5:30 pm: Jazz

The grand man of Los Angeles jazz, saxophonist-flutist-composer Buddy Collette, is still recovering his ability to play since suffering a stroke a few years back but remains active in music, education and community service. At LACMA, he’ll direct a quartet of longtime associates--trumpeter Al Aarons, guitarist Al Viola, bassist Richard Simon and drummer Harold Mason--in originals (including songs written for a documentary on designer Charles Eames, whose works are being shown at LACMA through Sept. 10). The group will also play the standards that have defined Collette’s 60-some-year career in his native Los Angeles. Turn out and show him how you feel about all he’s done for our city . . . and his.

* Buddy Collette Ensemble, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. 5:30 p.m. Free. (323) 857-6000.

all day: Movies

Director Wolfgang Petersen (“Das Boot”) returns to the high seas with “The Perfect Storm,” pitting two of the “Three Kings” (George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg) against the North Atlantic in this adaptation of Sebastian Junger’s nonfiction bestseller. The film tells the story of the swordfishing boat the Andrea Gail, which ran into a fearsome collision of weather fronts in October 1991. Diane Lane, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and John C. Reilly also star.

* “The Perfect Storm,” rated PG-13 for language and scenes of peril, opens Friday in general release.

8 pm: Theater

The fourth annual Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival opens with “Romeo and Juliet,” Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy about star-crossed lovers, performed in an outdoor setting. The grounds open early for picnicking and

pre-show entertainment with musicians, dancing, juggling and sword-fight demonstrations.

* “Romeo and Juliet,” California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, Friday-Sunday; also July 7-9, 28-30, 8 p.m. Grounds open at 5:30 p.m. Ends July 30. Free for those who bring low-profile lawn chairs or blankets to sit on; limited reserved seating, $10. (805) 493-3455.

7:30 pm: Pop Music

Cape Verde’s Cesaria Evora has risen to the top ranks of diva-dom in the world music realm, and in teaming with Cuba’s Barbarito Torres she’s added muscle to her drawing power, moving up to the 6,000-seat Greek Theatre after her last local stop at Royce Hall.

* Cesaria Evora, with Barbarito Torres y Su Piquete Cubano at the Greek Theatre, 2700 Vermont Canyon Road. 7:30 p.m. $20 to $65. (213) 480-3232.

8 pm: Theater

Shakespeare Orange County launches its ninth summer season with “The Taming of the Shrew,” Shakespeare’s comic battle of the sexes.

* “The Taming of the Shrew,” Chapman University, Waltmar Theatre, 301 E. Palm Ave., Orange. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends July 15. $24. (714) 744-7016.

8 pm: Pop Music

Cello, oud, guitar and samples form just part of the palette devised by Ekova, a Paris-based trio whose cross-cultural crusade blends European, African and Arabic strains with a personal mythology. Singer Diedre Dubois and colleagues Medhi Haddab and Arach Khalatbari make their L.A. debut at Vynyl.

* Ekova, with DJ Cheb I Sabbah at Vynyl, 1650 Schrader Blvd. 8 p.m. $12 advance, $15 at door. (323) 465-7449.

Freebies

California State Parks rangers lead a program titled “Humaliwo, Land of Plenty” about the life of the Chumash Indians at 7:15 p.m. at Malibu Lagoon State Beach, on Pacific Coast Highway, 1.5 miles east of Malibu Canyon Road. Bring marshmallows for roasting. (818) 880-0350.

*

The Hollywood Bowl’s resident jazz ensemble, the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, plays at noon at California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. (213) 687-2190.