Rockie Brown takes a night for ‘Brand New Day,’ China is fine for Mike Tyson

By John Katsilometes

Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015 | 6 p.m.

The Kats Report Bureau at this writing is Planet Earth. More specifically, Planet Mazda, where KatMobile III (the Seahawks-blue Mazda 6I Grand Touring sports sedan) is undergoing something akin to an MRI exam.

It’s the holidays, so the heating system has decided to go south for the winter. No biggie. Love the car, which has all of the accelerative punch of Marshawn Lynch.

Time to navigate the thoroughfares of VegasVille, every one of which is under some measure of repair right now:

• Column favorite Rockie Brown is celebrating the long-awaited and eagerly anticipated release of her debut album titled “Brand New Day.” The release party, performance and requisite group jam is Monday night at Hard Rock Café on the Strip (doors at 7, windows at 7:20, show at 8 p.m.) Admission is $10, and the night starts with the Lique, followed by Brown’s rip-roarin’ band at 9:30, then The Funk Jam at 11. Joining the band on trumpet is David Perrico, and Chris Phillips of Zowie Bowie is bringing the party for at least one song. Me, I’m angling for a position playing second tambourine (all acoustic, all the time).

I got to know the Rockster a while back during her Monday night performances at Sand Dollar Lounge, which for a time was a healthy capper to a double-header that started with Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns at the Lounge at the Palms. Brown was one of the 10 Bands to Watch in the 2015 preview edition of sister pub Las Vegas Weekly. The CD is a lineup of the songs, nearly every one an original, she performed during those late-night gigs.

The band truly rocks, with horsepower boosted by a horn section of some of the city’s top players. They all groove, too: James Caselton (guitar), Tony Carboney (guitar/percussion), Alfonso “Cito” Bernal (bass), Nick Kittle (drummer), Michael Gonzalez (keyboard), Eddie Rich (tenor and baritone saxophone/flute), Rob Stone (alto and tenor saxophone), Isaac Tubb (trumpet/flugelhorn) and Kevin Mullinax (trombone).

Everyone in this band is an A-plus player, no exaggeration. The result is a soul-funk-blues fusion fronted by the resonantly voiced Brown, who evokes kind of an Amy Winehouse vibe, minus the angst. The CD will be available that night, in CD form, and also on iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon and like online services. It’ll be a great stuffer of the stocking, and this is an act to catch. Fantastic.

• Mike Tyson is in wax. He’s also in Hong Kong.

Leave it to Tyson, ever reinventing himself, to cover that ground in a single month. He’s wrapping the martial-arts film “Ip Man 3,” the latest in a series of biographical action films centered on the life of Wing Chung grandmaster Yip Man. Tyson plays the role of a “property developer” named Frank (so says the official cast listing, though there must be more to his character than developing property).

Also resurrected for the film, via computer-generated imagery, is Bruce Lee, employed as Man’s pupil. The film is set for a Christmas Eve release — in Hong Kong. Look for it Jan. 22 in the U.S.

Tyson also is being immortalized in wax form at Madame Tussauds Las Vegas, with a Dec. 1 unveiling announced. Tyson sat, and evidently stood, for some 300 measurements by 10 artists for a figure based on his appearance in “The Hangover” series. On IMDB, Tyson’s role in “Ip Man 3” is said to be his first “action” role, where I’ve long felt his “Hangover” role was somewhat action-based. Whichever, wax on, wax off, as we used to say …

• Aaron Benward has chimed in to remind that his “Nashville Unplugged” songwriting-performance series is moving into Brooklyn Bowl on Dec. 5, during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. A man who has drafted 11 No. 1 singles on the Billboard country charts, Benward will joined by regular sidekick Travis Howard (hits for Miranda Lambert), Matt Warren (hits for Gary Allen) and Danny Myrick (hits for Jason Aldean and Tim McGraw).

The show also is slotted Friday at 8 p.m. in its usual locale, Club Madrid at Sunset Station. The format is simple but reliably entertaining: Audience members submit song titles on slips of papers, which are read onstage by the singers/songwriters/musicians. Through the course of the night, the performers alternately develop a chosen title and play songs they have written over the course of their careers.

So, if you have a title, something like, “Writing at the Mazda Shop,” opportunity knocks …

• A quick comment from Steve Lawrence, which I tweeted during the week after an interview with him for some other reason down the line: “Las Vegas changed when 'gambling' became 'gaming.' It became corporate then.” Hard to argue.

• Always on the hunt for groovy, all-hours eateries, I recommend the following: El Dorado Cantina, the Mexican restaurant connected to Sapphire’s Gentlemen’s Club on Sammy Davis Jr. Drive. The food is very good, consistently, and healthy (at least according to my physician). Try the tableside guacamole, which is gluten-free and prepared right there at the side of the table.

Downtown at El Cortez (which is Spanish for “The Cortez”), I’ve found Siegel’s 1941 a cool Las Vegas hang for late-night steak action and the observation of memorabilia once belonging to Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel. That was provided to the Epstein family, owners of the hotel, by Siegel’s daughter Millicent Rosen.

Among the photos is a shot of Rosen atop a horse that was given to her by a high roller. In another, she is being walked down the aisle on her wedding day by one Meyer Lansky. If you happen to be dressed as a gangster, this is the place to dine …

• Pitch of the Week (which might or might not be a new feature in The Kats Report) arrives from R&R Partners: The tourist from Ireland who accidentally recorded an entire trip to Las Vegas with his GoPro spun backward — yes, a trip full of selfie footage.

The man’s name is Griffin Joseph. Whoops, I mean Joseph Griffin. Had that backward …

Anyway, Mr. Griffin in being made available for interviews on Friday. OK, I can’t quite see him taking the place of the multitudes of newsmakers who don’t foul up the most rudimentary functions … but the clip, which has nearly 7 million views at this writing, is danged funny.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.