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Taking it to the South End

The best news in Bob Young's Beantown Jazz Fest preview in the Herald is that Bob's Southern Bistro owner Darryl Settles is opening a new 250-seat club at the BCA soon.

MFA's Italian campaign

My favorite quote in Geoff's Globe story about the MFA/Italy deal was a masterful bit of linguistic tap-dancing by MFA director Malcolm Rogers on the subject of whether the 13 pieces returned to Italy had been looted: Rogers stopped short of confirming that the objects had been obtained illegally, but said "the preponderance of evidence suggested that they were more appropriately owned by Italy than the MFA." With that kind of spin, it's no wonder MFA has half succeeded in turning the whole thing into some kind of swell cultural exchange program, almost as if they thought of it in the first place. The Times story is here.

Local boy makes good again

The movie adaptation of Belmont novelist Tom Perrotta's "Little Children," which he co-wrote, got a rave review in the Times today. He's already had one book made into a terrific movie, "Election."

Wamble on

Late word from his publicists is that jazzer Doug Wamble will be making a solo appearance at the Borders in Downtown Crossing today at 4. He's here for the Beantown Jazz Festival, in which I have a small part.

Risotto for everyone!

Geoff reports the MFA and Italy have made a deal. He has details here.

All-day reads

Painting pays. A New York Observer real estate note on "chic British painter" Cecily Brown, who'll be exhibiting at the MFA next month. ... MassDevelopment coughs up $30 million for the Children's Museum expansion. ... My favorite of Sarah's reasons to enjoy the Aerosmith show: The fact that they didn't play the execrable ``I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." ... Sorry for the low post rate this week. My employer is about to launch a site that I'll tell you about later and we've been a leeetle busy. And I've been prepping for my panel at the Beantown Jazz Fest. But I'll get to all your cards and letters as soon as I can. ... LATE ADDITION: I just got to this excellent Alex Beam column about Leonard Bernstein in Boston, and how he ended up not taking over the BSO. ...  And Geoff has all kinds of cool things on The Exhibitionist, including a new MIT Media Lab.
 

Today's concert update

Katt Williams and Friends, Orpheum, Nov. 18, $37-$47, on sale Friday 10 a.m.Dashboard Confessional, Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Dec. 9, $27.50 in advance, on sale Friday 10 a.m. Australian Pink Floyd, Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., $20.50-$36.50, on sale Friday at noon.

Jazz in Danvers. No, really.

My first memory of seeing jazz in a club comes when I was about 12 and my parents took me to Lennie's on the Turnpike to see Erroll Garner. I don't remember much except the pianist's moans and groans while he played, and the fact that he stopped a song to berate someone at a front table for making noise while he was playing. But still, it was pretty cool. The club is long gone, and that stretch of Route 1 has been bypassed by I-95. Now Lennie Sogoloff is donating his memorabilia to Salem State College.

Berklee at Bob's

Bob's Southern Bistro on Columbus will feature "an A-list Berklee faculty band" led by guitarist Bill Banfield (left) every Monday night from 7-10, beginning Oct. 9. The group also includes pianist George Russell Jr., drummer Kenwood Dennard, and bassist Lenny Stallworth and will feature guests like Terri Lyne Carrington and Esperanza Spalding. Bob's: 617-536-6204.

If I was a carpenter, and you were an indie label

Cambridge's Rounder Records just announced that it has signed five-time Grammy-winner Mary Chapin Carpenter.  The singer-songwriter's new album, "The Calling," will come out on the label's Zoe imprint next march.