We popped in to the grand opening of the Fringe Box Office last night, and were delighted to hear a band in full swing. Delighted, because the musicians are all old friends. Dan Hovey (guitar), Jeff Gray (sax), and Eric Leifert (bass) were cooking up a sultry mix of jazz standards to beat the heat.

Jeff you may have seen with the partyriffic Joker’s Wild. Or, if you’ve been to a Nationals game, you may have heard the band’s baseball anthem, “Swing Batter Batter,” which won the team’s “Show Us Your Pastime” contest. And last time we caught Jeff and the Jokers, a certain Sen. Thompson was in the house, squiring a leggy blonde. Hmmm…

Eric is a veteran of such seminal D.C. punk bands as Big Black Nun and No Trend, and has the distinction of being one of the last D.C. musicians to play the Bayou, which he did with his band Congregation on that fabled Georgetown club’s last night in 1999.

Dan’s latest project is Gigahertz, a Cream tribute. Listen to these tunes and tell me that’s not Messrs. Clapton, Bruce, and Baker. Amazing.

Finally, though he didn’t get on stage, we were delighted to meet Eddie Lounge. Never one to miss a marketing opportunity, Eddie was passing out literature for his upcoming Fringe show, which he promises to be bigger and better than last year’s. We’ll have a video interview with Eddie up soon, as well as video of the Box Office soiree. It was quite the do.