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Love, Lust and Loathing

On Feb. 13 at 7 p.m., a new reading series kicks off here in Newburyport with a Valentine's Day special. The Tannery Series will offer Steve Almond ("My Life In Heavy Metal"), Rachel DeWoskin ("Foreign Babes in Beijing") and Fred Speers reading at the Jabberwocky Bookstore here in beautiful downtown Newburyport. The organizers - full disclosure, one of them is my neighbor - promise demented tales of love gone wrong in various colorful and scandalous ways. There will also be an open mike where guests are invited to read their favorite classic love poem (as long as it's three minutes or less). The event is free, and purportedly there are more to come. For more info, email info@tanneryseries.com.

R.I.P. Robert B. Parker

Boston original Robert B. Parker has died at 77, according to multiple sources, including his friend and fellow Boston writer Joseph Finder. Apparently he died this morning, at his desk. Best collection of links is here. His early Spenser novels created a distinctively different Boston hero, and in my brief experience he was a pleasant and generous interview.

Celebrating MLK with spirituals + U2

The Boston Children’s Chorus presents its 7th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Concert tonight at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, and they're promising a little different musical lineup. In addition to performing the spirituals that fueled the civil rights movement, the kids will also be singing tracks by U2, Bob Dylan and John Lennon that speak to King's ideals and his drive for social justice. The singers are a rainbow coalition of kids aged 7-18 and come from all over the city and the suburbs. Tix for the event are $25-$45 at bostonchildrenschorus.org. If you're free right now, tix to the 2 p.m. dress rehearsal are just $15 while they last.

A.M. reads: Kinks, Nick Flynn, "The Good Negro"

You have to scroll past Gisele and Todd, but Names has good news about Globie Geoff Edgers' Kinks movie getting some festival screenings, including at the Independent Film Festival Boston in April. ... The Dig has a nice little chat with Nick Flynn in advance of his Cafe 939 gig, which we already told you about. ... And read my Globe theater column today, which is mostly an interview with the 23-year-old Providence actor Jonathan L. Dent (left), who plays a flawed civil rights leader modeled on Martin Luther King in Company One's "The Good Negro," opening tonight at the BCA. ... Oh, and let's not forget my old Herald running buddy Bob Young's appreciation of the late jazzer Dick Johnson.

Another curatorial shoe drops

Just a couple of days ago we were comparing the game of musical chairs among contemporary curators at the MFA, ICA and Harvard to the NBC late-night hosting dance. Now Big Red & Shiny reports that yet another curator is on the move. James Nadeau blogs the news that he Museum of Fine Arts Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art William Stover is leaving at the end of the month, on the heels of Jen Mergel getting the head curator of contemporary art gig at the MFA. Mergel's young and was an associate curator at the ICA; Nadeau notes that Stover has a longer resume and it's no surprise that he'd leave under the circumstances. True enough, but I'm not sure I agree with his assertion that the MFA is "sidlining" contemporary art. Mergel co-curated the Tara Donovan exhibit (right) at the ICA, which was a big hit at the door and I thought critically well received. Maybe the MFA is opting for excitement over gravitas? In any case, here's hoping Stover completes the square dance around town and gets hired at the Harvard Arts Museum.

Mission of Burma's Miller gets surreal in Somerville

Mission of Burma hits the Paradise Friday and Saturday for furtherance of the band's second coming. But whether or not you make one of those sure-to-be-fiery gigs, you might want to check out Burma guitarist Roger Miller hosting Surreal Night in Somerville on Jan. 23. He'll be DJing and hosting an evening of Exquisite Corpse games - "the riotous mind-bending games that were developed by Andre Breton and his co-conspirators during the 1920's and '30's heyday of surrealism." Cool, I think. He's even picked some favorite beers to serve. The event is at the Center for Arts at the Armory, in the Cafe, beginning at 7 p.m., which seems awfully early for surrealism. Tickets, $8 in advance, are available at brownpapertickets.com. For more information please visit artsatthearmory.org or call 617-718-2191.

Miller crop from Burma pic by neonwar under a Creative Commons license.

ICA hires Harvard curator for top job

The contemporary-art curator shift around town is starting to take on some of the musical chairs quality of the NBC late-night hosting lineup. Last week, associate curator Jen Mergel left the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston to take over as head curator of contemporary art at the Museum of Fine Arts. Today in the Globe, Geoff scooped that the ICA has hired the Harvard Art Museum's Helen Molesworth as its new chief curator, replacing Mergel's former boss, Nicholas Baume, who left last year. Molesworth is leaving Harvard after the university indefinitely po$tponed plans to build a new contemporary art museum as part of its major expansion plans over in Allston. Noted: Mergel was not a finalist for the ICA job. As I understand it, Conan may be applying for the newly vacated Harvard post... After the jump: the complete text of the announcement the ICA emailed this morning.

James Taylor + Carole King at the Garden

James Taylor and Carole King will bring their "Troubadour Reunion Tour" to the TD Garden in Boston on June 19. No word yet on rumors that a second show will be added. Tix are $39.50 to - gulp - $350 and go on sale Jan. 23 at 10 a.m. at the box office, at 866-448-7849 or livenation.com. The tour resulted from a handful of shows the two played at the legendary West Hollywood club in 2007 for the venue's 50th anniversary. But the real root is the duo's legendary  performances there in 1970, the origin story of the entire 1970s singer-songwriter genre. On the new tour, which will also hit Tanglewood this summer, they'll be backed by a band formed around the same trip that backed them in 1970: guitarist Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, drummer Russ Kunkel and bassist Lee Sklar. Taylor and King are reportedly rehearsing at Taylor's Berkshires home for the tour, which starts in March in Australia - but hits the "Today Show" and Letterman on Jan. 20.

Northeastern gets all electroacoustic

I'm always wary of words that sound like oxymorons: Electroacoustic? Really? But it sounds like the Northeastern Department of Music has something cool going on with the Music Tech Spring 2010 Concert Series, a set of four shows mixing electronic and acoustic sources and curated by the Northeastern University Music Technology program and Georg Hajdu, Visiting Professor of Music. The festivities begin Jan. 23 at the Fenway Center with a program features the music of Canadian composer Gilles Gobeil (pictured) plus one I'm really looking forward to: "Slinky," for acoustic guitar and electronics, written and performed by Northeastern's Mike Frengel. Subsequent shows are Feb. 13 at the Fenway Center, March 16 at the Goethe Institute and March 31 back at the Fenway Center. Bonus: All the shows are FREE. Details on all the shows are here. (Full disclosure: my wife works at Northeastern's library.)

Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stephen Drury cancel

Uber-hip French chanteuse Charlotte Gainsbourg has canceled her performance at The Institute of Contemporary Arts/Boston on Jan. 27, "due to the artist’s last minute scheduling problems." Wonder if the photo spread with Beck in this week's Rolling Stone offers any clues. All tickets will be refunded at point of purchase. We hope to reschedule this performance in the near future. ... Also, Stephen Drury's Jan. 19 free solo piano recital at Jordan Hall has been canceled. I have an email in to ask why.