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People often ask who stole the soul but forget to ask what happened to the blues. Poet Jayne Cortez is a cultural vigilante on a musical rescue mission. “I’m the owner of the blues, and I’m taking the blues back home,” she shouts, hums, and groans in the title track of her latest CD. Cortez and her band, the Firespitters, will be bringing more than the blues to D.C. when they perform as a part of “Tongues on Fire,” a night of explosive jazz and spoken word. Amiri Baraka will be throwing verbal Molotov cocktails of his own, backed by Nasar Abadey’s loaded drums. And poet Gaston Neal and saxophonist Fred Foss will invoke the power of Harriet Tubman, adding their own homegrown blues to this performance by members of the poetic vanguard. Appropriately, the night is hosted by guerilla semanticist DJ Renegade. Proceeds will benefit RAP Inc., a highly effective progressive drug and alcohol treatment program based in the community since 1970. At 8 p.m. at the University of the District of Columbia Auditorium, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW. $18 (benefits District Curators and RAP Inc.). (202) 783-0360. (Holly Bass)