all day: Arts

How to measure cultural diversity in L.A.? How about through its arts? The 150 free events that comprise this year’s LA Arts Open House range from Mexican folkloric dance to mime theater, from straight-ahead jazz to the Balinese Gamelan, from Shakespeare to storytelling. The open house includes venues in 36 communities, and multiple programs will take place at 14 larger cultural centers, including the Music Center, the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Cal State Northridge, Museum Row, the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, the Pasadena Conservatory of Music and the 18th Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica.* LA Arts Open House, various locations and hours. All free. Call (213) 972-3099 or seehttps:// www.lacountyarts.org for full schedule information. Schedules also available at all public libraries.

11 am & 1 pm: Family

Critically acclaimed magician Bradley Fields, who created the role of “Barker” in the Broadway musical “Barnum,” presents his “Magic Theatre & Illusion Show” for the whole family, featuring not only magic, but comedy, mime and theater.

* “ Magic Theatre & Illusion Show,” Smothers Theatre, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. $17.50. (310) 456-4522.

1 pm: Pop Music

The sixth annual Gram Parsons Tribute Concert in the town where the legendary country-rock pioneer died coincides with the inaugural Joshua Tree Music Festival. Whatever you want to call it, just count on wall-to-wall music at four venues, all within walking distance on 29 Palms Highway in Joshua Tree. Acts include Victoria Williams and Mark Olsen’s Creek Dippers, Tom Freund, the Snakes and Jann Browne.* Gram Parsons Tribute Concert, Joshua Tree Saloon, Crossroads, Water Canyon and LDK’s Beatnik Cafe, Joshua Tree, 1 p.m. $5. (909) 795-7359.

11:30 am: Pop Music

No longer just a home-grown celebration of hip-hop and rock, the Cypress Hill Smoke Out has become a mini-palooza in its fourth year, venturing out from its Southern California base for a date in Hawaii later in the month. The lineup is appropriately impressive, with the namesake headliners joined by Deftones, Busta Rhymes, NOFX, Afroman, Method Man, Redman, Armand Van Helden, Suicidal Tendencies and more.* Cypress Hill Smoke Out, Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion, 2575 Glen Helen Parkway, Devore, 11:30 a.m. $53.50-$203.50. (909) 886-8742.

8 pm: Pop Music

“Fire and Rain” showed up on the Clear Channel radio chain’s list of songs that its music programmers might be cautious about playing after the terrorist attacks. Don’t expect James Taylor to ignore his classic, whose title might be touchy but whose tone of comfort and theme of trials overcome make it newly relevant.

* James Taylor, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, 8 p.m. $18.50 to $84.50. (323) 850-2000. Also Oct. 12 at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 8 p.m. $25 to $65. (949) 855-8096.

8 pm: Music

David Wilson conducts a Beethoven program to open this year’s Long Beach Bach Festival, dedicated to the memory of Lynn Bielefelt,a choral conductor who taught at Cal State Long Beach and USC. The program offers the Mass in C and the Choral Fantasy. Vocal soloists are Rebecca Sherburn, Cheryl Anne Roach, Kevin St. Clair and Chung Uk Lee; piano soloist is Mark Sullivan.

* Long Beach Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra, Bethany Lutheran Church, 4644 Clark Ave., Long Beach, 8 p.m. $5 to $20. (562) 663-2710.

all day: Jazz

Dionne Warwick, The Jazz Crusaders, Les McCann, Teddy Edwards, Ernie Andrews, Billy Mitchell and Ndugu Chancler are a few of the artists slated to appear at the 11th annual Jazz at Drew Legacy Music Series and Cultural Marketplace.

* Jazz at Drew Legacy Music Series and Cultural Marketplace, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science campus garden, 1720 E. 120th St., Los Angeles, Saturday & Sunday, gates open at 11 a.m. and music begins at noon. $30. to $500. (323) 563-9390.

Freebie

* East West Players’ “Asian Pacific Tales,” for children between kindergarten and sixth grade, will be presented at the David Henry Hwang Theater, Union Center for the Arts, 120 N. Judge John Aiso St., downtown L.A., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (213) 972-3099.