Four acclaimed boogie-woogie artists will share two grand pianos and one grand stage for Lisa Otey's eighth annual Boogie Woogie Blowout.
And at the end of the night, eight hands will share one piano in a grand finale that shouldn't be missed.
"It's the most exciting thing they are going to see all year," Otey said earlier this week as she prepared for the pianists' arrival.
"Boogie-woogie music already is fast. It takes a lot of skill and almost a virtuoso talent to pull it off," Otey said. "And all these people are also great showmen."
This is the eighth year that Otey has hosted the blowout, which is her opportunity to introduce Tucsonans to boogie-woogie pianists with international reputations. In years past, artists have come from throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands and France.
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This year, Otey went Down Under to find swamp blues blaster Pugsley Buzzard.
"If Dr. John and Fats Waller had a baby, it would be Pugsley Buzzard," Otey joked. "He has that cool stride, piano thing, with that Australian, deep, gravelly, suave kind of voice."
Otey launched a $1,000 Kickstarter campaign to raise some of the money to host Buzzard; the campaign (www.kickstarter.com/projects/boogiewoogieblowout/lisa-oteys-8th-annual-boogie-woogie-blowout) continues until 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
Buzzard, making his first Tucson appearance, joins California blues rocker Bob Malone, who has been on the road with John Fogerty; the pair did a few shows in California before their Tucson dates. Two-fisted boogie-woogie wild woman Doña Oxford - formerly of blues phenom Shemekiah Copeland's band - rounds out the lineup.
"They all have their different styles. They are jazz and blues, soul and rock," Otey said. "It's a celebration of all those kinds of music on the piano."
Otey said the four will each play a set before joining on stage for duets and trios and the eight-handed finale.
"The audience gets to be exposed to four people who headline their own concerts and festivals around the world. They get four concerts in one," she said.
As a warm-up to Sunday's blowout at Fox Tucson Theatre, Otey and friends played a show Wednesday in Phoenix and will bring the party to Green Valley's Community Performing Arts Center on Friday.
If you go
• What: Lisa Otey's eighth annual Boogie Woogie Blowout, featuring Otey, Bob Malone, Doña Oxford and Pugsley Buzzard.
• When and where: 7 p.m. Friday at Green Valley's Community Performing Arts Center, 1250 W. Continental Road; 7 p.m. Sunday at Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St.
• Tickets: For Green Valley, $20 in advance at www.performingartscenter.org or $25 at door; 399-1750; Fox show, $18 to $40 at www.foxtucsontheatre.org, 547-3040.
• Et cetera: Otey is arranging a show Saturday in Bisbee. The location was not set as of press time. For details, call her at 370-5912.
