PAUL SCHRAG: RANDY OXFORD AND THE 9-11 BENEFIT >>>

Horn man Randy Oxford will be back at Jazzbones tonight. Surely, you've noticed Oxford's break from Jazzbones Wednesday blues jam appearances. They became almost taken for granted until ceasing to be.

This time Oxford is back at Jazzbones with a cause - firefighters.

Fitting, no?

Oxford is an award-winning blues artist with a long, celebrated history in Tacoma. Oxford lived in Chicago, at the age of 11, when jazz was in everyone's ears. A trip to see The Music Man, its prolific use of trombones, and a dire need in the school band encouraged Oxford to pick up his first piece of brass. After struggling with music for years, he found a mentor that helped launch a career that took Oxford around the world, eventually returning to the South Sound. He and his trombone have been here ever since.

We're lucky to have them.

[Jazzbones, Randy Oxford and Pals Present Remember the Fallen, Friday, Sept. 11, 8 p.m., $12, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]