Norton Buffalo Pure Entertainment

Norton Buffalo, the flamboyant harmonica player with the funny name, brings his live-wire act to Sandpoint’s Panida Theater Thursday night.

Norton has played with scores of rock and blues musicians, from Elvin Bishop to the Doobie Brothers. That’s his harp on the great break in Bonnie Raitt’s hit “Runaway.”

Many people know him best for his work with Steve Miller - he’s Miller’s regular road harp player and practically a cofrontman onstage - but in fact, the best way to see him is on his own.

Buffalo is a dynamic showman who crosses genres as easily as most of us cross the room. Originally known as a blues player, he now fuses all sorts of influences - Caribbean to country - into an infectious, danceable sound.

A pure entertainer, he’s still likely to get carried away with the moment.

“The crowd makes a big difference,” he told the San Francisco Examiner in January. “I’ve gone onstage some nights feeling dooky and within a couple of tunes, the crowd has taken me away from that. The air is throbbing, the dance floor is full of sweaty bodies, the music takes command.”

That’s a great description of a Norton Buffalo show.

Later in the month, Buffalo returns to the area for an acoustic show with his friend and collaborator, slide guitarist Roy Rogers. Their work together on the album “R&B” was nominated for a Grammy in 1991.

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = CONCERT PREVIEW NORTON BUFFALO AND THE KNOCKOUTS LOCATION AND TIME: PANIDA THEATER, SANDPOINT, THURSDAY, 8 P.M. TICKETS: $10 AT JAVA ADAGIO IN SANDPOINT AND STREET MUSIC IN SPOKANE