PORTLAND — Grammy Award saxophone virtuoso Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers will headline an evening of comedy and music at Space Gallery on Saturday, Jan. 28.

Space and Near Sighted Productions will present “Club 86,” a new radio series in the tradition of “A Prairie Home Companion” and “The Vinyl Cafe.”

Neville, whose solo work as a jazz saxophonist has been hailed around the world, will appear as himself in “Club 86,” written and directed by Mike Langworthy, and later perform a solo set.

The evening will feature music from the Club 86 Ensemble, led by noted jazz pianist Jesse Lynch plus music/spoken word collaborations with a poet and spoken-word performer Gil Helmick.

“Club 86” is a weekly series following the sometimes reluctant, sometimes clumsy reactions of employees and patrons of a fictitious tavern in Lewiston, Maine, as the new manager strives to re-brand the club as a showcase for local and national performing artists.

Kevin, the manager, struggles to interpret the cryptic instructions of Pete, the mysterious club owner no one has ever seen; win over Marie, the charismatic, sexy bartender who doubts his competence; wrangle a menagerie of employees such as Spencer, a young hustler who finds showing up for work just gets in the way of his many other schemes; Roger, a germ-phobic janitor; and the high-strung and possibly dangerous members of the house band.

At the same time, he tries to cope with patrons and other locals who are suspicious of anybody from “away.”

If that isn’t enough, Pete announces a surprise visit by his old friend, Charlie Neville, who has agreed to an impromptu appearance in a few hours.

Langworthy is a television writer and producer who has worked on more than 300 episodes of television for major U.S. networks and cable outlets, including “Cybill,” starring Cybill Shepherd and Christine Baranski (“The Good Wife”); “Working,” starring Fred Savage; “The Drew Carey Show;” “Zoe…,” starring Selma Blair; and “Living With Fran,” starring Fran Drescher.

He has also written and produced numerous pilots for television and radio in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland, and continues to develop projects at home and abroad. He has co-authored several episodes of CRT’s series “Powder River,” currently running on Sirius/xm radio.

Tickets to “Club 86,” produced by Helmick and Myles Hatch, are $10. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Space, 538 Congress St.

Saxophonist Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers will play a solo set and appear as himself in “Club 86″ at Portland’s Space Gallery on Saturday, Jan. 28.

Copy the Story Link