Columnist Jerry Fink: Blues and barbecue make for a perfect match

Friday, June 7, 2002 | 10:07 a.m.

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at jerry@lasvegassun.com at (702) 259-4058.

It's the kind of fusion I like -- blues and barbecue. What can be more natural?

When the owner of the Memphis Championship Barbecue restaurant at Santa Fe Station decided to put in a lounge with live music, he chose the blues.

And when you're looking for good blues, what can be more natural than John Earl and the Boogie Man Band?

Mike Mills, founder of the restaurant chain, said, "I can't play one note, but I enjoy the music."

The Boogie Man Band performs Thursdays through Saturdays, from about 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday nights are jam sessions.

"Sometimes the jams get out of control, but in a good way," Carlos Silva, spokesman for the restaurant, said. "They are totally unpredictable. One night there was a guy standing on his head, playing sax. Sometimes people are almost dancing on the tables. It's awesome."

The regular members of the band include John Earl Williams (lead vocals, guitar and harmonica), Sid Fisher (guitar), Jim Hall (sax), Art Groom (organ/keyboard, harmonica), Pete Savino (drums) and Tim Fahey (bass).

The musicians who participate in the jams must be invited. It is not an open-mike session.

"It's our band and a lot of friends getting together," Williams, the band's founder, said. "It's an invitational jam. We don't do open mikes. There have been a lot of train wrecks with open mikes. We make sure the music is coherent, so everyone onstage knows what's going on.

"We let everyone play that we know can play."

And Williams knows a lot of musicians.

The native of Lubbock, Texas, has been a driving force in the local blues scene since moving to Las Vegas in 1986 and joining The Blues Kings. In '88 he formed The Black Sheep Blues Band, which became the Boogie Man Band the following year.

In 1990 Williams and his wife, Shirley, took over management of the Sand Dollar Lounge. For nine years the Boogie Man Band was closely associated with that venue, making it one of the most popular blues clubs in town.

Williams co-produces the annual summer concert series at Lee Canyon at Mount Charleston, and the biannual Blues & Brews festivals during the annual River Run motorcycle event in Laughlin.

The Boogie Man Band is working on its sixth CD, which will include 16 original numbers.

"We were our own distributor for the first five CDs," Williams said. "For the latest one, we're dealing with a couple of European record companies to see who will give us the best deal.

"Maybe we'll be an overnight success."

Williams was part of the Las Vegas Blues Society when it was founded in 1988. He served on its board of directors for several years in the '90s.

The society disbanded a couple of years ago, and now Williams and Memphis Championship Barbecue are reviving the organization -- or, more accurately, creating an organization that has similar goals.

The new alliance is The Music Society of the Americas, and similar to the Blues Society before it, the organization will host festivals.

"It will encompass all styles of music from the Western Hemisphere, from the North Pole to Tierra Del Fuego (on the southern tip of South America)," Williams said.

Blues, jazz, reggae, salsa, country, zydeco, rock 'n' roll. "We'll bring all of it into our festivals," Williams said.

Williams said his eclectic interest in music came from performing in Texas bars early in his career.

"You had to play everything if you wanted to play in the bars -- Buck Owens, The Beatles, everything," Williams said.

Silva said the barbecue restaurant is a strong supporter of the new association.

"We want to do this not just to have blues music, but to establish a blues culture in Las Vegas," he said. "On a personal level, I love to watch things grow and mature. I want to be part of an association that does something."

Silva said eventually the music in the restaurant's lounge will be expanded to include more than just blues.

"We're looking at different kinds of good American music," Silva said. "We're talking about bluegrass, some Southern- energy music."

And when it comes to music, the Boogie Man Band gets its licks in at Memphis Championship Barbecue. So do the diners.

Lounging around

Live entertainment has returned to the Fremont. The Aloha Cabaret, a new 125-seat room, features free shows (with the purchase of a drink) at 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. A $12.95 admission fee is charged for shows at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. The venue is dark Wednesdays and Thursdays. The free matinees feature dueling violinists Olga Breeskin and Johnny Potash as the "Flying Fiddles." "Divine Divas," a tribute show, is the evening entertainment.

Lil' Elmo & the Cosmos had the crowds on their feet dancing to beat the band at the Castaways' Windjammer Lounge last weekend. Why doesn't this oldies rock 'n' roll group have a steady gig in Vegas? It brings a lot of energy to the stage. Everyone loves Lil' Elmo & the Cosmos.

Dennis Mellen (vocals/keyboard), Brian O'Shea (vocals/trombone) and Tom Saitta (vocals/flugelhorn) celebrated their third anniversary at the Kitchen Cafe with a bash Wednesday night. There were too many people to count. Among those joining the trio onstage were Chris Gordan (bass) and vocalists Alan Broze, Pat Newell and Maggi Albisani (once a popular attraction at Keys, which is now The Dakota). Albisani has a regular Thursday-night gig at the Kitchen.

Sharon Williams, aka The Singing Cabbie, awed customers at Bootlegger Bistro Wednesday night. Williams is a classically trained singer from the East Coast who came to Vegas to pursue a musical career a few years back. While waiting for the career to happen, she began driving a taxi. Williams is beginning to attract some attention in local nightclubs. Maybe soon she can park the cab for good.

Big Tiny Little, one of the finest jazz pianists in the world, rocked Sunset Station's Club Madrid last week with his boogie woogie ("Big Tease Boogie"). Little, who performed on "The Lawrence Welk Show" for four years in the '70s, was in town for the second-annual Las Vegas Jazz Festival on Fremont Street. He dropped by the "Dennis Bono Variety Hour" to give fans a sample of what they would hear during last weekend's event.