Around Cape Ann: Loco, Preacher team up for Dog Bar's Piano Summit

Cape Ann is filled with events over the next week, from rollicking local musicians to plentiful art showings.

Two of the rollicking performers are teaming up for one night of music.

Gloucester's Willie "Loco" Alexander will team up with Preacher Jack, another well known North Shore musician, in an event billed "Piano Summit 12."

T Max, a musician, concert producer and publisher of The Noise, a New England music magazine, will host the event at the Dog Bar at 65 Main St. in Gloucester on Saturday, starting at 9 p.m.

There is no cover, but T Max bills the event as "three hours with two legends" who will sit side by side at the piano for the last 15 minutes or so to end the evening in a "lifetime musical moment." Prior to that, each performer will do two 35-minute sets.

Alexander is expected to knock out "Life is the Poem," one of his unique sound-pieces from his recent Vincent Ferrini album, along with his other older classic tunes.

"Preacher Jack too will crank up his ebony and ivory with the feeling of a modern-day Moses — both visually and communicatively," according to the T Max statement. "Jack has that steady pounding left-hand downbeat that pulsates the boogie into the woogie."

Shoal show in Essex

Eventide Art Gallery and Star Island Corporation are planning a Star Island and Isles of Shoals Exhibition and fund-raiser Saturday from 3 to 9 p.m. at the gallwat 63 Main St. in Essex.

The exhibition of various mediums includes work by artists of the Northeast including Peter Randall, Carol Hayes, Bob Eddy, Susan Luca, Carol Arnold, Patty Boynton, Jill Brody, Alexandra de Steiguer, Teri Canelle Eramo, Dawn Gardetto, William Mitchell, Pattie Owen, Bruce Parsons, Meg Schoene, Jeanne Rosier Smith, Ron Walsh and B.J. Wayne.

The exhibit runs through Sunday, April 28. For more information, visit www.EventideArtGallery.com or call 978-890-7198.

New band debut

Simply Said is a new band formed from many local veteran players.

Now, the group is set to make its Gloucester debut Saturday at The Rhumb Line, starting at 9 p.m.

The band plays everything from older blues to rock as well as reggae, ballads, and a tad of country, all in its own style.

Simply Said was formed in October 2011 and has rehearsed throughout the winter preparing for its spring debut.

The band was formed by harmonica player and local firefighter Mike Chipperini, a co-founder and former member of Hoodoo Revelator. Chipperini wanted to start a band rooted in blues but with a more eclectic mix of music. Chipperini has appeared on stage with countless musicians in the area at fundraisers and local jams.

On lead guitar is Frank Hawks, formerly of SugarBlues, while Rick Geraghty, who has performed with Hawks' many bands, is on drums.

On lead vocals and guitar is the youngster of the band, Scott Parisi, who founded Blues Addiction and played around the North Shore in recent years. He can often be found playing at Cape Ann Brewery's Thursday night open jam.

Jewish film festival

The fourth annual Cape Ann Jewish Film Festival kicks off Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Cape Ann Community Cinema at 21 Main St. in Gloucester with the acclaimed documentary "Jewish Soldiers In Blue & Gray."

The four films in the lineup are: the Israeli drama "Restoration" (Monday at 7:30 p.m.), the restored historical documentary "Nuremberg" (Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.), the romantic comedy "The Matchmaker" (Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.) and the documentary "Imaginary Witness: Hollywood And The Holocaust" (Thursday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m.).

The last film in this year's festival commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Also running this weekend is this year's Oscar-winning Best Foreign Language Film, "A Separation," which tells the mystery-laced story of a struggling couple in modern-day Iran.

To mark Earth Day and the April school vacation week, the cinema encores the animated treat "Mia And The Migoo," from Tuesday through Friday at noon. Tickets are $5 for kids.

A full line-up of films is at www.CapeAnnCinema.com or call 978-282-1988.

Vacation week

The Trustees of Reservations is hosting a series of programs called "School Vacation = STAYcation!"

The Cape Ann Discovery Center will be open to the public from to April 14 and 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The center is at Ravenswood Park at 481 Western Ave, Gloucester, and admission is free. The center always features hands-on activities that vary each weekend.

There will be family fun with young children with a new Childrens' Rocky Woodland Trail, "Hike-n-Seeks," and older kids will enjoy Quests — treasure hunts — available anytime, clues can be picked up at the bulletin boards at Ravenswood Park.

Scheduled are:

Vernal Pool Certification/Exploration, Saturday, 1 to 3 p.m. at Agassiz Rock.

Beginning Spring Birding, Sunday, 8 to 10 a.m. at Halibut Point.

Hermit's Tales on the Trails, Friday, April 21, 1 to 3 p.m. at Ravenswood Park

Earth Day Coastal Clean-Up — volunteer opportunity, Saturday, April 21, 10 a.m. to noon at Halibut Point, Rockport and/or at Coolidge Point, Manchester.

Program prices vary and space is limited. Call for details and to register in advance. For more information, contact staff at capeann@ttor.org, call 978-281-8400 or visit www.thetrustees.org.

Art show

The opening reception for a new show called "Colors of Spring" will be held at the Central Street Gallery at 11 Central St. in Manchester Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.

For details, visit www.centralstreetgallery.com.

Museum tours for local seniors

A free tour of the Cape Ann Museum offered by the museum's education department to all Gloucester senior citizens takes place on Tuesday, April 17 at 10:45 a.m.

There will be a focus on works of art related to the downtown area of Gloucester. The group will gather in the art room at The Rose Baker Senior Center where they will be escorted to the museum.

Transportation will be provided for those who would like transportation. Advance registration is required by calling Juni Van Dyke or Lucy Sheehan at 978-281-9765, or Courtney Richardson at 978-283-0455.

Celebrating Stellwagen Bank

The next public talk celebrating the 20th anniversary of Stellwagen as a National Marine Sanctuary takes place tonight with a program titled "The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary — Its Future" presented by Les Kaufman.

Kaufman is a professor of biology in the Boston University Marine Program, the senior marine scientist for Conservation International, an associate in ichthyology at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and research scholar at The New England Aquarium.

Kaufman, who holds a doctorate in marine biology from Johns Hopkins, He has conducted research in the Mass. Bay/Stellwagen Bank area for 31 years.

On Thursday, April 19, the talk is titled "Whale Whisperer: Using Sound to Understand and Protect Whales in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary," presented by Leila Hatch, a marine ecologist at the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary where she focuses on characterizing human-induced underwater noise and assessing impacts of noise on marine animals.

Hatch, who holds a doctorate in evolutionary biology from Cornell University, is doing ground-breaking work making it possible to hear, for the first time, the sounds, human and animal, from ships and whales, in the Sanctuary.

All talks are free and take place at Maritime Gloucester on 23 Harbor Loop at 7 p.m. at the Gorton's Gallery. For more information, call 978-281-0470 or visit www.gloucestermaritimecenter.org.

Around Cape Ann is a column devoted to events happening on Cape Ann and artists from Cape Ann performing elsewhere. If you would like to submit an item, contact reporter Gail McCarthy at 978-283-7000 x3445, or gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com. Items should be submitted at least two weeks in advance of the event.

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