Midday West Michigan

GrandJazzFest is this Saturday and Sunday in downtown Grand Rapids at Rosa Parks Circle.  A variety of jazz acts will span the genre, from big band and latin jazz to student ensembles and smooth jazz.  WGVU spoke with Dutcher Snedeker about the student group he put together called Blushing Monk, featuring musicians from Michigan State University and Western Michigan University.

Coming this Monday, August 21st North America's eyes will turn to the skies taking in the solar eclipse. Here in West Michigan, if the weather cooperates, you'll witness an 85 percent solar eclipse. For more on when and how best to view it we turn to Dave DeBruyn, Curator Emeritus at the Grand Rapids Public Museum's Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium who also considers himself a coronafile.

“If my art has nothing to do with people's pain and sorrow, what is 'art' for?” Those words spoken by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei. Described as “one of the definitive cultural voices of the 21st century" his works span a spectrum of materials and ideas.

WGVU visits Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park discovering "Ai Weiwei: Natural State."

Former Vice President Al Gore returns to the big screen with An Inconvenient Truth, plus two more sequels and a true story drama opens in theaters.  WGVU talks with Ron Van Timmeran from Celebration Cinema.

We discuss a movement backed by some Grand Rapids entertainment district establishment owners pushing for laws allowing for open containers. Also, health care consumerism backed by health insurance providers.

Ron Van Timmeren and Eric Kuiper from Celebration Cinema! stop in previewing Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit, The Dark Tower and Kidnap. We also talk Indie films Lady MacBeth, Maudie, Pop Aye and The Midwife.

Bass player and singer Katie Thiroux has a new CD out OFF BEAT mixing swinging standards with her own smart originals.

Local First West Michigan’s “Good for Grand Rapids” campaign is receiving a quarter of a million dollars grant from the Grand Rapids Community Foundation.  The money will be used to help locally-owned companies create jobs and have a positive impact on the community.

New York pianist Jon Davis is a musicians’ musician. He has a new CD out paying tribute to the great jazz piano players of the 1960s and 70s, including Bill Evans. WGVU previews Happy Juice.

Dunkirk is the latest film by acclaimed director Christopher Nolan.  WGVU talks with Ron Van Timmeran from Celebration Cinema about this critically acclaimed historical movie that details one of the first epic battles of WWII.  They also look at Girls Trip, a new comedy and the action adventure science fiction flick Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.