Roots, for a Little Night Music

LONG BEACH —  If you want to experience the smiles of a summer night, check out the enticing program of American roots music soirees--with two evenings of Afro-Cuban rhythm thrown in--that the Long Beach Museum of Art has put together for its annual summer concert series.

Highlighting the series, 12 consecutive Wednesdays starting June 25, are Louisiana zydeco expert Boozoo Chavis, versatile blues guitar ace Duke Robillard, progressive-country songwriting exemplars Dave Alvin, Chris Gaffney and Katy Moffat, New Orleans jazz-funkateers the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the gospel singing Blind Boys of Alabama. All of them will hold forth on the museum’s waterfront lawn, one of the loveliest concert spots in Southern California.

The schedule: Boozoo Chavis, June 25; Kris McKay and the Feather River Band, July 2; Duke Robillard Band, July 9; Bobby Matos and his Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble, July 16; Wylie & the Wild West Show, July 23; Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men and Chris Gaffney and the Cold Hard Facts, July 30; Katy Moffat, Aug. 6; the Paladins and Russell Scott and the Red Hots, Aug. 13; Candye Kane and James Intveld, Aug. 20; the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Aug. 27; Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca, Sept. 3; Blind Boys of Alabama, Sept. 10. (562) 439-2119.