Buddy Greco! A name to be seen up in lights ten-foot high in front of the Sands or some equally legendary Las Vegas nitespot.
And tomorrow night he plays The Jam House.
It's quite a coup for the St Paul's bar and music venue, and a damn fine idea to team Greco with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra - a star or yore with the stars of tomorrow.
Buddy Greco is a survivor of the golden age of jazz and cabaret singers - up there in the Rat Pack ratings when it comes to cool sophistication.
He first performed in Britain in 1952 at the London Palladium with the Benny Goodman Band, has played every major concert hall in the world, given a Royal Command Performance, and has 65 albums and more than 100 singles to his credit.
An accomplished pianist and arranger before he came to prominence as a singer, Greco will be celebrating his 80th birthday in August.
Get in early and light a candle for him tomorrow evening.
Tickets are available online, priced at £20, at www.thejamhouse.com. For enquiries, contact the Jam House, St Paul's Square, Birmingham B3 1QU (Tel: 0121 200 3030).
From stars of the past to bands playing very much in the present - Seb Rochford's Polar Bear and the young Birmingham worshippers in the Church of Logick.
They form a double bill on Sunday at The Glee Club, courtesy of Birmingham Jazz.
Polar Bear have two discs out, the second of which, Held On Tips Of Fingers, was a Mercury Prize final-ist. They comprise Rochford on drums, Tom Herbert on bass, and Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart on saxophones, with electronic sounds from Leafcutter John.
There is a freshness and intriguing nature about Rochford's compositions just as there is in his drumming - it builds on the past in a thoroughly original way. His tunes have, for me, the same appeal as guitarist John Scofield's - quirky and yet catchy - with a good deal of the circus nature and burlesque that filters down in a line from Carla Bley through Django Bates.
The saxophone pairing of Wareham and Lockheart is a brilliant idea, each throwing the other's playing into sharp relief.
There is a thoughtfulness at the heart of the Polar Bear sound which I find more appealing than the more glitzy Acoustic Ladyland which shares most of this personnel.
See what you think, and catch up and coming Logickal types too, from 8.30pm on Sunday. And if you've never been to the Glee Club you are in for another treat - best venue in the city for atmosphere and listening pleasure.
Booking is on 0870 241 5093 or at www.glee.co.uk
Finally, I previewed the Tim Amann X-tet a couple of weeks back in error. So here is the correction. The Tim Amann X-tet with guest saxophonist
Oleg Kireyev will be playing the Rush Hour Blues session at the Level 3 bar in Symphony Hall on Friday from 5.30pm. It's free and you'll need to get there early if you want a seat.
* News and views by email please to pl_bacon@yahoo.co.uk
