Pre-Tax Day Fun

Tuesday Jazz at Public welcomes back Charmagne & Porter Soul for an evening of soul music, r'n'b and jazz. The vocalist has performed throughout the state and beyond, opening shows for artists such as Brian McKnight and Roy Ayers.

Porter Soul is comprised of 3 brothers, Steven (bass), Doug (guitar), and Tim (drums.) Joining them will be saxophonist and Middletown resident David Davis, who's also served as producer for Charmagne.

The musical evening gets going at 6 p.m. and runs through 9:30 p.m. Public Bar & Grill is located at 337 Main Street.

Listen & Look

Here are several events early this week worth your attention.

Jazz at Public, 337 Main Street, presents "Rudy & Rich", a quintet led by vocalist Rudeyna Babouder and guitarist Rich Goldstein, Tuesday evening from 6 - 9:30 p.m. Joining them will be the impressive young pianist Craig Hartley, Henry Lugo (bass, from Noah Baerman's fine trio), and Jay Williams (drums.)

The Wesleyan University Writing Program and the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies presents a poetry reading featuring Professor Vera Schwarcz Tuesday at 8 p.m. in The Russell House, 350 High Street. Schwarcz, Professor of History and East Asian Studies at Wesleyan, is an accomplished poet and will be reading from two new books of poems. "Brief Rest in the Garden of Flourishing Grace" (2009) is comprised of renditions based on the life and times of the Manchu Prince Yihuan. "Chisel of Remembrance" (2009, picture courtesy of Antrim Press ) is a personal collection which blends Chinese and Jewish themes in a passionate and personal style (see below.) The evnt is free and open to the public. Call 685-3448 for more information.

The Screwball Comedy Film Series at The Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, continues Wednesday April 1, at 12noon. "My Man Godfrey" (1936) stars Carol Lombard and William Powell and tells the story of a ditzy socialite who hires a vagrant to be the family butler. The butler (played to perfection by Powell) ends up saving the family fortune and you'll laugh all the while he's doing it. Bring lunch and the library staff provides drinks and dessert as well as expert commentary from Richard Alleva, Assistant Head of Children's Services at Russell and film critic for Commonweal Magazine. The event is free and open to the public.

The Distinguished Writers Series at Wesleyan presents author and editor Junot Diaz at 8 p.m. in The Russell House. Diaz, who is Wesleyan's English Department 2009 Millett Writing Fellow, is the author of the short story collection "Drown" and the novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao", which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Díaz is the fiction editor at the "Boston Review" and the Rudge & Nancy Allen Professor at MIT. The event is free and open to the public.

Here's a poem from Vera Schwarcz's "Chisel of Remembrance" (courtesy of Antrim Press.)

THE WHITE BUTTON

My mother,
seventy years ago,
sat between her parents
on a sculptured chair.

The man in the stylish hat
has one arm around the girl
with lace-up shoes, another
on his waist as if the world
were a leisurely place
where he might have taken out
a gold watch, counted the minutes
of daily blessing. His young wife
holds the hand of their daughter,
gazing inward, almost in a dream,
not yet alarmed by war. A wig
on her married head slopes gently
like a sumptuous robe, no armor
against the ravage when it comes.

War comes.

To all her children,
not just this serious girl in a dark sailor suit
with one white button, balanced
between parents she will not be able to save,
war comes. It comes to all her kin

and mine.
I refuse to let them vanish
speechless. I call them back
on this page. I strengthen
my hand around a child with dark eyes
and old fashioned lace-up shoes—

gone the aristocratic chair,
gold chain, hat, wig.
The white button remains,
a pustule of hope.

Events This Week (Part1)

The following item takes place Tuesday March 24 at 7 p.m. in the Hubbard Room of The Russell Library, 123 Broad Street.

“The Life and Times of William Webb: An African-American Civil War Soldier” will be presented by Kevin Johnson. Mr. Johnson will portray Private Webb who was from Hartford and was recruited in 1863 to serve in the Twenty-Ninth (Colored) Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. Johnson’s portrayal of Webb is told from an emotional and exciting first-person perspective that vividly illustrates the struggle of the African-Americans in the Colored Infantry during the Civil War. The presentation is based on extensive research in the collections of the Connecticut State Library and the Museum of Connecticut History in Hartford.

Mr. Johnson is an employee of the State Library’s History and Genealogy Unit. The program is co-sponsored by Russell Library and the Middlesex County Historical Society in conjunction with the Society’s exhibit “Hard & Stirring Times—Middletown and the Civil War.” The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call 347-2528, extension 135.

Also on Tuesday, Jazz at Public, 337 Main Street, presents vocalist Charmagne backed by a quartet featuring Steven Porter (bass), Doug Porter (guitar), Tim Porter (drums), and Middletown resident David Davis (saxophone). The music starts at 6 p.m. and goes until 9:30.

Busy Week & Spring Around the Corner

Tuesday Jazz at Public Bar & Grill, 337 Main Street, presents the Latin Jazz Collective from 6 - 9:30 p.m. The Quintet, founded in 1997 by saxophonist Bob Paskowitz, features the excellent Nicki Mathis (vocals), Jason Schwartz (bass), Woody Floyd (drums) and one of the finest pianists on the creative music scene, Warren Byrd. Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with corned beef & cabbage and a healthy serving of sambas and bossa novas (novae?) For more information, call 343-8850.

CT State Troubadour Lara Herscovitch will appear at The Buttonwood Tree this coming Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. Joining her will be pianist Noah Baerman. On Wednesday, she'll be appearing on EYE editor Ed McKeon's radio show ("Caterwaul") on WWUH-91.3 FM at 8 a.m. and then head down to Middletown to chat with Don DeCesare on "Best of the Valley-Shore", heard at 12:30 p.m.on WMRD-AM 1150 (simulcast on WLIS 1420 AM in Old Saybrook.)

Thursday at 12noon, The Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, welcomes visual artist Amy Ordonez for its "Lunch & Learn" program. Ms. Ordonez, an Older Adult Specialist at Russell, designs jewelry, creates encaustic paintings (hot wax painting) and is a docent at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. The title of her presentation is "The American Sublime: Manifest Destiny & the Hudson River Valley School" - it's free and open to the public. Bring your bagged lunch and the Library staff will supply beverages and dessert. For more information, call 347-2528, extension 135.

On Saturday, The "One Book, One Middletown" festivities begin with a 3 p.m performance by Oddfellows Playhouse "Instant Circus" in the open ION Market space in Main Street Market. This year's selection, "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen, covers a many diverse topics, from treatment of animals to issues with the elderly. There will be a number of events around town between the 21st and March 30, including discussion groups and films. The EYE will print the entire schedule later this week. For more information, go to http://middletownct.clubwizard.com/OneBook2009.cfm.


Here's Lara Herscovitch in action (she sounds better in person but this will give you an idea of her performances are like):

Tuesday Jazz at Public

Tuesday Jazz at Public continues this week with a quintet featuring Dave Palla (guitar), Bob Johnson (tenor saxophone), Dezron Douglas (bass), Trevor Davis (drums) and Craig Hartley (piano, pictured on left.) The music starts at 6 p.m. and rolls on until 9:30. If you need musical succor after attending Mayor Giuliano's Budget Round Table Discussion (6 p.m. in First Church on Court Street) or the Board of Education meeting (7 p.m. at MHS), the scene at Public is always cool.

Don't forget the Middletown Public Schools Annual Art Exhibition this week at Zilkha Gallery on the Wesleyan campus. Hours are 12 noon - 7 p.m. through Friday and 1 - 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. There is plenty of creativity on display and all of it is home-grown!

Week in Preview 2/23 - 2/28 (Part 1)

The Center for the Humanities Spring 09 Lectures series continues this evening (Monday, February 23) at 8 p.m. in The Russell House, 350 High Street. Scheduled to speak is Katherine Maus, James Branch Cabell Professor of Renaissance Literature at the University of Virginia. Professor Maus is the co-editor of "The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 1" (8th edition, 2005), "The Norton Shakespeare" (1997) and the forthcoming " The Oxford English Literary History, 1603-1660." Her talk, titled "Being and Having in Shakespeare's 'Richard II'", is free and open to the public. For more information, call 685-3004.

The Samuel Silipo Lecture Series at Wesleyan welcomes performance artist/ conceptualist/sculptor Dennis Oppenheim on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the CFA Cinema. Oppenheim, whose career spans 4 decades, has become one of the leading figures in "public art", with large-scale works that fuse sculpture and architecture. In the late 1960s, many of his works used his body as the subject (see "Reading Position for Second Degree Burn", 1970, above) or larger installations that utilized wheat fields and snowy tracts of land. Later installations saw the artist working with puppets, building large "outdoor"sculptures, and more. Oppenheim will talk about how his work has developed and how his focus gas changed over the course of his career. The talk is free and open to the public. For more information, call 685-3355. To learn more about Oppenheim, take the time to wander through his website at www.dennis-oppenheim.com.

Mardi Gras, also known as "Fat Tuesday", will be celebrated in Middletown at Public, 337 Main Street. Tuesday Jazz series curator Trevor Davis assures us that there will be masks, beads, costumes, and, best of all, the music will be provided by the Heartbeat Dixieland Jazz Band featuring Bill Logozzo (drums), Bill Sinclair (piano), Art Hovey (bass, tuba), Andy Sherwood (clarinet), Skip Hughes (trombone), and Thomas Brown (trumpet.) Heartbeat DJB is one the area's finer ensembles, with members that are also involved in music education and social action. The party/music goes from 5:30 - 9 p.m. The Tuesday series has become quite popular and this is a night that should not be missed.

Watching, Listening, and Taking Part

Tuesday Jazz at Public, 337 Main Street, continues this week with a quintet featuring Matt McCauley (bass), Sandy Stoddard (keyboards), Phil Palonen (guitar), with Middletown residents David Davis (saxophones - pictured on left) and series host Trevor Davis (drums.) As usual, the music can be heard 5:30 - 9 p.m.

The Distinguished Writers Series at Wesleyan welcomes Amy Bloom for an 8 p.m. reading Wednesday in The Russell House, 350 High Street. Bloom, Wesleyan class of 1975, has written several novels, numerous short stories, and investigative articles. Her latest novel,"Away", is described by the publisher (Random House) as "the epic and intimate story of young Lillian Leyb, a dangerous innocent, an accidental heroine. When her family is destroyed in a Russian pogrom, Lillian comes to America alone, determined to make her way in a new land. When word comes that her daughter, Sophie, might still be alive, Lillian embarks on an odyssey that takes her from the world of the Yiddish theater on New York’s Lower East Side, to Seattle’s Jazz District, and up to Alaska, along the fabled Telegraph Trail toward Siberia." It's a quite a read and Ms. Bloom is an excellent reader. The event is free and open to the public.

Also on Wednesday at 8 p.m., the Wesleyan Orchestra, Roy Wiseman, guest conductor, will perform works by Native American composer Barbara Croall(pictured on left.) Born in 1966, Odawa Indian Croall (Manitoulin Island, Kineu Dodem, Ontario Province, Canada) has had her works performed around the world; her new composition on global climate change, commissioned by Wesleyan's "Feet to the Fire" project, will be rehearsed during the program. The event is free and open to the public.

The Center for the Arts and the Dance Department at Wesleyan present the annual Dr. Cynthia Novack Lecture Thursday at 7 p.m.. in The Russell House. Dr. Novack (1947-1996) taught dance at Wesleyan for both undergraduates and students in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program and wrote several books on improvisation and movement. Speaking this year will be Constance Kreemer, author of "Further Steps: What's the RAGE in Dance" (Routledge Press), a comprehensive look at 14 of the finest choreographers in the world. Included in the book are Lucinda Childs, Douglas Dunn, Molissa Fenley, Rennie Harris, Bill T. Jones, Kenneth King, Nancy Meehan, Meredith Monk, Rosalind Newman, Gus Solomons jr, Doug Varone, Dan Wagoner, Mel Wong and Jawole Zollar. The event is free and open to the public.

Claude Masse, an artist and frequent lecturer for the Audubon Society, begins a new series Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in The Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main Street. The program, titled "The Armchair Geographer", will focus on Masse's interest in art, nature and history. His inaugural lecture is titled "Migratory Birds of Spring." For more information, call 347-4957.

This just in: ARTFARM will be holding auditions on Sunday, March 15 for this summer's Shakespeare in the Grove production of "The Taming of the Shrew”. Auditions will be held 11 am to 2 pm or 4 pm to 7 pm at Oddfellows Playhouse, 128 Washington St. in Middletown . Must be 18 or over to audition, and there is a particular need for experienced male actors. Bring resume, Shakespeare monologue, dress to move and prepare to stay for the entire three hour session. Some stipends available. To register for one of the audition sessions, or for more information, contact ARTFARM at (860) 346-4390 or info@art-farm.org.

Words, Jazz, Words, Party!

Much to do this week and it all starts tonight (Monday February 9.)

The Center for the Humanities at Wesleyan continues its weekly Lecture Series tonight at 8 p.m. in The Russell House, 350 High Street, with Gretchen Bakke. Ms. Bakke, Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center, will deliver at talk titled "Self in Sloven Society", a critical look at how the changes in the core politics of Slovenia have affected its populace. The talk is free and open to the public.

On Tuesday, Jazz at Public, 337 Main Street, presents an all-star quintet led by Rob "The Drummer" Gottfried, from 5:30 - 9 p.m. Joining him will be one of the busiest musicians in the Hartford area, Don DePalma (piano), as well as Burt Teague (guitar), Bob Laramie (bass) and Jose Goico (percussion.) For more information, call 343-8850.

The Distinguished Writers Series at The Russell House, sponsored by the Wesleyan Writing Program and the Center for the Arts, welcomes Rebecca Brown for an 8 p.m. reading. Ms. Brown, author of "The Gifts of the Body", "The Last Time I Saw You" and 1o other books of prose, has won the Lambda Literary Prize and a Washington State Governor's Award. The reading, followed by a reception, is free and open to the public. For more information, go to www.wesleyan.edu/writing/distinguished_writers/.

The Middlesex County Historical Society, 151 Main Street, is having a party on Lincoln's Birthday. It is the 200th anniversary of our 16th President's birth and the Society will be serving his favorite foods and a variety of libations. In addition to the fine Civil War exhibition currently on display in the General Mansfield House, there will be a special exhibit of Lincolm memorablia from the Society's collection and items on loan from several private collectors. The party takes place from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 346-0746.

The MCHS is also proud to announce the appointment of Deborah Shapiro, Middletown attorney, as its new Executive Director. Attorney Shapiro, a long-time member of the Society's Board of Director (as well as the Chair of the Russell Library board), was a history major at Connecticut College and has continued her love for the subject throughout her distinguished law career. The Society is quite thrilled by her appointment - she replaces Donna Baron, who will continue her association with the MCHS by volunteering as Program Chair.

Threadgill & Company Plays Threadgill

Creative music is often bypassed by the general audience for many reasons including "too loud", "much too cacophonous", "meandering", "not entertaining", etc. Often, it is just that. Sometimes, it's really fascinating.

Tonight at Wesleyan's Crowell Concert Hall, Henry Threadgill, the Chicago-born flautist-composer-alto saxophonist, led his ensemble Zooid through a set of music that defied expectations. Professor Anthony Braxton spent 20-25 minutes before the show preparing the audience for the music to come, using language that, at times, was highly technical but his main point was that Henry Threadgill's music is unique, with myriad influences mixed in over his long career. He also stated that he has been a fan of Threadgill's music since he (Braxton) was 12 years old - Threadgill is a lofty 16 months older than his good friend.

He's absolutely correct about Threadgill's compositional and performance output . No one plays music that sounds like what Zooid plays tonight (or like his previous bands.) And, like Ornette Coleman and Professor Braxton, Threadgill's style of playing is the same whether he is fronting a trio, sextet, or a chamber ensemble. On this night, his flute sound suffered in the mix(as did the much of the cello playing of Christopher Hoffman) but his tart alto sax attack filled the Crowell Hall. Kudos to UCONN grad/tuba player Jose Davila (such a smooth sound from the elephantine instrument), guitarist Liberty Ellman (who really drives the music) and drummer Elliott Humberto Kavee (it's amazing how soft he can play and still push the proceedings.)

The music started tentatively, especially the first song during which Threadgill only played for, maybe, 30 seconds out of 6 minutes (though Kavee's work at the onset was impressive.) Slowly, the patterns of the music became clearer, the interaction sharper, the dynamic tension and flow of the pieces surer. Although, one did not walk out of the hall humming any of the melodies, there were many moments where the trance-like quality of the music was transcendent.

A good-sized crowd attended the show (perhaps 80-85% capacity - plenty of students in the crowd) and most stayed for the 70 minute performance(to paraphrase the opening of this posting, creative music isn't always "fun.") A good number of musicians and creative music supporters were in attendance, including drummer Pheroan ak Laff (who has been a member of several of Threadgill's ensembles), saxophonist-composer Richard McGhee III, Wesleyan grad and Braxton cohort Taylor Ho Bynum and wife Rachel Bernsen (a fine dancer and teacher), photographer-WWUH radio host Maurice Robertson, Real Arts Ways director Will Wilkins and others.

If you like creative music and want more, multi-reed player Charlie Kohlhase will perform a free concert in The Russell House at 3 p.m. on Sunday February 22. Elsewhere in town, The Buttonwood Tree presents the Collin Wade Quartet on Saturday February 21 and the fine young pianist Landon Knoblock (and trio) on Friday February 27. And don't forget Tuesday Jazz at Public on Main Street, organized by Trevor Davis. All good reasons to get up and out.