Rock: Festivals

BAM RHYTHM & BLUES FESTIVAL

Metrotech Commons, Flatbush and Myrtle avenues, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, www.bam.org, free

June 7 Ben E. King

June 14 Fontella Bass

June 21 Leon Russell

June 28 Angelique Kidjo

July 5 Johnnie Johnson

July 12 Jerry Butler

July 19 Clarence Carter

July 26 Third World

August 2 Little Milton

August 9 Felix Cavaliere

CELEBRATE BROOKLYN!

Prospect Park Bandshell, 9th Street and Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, 718-855-7882, ext. 45, www.celebratebrooklyn.org, $3 suggested donation

June 21 Marcia Ball

June 22 Soulive+David Pilgrim

June 29 Olodum+Nego Gato

June 30 Junoon+Church of Betty

July 6 Julieta Venegas+Performer TBA:Singer-songwriter Venegas makes the most of her Tijuana tradition and her ability to evoke the angry but subtle charms of a modern rock diva. Watch her wield an accordion like a translator of bilingual emotions, a guitar like a long-term lover. Most importantly, she's got a voice that takes you to a place beyond language, one that reveals her innermost wounds and most fervent hopes. (Morales)

July 12 Miri Ben-Ari+Esta

July 13 Cheb Mami+Performer TBA:The singer who made Sting's "Desert Rose" more than listenable will demonstrate why Algerian rai, with its traditional beats and tinges of both reggae and rap, has become the Arab world's predominant pop style. (Gehr)

July 14 Jimmy Bosch+Performer TBA

July 21 Bullfrog featuring Kid Koala+Performer TBA

August 3 Culture+Performer TBA

August 11 Frankie Negron

August 17 Isaac Delgado+Yamile Malagon

August 19 Baaba Maal, featuring Daande Lenol:This well-educated visionary has been poised for crossover on the edge of his hard, penetrating Mali-Senegal tenor since the late '80s, but only recently did he start trusting his idiosyncratically indigenous musical command. If the tour is anywhere near as good as the album it's supporting, this will vie with Super Rail Band as the Afropop event of the summer. Also: Ex-Centric Sound System. (Christgau)

CENTRAL PARK SUMMERSTAGE

Rumsey Playfield, 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue, 360-2777, www.summerstage.org, all events free unless otherwise noted

June 17 Ani DiFranco:The Little Folk-Punk-Pop-Gospel-Funk Singer That Could returns, this time with a full band, to promote her much-hyped new double album, Revelling/Reckoning(Righteous Babe). $28.50. (Phillips)

June 24 El Gran Combo+Wayne Gorbea & Salsa Picante

June 28 Remembering Shakti +Cinematic Orchestra+Mixmaster Morris: Featuring John McLaughlin, U. Shrinivas, V. Selvaganesh, and Zakir Hussain.

June 30 Cheikha Remitti+Sussan Deyhim+Dzihan & Kamien

July 1 'Canada Day Celebration':Featuring Cowboy Junkies, Natalie MacMaster, Sarah Harmer, and David Rakoff.

July 4 Biz Markie+Doug E Fresh +Whodini+Full Force+DJ Kool Herc

July 7 'Latin Rock Day': Featuring Manu Chao, Gogol Bordello, and Nortec Collective.

July 8 'Africa Fete': Featuring Nder and the Setsima Group, Les Tetes Brulees, and Saintrick et la Tchielly.

July 12 moe.:$23.

July 14 Basement Jaxx+Bango Maffin+Martin Morales+Ron Trent:With Viva Brazil Dancers.

July 15 'Viva la World':Featuring Amina, Ekova, Lo'Jo, and TBA DJ.

July 20 String Cheese Incident:$28.

July 21 Susan Tedeschi+Robert Randolph

July 22 Craig David+Lina+MKL

July 28 Kid Creole & the Coconuts+Los Mocosos+Jeno

July 29 Shadow+Super Blue:Calypso and soca champions.

August 4 Ricky Skaggs+John Herald

August 5 Living Color+Asian Dub Foundation+Propellerheads

August 6 Erykah Badu:The diva-in-waiting with the charismatic hair saw her queen-of-the-scene lustre tarnish slightly while she coped with the right Dre and his baby. But since she had the self-knowledge to spend her spare time polishing her songwriting, which had never lived up to her image, she came out sounding great on the other end. Now you get to tell her so. $45; $60. (Christgau)

August 9 Bebel Gilberto+Antony & the Johnsons+Ray Velasquez

August 10 Bela Fleck & the Flecktones+Keb' Mo'

August 11 'Body&Soul':Featuring François K., Joaquin "Joe" Claussell, and Danny Krivit; $10 suggested donation.

August 14 'Central Park Cabaret of International Music':Featuring BJ Thomas, Jim White, and Wichita Wally.

August 20 Lyle Lovett & His Large Band:$30; $45.

HARLEM MEER PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL

Lakefront plaza, Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, Central Park, 110th Street and Fifth Avenue, 860-1370, free

June 10 Viento de Agua

June 24 Grupo Saveiro

HUDSON RIVER FESTIVAL

World Financial Center, Battery Park City, Liberty Street and the Hudson River, 945-0505, www.worldfinancialcenter.com, free

June 19 Pete Seeger & Tao Rodriguez-Seeger

June 20 Bellevue Cadillac

June 26 Koko Taylor & Her Blues Machine

June 27 Prairie Cats

July 10 Hugh Masekela

July 11 City Rhythm of Philadelphia

July 18 Nick Palumbo & the Flipped Fedora Orchestra

July 25 Casey MacGill

LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL'S 'AFRICA OUT LOUD'

Various venues, 875-5928, www.lincolncenter.org

July 11 Super Rail Band, Damrosch Park Bandshell:The first and rarest of the Lincoln Center Festival's remarkable four-concert "Africa Out Loud" series (really West Africa Out Loud, but who's map-ping?) could prove the most exciting: led by master guitarist Djelimady Tounkara, Mali's topworking band rocked their first U.S. tour earlier this year. Expect precisely the right mix of griot wisdom and modernist experiment, hotel-band suave and art-band pride. (Christgau)

July 13 Cheikh Lô, La Guardia Concert Hall:Better equipped to roughen a croon than sweeten a shout, this native of Burkina Faso has elaborated his Cuban-tinged synthesis with greats from Wemba to N'Dour. When I saw him in 1997, a Senegalese drum kit dominated bass, two guitars, kora, sax, and traps, but the Orchestra Aragon and Pee Wee Ellis of his recent Bambay Gueej should be strongly in evidence in a pan-Africanism that never sounds ingratiating or forced. (Christgau)