All the cool kids will be at the inaugural show of “Live at Lucille’s” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 29. Correction: All the cool kids already have tickets for the six-concert series of “Live at Lucille’s.” (The rest of us will just have to hope we can get lucky.)
You may think your eyes are deceiving you. The beloved Old City jazz club Lucille’s closed down around the turn of the century (let that sink in, baby boomers). But East Tennessee PBS production manager Chris Smith bought the neon Lucille’s sign that hung in the club’s window at the club’s estate sale. Smith also secured the rights to the name “Live at Lucille’s,” hoping that one day he could tap into the magic of that legacy.
The “Live at Lucille’s” series will be taped at the ET PBS studio, 1611 Magnolia Ave., for later airing this year on the station. Audio segments will also be featured later on WUOT.
Greg Tardy’s NYC Trio will perform in April.
Season tickets have taken up many of the 90 available seats, but some tickets remain on a show-by-show basis.
The series will bring back Lucille’s tradition of showcasing local, regional and national jazz artists performing in an intimate setting. Friday’s show will feature former Knoxville Jazz Orchestra member trumpeter Thomas Heflin and his group with trombonist Mitch Butler. Thomas Heflin/Mitch Butler Quintet – has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
The next show in the series will feature Greg Tardy’s NYC Trio at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 26. Knoxville-based Tardy has performed with bassist Sean Conly and drummer Jaimeo Brown all over the world, but this will be their Knoxville – and PBS – debut.
For tickets, visit www.knoxjazz.org. For more info about the series, contact Vance Thompson by email or 865-573-3226.
Big Ears withdrawal antidote
So Big Ears is over, but you still want to go hear live music downtown and in the Old City? No problem. It may not be as avant-garde, but it’s here for you – well, mostly.
Saturday’s show at the Bijou Theatre with Patty Griffin and Knoxville favorite Scott Miller has sold out. However, the Bijou has Mac Powell (former front man for Third Day) & the Family Reunion at 8 tonight.
Barley’s in the Old City has a weekend full of music planned, starting tonight with Brandon Fulson playing on the “Six O’Clock Swerve” (broadcast live on WDVX for couch potatoes). At 9, catch the Rayo Brothers and Will Payne Harrison. On Friday, Steely Dan tribute band Dirty Logic will play. Saturday night brings back the Barstool Romeos and Sunday the Brockefellers.
The Kris Lager Band will perform at Alive After Five at the Knoxville Museum of Art. The show is 6-8:30 p.m. Friday.
If you want to get out of town, head to the Clayton Center for the Arts in Maryville for the Smoky Mountain Jamboree, presented by East Tennessee’s Own WDVX. The show at 7 p.m. Friday will feature Balsam Range, Tim Stafford and Steve Gulley. Tickets here.
Another alternative is to go hear Jack Herranen & the Little Red Band at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Laurel Theater. Vestal-based Herranen will focus primarily on original songs celebrating and sympathizing with workers, in the tradition of Woody Guthrie.
Meet me in the Lab
Tom Stoppard’s “The REAL Inspector Hound” is on stage through April 14 at the Clarence Brown’s Lab Theater on the University of Tennessee campus.
Books for days
Please don’t tell my mom, but the Friends of the Knox County Public Library Annual Used Book Sale is Saturday-Tuesday, March 30-April 2, at the Jacob Building at Chilhowee Park, 3301 E. Magnolia Ave. Thousands of carefully selected used books and other items will be for sale at “amazingly low prices.”
Saturday is Members-Only Day, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (You can join Friends or renew your membership at the door.) Sunday is open to the public, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday is Half-Price Day, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. ($5 Bag Sale for teachers and librarians 4-6 p.m.) Tuesday is the public Bag Sale Day, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., with $5 for a bag of books (bags provided).