Thursday Happenings

Image of The Main Drag from Myspace.

-- The Middle East hosts two floors worth of battles this evening. Downstairs, it's Xconomy's second Battle of the Tech Bands. Each band in the competition boasts one or more members from Massachusetts's technology sector, with prizes and bragging rights on the line. And the pressure is on: The Main Drag features employees from Harmonix, maker of Rock Band. Upstairs, it's Leedz Entertainment's 2nd Semester MC Battle. 16 contestants will attempt to impress a panel of minor celebrity judges with their best battle rhymes. Hosted by Ricky Mortis, with jams by OnandON. Middle East Upstairs and Downstairs, 472 Mass Ave., Cambridge. More information.

Student FIlms

-- Student films, like most things students do, are usually pretty terrible. That's not to say that there isn't some gold to be found amidst the dross. Tonight's showcase of Emerson student films spans six years (2002-2008) of filmmaking at the college, so you can hope that the curators were extremely selective. Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, 5:30 p.m. $10/$8.

Wine

-- We got a lot out of the last Crash Course wine seminar, and it might even be worth the trip to the sticks to catch tonight's. The Second Glass, the upstart of Boston's wine scene, joins with Bin Ends, Braintree's finest wine shop, to introduce wines with unconventional pedigrees. Sick of Australian, French, and Spanish wines? Tonight's program features wines from Greece, Hungary, Portugal, and Uruguay. Bin Ends, 236 Wood Rd., Braintree, 7 p.m. $15.

Jazz

-- Harvard Alumnus Joshua Redmond has a mellow tone on the saxophone that most musicians would kill for. Falling somewhere between Wayne Shorter and Sonny Rollins on the smoothness scale, Redmond's a saxophonist's saxophonist. Playing in a double trio tonight with Brian Blade, Larry Grenadier, Gregory Hutchinson, and Reuben Rogers. Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass. Ave., 8 p.m. $36/$41.