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Gambling (not "gaming") with our arts venues

First of all, it's G-A-M-B-L-I-N-G, not gaming. "Gaming" is a term of art employed by the mind control public relations arm of the casino industry to hypnotize us all into forgetting that most people who play the slots and table games LOSE THEIR MONEY. And our politicians - who A) run a state lottery and B) are eager scarf up huge wads of casino-industry campaign donations - are all too eager to go along with this corruption of the language. So around here it's G-A-M-B-L-I-N-G, 'kay?

I love to gamble. Got no problem with casinos. Just don't like bullshit.

Anyway... There's a new report out from Beacon Hill suggesting that casino entertainment venues pose a clear and present danger to many of our mid-sized arts venues.

Jazz Week blows into town 4/23

"Jazz @ Your Neighborhood Library" could be in trouble if the BPL starts closing branches before then. But otherwise, JazzBoston's Jazz Week '10 April 23-May 2 looks like a nice summer bookend for the Beantown Jazz Fest in September. There are over 230 events and this event is thoroughly integrated into city life, with events not only at libraries but a variety of public spaces and the usual galleries, clubs and studios. There will be jazz documentaries at the Regent Theatre in Arlington and Indian jazz and tap at the ICA. Tribute concerts honor pianist and teacher Charlie Banacos and clubowner Lennie Sogoloff. Performers at one or more events include Joe Lovano, Stanley Jordan, the Either/Orchestra, Yoko Miwa, the New Black Eagle Jazz Band and many, many more. The New England Conservatory of Music is Jazz Week’s Primary Sponsor once again this year, capping off the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the school’s Jazz Studies Program. And many of the events are free! Complete schedule and other details are here.

Gary Burton celebrates 50

Jazzers tend to be of-the-moment types who get hives at phrases like eminence grise, so we won't go there. But vibraphonist Gary Burton definitely has a long track record, which he will celebrate with a concert at the Berklee Performance Center on April 8. Among the milestones being feted are his 50-year connection with the college. The career-retrospective concert, Gary Burton's Arrival: Celebrating 50 Years, will feature a slew of musicians who've played with Burton, including Joe Lovano, John Scofield and Abe Laboriel, as well as his versions of tunes by former collaborators like Pat Metheny.

Born in Indiana in 1943, Burton attended Berklee from 1960-62, studying with Herb Pomeroy. He left to join George Shearing ... and returned to teach percussion and improvisation beginning in 1971. In 1985, he was named Dean of Curriculum. In 1989, he received an honorary doctorate of music. In 2004, after 33 years working at Berklee, he retired from the college to perform and record full-time, and left Boston to build a home in Florida.

Tix for the 8:15 show are $25-$35 at the Berklee Performance Center box office, Ticketmaster.com or  (617) 931-2000.

@BobDylanSays tells it like it is on Twitter

Say what you will about his aching croak of a singing voice, but at 68 Bob Dylan is still relevant, even on Twitter. For some time now I've been following @BobDylanSays, which delivers his lyrics as hourly one-liners that seem to comment with oracular brilliance on the tweets I receive before or after them.

Consider, for example, this week's juxtaposition of an update on health care reform from Boston.com chief @dabeard with a comment from the bard:

As usual, Bob takes the long view.

Dylan can be concise ("Blowing in the Wind") or verbose ("Desolation Row"), but I would not have predicted him to be at home in the 140-characters-at-a-time format of Twitter. And in fact his official  @bobdylan feed has not been updated since Jan. 30.

@BobDylanSays describes its method thusly: "Every Bob Dylan song line-by-line. 1 line/hr until all have been tweeted. After each song, BobDylanSays-bot chooses next one at random." At the moment, it has almost 10,500 followers, compared to 15,200 for @bobdylan.

Like any great artist, Dylan can shine his brilliance on even the most mundane topics, such as the Red Sox and their problems aligning their current corps of position players...

Boston Lyric Opera announces season

If you paid close attention to my Globe story on the barista/tenor last week, you already know that the fourth production of the Boston Lyric Opera's 2010-2011 season will be Benjamin Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." It just kinda slipped out. Now the whole season has been announced, and "Dream" will run April 29-May 10 at the Shubert. The other shows will be: the BLO's adaption of the Scottish Opera production of Puccini's "Tosca," Nov. 5-16 at the Shubert; Ullmann's "The Emperor of Atlantis, or Death Quits," with a world premiere prologue by Richard Beaudoin, commissioned by the BLO - this is an "Opera Annex" production to be staged at The Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, Feb. 1-6; and a Glimmerglass Opera/New York City Opera production of Handel's "Agrippina," March 11-22 at the Shubert. Subscription sales start May 3, single-ticket sales on Sept. 12. Complete release after the jump.

Johnny Cash in Somerville, working for those behind bars

The Nave Gallery in Somerville has organized The Johnny Cash Project for this April: Four concerts around New England benefiting prison literacy programs and an exhibit of art inspired by the Man in Black, called The Beast in Me—Johnny Cash: Art Influenced by the Struggle of a Man.

The concerts are April 8 at the RISD Auditorium in Providence, April 9 at the Elevens in Northampton, April 10 at P.A.'s Lounge in Somerville, and April 28 at the Space Gallery in Portland. Bands change for each gig. And on April 10 from 5-7 p.m. the Nave Gallery will host an opening reception for The Beast In Me, which features 15 artists pondering the notion "that the actual measure of man's vitality is the labor to accept our inherit ill will but to not be bent—too much—by it."

The gigs will benefit Prison Book Project, Prison Book Program, and Providence Books through Bars. They'll be taking up a collection at the gallery, too. The complete details on the gigs are after the jump.

Per My Twitter: Music, Mystery, Andrew Bird

I've got to get a Twitter widget on here. But these tweets went out this morning...   Ryan's Smashing Life leaks Newport Folk Fest artists: Andrew Bird! http://bit.ly/bDBdeo ... Local Beverly writer receives prestigous Edgar nomination | NORTH SHORE ART THROB http://bit.ly/cM01im ... You can download the whole "Knowledge Machine" album by Static of the Gods fer free here http://bit.ly/bWA5qh.

James Levine withdraws from rest of BSO season

James Levine's ongoing health issues continue to dominate the news around Symphony Hall. The Boston Symphony Orchestra just announced that Levine has withdrawn from his remaining three weeks of programs this season due to continuing back problems. “This has been a difficult year for James Levine and we wish him the very best as he works with his doctors towards resolving his ongoing back problems,” said BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe. He already missed much of the fall because of back surgery, and there has been some question whether he should cut back his schedule conducting at the BSO and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The important part of the press release, including news on replacement conductors, is after the jump.

Steve Almond, you're a little pitchy

I wrote a quite positive review of a Bobby McFerrin concert for today's Globe: http://bit.ly/cozfj2. Meanwhile, Steve Almond has a piece on the op-ed page in which he says music criticism is just worthless and self-aggrandizing negativity: http://bit.ly/aiAt2H.

Awesome.

Accepting the slings and arrows is something you have to do when you write for public consumption, of course. And Almond was making a general point, not slinging at me in particular. So I only thought of a few NSFW headlines for this post - most involving anatomically impossible acts - before I calmed down. I actually met Almond a few weeks ago, when he appeared in a reading series run by friends of mine; he was hilarious and so filthy there's no way I could offend his sensibilities anyhow.

But what about his larger point?

North Shore YA fantasy author signing Sunday

Gloucester author Patrick Doud has penned "The Hunt for the Eye of Ogin," the first of The Winnitok Tales (www.winnitoktales.com) published by North Atlantic Books. It's a the start of a Narnia-esque young adult fantasy series, "with an unusual New England mythos instead of the  European base found in many popular fantasy series."  Boston-area readers will recognize familiar landscapes as the 13-year-old hero, Elwood Pitch, sets off with his dog Slukee on an otherworldly adventure. And Doud will read, answer questions and sign books on Sunday from 3-5 p.m.at The Bookstore of Gloucester, 61 Main Street, Gloucester. Call 978 281-1548 if you need more info.