SUMMER SPLASH II: Orange County : Our Hottest picks for a Jam-Packed Summer : JAZZ

Orange County wades into its second hundred years facing a summer that’s filled with a wider range of arts and entertainment activities than ever.

The Calendar staff of the Times Orange County Edition selects highlights among the hundreds of choices offered at the county’s theaters, art museums, outdoor amphitheaters, concert halls, comedy clubs, movie theaters and elsewhere to stave off any summer doldrums that might dare to take roost.

* The quartet of drummer Jack DeJohnette, pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist Pat Metheny and bassist Dave Holland, each a musical innovator and bandleader in his own right, leads the Orange County summer jazz season this year. The group, pulled together by DeJohnette for his recently released “Parallel Realities” album, brings their forward-looking sounds to the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa on June 15 at 8 p.m. Information: (714) 556-2787.

Also on tap at the Performing Arts Center is young keyboard stylist and vocalist Harry Connick, Jr. who’ll make an appearance on July 7 backed by a big band. Connick, whose mix of cabaret honky-tonk and nostalgia graced last year’s film “When Harry Met Sally,” likes to call up the ghost of Art Tatum as well as Jelly Roll Morton in a single solo.

* Big bands and nostalgia will also be celebrated at Disneyland where the Harry James Orchestra directed by Art Depew appears June 8-12, followed by Bob Crosby on June 15-18, and the Count Basie Orchestra directed by Frank Foster on June 22-30. Also appearing during the summer are the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra directed by Buddy Morrow on July 15-21, and Lionel Hampton and his big band on Aug. 12-18. Shows take place in the Carnation Plaza Gardens on Main Street and begin at 7:15 p.m. Information: (714) 999-4565

* A young pianist who’s made a big splash with Wynton Marsalis’ group as well as with his own solo recordings, Marcus Roberts, appears at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on June 13. Also at the Coach House this summer is song stylist Kenny Rankin on June 2; saxophonist and leader of The Pat Sajak Show band, Tom Scott, June 3; the Amer-Asian fusion of Hiroshima June 14; cheery singer Michael Franks Aug. 1; Ray Charles Aug. 9-10; and vocalist-pianist Diane Schuur Aug. 11. Call (714) 496-8927.

* The cozy Cafe Lido in Newport Beach continues its Sunday jazz policy with the Al Williams Jazz Society on June 10, singer Barbara Morrison on June 3 and 17, and the Capp-Pierce Juggernaut on June 24. First show starts at 11 a.m. The Lido also features music seven nights a week, including smooth trombonist Mike Fahn playing Sundays in June. Call (714) 675-2968.

* The action at the Celebrity Theatre of Anaheim (714-999-9536) doesn’t get under way until September when Spyro Gyra comes in on the 15th, followed by keyboardist David Benoit on the Sept. 21. But there’s something happening all the time at the Studio Cafe on the Balboa Peninsula (714-675-7760) where drummer Chiz Harris leads a quartet on Sunday nights and saxophonist Eric Marienthal plays Wednesdays, if he’s not out on the road with Chick Corea or in the recording studio.

A list of summer arts and entertainment activities for children will appear in Wednesday’s Calendar.