The hot sounds of cool New Orleans...

The hot sounds of cool New Orleans will invade the South Bay tonight when the Norris Theatre marks Mardi Gras early with “Mardi Gras Galore,” a two-hour celebration beginning at 8.

Hailing from the finest in Louisiana tradition will be the popular Cajun band Michael Doucet and Beausoleil as well as The Rebirth Brass Band, with jazz fresh from New Orleans.

Beausoleil has fiddled its way from Carnegie Hall to the Oakland Coliseum, building a solid following along the way.

Dubbed “the best Cajun band there is” by Norris Theatre managing director Peter Lesnik, Beausoleil will present its distinctive soulful sound, mixing blues, jazz and island rhythms with Cajun two-steps and waltzes.

The Rebirth Brass Band is known to fans for its innovations in jazz sound, crossing traditional New Orleans jazz, blues and R&B; with strains of funk, rap and hip-hop.

The band takes jazz, “our only indigenous art form,” and modifies it with contemporary influences, Lesnik said.

“Their youthful exuberance and experimentation make (brass band jazz) more exciting,” he added.

In short, the program will feature the best in updated classic American music, Lesnik said. Between “smooth” Beausoleil and the “brash” Rebirth Brass Band, concert-goers are in for a full evening.

“They’ve never seen anything like this up here,” he said. “I can’t wait.”

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, celebrated in New Orleans and elsewhere, is a festival of final merrymaking before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.

The only drawback to tonight’s event: The Norris Theatre has no dance floor. But there’s no law against grooving in your seat.

Beer, wine champagne and snacks will be sold.

The Norris Theatre is at 27570 Crossfield Drive, Rolling Hills Estates on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Tickets are $22. Information: (310) 544-0403.