MUSIC NOTEBOOK : ‘60s, ‘70s Performers Finding They’re Still in Demand After All These Years

Danny O’Keefe, 45, rose to success in the 1970s, writing and performing “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues.”

Dave Van Ronk, 52, made it a decade earlier as a key ingredient in the folk and blues community of Greenwich Village.

On successive nights, Oct. 14 and 15, at McCabe’s in Santa Monica, both will continue to find out if their music--and careers--have relevance in the 1980s.

“I tour about half the year,” Van Ronk said. “I think my music has been sustaining itself very nicely.”

Although much of the Greenwich Village scene has disappeared, Van Ronk said there’s plenty of demand for his blues-tinged jazz in the rest of the world.

As for O’Keefe, he’s working regularly on his first album in four years and is excited about hitting the road. “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues” gave him a good time for a long time, he said.

“They can still record it, as far as I’m concerned,” O’Keefe said. “It’s better than selling shoes.”

O’Keefe’s show will begin at 8 p.m.; tickets cost $12.50. Ticket prices and times for Van Ronk’s show have not been announced.

Speaking of the blues, the Southern California Blues Society will stage “Blue Sunday” at the Loa in Santa Monica on Oct. 16. It will be the first in a series of four events celebrating the blues.

The first show will feature Floyd Dixon on piano and vocals, Billy Hadnott on bass and Gene Washington on drums. Dixon wrote “Hey Bartender,” recorded by the Blues Brothers, and has just completed “There’s a Love Somewhere for Me” and “Wisdom Speak,” commissioned by Willie Nelson.

Tickets are $7; there will be two sets--at 5 and 7 p.m.

On the jazz scene, the L.A. Jazz Choir, with guest Rosemary Clooney, will perform at 7 p.m. next Sunday at the Wadsworth Theatre in West Los Angeles.

Gerald Eskelin, choir director, said the concert will help finance the choir’s workshop program, where 20 singers polish their craft.

Eskelin said the choir will perform hits ranging from the Big Band era through tunes made popular in the ‘80s.

Choir supporter Clooney, 60, said that traditional jazz is undergoing a renaissance and that audiences are interested again in the standard songs of decades ago.

Tickets, ranging from $10 to $30, are available at Ticketmaster and the Wadsworth Theatre box office.