With his outsize charisma and sweat-raising vocals, Bobby Stringer has been charming the pants off local audiences since he was a nervous teen nursing Cokes in clubs he was too young to enter. The 62-year-old Miami native built a loyal following in venues throughout Coconut Grove, Overtown, and Liberty City. "Back in them days, man, he was the number-one entertainer here in Miami," saxophonist Jesse Jones Jr. raves about his longtime friend and colleague. "No matter what he sang a fast tune, a funk tune, a ballad people could feel it." Stringer and Jones share the marquee tonight for An Evening of Jazz and Blues at the South County Civic Center (16700 Jog Rd., Delray Beach). Each man will perform a set with his own band, and then team up for an end-of-the-evening jam. "He really is a jazz musician," Stringer says of the alto-playing Jones. "But he can step up there and blow 'Soul Man' just like he blows a jazz selection. And he's a performer, just like I am." Tickets cost $45. Call 561-495-9813.
Sat., Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m., 2009