LEE OSKAR, THE revered harmonica player who formed the band War with Eric Burdon back in 1969, has been added to tonight’s roster of rock ‘n’ rollers at Sequim’s Grant Field.
He’s also slated to play at Bumbershoot, the giant music and arts festival at Seattle Center — but since he’s not due there till Sunday, Oskar is flying to the Sequim venue via hot-air balloon.
“That’s weather-permitting,” said Quinn Hampton of Global Entertainment, promoter of tonight’s concert, which also features Rare Earth and the Fabulous Johnsons.
Hampton is highly optimistic that the Oskar-bearing balloon will fly and alight at Grant Field, which is just off East Washington Street at 729 West Sequim Bay Road (across from the Black Bear Diner and Holiday Inn Express).
At long last
This is, at last, the weekend of the Sequim Balloon Festival, a three-day stretch chosen more than a year ago for its meteorological history.
In other words, it has hardly ever rained during the first few days of September in Sequim.
Oskar, who is hailed around the world as a harmonica virtuoso, is also a painter, and will show some of his art today at another venue in Sequim.
Most Americans, though, know him for the 24 years he devoted to the rock, funk and soul music of War. The band’s hits included “Spill the Wine,” “Low Rider,” “The Cisco Kid” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” before Oskar left in 1993.
Oskar, now 64, has also had an illustrious career as a solo artist, and was named Instrumental Artist of the Year by the industry magazines Cashbox, Billboard and Record World.
Then there is Lee Oskar Harmonica, his company providing harps for blues, folk, rock, country and R & B players. These instruments, like their namesake, are revered by fellow musicians.
When the Chicago bluesman Junior Wells died in 1998, he was buried with a set of Lee Oskar harmonicas.
Paintings on display
These days Oskar is working in a whole other medium: visual art.
So in addition to his concert tonight, Oskar will display a selection of his paintings at the Quality Inn & Suites, 134 River Road, Sequim, today from 11 a.m. till 3 p.m.
Oskar himself will be on hand from 2 p.m. till 3 p.m., Hampton added.
For more details, phone Global Entertainment at 360-797-1277 or the Quality Inn at 360-683-2800.
