Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:

• Many Grammy winners have passed through the Mahoning Valley over the years, often playing the area’s most prestigious venues with a ticket price commensurate with their acclaim.

Having a Grammy winner play a free park concert on a Sunday afternoon isn’t so common.

Appearing with Russell Thompson & Free Agent as part of the Jazz in the Park series will be Skip Martin.

Martin sang and played trumpet with the Dazz Band when it won a Grammy for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals for the song “Let It Whip.”

Martin also spent several years as lead singer of Kool & the Gang, succeeding James “J.T.” Taylor.

Kool & the Gang, of course, was started by Youngstown natives Robert “Kool” and Ronald Bell. Martin lived in Youngstown in the late ’70s/early ’80s when he played in the Youngstown funk band Mighty Generation, but he grew up in California and has lived in Las Vegas since the late ’80s.

That hasn’t stopped locals from claiming him as one of their own.

“I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘I went to East High School with you,'” Martin said when I talked to him in 2022.

Martin’s latest release is the instrumental album “Tom’s Diner,” and the title track is a jazzy reworking of the a cappella Suzanne Vega song.

Jazz in the Park runs from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday, and admission is free.

• Larry Beyah is local, born and raised in Warren and a 1986 graduate of Warren Western Reserve High School.

The standup comedian has appeared on “Gotham Comedy Live” and “Live at New York Comedy Club” and shared stages with such acts as Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Cedric the Entertainer, George Wallace and Ron White.

He’s back in the area for a pair of shows on Saturday.

He will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Funny Farm Comedy Club in Niles, and his set will be livestreamed for pay-per-view.

Tickets are $22.50 and are available at funnyfarmcomedyclub.com.

He will follow that with a benefit show at 11 p.m. at the Warren VFW.

According to Beyah, “It is gonna be hometown laughs, throwback tales and at least one auntie who still swears I ‘was not funny until the whoopin’ stopped.'”

• The completion of an outdoor art project will be turned into an adult bicycle collection drive.

Youngstown artist Tony Armeni, whose career as an artist and educator was celebrated in an exhibition that recently closed at Trumbull Art Gallery, created more than 100 feet of sculpture on the front face of Westside Bowl, 2617 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown. The final components were three circular bike racks.

To mark its completion, Westside Bowl will host an event from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday with pizza and soft drinks.

Those attending are encouraged to bring gently used bicycles, which will be donated to Thrive Mahoning Valley’s Pedal Forward program, designed to provide adults with reliable transportation. There also will be information on Thrive’s volunteer bike repair program.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.