Good afternoon, it’s Tuesday, September 18th, and this is the Jive at Five – WESU’s Daily community calendar and rundown of night time 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 week nights and weekends. I’m Isabelle Gauthier, host of the Fuss, airing Friday afternoon 1:00-1:30pm. Thanks for tuning in to WESU 88.1 FM
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Tonight at 7 at the Buttonwood, relieve stress with the Laughter Yoga Playshop. Did you know that laughter clubs have met regularly for more than 15 years in major parks in India? Mylène Poitras, a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader, will lead the free session.
Also on Wednesday, from 5 to 8 p.m., the Middletown Gallery Walk, held on the third Wednesday of the month into October, will take place. Spend the evening exploring North End galleries, shops, and restaurants and enjoy special promotions and discounts. Middletown’s North End is undergoing a change – come and be a part of the change you wish to see!
Food Not Bombs shares food beginning about 1 pm Sundays in front of The Buttonwood Tree. Anyone is welcome. Consider yourself invited to help prepare vegetarian food at the First Church on 190 Court Street at 11:30 am.
Information about all Buttonwood events can be found on its website at www.buttonwood.org.
Today and tomorrow, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Oddfellows Playhouse, auditions begin for two shows. Actors in grades 9-12 are invited to try out for “William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead: A True Account of the Zombie Plague of 1599” and Paula Vogel’s “A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration.” For more information, call 860-347-6143.
On Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Russell Library, there will be a Constitution Day Celebration, with federal Judge Stefan R. Underhill speaking on “The Constitution Today.” Find out how the Constitution is relevant today and how it can help guide us through pressing contemporary issues.
On Saturday at the Russell Library, the Russell Knitters meet from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
And all through September drawings, paintings and sculpture by inmates of Connecticut prisons will be displayed at the Russell Library. The exhibit is sponsored by Community Partners in Action, which operates on the belief that the arts are an important tool for inmates to develop life skills while also providing the general public a window into an often-unseen part of our community.
Over at Wesleyan University’s CFA Hall at 5 p.m. tomorrow, the Center for the Arts will present a free artist’s talk by Andrew Raftery. Using the age-old technique of engraving, Raftery has created a thoroughly contemporary commentary of real estate and social relations today. The exhibition at the Davison Art Center includes models, figure models and working drawings prepared for the series, “Open House.” The talk will be followed by a reception at the Davison Art Center gallery.
On Thursday, the Center for the Arts’s “Performance Now” Film Series, featuring French conceptual dance, will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Film Studies 190, the Powell Family Cinema.
On Saturday, from 8 to 10 p.m., the Center for the Arts brings the Anonymous Ensemble’s “Liebe Love Amour!” to the CFA Theater. The ensemble’s latest interactive work is a raw, theatricalized “live film” of a search for an understanding of the phenomenon of love, inspired by the iconography of actress and singer Marlene Dietrich and director Erich von Stroheim. The audience’s stories become part of the fabric of the piece as they help guide the spontaneous “choose-your-own-adventure” narrative.
For the latest in local arts and entertainment anytime you’re not hearing it on our Jive, go to arts2GO.org – the City’s website for what’s going on and what’s to do with a highlight on the arts in Middletown. That’s arts2GO.org
Down in New Haven at Toad’s Place, tonight brings A Night of Smooth Jazz with Rohn Lawrence & Friends, and Wednesday is the weekly EDM Night.
Friday at Toad’s, it’s Badfish: A Tribute to Sublime, with Scotty Don’t and The Green Line, followed by Afton Presents, with a wide array of bands.
Then Sunday it’s ASAP Rocky, with three packages of tickets to choose from.
Go to Toadsplace.com for details.
Over at Café Nine in New Haven, tonight at 9, it’s the Elm City Americana series, a local roots-rock showcase.
Tomorrow, Die Hipster presents “Unpunked,” presenting the area’s snarliest punks playing acoustic renditions of their favorite songs.
Thursday at Café Nine, Manic Productions presents Raymond Raposa with his musical project Castanets, part of the freak-folk movement; also on Thursday, Alameda; and The Mountain.
Friday’s Café Nine happy hour features Robin Banks and Bingo for Booby Prizes, followed Rohn Lawrence and Friends.
Saturday, the Afternoon Jazz Jam from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. is hosted by Morris Trent Trio, followed by CT.COM and ADVOCATE’s WEEKLY GRAND BAND SLAM WINNERS SHOWCASE: Hannah Fair; Dan Soto; GraveRobbers; and Elison Jackson.
Then the weekend is rounded out with the Sunday After-Supper Jam starting at 8 p.m., with host Kevin Saint James and the Legendary Cafe Nine All-.
More at cafenine.com.
Up in Hartford at Blackeyed Sally’s, tonight is Jazz Monday, the best taste of live jazz in Hartford. See jazzmondays.org for more.
Tonight at Sally’s, Michael Palin’s Other Orchestra, an 18-piece band, jams and works out new material beginning at 8 p.m.
Tomorrow, Wednesday brings the Blues Jam with Brandt Taylor, one of the
longest running open blues jams in New England! Featuring a different host each week.
Thursday, it’s Advocate’s Grand Band Slam, with Bad Rooster, Forgotten By Friday, and Daphne Lee Martin & Raise The Rent.
Friday at Sally’s, just back from Europe, it’s Jeff Pitchell & Texas Flood taking the stage at 9 with a high-energy mix of Rhythm and Blues, Rock, Soul and funky Texas Blues.
Saturday, it’s the Tom Sanders Band, with former Blues Society President Tom and the boys laying down some tough blues rock.
More information at blackeyedsallys.com
Tonight at 7pm Vetiver, a folk band, is playing at The Space in Hamden CT. admission is 12 dollars, and this event is open to all ages.
Thursday Manic Productions and the Arc Agency Presents a whole slew of great musicians: Misser, Diamond Youth, Young Statues, Alad Day, Wolves at bay and Baby Grand will be playing the Space at 6pm. Admission is 10 dollars and open to all ages. Then on Friday, Dry the River , listend as one of the “100 Best Things in the World Right Now” by British Magazine GQ, will be playing at the the Space from 7pm, and with a cover charge of 12 dollars.
Tomorrow Spirit Family Reunion, recently seen at Newport Folk Fest, will play thier homegrown American music to stomp, clap, shake and holler with. They are playing at Bar in New Haven at 9pm. The Paper Bird will also be playing; thier live performances showcase the diversity and good time vibe of the group while providing a fresh and unique take on a sound that has a tendency to bring the listener back to a diferent era. admissions is free and restricted to 21 and up.
on Sunday the Antlers are playing at the Center Church on the Green in New Haven at 7pm, with a charge of 18 dollars. This show sold out fast last year, so get your tickets soon!
On Monday September 24, Skeletonwitch along with Havok, Early Graves, Pristina, and Shallow Ground will be playing at Cherry Street Station in Wallingford at 7pm. 21 and up, this costs 12 dollars.
Now let’s take a look at cinema – as well as a bit of public art – off the beaten path:
At Real Art Ways, Sleepwalk with Me continues through Thursday.
On Thursday at 5:30 p.m., Real Art Ways presents the unveiling of Adam Niklewicz’s “The Charter Oak,” a water mural located at 215 Pearl Street in downtown Hartford, on the exterior wall
of a long-vacant deconsecrated synagogue. The mural, while barely visible when the wall is dry, blossoms into full detail when water saturates the piece, a symbol of Connecticut’s revolutionary spirit. The iconic image, which appears and disappears from view, is based on Charles DeWolf Brownell’s painting of 1857 in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum. After a brief reception, all are invited back to Real Art Ways for Creative Cocktail Hour. After the initial reception, the mural will be “watered” every day at 3PM until the beginning of November.
A companion piece, “Walking Around a Tree,” will debut on Saturday. The projection, which animates a young tree that revolves 360 degrees, will be displayed at night, high on the exterior of the AT&T building adjacent to the synagogue.
On Friday and continuing into next week, the films “Mahler on the Couch” and “You’ve Been Trumped” will be screened.
Information about all events at realartways.org.
At Cinestudio, the Trinity College cinema, “Damsels in Distress continues tonight and tomorrow. Written and directed by Whit Stillman, it’s about well-spoken co-eds who are bored to distraction by their classmates and so go on a mission to improve the music, clothes, dance – and especially the fraternity men – on campus.
Wednesday through Saturday, it’s the Woody Allen film “To Rome with Love,” four intertwined stories of Americans and Italians bewitched by the Eternal City.
Then Sunday begins “Farewell, My Queen,” set during the French Revolution and focusing on the emotional lives of four women living at Versailles.
Tickets and times at cinestudio.org.
And now let’s take a look at tonight’s programming on WESU
Right after the Jive At Five from 5:05 to 6:00pm it’s Finding Bliss: words and music with DJ Lauren “Bliss” Agnelli, an interview, free-form talk show about people who are collowing their hearts and living authentically. From 6-6:30 is Free Speech Radio news from the Pacifica Network, your daily dose of alternative international news and reporting. From 8-9pm is The Voice of the CITY with J-Cherry, your source for live and local Connecticut arts and music at its best. From 9-10:30 is Wonderland with DJ Cheshire Cat, he writes in, Ive got a song in my heart, a chemical imbalance in my head, and a musical library at my fingers. From krautrock to post-rock, grunge to garage, novelty to New Romantic, punk to prog, Wonderland has a place for it. From 10:30-11:30 is This Southbound Trian with mary barrett, featuring bluegrass, newgrass, and other acoustic sounds. Artists from the North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountain are featured alongside musicians pickin’ and grinnin’ throughout the United States. From 11:30pm-12:30 am is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass with DJ Sleepy Girl, the dulcet tones of bluegrass and folk–just not entirely.