Hunter brings his infectious music to Barkley Theater

The James Hunter Six is performing Saturday at the Oats Park Arts Centers Barkley Theater.

Individual tickets are $17 for members and $20 for nonmembers. To purchase tickets, contact 775-423-1440 or charts@phonewave.net. Tickets are also available at Jeff’s Copy Express and ITT@Naval Air Station Fallon. All seats are reserved. The box office, Art Bar and galleries open at 7 with the performance at 8 p.m.

Not only will James Hunter perform Saturday evening, he will also be part of the free Conversation with the Artist program earlier in the day as he discusses “Soul and R&B” at 3 p.m., also at the Oats Park Art Center.

Throughout his celebrated career, Hunter has remained true not only to his musical roots but also to his loyal band mates — the newest of which joined him over 20 years ago.

The James Hunter Six features Jonathan Lee, drums; Lee Badau, baritone saxophone; Damian Hand, tenor saxophone; Andrew Kingslow, keyboards/percussion; and Jason Wilson, bass.

Critic Thom Jurek of AllMusic Review said Hunter spent much of the 1990s playing small clubs in London, such as the Weavers Pub in Islington (North London) and the 100 Club on Oxford Street in London. Jurek, though, also revealed some of Hunter’s work in the United States.

Jurek said Hunter’s relationship with Van Morrison led to a tour with the latter in the early 1990s; he sang backing vocals on Morrison’s 1994 live album, “A Night in San Francisco,” and his 1995 studio recording, “Days Like This.”

The Independent in the United Kingdom said Hunter’s latest outing with Daptone producer Bosco Mann extends the idiosyncratic retro stylings of last year’s “Hold On!” by setting his scorched soul vocals to a blend of R&B, Latin and Caribbean grooves, a sound rarely heard since Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames played The Flamingo.

“It’s infectious stuff, right from the opening bars of ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Without You,’ a languid shuffle of organ and saxes, with occasional castanet flourishes accenting the rumba groove,” said The Independent.

In addition to the James Hunter Six, visitors can come early and see the exhibits. The selected mixed-media works of Beverly & Her Stuff opened last month for a three-month run that ends on July 14. The show features mostly artists from the Reno area and several from rural Nevada.

Inge Bruggeman, director of the Black Rock Press at the University of Nevada, Reno, has an exhibit — “Deposits: New Work” — showing in the Classroom Gallery of the Oats Park Art Center through July 14. Her work revolves around the idea of the book — the book as object, artifact and cultural icon.