Columnist Jerry Fink: Caesars Palace gig fits Osborne like a glove

Friday, Feb. 14, 2003 | 9:01 a.m.

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

After performing for presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, David Osborne has become known as "The Pianist to the Presidents."

After a gig last weekend in Atlanta, he may add another title -- "The Pianist to the Pugilists."

Osborne, who performs Wednesdays through Sundays at Caesars Palace's Cafe Lago, was the featured entertainment at a Saturday night party in the 54,000 square-foot palatial home of former world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield.

"I sat next to him at dinner," Osborne said. "He's a really nice guy."

Osborne didn't say whether he talked the ex-champ's one good ear off (Mike Tyson was disqualified from a fight with Holyfield at the MGM Grand Garden in 1997 when Tyson bit off a chunk of Holyfield's right ear).

The dinner was part of an annual fund-raising weekend by the Evander Holyfield Foundation in Atlanta, not unlike the "Grand Slam for Children" sponsored each year in Las Vegas by the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation.

Holyfield's organization is in the midst of raising $20 million to build a Youth Center for Atlanta's inner-city children.

On Feb. 7 and Feb. 8, the foundation sponsored "The Main Event Weekend 2003," which included a concert Friday night at the Georgia Congress Center and the dinner and silent auction Saturday night at the Holyfield estate.

Greg Terada, executive producer of the event, invited Osborne to perform.

"He has heard me play at Caesars six or seven times," said Osborne, who has been with the venue for eight years. "He comes here a lot. His production company is in Phoenix."

Terada has produced concerts in Las Vegas featuring Sheryl Crow and Lionel Richie, among others.

In addition to performing at Holyfield's dinner, he also performed during a cocktail reception before the Friday night concert.

Among the guests at the concert and the dinner were actor Kevin Spacey, comedian Jamie Foxx, attorney Johnnie Cochran and basketball legends Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

On Sunday, Osborne headed for Plains, Ga., 140 miles south of Atlanta. Through the years he has become a favorite of former President Jimmy Carter, who lives in Plains and teaches Sunday school at the Maranatha Baptist Church.

"President Carter told me the church has 132 members, but it gets 10,000 visitors a year," Osborne said. "He said it's the smallest church with the largest number of visitors in the nation."

They come to hear him teach on Sundays.

Visitors also might get a chance to see him working. Sunday he is scheduled to clean up the grounds surrounding the church.

Osborne performed for Carter's Sunday school and church in Plains, and then he performed at the First Baptist Church in nearby Americus, Carter's boyhood home.

When Osborne isn't playing piano for presidents and boxers and fans at Caesars, he keeps busy making CDs -- his 17th, "A Tribute to Frank Sinatra," was recently released.

He doesn't know if he will get a rematch at Holyfield's fund-raising weekend next year.

Lounging around

Big John and the Prescriptions have moved their Sunday blues and jazz jam sessions to the Cheyenne Saloon, 3103 N. Rancho Drive. The jams are from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. They formerly were at the Tongue 'N Groove, 713 Ogden Ave., which recently closed.

Walter O'Douling and the Wild Celts, who perform nightly at Palace Station's Jack's Irish Pub, recently released a new album -- "Ten Tall Tales from the Island" -- which is available at Tower Records on West Sahara Avenue, and at Virgin Records in the Forum Shops at Caesars. Their next album, "Day at the Races," will be released March 17 (St. Patrick's Day) and will be available at the same locations.

Saxophonist Tommy Alvarado will begin hosting a weekly jam session at the Bootlegger this Sunday from 9 p.m. until midnight. He formerly was with Blue Note Las Vegas, which closed last month.

Fans of the long-running Wednesday night open-mike nights at the Kitchen Cafe are thrilled with the session's new location -- at Capozzoli's. After the Kitchen abruptly closed last month, Ailee Capozzoli invited the gang over to her place. Dennis Mellen, Tom Saitta, Brian O'Shea, Robby Robertson, Robert Moore and a host of other musicians familiar at the Kitchen may now be seen and heard at the legendary venue on Maryland Parkway south of Desert Inn Road. The place was packed last Wednesday.

Lou Martinez, who sometimes sits in on drums with Mellen and his crew, performs at Capozzoli's Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays from around 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. or later.

Las Vegas jazz guitarist Raj Rathor is up for a couple of awards by the Just Plain Folks Productions, based in Indianapolis. The organization sponsors an annual "Music Awards Show," which will be held March 1 in Hollywood in the Kodak Theater Complex. Nominees were selected from 102,000 songs and 7800 albums. Rathor's nomination in the Best Instrumental Album category was for "The Dance of the Black Panther." His nomination for Best Instrumental Song was for for "Nightflight" and "My Pal Al."