morning and continues daily for one week. The Hartford Flavor Company brings you live music with Anna May and Xavier Serrano in their Friday Night Flavor series. Mike Suddes is Coleus performs at the Hanging Hills Brewing Company on Friday. On Saturday, they’ve got the Podunk Throwbacks, and on Sunday you can catch their Americana Afternoons.  

There’s ballroom dancing on Friday at the Hartford Ballroom. The Hartford Library sponsors a writing center with free advice by UConn consultants on Saturday. And Orice Jenkins presents Centennial Cole, a musical and historical celebration of Nat King Cole, on Sunday at 3 pm in the Baby Grand Jazz series at the Hartford Public Library. Full details at www.hartford.com/events/

Middletown Arts & Culture Office reminds you that the Art Guild of Middletown hosts a Watercolor Demo Thursday night at the Woodside Intermediate School in Cromwell. On Saturday, Kathy Gallagher will present “Research Your Irish Ancestors” at the Godfrey Memorial Library. The Recreation Division hosts a variety of activities on Saturday, all listed on the Facebook site. Wesleyan Potters holds a 2-day Pit, Smoke and Raku workshop with Vincente Garcia. And the Skating Rink is open on weekends. Details on these and other events at  www.facebook.com/CityArtsOffice/

Thursday, Manic Presents is at the College Street Music Hall on Thursday with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. On Friday, the headliner is the Punch Brothers, appearing with Gabriel Kahane. They’re also at the Space Ballroom in Hamden Friday with Chadwick Stokes and The Pintos, along with Brooke Annibale. On Saturday at the Space it’s Speak Up Storytelling presenting Exposed: Lies, Secrets, and Indiscretions Revealed.” At the Wall Street Theater in Norwalk, they bring you The Marshall Tucker Band, and Creamery Station, on Saturday. www.manicpresents.com

Toad’s Place brings you the New Haven Doom & Gloom Fest with a Punk Rock Room on Friday, with performers on two stages. On Saturday, you can catch The Breakfast, and The Mushroom Cloud.  www.toadsplace.com

Infinity Hall in Hartford celebrates the Irish Friday night with the Dublin City Ramblers. On Sunday, they bring you singer/songwriter and storyteller Todd Snider, appearing with Reed Foehl. At Infinity Norfolk, it’s Open Mic in the Bistro on Thursday. On Friday you can hear Green River, the Ultimate Creedence Clearwater Revival Tribute Show. French jazz singer Cyrille Aimée takes the stage on Saturday. Their Sunday Sessions live music in the Bistro features Tim Hitchcock & Friends, and in the evening you can catch more Celtic music with Dicey Riley and Zoe Darrow. www.infinityhall.com

Cherry Street Station in Wallingford hosts So Sorry, Subtleties, Your Persona, and more on Thursday. On Friday you can catch Ate Bit, Heavy Handed, Zombii, and others. On Saturday it’s Chem-Trails, Green Meteor, Ruin It!, and Makeshift Graves. Details at www.facebook.com/CherryStreetStation

First Church on Court Street in Middletown is hosting Aretha, Theresa & Me, an Aretha Franklin memorial concert, Saturday at 8 pm with performances by Theresa Wright and Linda Ransom backed by a band and choir. Tickets available at www.eventbrite.com

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

Hartford’s Real Art Ways continues the run of “Never Look Away,” an Academy Award-nominated German film about two lovers united by a terrible secret, and “Birds of Passage,” a drama about an endangered indigenous culture in Columbia. Also continuing is “To Dust,” a dark comedy about a Hasidic cantor’s obsession with his dead wife’s remains. On Friday they open “Cielo,” a cosmic meditation on the night sky in Chile, and CatVideoFest 2019,” this year’s collection of the latest and best cat videos. Check the website for details and screening times. www.realartways.org

Trinity College’s Cinestudio in Hartford continues “Cold War,” a Polish film about love under Communism in post-WWII Poland. There’s a one-time screening Thursday of “The Happy Prince,” in their OutCT film series; it’s a movie about the final days of Oscar Wilde. On Friday and Saturday they’re screening Vice,” a biopic of Dick Cheney. Sunday’s matinée opera is “Madama Butterfly” performed by Teatro Real, Madrid, and they open a run of “Capernaum,” about a Lebanese boy who sue his parents for having him. Full details and screening times will be at  http://www.cinestudio.org/

Here's the rundown of tonight’s lineup here on WESU 88.1 FM Middletown:

Right after the Jive, stay tuned for Homegrown with Robbie DeRosa. Homegrown is the award winning (Best Radio Program 2016 Hartford Magazine/CT NOW) Connecticut Connected Music Show-playing Connecticut connected artists of multiple genres. Often treating the listeners to pre-release material and in studio interviews with artists, the show also provides information about live shows in the area.

From 6:30-8pm, catch Imagine with Karen Stein - Peace through music! Listen to the best music from around the world and around the block!

From 8:00-9:30pm, it’s Evening Jazz with Bill Denert. A broad range of swing, be bop and avante garde with a sprinkling of new releases. "Hearing is the best experience"

Following Evening Jazz from 9:30-10pm is (2, 4) In the Middle with Peanut and Lemon

A show for eavesdroppers and erroneously hopeful mind-readers alike! Tune in to conversations

with the voices of those you walk past and live among.

From 10-11pm, it’s The American Empire with Yours Truly, Tootse Mutant: an exploration of the influence of American cultural imperialism on foreign music, such as Korean Hip-Hop, Japanese Jazz, and Peruvian Punk and so much more.

11-midnight, DJ Goosegg brings you (2, 4) The Holland Tunnel: Hidden gems and sleeper hits from New York and New Jersey artists, new and old.

From midnight-1am, catch (2, 4) Butter Fingers with Sam

Dropping funky tunes, one groovy slip at a time.

After Butterfingers until 2am is (2, 4) The Sonic Hour with DJ Jackson

Music from a variety of modern and contemporary film composers and soundtracks from

independent films

From 2-3am, tune in for (2, 4) WTF! (What the Funk) with DJ Jagged Little Thrill and DJ Amoroso

Exploring George Clinton’s concept of “the Funk,” as it appears across genres and generations.

From 3-4am, it’s The Hour of Slack. Reverend Ivan Stang presents his own commentary, along with recorded material from all SubGenius radio and stage shows, bands, ranters, media barrage collage artists, and selections from the indie audio underground created by various SubGenii and others

And finally, rounding out the night from 4-5am is the BBC World Report offering International news coverage and we kick off each weekday at 5am with Morning Editionfrom NPR.

That's all for today's Jive at Five. Join us weekdays at 4:55 for a daily rundown of area happenings a rundown of evening programming on WESU Middletown!