Bonham -- The band is ready and demand for tickets is steady as the Creative Arts Center in Bonham prepares to pay tribute May 10 to native son Charlie Christian, one of the most influential guitarists of the first half of the 20th century.

In a small way, the anticipation is reminiscent of the way the house band at Minton's Playhouse felt 71 years ago as Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke, Nick Fenton and Joe Guy waited to see Christian walk onto the stage for a late night jam session after wrapping up a show with the Benny Goodman Sextet.

Benny Goodman and Charlie Christian

The "house band" in Bonham will be an all-star jazz combo under the direction of James Dering, chair of the music department at Grayson College.

For one memorable night Thursday, May 10, the garden at Creative Arts Center will be transformed into a jazz club in honor of Christian, a 1990 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The narrator for the evening will be another very special touch as Oklahoma City resident Anita Arnold travels to Bonham to tell about Christian's meteoric rise to stardom and sudden demise after he contracted tuberculosis. Arnold was a member of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Advisory Committee for three years and received the 2010 Oklahoma Human Rights Award.

Arnold is also the author of three cultural history books, Charlie and the Deuce, Legendary Times and Tales of Second Street, and The Charlie Christian Photo Album and Oklahoma City Music:  Deep Deuce and Beyond.

A special gift will be waiting for Arnold when she arrives in Bonham, courtesy of Terry and Bonnie Blose.

A bois d'arc vase, turned from a tree on the Blose farm in Gober, Texas, finished with beeswax made by honey bees in the area and adorned with a handmade rose will be presented to Arnold. The rose is symbolic of the 1917 jazz classic "Rose Room" that earned Charlie Christian a place in the Benny Goodman Sextet.

"It was very exciting to be involved in the project," says Terry.

Mr. Blose has also created a commemorative wooden frame fashioned from wood rescued from the house where the legendary jazz guitarist was born in 1916.

Christian's birthplace was destroyed, but the wooden frame and two steel roses will be auctioned off May 10 during the Tribute to the Music of Charlie Christian.

This will be a night of fun, food, friends and fine music, but it will also be an historic occasion as the music of Charlie Christian is performed for the first time in the town where he was born in 1916 and buried in 1941.

In fact, make it a Charlie Christian day by visiting the Fannin County Museum of History to see the finest exhibit in all of Texas dedicated to Christian. Fannin County Museum of History is located at 1 Main Street and its hours are 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. 

Then stop by Roma Italian Restaurant at 1919 Hwy 121 North in Bonham to listen to the music of the Benny Goodman Sextet while you enjoy an early dinner before heading over to the Creative Arts Center for an evening of jazz.