Bluesmen Hart, Davis, trumpeter Botti perform

Two bluesmen and a trumpeter perform next week in Seattle, but that’s just the bare bones of the story.

The bluesmen are Alvin Youngblood Hart and Guy Davis; the trumpeter is Chris Botti. Hart has covered so much ground and won over so many blues fans that it’s hard to believe his W.C. Handy Award for Best New Artist was in 1997.

Hart won Downbeat magazine’s Critics Poll award for Best Blues Album for 1998’s “Territory”; followed with “Start with the Soul,” a New York Times top-10 release (2000) and BBC’s Blue Record of the Year, and earned a 2003 Grammy nomination for “Down in the Alley.”

Davis’ focus has been to deliver acoustic country blues traditions to a new generation, although he sometimes takes time to act in films (“Beat Street”), television (“One Life to Live”) and theater (“Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil,” “In Bed with the Blues”).

Best-selling trumpeter Botti, on People magazine’s 2004 “50 Most Beautiful People” list, may be breaking through with “When I Fall in Love,” an album of love songs.

The Oregon native discovered he didn’t want to be a traditional jazz musician, preferring a Miles Davis, spacey approach to ballads but in a pop format while keeping the atmospheric quality that he loved about jazz.

Botti was Paul Simon’s sideman on a 15-month world tour. He’s also worked with Joni Mitchell, Natalie Merchant, and Marc Cohn, and performed in the A&E show “Sting in Tuscany: All This Time,” which earned six Emmy nominations.

His latest CD, “When I Fall in Love,” entered Billboard’s traditional jazz chart on top and at No. 124 on the pop album chart.

Holly Near, Cris Williamson: A Seattle winter without Near and Williamson would be dull indeed. On Saturday, the two share a stage with a mix of their classics, new music, and even a few unexpected traditional classics. Their new CD is “Cris &Holly”; and Williamson has a solo CD out in February, “The Real Deal.”

Dan Purser: The contemporary pop-rock musician is already carrying the up-and-coming label, and if the recent full house at the Triple Door is any indication, with good cause. He’ll return to the Seattle venue Wednesday. Experience Music Project called his music “energetic and passionate.” Expect catchy hooks, harmonies and even humor.

Anti-Inaugural Ball: The Blood Brothers, Pretty Girls Make Graves and IQU share the bill Thursday in Seattle. Proceeds benefit Life for Relief and Development, a non-profit, non-governmental organization founded by Iraqi-American professionals in response to the humanitarian crisis after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. After the ball, the Blood Brothers band resumes touring in support of “Crimes,” which has earned critics’ praise: “unnervingly enthralling” (Wired) to “the sound of young men converting all kinds of frustration into righteous wrath” (Spin).

Chris Botti

Where to hear it

Hart &Davis: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., Seattle; $18.50, $20.50; 206-441-9729.

Chris Botti: Various times Thursday through Jan. 23, Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., Seattle; $22.50, $24.50; 206-441-9729.

Near &Williamson: 8 p.m. Saturday, Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $15-50; 206-628-0888.