MONDAY, JULY 21 2014 >>>

1. Algerian blues guitarist Abd.El.Kader, or AEK, has created his own original blues style, SafarBlues, combining the sounds of North Africa and the West. AE discovered the guitar when he was 10. Very quickly he felt a passion for the blues, whose laments reminded him of the traditional songs of his country of origin. It was the beginning of the nineties that he crossed the path of famous bluesmen like Correy Harris, Luther Allison, Willie Kent and Amar Sundy. Sundy supported AEK, together they played at various festivals, jam sessions and Parisian clubs throughout France. It's from that collaboration with Amar Sundy that his SafarBlues was born, a mix between blues and African rhythms balanced on the strings of his guitar. AEK and his band revisit The Swiss for its Monday Night Blues series at 8 p.m.

2. "Mining the Ego" presents a selection of sculpture from Benjamin Entner's "Ego Sum" series, in which Entner draws himself in postures similar to that of Classical Greco-Roman and Renaissance sculpture. "Ego Sum" is a series of inflatable drawings that explore the boundaries and interplay between two- and three-dimensional methods of “making.” Specifically, the point at which a drawing can become form and an object can become a representation. Read Alec Clayton's review of the show here, then check it out from noon to 4 p.m. at the Minnaert Center.

3. Local comedian and host Eric Puddin Lorentzen hosts the "Monday Madness Comedy Night with Puddin" at 9 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge. Expect 6-10 minute sets, each recorded. The audience will choose a winner, who will headline the following week. It was the great Bill Cosby who said, "Puddin, you can't be a comedian without him," or something.

4. Mike Lewis spent 25 years of his life playing trumpet in Polynesia. For the last 15 years, he has been working the tri-state New York area, fluent in jazz trumpet, lead trumpet and recording projects. Lewis recently moved to Olympia. At 8 p.m., he and Combo Caméléon - full of horns and percussion - will play Rhythm and Rye in downtown Olympia.

5. While there have been a few bars that have tried hosting karaoke nights with live bands, Jazzbones' Rockaraoke live band karaoke is one of the ones that's lasted. It can be fun as hell singing along with a live band. Expect $2 PBR drafts, $3 Sinfire shots and $4 Smirnoff flavor vodka bombs.

LINK: Monday, July 21 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area