Most local music aficionados have heard that the Rhythm Room is being forced to move from its central Phoenix digs by early next year. It's been nearly a decade since the onetime go-go joint turned into a house of blues, a period in which booker/co-owner Bob Corritore has continued his one-man mission to keep that music form alive in Phoenix. A home away from home for true legends of the genre, Corritore's club has hosted notables from David Honeyboy Edwards and R.L. Burnside to young lions like the North Mississippi Allstars.

The club favors all styles of the blues, from jump and swing to the harder sounds of Chicago and the Delta. Yet the Rhythm Room has not neglected its roots side, either, featuring regular appearances by top jazz acts and a regular weekly night, headlined by some of the finest national and local talents in country and rockabilly.

Although the venue will have a new address by 2001, if its past track record is any indication, the Rhythm Room will remain the Valley's preeminent palace for heritage music.

Readers' Choice: Rhythm Room