Here's a gig for you blues heads out there. On Sunday at the Swiss Pub, South Sound Blues Association is hosting a fundraiser to send Blues Redemption and JD Hobson to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, on January, 2010. The lineup goes something like this ...

4 p.m. Alice Stuart and Friends
5 p.m. JD Hobson
5:45 p.m. The Michal Miller Band
7 p.m. The Al Earick Band
8:15 p.m. The Stacy Jones Band
9:30 p.m. Blues Redemption

Check the Swiss site for more here.

Tacoma trumpeter Lance Buller is all set to stage his second annual Swing Daze concert, a tribute to the big band era that will bring the talents of Greta Matassa, the Swing Reunion Orchestra and more to Tacoma Musical Playhouse on Saturday night. And recently I caught up with him to find out what was new for this year's show. Click here to listen. And just so you can get an idea of that movie clip with Cab Calloway performing "Reefer Man" Buller talks about towards the end, here's that, too. Call is "The Chronic 1932."

I have fond childhood memories of driving to Florida for summer vacation with my dad with the Queen of Blues’ signature hit blaring from pop’s mix tape. It was his generation's equivalent of gangsta rap, not to mention one of the most bada-- songs ever. P.J. Harvey’s cover is pretty tight, too, if you haven't heard it live or on her "Peel Sessions" album. Click here if you have no idea what I'm talkin' about.

Then click here to read Rolling Stone's obit.

Randy Oxford just texted me back. He's moving the Wednesday night jam from Jazzbones to Chopstix. You know, way over on the other side of the street and a block away. I'm slightly taken aback since I was guessing Masa or Sax.

Trumpeter Randy Oxford has run the Wednesday night jam over at Jazzbones for 4 1/2 years, and tonight is the last one. He just sent out a text saying there will be an announcement about moving to another Sixth Avenue location. Hmmm. That narrows it down a bit.

Music fans who are sticking close to home for Memorial Day weekend will want to check out the sixth annual Tacoma Jazz and Blues Festival, which will take over three Tacoma venues on Saturday (May 23). The schedule is below. Click on the band and festival links for more info.

Big bands at Freighthouse Square

1 p.m. Johnny Lewis Big Band
2:30 p.m. Roadside Attraction
4 p.m. MOJO (Mukilteo’s Outrageous Jazz Orchestra)
5:30 p.m. Rich Wetzel's Groovin Higher Jazz Orchestra

Jazz combos at Varsity Grill
12:30 p.m. Cayuco
2 p.m. Hook Me Up
3:30 p.m. Darren Motamedy
5 p.m. Michael Powers

Blues at the Harmon Brewery

12:30 p.m. In The House
2 p.m. The Michal Miller Band
3:30 p.m. Maia Santell and House Blend
5 p.m. p.m. Charles White

The South Sound Blues Association's Gary Grape sent me an updated lineup for the upcoming Back to Beale Street Blues competition this morning. The event will be held on June 7 at Jazzbones, and the aim is to pick local a local act to compete in the Blues Foundation International Blues Challenge, which is slated for Jan. 20 to 23 in Memphis.

Back to Beale Street Blues Competition lineup
Doors open at 1 p.m. June 7 at Jazzbones

Solo/duo acts
2 p.m. Malcolm Clark
2:30 p.m. Heather BBlues & Hurricane Andrew
3 p.m. J.D. Hobson
3:30 p.m. Junkyard Duo

Bands
4 p.m. The Randy Oxford Band
4:45 p.m. Stacy Jones Band
5:30 p.m. The Wright Brothers
6:15 p.m. The Mary McPage Band
7 p.m. Cold Shot
7:45 p.m. The Al Earick Band
8:30 p.m. The Wired Band
9:15 p.m. Blues Redemption
10 p.m. The Cody Rentas Band

The CD release party for KPLU-FM's compilation "KPLU School of Jazz - Volume 5" has been called off due to performers' scheduling conflicts, according to station promotions director Brenda Goldstein-Young. The show was set for May 17 at Seattle's Museum of History and Industry. The CD will be released on May 19.

So I had my field recorder at the Little Bill Engelhart tribute on March 28. (Read more here.) And now that I’ve found a few minutes to edit some clips and I’ve okayed it with Mr. E, here is some of what you may have missed that night.

Don’t Go Back to L.A.

I Want a Little Girl (dedicated to Jan Engelhart)

Leavin’ Trunk

I Love an Angel (with Heather Mueller)

When I First Get Up

Lincoln Continental Blues

Little Bill’s stuff isn’t always easy to find in his hometown, a shame considering the role he's played in establishing the Tacoma rock and blues scene as we know it. (Check the story I wrote for the March 22 SoundLife section.) But allow me to direct you here for info on ordering his CDs.

Or you can just catch him live the next couple of times he returns to his hometown, on May 3 at Johnny's Dock or May 10 at the Spar Tavern.

Little Bill Engelhart at the Rialto on March 28, a.k.a. Little Bill Day.
ERNEST JASMIN

Sax, a spot I first blogged about in January, is generating a big buzz as opening day approaches. But there's a little bit of sketchy info about the place in the blogosphere. So I figured I'd check in with folks behind the scenes to see what's really going on.

The venue, which is still under construction at 2309 Sixth Ave., is owned by Jenny and Andy Yee, who also own the North China Garden next door. General manager Micha Cornelius said April 27 has been penciled in for the soft opening, with a bigger grand opening planned for a few days after that. That all hinges on final inspections and construction going as scheduled. But if not then, Cornelius figured Sax would open a week later.

The main draw will be "high-end dining for a good price," he said. But as the name implies, there will be jazz, specifically Tacoma jazz and R & B act Hybrid, which has been hired as the venue's house band.

But “we don’t want to be the new music scene,” Cornelius added, saying he and the Yees wanted to stand out from other hot spots on the Sixth Ave strip. “They all turn into meat markets with loud music. So we’re going to be completely the opposite,” he said.

Well, maybe not totally opposite. Cornelius said Sax will have a DJ on Wednesdays and Thursdays and ladies night on Thursdays. “Our image is that we’re a relaxed spot for people in their mid-30s,” he said. “But at the same time you don’t want to turn the Sixth Avenue crowd away.”

I'm trying to get my hands on a menu and may see if I can get a tour in the days to come. So expect more detail on this blog or TNT Diner soon.

Aerosmith's recently announced summer tour will make an Aug. 17 stop at
Auburn's White River Amphitheatre. And the veteran rockers -- best known for "Dream On," "Walk This Way" and a slew of other hits dating back to the '70s -- have tapped the bearded blues-rockers of Z.Z. Top for opening support. (If you missed Top's last stop at White River, with country duo Brooks & Dunn, take a gander here.)

Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 24, but there will be a special pre-sale event on Friday (April 17). Find out more here.

March 28 shall henceforth be known as Little Bill Day. So says Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma, who delivered said proclamation Saturday night at the Rialto Theatre during a celebration of the life, legacy and music of Little Bill Engelhart, elder statesman of Washington blues and the namesake of seminal Tacoma garage band, Little Bill & the Bluenotes.

Engelhart turned 70 on St. Patrick’s Day. And while he may not be as famous as some of his Tacoma rock peers, he’s a legendary figure in the development of rock and blues in Washington. Fabulous Wailer bassist and former Bluenotes band mate Buck Ormsby took the stage to explain how he, Engelhart, Lasse Aines and Frank Dutra met up after seeing a 1955 screening of iconic rock flick “Blackboard Jungle,” back when they all attended Jason Leigh Junior High. That fateful encounter led to the Bluenotes, the band that paved the way for the Wailers and the Ventures, Tacoma bands that would in turn inspire fledgling rockers around the globe. (Dutra and the Wailers’ Kent Morrill were also in attendance.)

Engelhart was a portrait of cool, dressed in a black fedora and sunglasses as he sat on stage near wife, Jan Engelhart, and local band leader and show organizer Randy Oxford. And Little Bill looked pleased as he observed a cross-section of regional blues all-stars put their stamp on his material, as recorded for a new tribute CD “Big Blues for Little Bill.”

Billy Roy Danger & the Rectifiers ripped through a rockin’ version of Little Bill’s “Texas.” Adorned in black leather and slicked back hair, slide guitar wiz Henry Cooper offered a simmering riff on Engelhart’s “Comin’ Home Again.” And Junkyard Jane’s Leanne Trevalyan played a mean washboard as she sang “Thangs Gone Be” with the Blues Vespers All Star Band, a group of musicians that had performed at Immanuel Presbyterian Church’s monthly blues series.

And, of course, the man himself capped things off. I had my camera handy for the second half of the show, and here are some more highlights.

Mayor Bill Baarsma set up his Little Bill Day proclamation by recalling a time in the ‘50s when Tacoma’s “city fathers” barred Little Bill & the Bluenotes from playing “the Devil’s music.” “I’m the city fathers now, so I get to make things right,” he joked. Engelhart was also presented with an honorary diploma to Stadium High School, where he didn’t graduate in the 1950s, in part because of difficulties he suffered because of polio. Well, he also apparently had the rebel without a cause thing going on, too. “Mr. Christie told me on my last day, ‘Bill, you’ll never amount to a damn thing,’” he recalled with a big grin. “He was almost right.”
ERNEST JASMIN

Diva Patti Allen came out with guns blazing as the Randy Oxford Band got started with Etta James’ funktastic “The Blues Is My Business.” Between songs, she remarked at how she’d worked with Engelhart since the early 1960s. But between her infectious intensity and the form fitting dress she was wearing, it was hard to believe her when she joked, “We’re all on Medicaid now. It’s workin’, honey. I’m usin’ all the benefits.” In a poignant moment, Allen also acknowledged Randy Oxford Band drummer Riky Hudson, who recently suffered a stroke. Hudson received and ovation as he flashed a peace sign from his wheel chair at the back of the theater.
ERNEST JASMIN

Backed by the Rusty Williams Band, Merilee Rush also brought the house down with a booming delivery of her late ‘60s hit “Angel in the Morning” (also a hit for Juice Newton.) The band also put their stamp on Engelhart’s “Better Things to Do.” “We’re gonna do this song we took of his, and we just butchered it,” joked the bubbly Rush.
ERNEST JASMIN

Of course, Engelhart’s set included his 1959 hit “I Love an Angel,” with Heather Mueller, of Randy Oxford Band fame, handling the vocals. “She’s the only other person I’ve heard sing that besides me,” Engelhart joked. Many of the night’s performers crowded the stage for the big finale. And a palpably thrilled Engelhart made his exit with a few heartfelt words of thanks. “Thank you for letting Bill Engelhart be Little Bill all these years.”
ERNEST JASMIN