courtesy of Top Hat Theatre Club

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Theater

● It's the Fourth of July, and you want to get in the spirit, right?

Then head on out to Top Hat Theatre Club, 3110 E. Fort Lowell Road, and settle in for a fireside chat with Franklin D. Roosevelt.

That's right, FDR.

Well, actor James Gooden, actually. But he looks and acts like FDR for this one-man show. Roosevelt was famous for his fireside chats, and Gooden is famous (in our town, anyway) for his fine acting.

Among the works he re-creates here are excerpts from Roosevelt's first Inaugural Address and the Pearl Harbor speech.

It'll be one show only — at 1 p.m. today. Tickets are $10. Call 326-6800.

Jazz

● A hard-bop icon and Ray Charles band man is coming to town for a Tucson Jazz Society show on Saturday.

David "Fathead" Newman played sax as part of Charles' original ensemble for 12 years starting in 1954. Bokeem Woodbine, known best for playing the character Leon Cooley on the Holly Hunter series "Saving Grace," took on the role of Newman in the 2004 Charles biopic "Ray."

In his time since Charles, Newman has played on recordings for artists ranging from B.B. King to Queen Latifah.

He brings his musical experience and more than 35 original albums worth of material to the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa, 3800 W. Starr Pass Blvd.

The Tucson Jazz Orchestra will be there too. The performance begins at 7 p.m., and tickets are $40, with discounts available, through the Tucson Jazz Society, 903-1265.

More jazz

● The Jazz Society will finish off the Fourth of July weekend with a birthday celebration for smooth-jazz trumpeter Rick Braun on Sunday.

Like Newman, Braun has performed with plenty of big-name stars, Tom Petty, Crowded House and Rod Stewart among them.

His smooth-jazz career has been peppered with hits, including his most popular, a cover of Hugh Masekela's "Grazing in the Grass" with saxophone player Boney James.

Braun turns 53 this weekend. The party will be held at 7 p.m. at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Drive, and tickets are $40, with discounts available, through the society, 903-1265.