Al Kooper lends a hand to Frank Black
Sideman extraordinaire Al Kooper is staying busy. The Somerville resident is just back from Nashville, where he played organ on Frank Black's new disc, the follow-up to ''Honeycomb." ''The producer [Jon Tiven] called me and asked if I'd come down," said Kooper. ''I don't remember much about [Black's] songs except they were bizarre." In addition to Kooper, Black also enlisted session aces Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham, David Hood, the Band's Levon Helm, and Buddy Miller. The former Pixie has said his ''Nashville" period was inspired in part by ''Blonde on Blonde," by Bob Dylan, which Kooper also played on. ''It's probably my crowning achievement," said Al. And what did he make of Mr. Black? ''I'm sort of disappointed -- I never even met him," he said.
Celtics big wheel keeps on turning
The Alley Cat Lounge, the latest offering from nightclub king Patrick Lyons, opened last night with an invite-only birthday bash for Celtics star Paul Pierce. Unlike Pierce's teammates Ricky Davis and Al Jefferson, we were not invited, but we do know No. 34 planned to celebrate his 28th birthday with a karaoke version of his favorite song, ''Proud Mary," the John Fogerty classic covered by Ike and Tina Turner.Newton's own Eli Roth was in Catalonia yesterday hyping his new horror movie, ''Hostel," produced by Quentin Tarantino and starring Barbara Nedeljakova.
Gardner heist film to go international
Rebecca Dreyfus's documentary ''Stolen," about the investigation into the $500 million art heist from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, will be distributed internationally, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The trade publication reported yesterday that Myriad Pictures acquired the rights. ''Stolen" producer Susannah Ludwig said the filmmakers were in talks to release it in the United States early next year. ''Stolen" features Blythe Danner as Isabella Stewart Gardner and Campbell Scott as famed art critic and connoisseur Benard Berenson. Fine-arts insurance adjuster Harold J. Smith appears as himself. The film has been shown at the Boston Independent Film Festival and the festivals in Provincetown, Newport and Nantucket, Ludwig said.Around town
''The Boy Friend" star Jessica Grove joined director Julie Andrews at an after-party for the musical's opening night. (Grove plays Polly Browne, the role Andrews made her debut in.) Also at the party at Bonfire were chef Jasper White, Wang Center honcho Joe Spaulding, and Cheers owner Tom Kershaw.TV funnyman Drew Carey is such a soccer lover that he brought his camera and worked the sidelines at the World Cup qualifier between Panama and the United States Wednesday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
Expensive tastes
No surprise here: L'Espalier, with chef Frank McClelland, makes Forbes magazine's list of America's 20 most expensive restaurants. (It's Boston's only entry, by the way.) According to the mag, you can expect to pay $84 per person, or $70 for the prix fixe menu. Topping the list is tiny Masa in New York, which soaks patrons to the tune of $366 per person.Meet the press
Former Red Sox spokesman Kevin Shea is again handling questions from the press. Shea is the media relations director for the Boston Archdiocese. ''We're lucky," said Shea's new boss Terry Donilon, a spokesman for the archdiocese. ''He's very talented." Shea worked for the Red Sox for 14 years, through three general managers and an ownership change. He left in 2004. In addition to fielding media requests, Shea will work directly with Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley and handle internal communications. . . . Joan Kennedy was at last night's premiere of Boston Ballet's ''Cinderella." Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253. 
