VICENZA, Italy — James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul,” will meet with fans Wednesday at Caserma Ederle before performing a concert that night at a downtown plaza.

He’s set to sign autographs at the post theater from 4-5 p.m. He’ll later perform at the Piazza die Signori in downtown Vicenza. Some tickets for the 9:30 p.m. concert are being sold through the United Service Organizations office on base. A night later, he’s set to perform in Udine, an hour’s drive east of Aviano Air Base.

Brown, also known as the “hardest working man in show business,” has just started a brief European tour. After a few more dates in Italy, he heads to shows in Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Sweden and Denmark before heading back for shows in the States.

The 73-year-old had his first hit on Billboard Magazine’s charts in 1956 and has sung more than 800 different songs since, according to the Web site www.godfatherofsoul.com. He was a founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a lifetime Grammy award in 1992.