Live jazz and rock, beer tastings and more in Bethel this week

Get ready to party like a rock star, jam like a jazz musician and art gaze like...well....whatever you call a person who likes to look at art. This week Bethel will play host to a variety of events and cultural activities that will help you ring in Spring in style whether you prefer to listen to soft jazz, sample various craft beer creations or get your head banging to heavy metal music.

Organ Donor   

Jazz organ quartet comes to Bethel

On Sunday, May 20, Manual Transmission will perform at the Pizzeria Lauretano. Formed in 2011, Manual Transmission is a dynamic young organ quartet making its debut performance at the Pizzeria. The band features Shane Peters (guitar), Martin Sather (tenor saxophone), Alex Smith (organ) and Kyle Rowland (drums). The group plays both originals and standards, and all the members contribute original compositions and arrangements equally. Members of the group have appeared at venues such as Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, The Blue Note, Smalls Jazz Club and have also toured internationally.

The group's founder, Peters, studied Jazz Performance and earned his Bachelors at Western Connecticut State University and his Masters from the State University of New York Purchase, where he studied with Hal Galper and John Abercrombie.

Tickets are $10 plus a $10 dollar minimum. Pizzeria Lauretano is located 291 Greenwood Ave. for more information call 203-792-1500 or visit www.pizzerialauretano.com.

In a Jam                                                                                      

Weekly Jazz jam at Molten Java

Bethel jazz lovers will also want to check out the weekly jazz jams at Molten Java. This week's event takes place on Wednesday, May 23, at about 8 p.m. It's a great low key atmosphere to listen to some up and coming jazz stars. If you're a jazz musician it's also a fun venue to hone your chops.

Molten Java, is located at 213 Greenwood Ave. at the entrance to Dolan Plaza. For more information call 203-739-0313 or visit www.moltenjavaevents.com.

Mic Check                                                                                      

Open Mic on Thursday Night

The next night on Thursday, May 24, at 8 p.m. Molten Java will host its weekly open Mic Night. This is a great opportunity for aspiring singer songwriters to get performance experience, it's also a venue tfo accomplished musicians in the area to work on new material.

Remedy and beer                                                                        

Greenwood's to host rock concert Saturday, and beer tasting Wednesday

Greenwood's Grille and Ale House will host a performance by the rock cover band The Remedy on Saturday, May 19, at 9 p.m. The Remedy plays a combination of classic and new covers that are designed to pack the dance floor.

On Wednesday at 7 p.m. Greenwood's will host a “Tap Takover with Sam Adams” The event is a beer tasting that will feature samples of Sam Adams craft beer creations.

Righteous Rock                                                                              

Bethel based Heavy Metal group releases video to new single on YouTube

The Bethel based progressive-power-thrash metal underdogs Sacred Oath have released the video “Blood Storm” on YouTube to celebrate the band's brand new exclusive digital release “Spells and Incantations” on iTunes earlier this week. The video contains rare performance clips and photos from the band’s personal archives spanning the group's 25-year tenure in the head banging metal underground world.

“I think perseverance is something to be celebrated,” said Bethel's Rob Thorne, the band’s

singer/guitarist. “It hasn’t been easy for us. It isn’t easy for anybody, really, but 25 years is a long time to hang in this business without the support of a record label. I like to think of us as pure, uncut. Or stupid.”

The best-of collection “Spells and Incantations” was released earlier this week as an iTunes exclusive metal album. A good old fashioned CD hits stores on May 29th through Super D and MVD distribution. The video is included with the photo section of this story but be warned you may want to keep head banging to a minimum if you're watching while at work.

Movies                                                                                           

This week's line-up at the Bethel Cinema will delight movie buffs

If you're one of the four people who hasn't seen “The Avengers” because you're just not into the whole super hero thing, or if you've already seen “The Avengers” four or five times and are ready for a different type of film, you're in luck. This week (as always) the Bethel Cinema is lighting up the silver screen with an assortment of thoroughly un-Hollywood productions. The schedule for this weekend is as follows:

"Berni"                                                                                         

Playing at: 12:05 p.m. 2:25 p.m. 4:50 p.m. 7:15 p.m. 9:40 p.m.

"Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"                                                                 

Playing at: 12:35 p.m. 1:25 p.m. 3:35 p.m. 4:20 p.m. 6:45 p.m. 7 p.m. 9:25 p.m. 9:45 p.m.

"First Position"                                                                               

Playing at: 12:45 p.m. 3:05 p.m. 5:20 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 9:35 p.m.

Get Your Phil                                                                                

Mercurial Gallery hosts show featuring the work of emerging artists

If you're willing to venture outside of Bethel (which I'm guessing most of you are) The Mercurial Gallery in Danbury is hosting an exhibit that features the work of emerging artists Phil Lique and Karin Mansberg. Lique is a 2008 graduate of Western Connecticut State University's Master of Fine Arts program, and Mansberg will be graduating from the program in the spring of 2013.

Lique, 28, is a New Haven-based artist and professor who has shown extensively throughout Connecticut and New York. Before earning his Master's in Painting and Sculpture at WestConn, Lique completed his Bachelor's of Fine Arts in graphic design at Paier College of Art and received the Ronald Nonken Award for Excellence in Graphic Design. Lique works in a variety of mediums; he creates sculptures from extension cords, wood, and nylon ropes and crafts intricate mixed media works with brightly colored and finely cut papers, graphic design elements, and hand illustrations.

Mansberg, 35, whose Master's degree will be in Illustration, has been studying art for most of her life, first in her home country of Estonia and then at WestConn after moving to the United States in 1999. Mansberg's work, is reflective of childhood, nature and the evolving world. Much of her current work includes old book pages as material or as canvas, and her oil painting “Communication” was selected by the North Carolina Museum of Art for its 'Self Observed' show this past winter.

An accompanying music performance by Danbury and Bridgeport band The Selkie will take place in the gallery on Saturday, May 19, at 7 p.m.

The Mercurial Gallery is located at 11 Library Place in Danbury, Connecticut. Regular gallery hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 1 to 5 p.m. .