2:30 pm: Jazz

Picnic basket packed? Wine chilled? The Hollywood Bowl brims with jazz, blues, Latin and Brazilian music this weekend as the 21st annual Playboy Jazz Festival kicks off with saxophonists Grover Washington Jr. and Joshua Redman, blues guitarist Buddy Guy, vocalists Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross, Brazilian singer-songwriter Ivan Lins and more--among them Bill Cosby’s star-studded Cos of Good Music with Kevin Eubanks, Chico Freeman and James Carter. The fest continues Sunday with the incomparable Ray Charles, Etta James, Chick Corea, Boney James, the Gerald Wilson Orchestra and an all-star tribute to Cannonball Adderley, with George Duke and others. All but sold out Saturday (some single and obstructed-view seats remain). Some $25 seats available Sunday.

* Playboy Jazz Festival, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. Also Sunday, 2 p.m. $15-$85. (310) 449-4070.

all day: Theater

At the 7th Annual NoHo Theatre & Arts Festival, more than 40 theater companies will present 80 free performances of comedies, musicals, classics and children’s shows. In addition there will be local cuisine, an arts-and-crafts marketplace, “Kids Kourt” activity area, main stage and street performances.

* 7th Annual NoHo Theatre & Arts Festival, on Lankershim Boulevard between Magnolia and Chandler boulevards, North Hollywood. Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; performances begin at 12:30, 2, 3:30 and 5 p.m. each day. Free. (818) 508-5155.

1 pm: Movies

The approaching millennium has lots of people looking back. The California African-American Museum, however, is looking forward. “Imagining the New Millennium,” a daylong series of films and panels, examines the images of blacks in the future, from the cutting edge of music to the furthest reaches of writers’ imaginations. The “Hip-Hop Planet” program contains four documentaries on global hip-hop culture, while the panel discussion “Imagining a Black 21st Century” will host ideas from writers, DJs, producers and professors. John Akomfrah’s multilayer documentary “The Last Angel of History” explores the futuristic images of blacks from funk to sci-fi. And “Cosmic Slop” is a series of three fantasy shows produced by Reginald and Warrington Hudin for HBO.

* “Imagining the New Millennium” at the California African-American Museum, 600 State Drive, Exposition Park. “Hip-Hop Planet,” 1 p.m.; “Imagining a Black 21st Century” (panel), 3 p.m. “The Last Angel of History,” 5 p.m.; “Cosmic Slop,” 7 p.m. Free. (213) 744-7432.

8 pm: Music

No matter how often you’ve seen Moliere’s “Imaginary Invalid,” you’re still likely to be surprised this week at Long Beach Opera’s nine-day annual festival. At its premiere, in 1673, “Invalid” danced and sang: That is, the comedie ballet’s story was broken up by “interludes” composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier--part commedia dell’arte, part toe-shoe ballet, part variety show. But what usually gets on stage is just the drama. LBO, however, has revived the original song-and-dance in its English-translation production, opening a three-performance run tonight, with Michael Maguire directing.

* “The Imaginary Invalid” will be performed at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts at Cal State Long Beach, 6200 Atherton St. in Long Beach, at 8 p.m., and repeated Wednesday at 8 p.m. and June 20 at 4 p.m. For Part 2 of the festival, see Sunday Best Bets.

2 pm: Pop Music

Will Smith’s first concert appearance in five years. Ricky Martin’s first L.A. performance since Rickymania broke out. A reprise from the reunited Blondie. The teen brigade’s Britney Spears and 98 Degrees. The pop chart comes to life at Dodger Stadium, where KIIS-FM’s annual “Wild Wango Tango” showcase takes a big step up in scale and ambition.

* “Wild Wango Tango,” Dodger Stadium, 1000 Elysian Park Ave., 3 p.m. Sold out. (323) 224-1500.

8 pm: Pop Music

Tom Waits’ first full, formal concerts in more than a decade in the city where he established himself as a musical visionary figure to be one of the year’s highlights.

* Tom Waits, Wiltern Theatre, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., 8 p.m. Sold out. (213) 380-5005. Through Monday.

10 am: Tribute

“The Career and Works of Alfred Newman” is a tribute to the distinguished film music composer (and patriarch of the multitalented Newman clan) by the Society of Composers & Lyricists and ASCAP. The program includes a presentation by composer and film music historian Fred Steiner, lunch and a screening of the 1936 film “Beloved Enemy.”

* “The Career and Works of Alfred Newman,” Directors Guild Theatre, 7920 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. $10 for Society of Composers & Lyricists members, $25 for all others. Admission includes lunch. (310) 281-2812.

*

FREEBIES: L.A. Kids Read is a daylong festival with magic, music, crafts and stories at the Central Library, 630 W. 5th St., downtown L.A. Noon-4:30 p.m. (213) 228-7000.

The Young Artists Peninsula Music Festival includes performances at 3 and 8 p.m. at Norris Theatre, 27570 Crossfield Road, Rolling Hills Estates. Also Sunday at 1 and 4 p.m. (310) 544-0403.