Talk to the Boss: His Majesty Mr. King

THE BLUE Note may be the most upscale of expensive jazz and blues clubs in New York and a major stop on the itinerary of world-renowned musicians and the prosperous tourists who adore them. On a cold January night in the restless city, at the opening of a six-day run, there were longhairs in immaculate T-shirts and well-pressed jeans speaking French, tie-wearing young Japanese carrying what appeared to be palm-sized digital video cameras, even a few native New Yorkers for whom the thrill of seeing B.B. King has never gone.