Bobble Tiki is getting old. There’s no denying it.

Each day, the evidence of Bobble Tiki’s ever-increasing age becomes more and more blatant. There’s hair in Bobble Tiki’s ears. Not much, but enough. There are aches in Bobble Tiki’s bones. When the weather gets cold, Bobble Tiki feels it. Bobble Tiki can’t run as fast or jump as high as he once did. More telling, Bobble Tiki never feels like running fast or jumping high anymore.

No matter how hip Bobble Tiki tries to act, or how many sentences he throws “yo!” on the end of, Bobble Tiki can’t hide the facts. Bobble Tiki is no longer young. He may not officially be considered “old” yet, but those days are right around the corner.

For the first time in Bobble Tiki’s life, when he hears someone getting made fun of for their age, he actually feels for them. If no other wisdom has accompanied Bobble Tiki’s multiplying gray hairs, he knows for sure that everyone ages. Those who are lucky get old.

So, when Bobble Tiki heard one of his colleagues doing a stand-up routine by the water-cooler centering on the age of Leon Russell, Bobble Tiki felt a little bad for the 65-year-old music legend.    

Of course, Bobble Tiki understood where his colleague was coming from. For the record, Leon Russell looks about twice his age and will play Jazzbones Saturday, Sept. 22, and Sunday the 23rd. Bobble Tiki saw Leon Russell last year when his laboring tour bus pulled up at Jazzbones, and Bobble Tiki, much like his colleague, couldn’t help but notice the effort it took Russell to shuffle on and off the stage. Much like his colleague, Bobble Tiki took note of the laptop in front of Russell’s keyboard helpfully displaying the lyrics to every song he performed. There were ample signs of Russell’s Social Security eligibility.

So sure, Bobble Tiki gets it. Bobble Tiki knows that making fun of old performers is funny. And Bobble Tiki knows that Leon Russell fits the bill.

But reducing Russell’s stop in Tacoma this week to merely an occasion for AARP cracks isn’t fair to anyone. It certainly doesn’t do justice to the career of such an accomplished American musician.

Leon Russell looks like Santa Claus these days, but that wasn’t always the case. He was once known as “The Master of Space and Time,” and even before that as Claude Russell Bridges — the name given to him at birth by his parents in Oklahoma, 1942. Russell first gained recognition working as a session musician with icons like Phil Spector and Jerry Lee Lewis (in retrospect, two very strange dudes).  However, his musical career began long before in the nightclubs of Tulsa where at age 14 he was entertaining crowds with his piano skills. 

Session musicians only go so far, and Russell has become much more. It wasn’t long before Russell embarked on a solo career, and in addition began fruitful relationships with many of the biggest names in music at the time. As Rolling Stone has noted, in the ’70s Russell was “only a hit or two away from superstardom.” His work with Joe Cocker, specifically the “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” tour, live album, and ensuing film, made Russell’s top hat a household image, and songs of his, like “Superstar,” and “Delta Lady,” recognizable to music fans the world over. Russell has been active in nearly every genre popular music has to offer, and has collaborated with Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and Bob Dylan — to name just a few. His 1971 medley of a “Jumping Jack Flash” and “Young Blood” was a high point of the Concert for Bangladesh.

Perhaps the strangest turn of Russell’s career came late in the game when the bearded friend of Willie Nelson took to religion. Much of Russell’s most recent work — including ’06’s Angel in Disguise and A Mighty Flood — are bible friendly, to say the least. 

Bobble Tiki doesn’t hold Leon Russell’s religion against him any more than he does his age. Everyone gets old. There’s not much to be done about it. Lots of folks find Jesus. There’s not much to be done about that either. Leon Russell will play two nights at Jazzbones this week, and despite the senior citizen jokes you may be hearing, they’ll be two of the best nights this week has to offer.
   
As always, Bobble Tiki doesn’t care how you spend your weekend, because Bobble Tiki doesn’t even know you. Actually, that’s not true. You met Bobble Tiki one time at a party. Bobble Tiki was wasted and accidentally spilled some of his Bartels and James on your white, “Miami Vice” blazer. You nearly kicked Bobble Tiki’s ass. Unless you can prove to Bobble Tiki you’re no longer likely to go all Sonny Crocket on him, then he’s pretty sure he doesn’t want to meet you again. Check out Breakfast with Bobble Tiki every Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday at www.weeklyvolcanospew.com, and consider that close enough.

[Jazzbones, Saturday, Sept. 22-Sunday, Sept. 23, 7 p.m., all ages, $35-$38, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]