June 26, 2012, Jive

Good evening. It’s Tuesday, June 26th. This is the Jive at Five, WESU’s daily community calendar and run- down of nighttime programming here on 88.1 FM WESU Middletown. Thanks for making WESU your listener-supported source for NPR, Pacifica, independent and local public affairs and free-form community radio. Thanks for joining us. I’m Maria Johnson.

 Friday night at the Buttonwood Tree in Middletown, The RJ Ruotolo group plays a wide mix of pop music and jazz standards from the ’50s to today. Saturday evening, the Andy Buzzi Trio makes for a night of jazz at the Buttonwood. Food Not Bombs shares food about 1 pm in front of the Buttonwood Tree every Sunday. All are welcome to the meal and are also invited to help prepare the food at the First Church on Court Street at 11:30 am.  More information about all Buttonwood events at www.buttonwood.org or 860.347.4957.

Down in New Haven tonight, at Café Nine, the Elm City Americana Series returns with: Milksop:Unsung and others. Wednesday night, The Royal Swindle makes for a night of ska, reggae, and soul. Thursday, Manic Productions presents a night with The Sadies and Elison Jackson.  Friday, The Figgs and Golden Bloom make for a night of power pop and punk rock. Café Nine’s Saturday afternoon Jazz Jam will be hosted by the Billy Cofrances Quartet this week. Saturday night, Christine Ohlman and Rebel Montez return to the Cafe Nine Stage. More online at www.cafenine.com.

On Tuesday nights in Hartford, at Blackeyed Sally’s, you can catch Mike Palin’s Other Orchestra, an 18- piece big band jazz ensemble.  Every Wednesday at 8:30 pm, Sally’s hosts one of the longest running open blues jams in New England! This week’s session is hosted by XY Eli.   Reverend Payton’s Big Damn Band is on stage Thursday night at Sally’s. Friday night, Doug Deming & Dennis Gruenling are at Sally’s with the Jeweltones. Saturday night, Rivercity Slim & the Zydeco Hogs return to Black-eyed Sally’s. And on Mondays, there’s the Charter Oak Cultural Center’s weekly jazz event, Jazz Mondays at Black Eyed Sally’s, at www.hartfordjazzjam.com. Also see www.blackeyedsallys.com.

Down in New Haven at Toad’s Place, Wednesday is the weekly dubstep dance party, and there’s a local Rock Showcase at Toad’s on Thursday night . Saturday night, Shakedown plays the Grateful Dead and beyond on the Toad’s main stage.  Rhythmic Circus and Carbonated Insight open that show. Emily’s Army plays the Toad’s Lily Pad Stage on Friday night. Saturday, Cosmic Dust Bunnies and special guests perform at Toad’s. www.toadsplace.com.

The International Festival of Arts and Ideas is in full gear this week down in New Haven with too many offerings to list in this calendar. Highlights include live performances from Annaliva; The National Theatre of Scotland; Circa; the Hector Del Curto Tango quartet;  Wesleyan’s own indie Americana rockers, Appledaughters (on stage tomorrow at 6 pm); The Ben Allison Band with Robert Pinsky; The Yuval Ron Ensemble; Inca Son; and Roseanne Cash; plus so much more. Info online at www.artidea.org.
  
Wednesday night, the Middletown Commission on the Arts’ monthly meeting  happens at 7 pm in the City Arts office at 100 Riverview Center.

The Mattabesett Canoe Club at Harbor Park in Middletown presents a weekly Thursday night “Jazz on the River ” series. For info and reservations, call  860-347-9999.

Tis the season for farmers’ markets and here’s a few in our area: 
The Durham Farmers’ Market is open every Thursday on the Town Green on Main St,  from 3 to 6:30 pm, now thru September. The Middletown North End Farmers Market is now open 10 am to 2 pm every Friday and is located at the corner of  Liberty and Main Streets next week. The longstanding Middletown farmers’ market returns to the South Green and will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 am to 1 pm through October.

Tomorrow night, Infinity Hall in Norfolk presents an evening of music with Stephen Kellogg and the
Sixers. The Alternate Routes take the stage Thursday night, and Abrosia are at Infinity Hall on Friday. The McLovins take the stage Saturday night, and  Sunday catch Sha Na Na. More info at www.inifinityhall.com.

Big Sam’s Funky Nation plays at  Sully’s Pub in Hartford Saturday night. www.sullyspub.com.

During the month of June, WESU DJ and artist Bill Revill has a number of his seascape paintings showing at Green Well Organic Coffee and Tea, 44 Crown Street, New Haven.

Here’s a quick rundown of cinema off the beaten path here in central CT this week:

The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook hosts the Connnecticut Film Festival. More information at http://www.thekate.org or 860-388-3286.

Tonight, Cinestudio, the Trinity College cinema in Hartford, closes its run of “The Pirates, Band of Misfits” from the Animators who created  Wallace & Gromit.  Tomorrow night, Cinestudio presents a week-long run of the 1957 musical comedy classic “Funny Face,” starring Audrey Hepburn, with dancing by Fred Astaire and music by Gershwin. Show schedules and descriptions can be found online at www.cinestudio.org.

Through Friday, Real Art Ways in Hartford continues its run of “First Position,” which follows six young dancers as they prepare for a chance to enter the world of professional ballet for a thrilling and moving portrait of the most gifted young ballet stars of tomorrow. Friday, Real Art Ways begins a run of OC87: The Obsessive Compulsive, Major Depression, Bi-polar, Asperger’s Movie.  Tickets, times, and more at www.realartways.org.

That’s it for our community calendar. For the latest in local arts and entertainment beyond the Jive At Five, you can visit www.arts2GO.org – the City of Middletown’s new website for anyone interested in what’s going on in Middletown.

Right after the Jive at Five, DJ Dan stirs the Melting Pot as he sits in for Kevin Lee, providing  a heady brew of old favorites, deep tracks and unheard-of delights, including everything from rock to jazz, folk to funk, global to local, and acoustic and electric.
At 6 pm, we bring you 30 minutes of alternative news reporting from the Pacifica Network on Free Speech Radio News.

At 6:30, J-Cherry presents Voice of the City for 90 minutes of live and local arts, featuring in-studio interviews and performances.

At 8, it’s Acoustic Blender with Bill Revill for two hours of acoustic roots and Americana music.

From 10 to midnight, it’s Wonderland, with DJ Cheshire Cat, who’s got a song in his heart, a chemical imbalance in his head and a musical library at his fingers. From krautrock to post-rock, grunge to garage, novelty to New Romantic, punk to prog, Wonderland has a place for it.

From midnight til 1:30 am, it’s Back From Baltimore with Hannah, back home in Connecticut from her latest semester in Baltimore, bringing each week new and old psychedelic, indie, rock, folk, alternative, lo-fi music and at least a few tunes from Baltimore’s music scene.

DJ Otto Nation is in the house with an eclectic mix of music after that until the BBC World News Service kicks on at 4 am and we begin tomorrow’s broadcast at 5 am with Morning Edition from NPR.

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, and if you know of any events that you’d like to have announced on the Jive, send them to jive@wesufm.org.

If you tune in to WESU for information and music that you can’t find elsewhere, then we are counting on you to help support the service you depend on. Please take a moment to make a donation of any size online at www.wesufm.org. Every dollar counts and we need to hear from you.

Thanks for listening and stay tuned for an hour of commercial-free jazz with Charles Henry.

Support for WESU comes in part from the City of Middletown and the Middletown Commission on the
Arts, presenting a pre-Independence Day Fireworks Festival on Tuesday, July 3rd, beginning at 6 p.m.

The festival grounds are the front lawn of the City Hall Municipal Building at 245 Dekoven Drive. The festival will include activities for children, music for all, select vendors, and fireworks shot high over the Connecticut River. The fireworks will begin at 9:30 p.m. (raindate is Friday, July 6, for the fireworks). The event is free and there is free parking throughout the downtown. Please call the Mayor’s Office for more details – 860-344-3401.