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ICA lists Foster Prize finalists

The ICA today announced four finalists for the 2008 James and Audrey Foster Prize for Boston artists. Catherine D'Ignazio, Rania Matar, Andrew Witkin and Joe Zane will take part in an ICA exhibition November 12, 2008, through March 1, 2009. Each lands a $1,500 honorarium with $25,000 to the winner chosen in January 2009 by a jury including ICA Director Jill Medvedow and Kelly Sherman, 2006 winner of the biennial prize. Other previous recipients include Ambreen Butt (1999) and Laylah Ali (2000), whose work is now included in the ICA's permanent collection.

More on New Kids, Scorsese and Bay State self-esteem

Those New Kids On The Block reunion items continue to get ink in the Globe and elsewhere.
I remain baffled by the excitement, such that I actually find myself vaguely sympathetic to a New York sportswriter, a breed normally not deserving of such feelings. Farther down in that same Globe Names & Faces column, there's a quote from an anti-Boston article in the noted intellectual journal Maxim by one Jeff Pearlman, who says, "What is there to say about a city whose biggest contributions to popular music are Aerosmith, Boston, and New Kids on the Block?" He does kinda have half a point...

Hey, at least Bostonians are better off than Tauntonians. (Tauntonites?) In the current resurgence of film production in the Bay State, Boston has "doubled" for other cities including Paris ("Pink Panther"). But for the Martin Scorsese production of Dennis Lehane's "Shutter Island," now called (ugh) "Ashecliffe," an abandoned mill complex in Taunton is doubling as a Nazi concentration camp. Good luck to whoever has to rewrite that for the Chamber of Commerce brochure.

(Slightly related update: Our friends at Boston Blogs report that Ricky Gervais is scouting locations here for a movie.)

Boston theater's angsty time examined on TV

Everything's a bit up in the air on Boston stages these days, with the ART and the Huntington both facing change at the top, Libby Shufro out at the BCA and the usual concerns about the health of various smaller and more daring companies. WGBH's "Greater Boston" will look at the state of the local theater scene Tuesday night at 7 in an all-too -rare episode dedicated to the arts. Jared Bowen will host with guests Louise Kennedy, the Globe's theater critic, and Terry Byrne, who used to be our theater columnist over at the Herald and lately also writes for the Globe. Miss it and you can stream it later here.

Boston gears up for Jazz Week

One marquee performance of Boston's Jazz Week April 26-May 4 has a certain retro, beatnik sound to it, although it's being held at Berklee Performance Center and not a basement dive. Somebody will be wearing a beret, though, when U.S. Poet Laureate (and BU faculty member) Robert Pinsky takes the stage to read some of his works accompanied by drummer Rakalam Bob Moses. Remember, snap your fingers to applaud.

That should be a highlight of the May 3 "Kaleidoscopic View of Boston Jazz" benefit concert for the JCMC Educational Outreach Program at Northeastern, the New England Conservatory Community Performances and Partnerships Program, and the Berklee College of Music City Music Program. Young musicians from the Berklee program will play when the Berklee City Music All-Stars Quintet takes the stage.

Also included in the week's festivities are seminars on jazz past and future at the BPL, and performances all over town, including: Jason Palmer Collective, Apr. 26, May 2, Wally’s; Sheryl Bailey, Apr. 29 andEguie Castrillo & Orchestra, May 2, at Regattabar; Miguel Zenon, May 1, Center for Latino Arts; Rachel Price, May 1, and Najee, May 2-3, at Scullers; and the Grace Kelly Quartet, May 2, Jazz in the Square, Roslindale. On may 3, Bob Blumenthal will sign his new book, "Jazz: An Introduction to the History and Legends Behind America’s Music," at the Copley Square store.

Details on all these fab events and many more are here.

Berklee Opens A Club

In what could be the most interesting new club around town since the Beehive opened, Berklee College of Music has opened Cafe 939, "a state-of-the-art, all-ages, student-run music venue and coffee house" at 939 Boylston Street, adjacent to the Cactus Club. The booze-free joint - yes, that's the down side - intends to showcase "emerging student talent, local artists, as well as national acts seeking a more intimate, personal space in which to perform and connect with their fans." The coffeehouse menu has apparently been on a soft opening since the beginning of the year, but now they're ready to tout their lineup of rock, jazz, folk, world, hip-hop and what have you. Expect plenty o' jazz, though, at least more than you'll find in the mix at rock clubs around town.

Marsalis Music recording artist and Berklee grad Miguel Zenón will kick-off Marsalis Berklee Jams, April 2 - 3, a series putting jazzers on stage with students. Less appealing, but a smart fund-raising move is Executive Sessions, a Thursday night series with bands that include local CEOs, beginning on April 17. Berklee’s student-run label Heavy Rotation Records will present an artist showcase concert in April (TBA). Regular evening programs are set for Wednesdays-Sundays, 8-11 p.m., beginning early next month, and there are also lunchtime and Sunday brunch events on the schedule. Details are at berklee.edu/events, although the only 939 event posted now is a performance by Jon Anderson of Yes at 11 a.m. next Wednesday. Ticket are available at the Berklee Performance Center box office, and  through Ticketmaster at 617-931-2000, or at ticketmaster.com.

Somebody check it out and report back, 'kay?

Pic by Phil Farnsworth, via Berklee.

Morning reading: Reilly on Gaffin! Almond on liars!

Allow me to point you to Adam Reilly's Phoenix piece on our Boston Blogs leader, Adam Gaffin of Universal Hub, whose leadership has allowed this blog to earn enough each month to buy a bottle of $8 Barbera, and sometimes two. (The low take is our fault, not his.)  Also worth a read is Steve Almond's Globe op-ed on the fake-memoir genre, "Liar, Liar, Bestseller on Fire." He correctly diagnoses the problem, which is not ultimately about lying authors or bad fact-checking but rather the state of the book business...and thus, ultimately, the fault of all of us who buy "Chicken Soup for the America Idol Soul" rather than a good novel or serious piece of nonfiction.

Chorus pro Musica salutes New England composers

Chorus pro Musica, led by first-time guest conductor David Hodgkins, will celebrate New England composers on Friday at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston.The concert features a tribute to the late Daniel Pinkham (right), who works included many commissioned or premiered by Chorus pro Musica.  The concert includes works by  Pinkham (A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day, Fanfares, and Christmas Cantata); William Billings (Modern Music, David's Lamentation, and Be Glad then America); Charles Ives (Psalm 67 and Psalm 90);  and Randall Thompson (Alleluia). Featured soloists are Carole Haber, soprano, Jason McStoots, tenor, and David Kravitz, bass.  Tickets start at $25, with discounts for seniors, students, WGBH members, and parties of 6 or more. Click to www.choruspromusica.org or call 800-658-4276.

Arts, She Wrote

I don't know why, but behind-the-scenes squabbles at arts facilities - museums, theater companies and the like - have always seemed to me to beg for the "Murder, She Wrote"/Agatha Christie treatment. Perhaps it's the wildly assorted cast of characters, who tend to live up to the cliches of type with brio. Despite real issues of artist rights  hovering somewhere in the background, I'd love to see the Mass MoCA-vs.-Christopher Buchel dustup turned into a camp whodunit. Jessica Fletcher could get herself a room at Porches and start poking around. I'm thinking Christopher Walken as the overbearing artiste. In fact, I'd rather see that than Buchel's petulant  "art" resulting from the festivities. (Although I'd certainly like to know who'd pay $250,000 for it.)  ... The potential for middlebrow drama is less clear with this week's other big behind the scenes news, the sudden departure of Libby Shufro from the Boston Center for the Arts. I suspect we've only seen the first act. Maybe we can workshop it on the little stage at the Beehive.

Dropkick Murphys, NKOTB and municipal self-esteem

I was going to drop a brief word this morning noting that the Dropkick Murphys' "Shipping Up To Boston" was featured all through last night's episode of "The Simpsons," a "Departed" takeoff called "The Debarted." It wasn't the greatest episode, but it was nice to see the Dropkicks get some love as always. Not everyone feels the same way.

But better the Dropkicks out there representing for Boston than the possibly reunited boy band New Kids On The Block, despite their borrowed Wahlberg street cred. For weeks fans have been buzzing about a possible NKOTB reunion, which has been hinted, leaked and, most tellingly, vigorously denied by the principals. Perhaps the news will be announced in L.A. today, and we'll get to see what 15 years have done to those members of the million-selling band who we haven't seen since. (Here's a hint.)

There's going to be a certain amount of excitement from the (formerly) teenaged girls who worshipped the band for a few years there before the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync grabbed the template and made themselves even bigger. It's difficult to imagine what charms a boy band might have after its members have reached adulthood - the smooth voices and nonthreatening Tiger Beat charm must be gone, leaving what exactly? Not that there was much else to begin with. This was a manufactured bubblegum pop band that most of us over the age of 16 ignored and/or mocked when it was at its peak. It's a little unsettling that people are tracking the NKOTB reunion saga as if they were this great band that mattered. It's a sign of just how celebrity-starved this town is.

We talk about Aerosmith and Boston like they're the Beatles and the Stones, when of course to the rest of the world they're, um, not. But they're what we've got, along with Ming Tsai and Ernie Boch Jr. and a handful of others, plus of course the Sox and Pats. Caring about celebrities is debatable; caring about the NKOTB reunion seems to me a sign of desperation.