arsenalARTS PRESENTS BERKLEE JAZZ SERIES MONDAY NIGHT CONCERTS

arsenalARTS presents the next installment of Monday Night Berklee Jazz, a continuing collaboration featuring performances in a wide variety of jazz styles by some of Berklee’s world- renowned faculty. The Arsenal Center for the Arts is located at 321 Arsenal St. in Watertown. Performances start at 7:30 p.m. Free parking is available and the venue is handicapped accessible. Tickets are $15, or $10 for Arsenal members and students with valid ID. For tickets or more information, call 617-923-8487 or visit arsenalArts.org.

MONDAY, SEPTEMER 14, 2009 AT 7:30 PM
THE ED SAINDON QUARTET
Ed Saindon-vibraphone, Billy Novick-sax & clarinet, Mark Walker-drums and Bruno Raberg-bass will present an exciting evening of diverse and intriguing music. Selections will include gems from the Great American Songbook, Jobim, Ellington and Swing Era favorites by Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton as well as several original compositions.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2009 AT 7:30 PM
THE DONNA MCELROY QUARTET
Singer Donna McElroy mainly performs in the Gospel and Country genres of the recording industry but her versatility is well-documented by the varied and wonderful performances throughout New England. For this evening, she has called upon some veterans of the jazz circuit and Berklee colleagues, George Russell (keyboard), John Lockwood (acoustic bass), and Yoron Israel (drums) to perform standards and originals from her most recent jazz CD offering entitled “FLY TO FOREVER”.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009 AT 7:30 PM
THE DANNY HARRINGTON QUARTET featuring Danny Harrington (Baritone Sax), John Baboian (Guitar), Mark Carlsen (Acoustic Bass) and Jon Hazilla (Drums). The quartet will perform music from the mainstream jazz songbook including pieces by Duke Ellington, Pepper Adams, Thad Jones and Gerry Mulligan. Danny Harrington plays honest valid jazz, his soulful ballads, rich tone and dexterity truly epitomize a musician of great skill. (David Gould – Vandoren)

The Arsenal Center for the Arts occupies 30,000 square feet of space on three floors. It houses two theatres, classrooms and workshop spaces, artist studios, gallery and exhibit space, rehearsal rooms, and informal gathering places. Its stunning and unique architectural design is ideally suited to support its mission of an inter-disciplinary arts center. This mix of interior venues provides a home for three resident companies (New Repertory Theatre, Watertown Children’s Theatre, The Quilters’ Connection) and regular performing troupes such as Improv Jones. Under the umbrella arsenalARTS, the center also offers its own programming consisting of art exhibits, classes and workshops for adults and children, concerts and other staged events, plus literary presentations and other discussion opportunities.

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Grand Ole Hoot!!!

Now, I couldn’t play a chord to save my life, no joke. Unfortunately, musical dexterity is a skill that escapes me, but that talent doesn’t seem to be running short in Allston. Once every month, local folk artists gather in an Allston home to play for fellow musicians.  Every person has the opportunity to play for the entire group, although their set is limited to two songs to account for all those eager to take the stage. 

The next Hootenanny is scheduled for this Thursday (September 10th) at the YMCA Theatre in Cambridge. Tickets are only $5 ($7 @ the door). This “Grand Ole Hoot” should be more of a traditional format than the Allston Hootenanny. It is designed to evoke the feeling of old time radio.  Lonesome Vince, who hosts these shows, will be moving out west in the fall so this is one of the final opportunities to catch his innovative events.  BU’s radio blog does a much better job describing the spectacle which will be Thursday night.

My favorite artist featured in Thursday’s show would undoubtably be Nic Beaven aka Barna Howard. Probably a name you haven’t heard very often, but more than worth a trip to the Cambridge Y.  For $7 it’s a steal to see one of Boston’s most talented folk artists.

You can find video and coverage of the Allston Hootenanny along with solo’s from Nic Beaven at the Weekly Dig.

– Caleb Hutchings

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Cupcake Cruise!

For each T-shirt purchase Johnny Cupcakes is offering one ticket to their HOLY SHIP Boston Cruise ’09.  The cruise sails Sunday July 26.  Hurry up and get your shirt, because presale ends July 10th. The shirt/ticket combination is $100, but judging by the info offered on Johnny Cupcakes’ site it seems worth it!

– Caleb Hutchings

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Haymarket’s Makeover

We’ve touched on my love affair with outdoor markets before, so it should come as no surprise that I wish Pike’s Place spawned a twin in the hub.  Well, now the Boston Globe has me holding my breath with it’s article last month of a proposed renovation of Haymarket.  The five story glass building will stretch along the Greenway, and serve a food and culture center for the historic neighborhood.  The ground floor will host an open indoor/outdoor market, while the top four floors will be a museum of cultural artifacts.  This project is so far the only public proposal of many to come in the approaching months, but I’m already sold.

 

– Caleb Hutchings

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OVER 12,000 PERFORMANCES & SHEAR MADNESS IS STILL CUTTING UP IN BOSTON

Boston, MA – Shear Madness, Boston’s hilarious whodunit, with over 12,000 consecutive performances to its credit continues to extend its record as the longest running play in American theatre history. Opening January 1980, the seven-time recipient of Best Comedy of The Year by The Boston Globe, Shear Madness is set in a Boston hairstyling salon and the landlady Isabel Czerny who lives above the shop is murdered. Every one of the characters has a reason to do her in. A mixture of improvisation and up to the minute spontaneous humor, Shear Madness lets the audience solve the crime. Successful sleuthing leads to a delightfully different show everytime it’s performed.

Performance schedule is Tuesday through Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 6:00PM and 9:00PM and Sunday at 3PM and 7:00PM at The Charles Playhouse, 74 Warrenton Street, in the heart of Boston’s theatre district. Single tickets are $42. For tickets and information call the Shear Madness box office at 617-426-5225. Great discounts for groups of 15 or more.

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DRMANHATTAN Hits Boston Friday!

I know what you’re thinking, but the answer is a simple and unfortunate “no.”

The giant, blue exhibitionist from Alan Moore’s highly-acclaimed Watchmen comics won’t be dropping by the Commons, making an appearance at the Pru or blowing up Newbury Street. Instead, the experimental rock band by the same name will be headlining a free show at Emmanuel College’s Modular Building (yes, in that triple-wide trailer behind the library) this Friday night.

ECRadio, in conjunction with Rockstar Energy Drink, will be hosting their final concert of the Spring 2009 semester.

Favorites amongst the local pop punk music scene, Frogball and the Fake Boys will kick off the show. Following the local openers, St. George, Utah’s pop rock heroes In:Aviate (Rise Records) are set to perform. Closing the show will be DRMANHATTAN (Vagrant Records), a high-energy band from Wauconda, Illinois, full of catchy tunes, bizarre stage presence, clever lyrics and incredible mustaches.

This free show is open to the public, so students are encouraged to spread the word and bring their off-campus friends. Come dance off the stress of classes and stock up on free Rockstar Energy Drink. What better way to prepare for finals or pre-game before a night out?

-Dustin Watson

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Boston Cyberarts Festival!

Forget about May’s flowers.  This year, with April’s showers comes the Boston Cyberarts Festival!  After all, when you have the vibrancy of the nation’s first and largest all-media art event delivered to your city, who needs colorful shrubbery?  From April 24^th to May 10^th this biennial festival will celebrate Boston as the nation’s hub for the synthesis of art and technology.

The Boston Cyberarts Festival attracts artists from all across the globe to display their visual-art exhibitions.  These artists use diverse media and new technology to advance traditional methods of creating art.  Artists direct their exhibition towards identifying the influence of technology on art, and how it develops artistic practice.  Not only does this festival provide dynamic insight into this relationship, but the event also generates significant revenue for the city of Boston.

According to a study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis, Boston’s last Cyberarts Festival brought over $2,300,000 to Greater Boston.  The 2007 festival also included 81 events and over 200 artists and professionals over a two week period.  Members of the event were attracted from all over the world including: Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland.  It is no doubt the 2009 Cyberarts Festival will only reinforce Boston’s reputation as a national and international leader on new media.

If you peek in the ground windows of Samuels & Associates’ new building at 1330 Boylston Street, you’ll see pieces of art scattered conspicuously around the space.  That is because it is the future home of CyberArtCentral, the festival’s visitors’ center and headquarters.  The space will serve visitors with information about events, sell festival merchandise and will also host a digital media exhibition.  With an ideal location next to Fenway Park, it is simply a matter of fortunate circumstance that the start of the Cyberarts festival shares dates with a three game home series between the Red Sox and New York Yankees.  Just be careful not to drop any Italian sausage on your brand new 2009 Cyberarts Festival T-shirt.

To keep tabs on the event before its opening you can reference the Boston Cyberarts Festival’s blog. Also, Stuff at Night, The Phoenix and Creative Contact have some great articles covering the featured exhibitions.

– Caleb Hutchings

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Independent Film Festival Boston

The Independent Film Festival Boston is kicking off this April 22nd in theaters scattered across the city.  The 7th annual festival will be hosting films in Somerville Theatre, Brattle Theatre, the ICA and Coolidge Corner Theatre.  Prices are around $9 per ticket.  According to the site’s blog WINNEBAGO MAN, featured in this years schedule, was well received at March’s SXSW Film Festival in Austin.  Not to be a sap, but out of the 75 films featured in IFF Boston I’m leaning towards seeing 500 Days of Summer.  I don’t know why, might have something to do with it being first on the list, but I’m going to give it a shot.  I’ll let you know how it works out.

This also offers a great opportunity to volunteer, check out more information on their site.

– Caleb Hutchings

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Have Questions About Boston? Ask!

If you’re having trouble finding groups, scenes, activities or anything in Boston, LET US KNOW.  Post a comment on this entry and we’ll try to make an article about your topic!  Most of us are fairly familiar with the city, but if we can’t answer your question immediately we’ll do a little research.  If you are having trouble finding something it’s likely others are having the same issue.  So leave a comment, and help others while helping yourself.

– Caleb Hutchings

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Groupon: Opportunistic Savings

Groupon Boston is a new, and incredibly clever, promotional website which offers you daily discounts on local goods/services.   Savings are offered on everything from rock-climbing lessons to massages, and every day offers a new deal! A specified number of people have to agree to participate ( hence group on) in the promotion in order for the offer to come to fruition.  Most of the time that amount is reached, and you get away with a steal!

– Caleb Hutchings

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