Blues fans have a chance to share a little heaven this Friday. Pinetop Perkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Roy Rogers with the Delta Rhythm Kings all unite for the Fall Blues Ball at the Crystal Bay Casino on Tahoe's North Shore.

The Crystal Bay has been carving a niche in the northern Nevada entertainment scene over the past couple of years. It hosts a series of free concerts by some avant-garde and up-and-coming performers, occasional comedy nights and plenty of rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues. The performers are usually of note in their specialized categories of music but are not well-known enough to fill major casino showrooms. This celebration, though, would do well just about anywhere.

Perkins is a legendary Mississippi bluesman. If that status were achieved by age alone, he would qualify: He is 95 years old. But it takes more than age; it takes a lifetime of playing and influencing. Perkins began in 1927, playing guitar and piano at parties and honky-tonks. He then dropped the guitar because of an injury to his left arm, went to piano exclusively, and played it throughout the Mississippi Delta with Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, B.B. King and Earl Hooker.

Perkins is best known for being the pianist with the Muddy Waters Band for the 12 years Waters was at the top. He then staked out more of his own territory with other members of the group, forming the Legendary Blues Band. He went solo and in his eighth decade released 15 recordings, most notably "Born in the Delta" and "Legends." He received a Grammy lifetime achievement award in 2005 and was featured in the Clint Eastwood "Piano Blues" segment of Martin Scorsese's "The Blues." As if Perkins alone weren't enough of a draw, the Blues Ball also features the somewhat-younger (born in 1936) Smith. A co-founder of the Legendary Blues Band with Perkins, he also played extensively as drummer with Muddy Waters. His "shuffle" style is an essential part of the Chicago blues sound, but these days he more often plays harmonica.

The Roy Rogers in this lineup rides no horse, but plays a sizzling style of slide guitar with eight solo recordings, two Grammy nominations and six Grammy credits as producer of albums for John Lee Hooker and Ramblin' Jack Elliott.

Also on the Crystal Bay schedule this week are Ozomatli and its mix of hip hop, salsa and cumbia, joined by rapper Chali 2na on Thursday at 9 p.m. ($27 in advance, $30 day of); rising blues player Joe Nemeth in a free concert after the Blues Ball on Friday; a free jam with Tony Furtado at 9 p.m. Wednesday; and the Mother Truckers' rock 'n' roll free Saturday at 10 p.m.

Around the Silver Circle

A veteran showroom artist, Reynolds has in recent years cut her show back considerably, providing now mostly nostalgia and carrying through on her immeasurable charm. She is still working to make money for her goal of a Hollywood museum housing her collection of more than 3,000 costumes and 46,000 square feet of props and equipment.

• "Professor Satchafunkilius and the Musterion of Rock" sounds like a title out of the psychedelic '70s but is in fact this year's release by Joe Satriani, a multiple Grammy-nominated guitarist who plays the Silver Legacy this Friday.

• The Trans-Siberian Railway makes a holiday appearance in the Events Center on Friday.

• José Feliciano plays Harrah's Tahoe this Saturday.