E-Mail This Article to a Friend Unconventional politics An alternative to the DNC across the Charles, plus a jazz extravaganza and more

Unconventional Cambridge

Although the Central Square World’s Fair has been in mothballs since 2001, it used to be a highlight of the Cambridge summer schedule, a bustling day-long block party along a closed-to-traffic Mass Ave, with dance and music performances on a half-dozen stages crammed onto the side streets. The model, if not the name, has been revived by its organizers for "Destination Cambridge: The Unconventional Citywide Cambridge Music Festival," which, taking place July 25 from noon to 6 p.m. in the Square, will coincide with the Democratic National Convention, reminding visitors that there’s life on the other side of the Charles. There’ll be jazz, pop, gospel, Latin, African, and blues performances on nine stages — including a kids’ stage and a dance stage — highlighted by the great jazz violinist and Vietnam vet Billy Bang, who’ll bring his quintet to perform the New England premiere of music from his Vietnam: The Aftermath (Justin Time) as well as new music from a sequel. Other performers will include the Rebirth Brass Band, Rubyhorse, the Twinemen, Three Day Threshold, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Wannetta Jackson, and Dub Station. The music fest is the centerpiece of a week-long "Destination Cambridge" campaign that’ll also include a Ben Affleck–hosted, MTV-sponsored "Youth Symposium" and a citywide parade on the 25th. For more information about the Music Fest, call the Green Street Grill at (617) 876-1655.

Jazzmania

Down but not out, Fenton Hollander’s Water Music production company is no longer booking the Regattabar, but it’s just added three new shows to a schedule that already includes the Bad Plus at the Somerville Theatre on July 23, the Jane Monheit Quintet at Sanders Theatre on November 26, Carol Channing at the Berklee Performance Center on December 5, and a "Directions in Music" concert with Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, and Roy Hargrove with John Patitucci and Brian Blade at Symphony Hall next February 20. Water Music now has the Michel Camilo Trio, with special guest Juanito Pascual, at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street in Harvard Square, on October 22 (tickets are $22.50 and $27.50), and the Chick Corea Elektric Band at the Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, on November 21 (tickets are $29 and $35). And the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra will celebrate the release of a new CD, Pincus and the Pig: A Klezmer Tale, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on November 21. The disc, on John Zorn’s Tzadik label (home to Shirim’s avant-klezmer alter ego, Naftule’s Dream), is based on Maurice Sendak’s children’s book of the same name — itself a recasting of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf — and includes narration by Sendak himself. Tickets are $18. For all of the above, call (617) 876-7777, or visit www.concertix.com

Peace attack

"Yo! What Happened to Peace?", a traveling multimedia exhibit of anti-war art, is coming to Cambridge and Somerville next week under the auspices of Zeitgeist Gallery, but it’s sharing the wealth: the exhibit has now expanded into "13 days of creative dissent," with the work parceled out among more than a half-dozen locations and a schedule of marches, protests, and walking tours tying them all together. The exhibit, which features posters, paintings, sculpture, and video from 50 national and local artists, will be shown daily July 17 through 29. It’s anchored at the Zeitgeist, 135Cambridge Street in Inman Square, and the First Congregational Church, 11 Garden Street in Harvard Square, but there will be pieces on view at the Druid, Lorem Ipsum Books, Artisans World Gallery, 108 Gallery, Christina’s Ice Cream, and elsewhere. There’ll be an opening reception at the First Church July 17 at 7 p.m. (including appearances by "noted anti-war activists, performers, and journalists") followed by a march to the Zeitgeist for another reception beginning at 10 p.m. with music by David Maxwell. Walking tours of the entire exhibit — including "surprise happenings" along the way — will be given July 18 and 25, and the closing reception will be at the First Church on July 24. For details, call (617) 876-6060, or visit www.zeitgeist-gallery.org.