Pop Music Review : ‘Endangered Species’ Also Benefits From Charity Bash : Fund-raiser: Live performers, not CDs or videos, fill the bill at the annual Orange County Musicians’ Club event, which raises money for scholarships and needy members.

Each year, the annual Orange County Musicians’ Club Bash raises funds forneedy musicians and scholarships for younger players. But Frank Amoss says the real beneficiaries of the event--which is in its 23rd year and will be held Sunday in various venues at the Red Lion Inn in Costa Mesa--are musicians who play for a living.

“Live musicians are becoming an endangered species,” said Amoss, president of both the musicians club (which was set up specifically to handle this benefit) and Local No. 7 of the American Federation of Musicians.

“People are getting used to having their music from sources other than live players, mainly through CDs, TV and videos,” said Amoss, 57, a drummer who will lead his swing big band at the Bash. “This is a day that promotes live music. We have 357 musicians do what they do--which is perform.”

And listen to the other musicians, who are performing free.

“One of the best things about the Bash is that we get to hear other musicians,” said jazz singer Stephanie Haynes, who has appeared at several previous Bashes and performs Sunday with the group Bopsicle, which she co-leads with her husband, bassist Jack Prather. “I see musicians I haven’t seen in years, and a lot of people play together who ordinarily wouldn’t. The Bash is a musical extravaganza.”

The Bash begins at noon and runs until about midnight, with continuous music in the Red Lion’s Grand Ballroom and two other rooms on the hotel’s lower level, as well as in Maxi’s Lounge, on the main level. Featured bands will play jazz, R & B, reggae, Latin jazz, classical, Dixieland and blues.

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Among the artists on tap are Yve Evans and Company, Bobby Redfield and the Garcia Brothers, the Fullerton College Faculty’s Artisan Brass Quintet, the Jack Reidling trio with singer Karen Gallinger, the Hyperion Outfall Seranaders, the Yankee Wailers, and big bands led by Amoss, Tracy Wells and John Henderson.

Trumpeter-singer-comedian Jack Sheldon, who will appear with his big band, is the affair’s grand marshal. Sheldon, says Amoss, is the “embodiment of what the Bash is all about.”

“Jack is a great entertainer and musician” who is best appreciated in a live setting, said Amoss.

The decision to have so many styles at the event came easy.

“We choose the styles of which there are participants in Orange County,” he said. “For example, we have an active classical and symphonic scene, so there are several classical groups, and we have a lot of Dixieland bands, too. I’m also proud to say we’ll have 10 big bands.”

There’s diversity among the individual genres, too. For example, Amoss’ 15-piece band specializes in tunes made famous during the Swing Era by Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller.

“That’s the music that got me interested enough to make music my life’s work,” he said.

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Sheldon’s big band focuses on arrangements by Tom Kubis of tunes by such acclaimed composers as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin and Rodgers and Hart.

“I like going back to these great tunes,” Sheldon said. “Except for people like Johnny Mandel and Dave Frishberg, we don’t have composers like those anymore.”

Last year, the Bash drew more than 2,000 people and netted $9,500. Since the event’s inception, $16,000 has gone toward scholarships and and $11,000 has been given to needy musicians.

“Members make applications for funds as the need presents itself,” Amoss explained. Applicants can receive as much as $500 to be used for anything from rent to medical bills.

The Bash concludes with a jam session in Maxi’s Lounge that will last until players no longer want to perform or the lounge closes. Amoss, however, will probably have to skip that happening.

“I’ll be too busy cleaning up,” he said, laughing.

* The 23rd Orange County Musicians’ Club Bash will be held Sunday from noon to midnight or so at the Red Lion Inn, 3050 Bristol St., Costa Mesa. Tickets, $18. Information: (714) 546-8166.