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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

Bob Nave Visitation And Memorial Concert This Weekend

Courtesy Bob Nave
Bob Nave performing at The Redmoor in 2012

Play It Forward honors Bob Nave, the musician and radio DJ who died Jan. 28, with a memorial show 2-6 p.m. at The Redmoor, 3187 Linwood Ave., Mount Lookout, on Sunday, Feb. 16.

A visitation for Nave will be 1:30-3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, at Spring Grove Cemetery Funeral Home, 4389 Spring Grove Ave., Northside, according to his obit. There will be no funeral service.

The "Bob Nave Memorial Event Show" Sunday at The Redmoor was Nave's idea, says Marcos Sastre, a local musician with the BlueBirds. It's been organized by Play It Forward,the nonprofit Gary Burbank started to benefit local musicians with medical problems. Nave was treasurer for the group.

"Bob thought people might come, and make some donations to Play It Forward," Sastre says.

Credit Courtesy Bob Nave
Bob Nave (right) with the Blues Merchants in 2015.

There is no admission charge for the show; donations are encouraged.

The program starts with a tribute to Nave, who played keyboards for the 1960s Lemon Pipers rock band and the Blues Merchants band he formed in 2006. Steve Schmidt, Ricky Nye and Charlie Fletcher will take turns playing Nave's beloved Hammond M-3 organ that he bought second-hand in 1966 from British blues bandleader John Mayall.

Blues Merchants members Chris Kepes, Dave Koenig, Marc Hoffman and Amy McFarland will take the stage at 3 p.m. Sunday with Nye taking Nave's place on the Hammond organ.

Rhythm Jones, the BlueBirds, Schmidt and Nye also will perform Sunday.

Nave was a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, where he was the keyboard player for the Lemon Pipers that had the No. 1 hit, "Green Tambourine," in 1968.

Nave started in radio at Oxford's old WOXR-FM in the 1960s. He later hosted jazz shows on WNOP-AM, WVXU-FM and WMKV-FM, and did more than 50 interviews for WVXU-FM's Around Cincinnati. Recordings of his Jazz Alive show air at 4 p.m. Sundays and 9 p.m. Mondays WMKV-FM.

Read more about Nave in my Jan. 28 story about his life.

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.