Check out Willie & the Hand Jive and a whole lot more at about the 21:30 mark in the video above… and don’t miss trumpeter Clora Bryant at 14:20!!!

Li’l Bit (Gail Muldrow), guitar & vocals.
Jason Thraites, guitar & banjo.
Paul Lamb, bass.
Nick Otis, drums.

$20 cover, byob.
Reservations, call 415-586-3733.

Join bassist Bing Nathan and Kit Robberson–who had the distinct and memorable pleasure of booking the Johnny Otis Show for their wedding on Potrero Hill back in the summer of 1992–for a rockin’ celebration of Bing & Kit’s 33rd anniversary, featuring two sets with the Nick Otis Orchestra!

Nick Otis (one of Johnny Otis’s many talented musician offspring) is a versatile drummer with an unerring sense of rhythm and groove no matter the genre. He enjoyed a long tenure behind the drumkit in his dad’s band and alongside Johnny in the family’s organic apple juice business cum nightclub in Sebastopol, and continues the family music tradition leading a number of bands from his base in the North Bay.

The four-piece Nick Otis Orchestra features Gail Muldrow, the singer and guitarist Johnny called Li’l Bit, and as a band they play a li’l bit of everything from deep blues to heavy metal to “Willie & the Hand Jive.” Here’s a taste!

Gail was a key player with the Johnny Otis Show in the 1990s, after and while working all over the Bay Area soul and funk scene with the likes of Sly Stone and Graham Central Station. This band does its own thing, with just a nod to Johnny’s unique repertoire.

mojohand.com, home of all things blues, notes that Nick’s dad, Johnny Otis, wasn’t just a musician—he was a cultural force who helped shape the sound of American R&B.

Born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes in 1921 to Greek immigrant parents, Otis grew up in a Black neighborhood in Berkeley, California, and chose to live his life immersed in Black culture and music.

“As a kid, I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be Black or white, I would be Black,” he once said.

Otis wore many hats: bandleader, songwriter, producer, talent scout, DJ, and performer. A gifted drummer and vibraphonist, he scored big in the late 1940s with his hit “Harlem Nocturne” and later “Willie & the Hand Jive,” a crossover smash in 1958.

But perhaps his greatest legacy lies in discovering and launching the careers of major R&B talents. Otis introduced the world to Etta James, Little Esther Phillips, Big Mama Thornton, and Jackie Wilson, among others. His knack for spotting talent was uncanny, and his band often served as a launching pad for future stars.

Otis also broke racial barriers, running an integrated band and hosting a long-running R&B radio show in Los Angeles. His 1951 revue-style shows helped define early rock ’n’ roll, mixing gospel fire, blues grit, and swing sensibility.

Though he never became a household name like some of the artists he championed, Johnny Otis was the heartbeat behind the beat—a behind-the-scenes legend whose influence echoes through generations. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 90, leaving behind a musical legacy as bold and boundary-breaking as the man himself.

Johnny’s kids and grandkids, Nick, Shuggie, Jon, Niko and Eric, carry on!

Read/hear more about & from the wonderful Johny Otis on NPR’s Fresh Air, before the ghouls wreck public noncommercial radio in their thirst for permanent dominance of the American psyche. In the long run, they’re doomed to fail. But along their miserable way, joy and decency are being wrung out of everyday life and life itself is being rung out of countless human beings in their violent assault. Johnny Otis and his legacy spit in the eye of the stupid and bloated bully incarnate simply by being human. Come out and celebrate Johnny, Bing & Kit on Saturday. It’s an act of resistance that we need and that you’ll enjoy.

And it’ll rock!