Books, Blues and More (10/06 - 10/09)

Tuesday October 6:
Jorge Arevalo Mateus hosts the Latin Jazz Workshop tonight at 7 p.m. in MAC 650 Gallery, 650 Main Street. Mateus, GRAMMY winner and graduate student at Wesleyan, is a font of knowledge and can truly provide you with musical insights. To find out more, call 343-1516.

Broad Street Books' "First Tuesday Poetry Series" welcomes Kathryn Kelly for a 7 p.m. reading followed by an Open Mic. Kelly, an English teacher in Portland, has also taught poetry workshops around the state. The event is free and open to the public. Directly before the reading, WESU-FM's J. Cherry will host Ms. Kelly on his 6:30 show. Tune in to 88.1 FM or listen online at www.wesufm.org.

Wednesday October 7:
"Lunch & Learn", another fine program at The Russell Library, takes place in the Hubbard Room at 12noon. Kathleen and Bob Hubbard, authors and editors of "Images of America: Middletown", will discuss the research and writing of the book, a handsome volume that spans the development of the city over several centuries. Proceeds from the sale of the book go to benefit the Middlesex County Historical Society. Bring your lunch and the Library staff provides the beverages. The event is free and open to the public.

Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the New York Times, will speak at 8 p.m. in Wesleyan's Memorial Chapel as part of the University's "Distinguished Writers' Series." Bronner, a Wesleyan graduate has been reporting from the Middle East for over 25 years and has been on the Times staff since 1997. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his investigative work on al Qaeda. His talk is free and open to the public.


Thursday October 8:
"Soul of a People: Writing America's Story:", a joint project of Middlesex Community College Library and the Russell Library, presents the "Scholar Panel on the Connecticut Federal Writers' Project" at 7 p.m. in the Hubbard Room of the Russell Library. Panelists will include Tad Lincoln, Wesleyan Professor of English Sean McCann, and local historian Dr. Cecilia Bucki. For more information about this free event, call 343-4830 or go to www.mxcc.commnet.edu/library/.

The Elia Kazan Centennial Celebration at Wesleyan continues this week with a screening of "Viva Zapata" at 8 p.m. in the Goldsmith Family Cinema in the Center for Film Studies. The 1952 movie, starring Marlon Brando, Jean Peters, Anthony Quinn, Joseph Wiseman, and Mildred Dunnock, is a fictional account of the Mexican revolutionary who is portrayed (by Brando) as incorruptible and messianic. Introducing the movie, which is free and open to the public, will be Marc Longenecker. For more information, go to www.wesleyan.edu/filmstudies/specialevents.html.

Friday October 9:
The new exhibition opens on this day at the Cecile & Ezra Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan. "Mike Disfarmer: Photographs" features the work of a man who abandoned his family and set up shop in a rural Arkansa town, staying there for the rest of his life. Born Mike Meyers, the sixth of seven children in a German immigrant family, Disfarmer rejected the Arkansas farming world and the family in which he was raised. He taught himself how to shoot and develop photographs and soon set up a studio in Heber Springs, Arkansas, where he worked in relative isolation from 1939 - 45. The resulting work is a fascinating look at a community in transition during a time of poverty and war.
The Opening Reception takes place from 5 - 7 p.m. and the works will be on display until October 25. For more information, go to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa. To learn more about the solitary photographer, go to www.disfarmer.com.

The Wesleyan Music Department, Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies and Center for the Arts are the co-sponsors of "Music from Japan", a concert featuring Yoko Hiraoka (shamisen, koto, voice, pictured) and Ralph Samuelson (shakuhachi) taking place at 7 p.m. in the World Music Hall. While the duo will play a number of pieces from the classical and traditional Japanese repertoire, they will also premiere a new work by contemporary American composer Ned Rothenberg, who blends jazz influences into his study of and writing for the shakuhachi (Japanese flute.) The event is free and open to the public.



Joe Flood, the singer/songwriter born in Portland and now living in Guilford, has had his songs recorded by Blues Traveler, Joan Osborne and The Band. His delivery and lyrical style hearkens back to country blues singers and he supports his songs with his fine guitar, mandolin and banjo work. He returns to The Buttonwood Tree for a 7:30 p.m. show - joining him will be bassist Andres Villamil. For more information, call 347-4957 or go to www.joeflood.net.

Boney's Music Lounge welcomes the Liviu Pop Band for an 8:30 p.m. gig. Joining the verstaile drummer will be guitarist Slam Allen. For more information, call 346-6000.