Rockin' and rollin' through the decades

Now, here's something to be thankful for: two all-American artists whose music has stood the test of time, and who are still out there making it, even if the marketplace has not always been kind to them. And both of them - Southside Johnny and Leon Russell - are on the same bill, Saturday night at the Keswick Theatre.

Headliner Southside Johnny (a.k.a. John Lyon) came out of the same Jersey Shore music scene that spawned Bruce Springsteen. In the more than three decades since then, Southside and his band, the Asbury Jukes, of course have never come close to achieving the Boss' level of fame. But they're still out there spreading their exhilarating brand of horn-stoked rock-and-soul.

Since 2000, when he began putting out his albums on his own label, Southside has produced some inspired side projects for himself - a blues album, a collection of Tom Waits songs with big-band arrangements by former Jukes trombonist Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg. Most recently, however, he has reunited with the Jukes for Pills and Ammo, their first set of originals since 2005's Into the Harbor. It's a particularly rocking set, without sacrificing the Jukes' trademark sound, and it suggests that the 61-year-old Lyon, like his blues and soul heroes, is improving with age.

Leon Russell came out of Oklahoma in the 1960s to become a member of the Wrecking Crew, the famed group of L.A. session aces, before taking on the role of the top-hatted ringmaster of Joe Cocker's storied Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. By 1970 he was rock royalty himself, and in 1971, amid George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton, the keyboardist with the flowing salt-and-pepper (now white) mane put on a showstopping performance at the Concert for Bangladesh.

After a brilliant run as a solo star, however, Russell largely disappeared. Until now. With T Bone Burnett producing, the 68-year-old Russell and old fan Elton John collaborated on a new album, The Union. You'll hear a few echoes of the freaky, down-home-hippie rock-and-roller of old. Mostly, however, it's a warm, relaxed affair with plenty of rootsy touches - like the gospelish backup singers - that have always been a part of Russell's music.