Three-day forecast

POP MUSIC

Onstage? PJ Harvey? Uh huh her

PJ Harvey, rock’s woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, is on one of her periodic visits from purgatory, releasing her first album in four years, the haunting, nerve-jangling “Uh Huh Her,” and is getting ready for her first U.S. tour since 2001, when she spun her spooky incantations for unsuspecting U2 fans as the opening act on the Irish icons’ arena tour. Harvey warms up for the road. Her concert Sunday is part of the Don’t Knock the Rock festival of films and music.

PJ Harvey, Henry Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., L.A., 8 p.m. Sunday, with Black Heart Procession and Jon Brion. $40 (323) 468-1770. Knitting Factory Hollywood, 7021 Hollywood Blvd., L.A., 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. Sold out. (323) 463-0204.

JAZZ

Big names, big times

The Henry Mancini Institute wraps up its annual summer concert season with three events this weekend. Tonight at Schoenberg Hall at UCLA, two 20-piece string bands conducted by Lesa Terry and Jeremy Cohen will perform with bassist Christian McBride as guest artist. In addition, the HMI Big Band conducted by Justin DiCioccio will perform. Friday at Schoenberg Hall, there will be a concert of jazz chamber ensembles. And the institute’s annual fundraising musicale -- this year honoring composer Burt Bacharach -- happens Saturday at Royce Hall. Grammy-nominated pianist Patrice Rushen and Grammy-winning saxophonist Tom Scott will be among the featured performers, along with Bacharach himself.

* Jazz String Band and Big Band concert, Schoenberg Hall, UCLA,

8 p.m. Thursday. Free.

* Jazz Chamber Ensembles concert, Schoenberg Hall, UCLA, 8 p.m. Friday. Free.

* Mancini Musicale honoring Burt Bacharach, Royce Hall, 6 p.m. Saturday. $50 concert only; $300 gala dinner, reception, concert and dessert.

Henry Mancini Institute, UCLA, Hilgard Avenue, Westwood. (888) HMI-1903.

MOVIES

Not what they planned

Realizations that our lives are not what we hoped they might be are often hard to accept. The characters in John Curran’s film “We Don’t Live Here Anymore” don’t mask their disappointment very well, seeking solace in the three A’s -- alcohol, adultery and avoidance. Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, Naomi Watts and Peter Krause form a stellar cast in a drama reminiscent of the serious cinema of the 1970s. Larry Gross wrote the screenplay about two couples and their unraveling marriages based on a pair of stories by Andre Dubus (“In the Bedroom”).

“We Don’t Live Here Anymore,” rated R for sexual content and language, opens Friday exclusively at ArcLight Cinemas, 6360 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 464-4226; the Grove, 189 the Grove Drive, L.A., (323) 692-0829; and Loews Broadway Cinemas, 1441 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, (310) 458-1506.

EVENTS

The beat, beat, beat

The Cannibal Flower gallery and performance space launches its guest curator series with Art-Throb, a night of art, performance and music, with a full bar and valet parking, no less. This one-night-only art show is curated by and features art from artist Muffinhead and includes the work of composer and former Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh. Art installations and dance performances also will be featured, as will video projections by Derek Sajbel. Amoeba Music DJs provide the soundtrack.

Art-Throb, Blue Space, 5519 Hollywood Blvd., L.A. 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday. $5. (818) 761-6940 or go to www.cannibalflower.com to see a full list of exhibiting artists.

JAZZ

Hot music, cool breeze

For those who like their music with an ocean breeze, the 2004 Long Beach Jazz Festival kicks off Friday night with Al Jarreau, Peter White and Karina Nuvo with Tom Scott and Dan Siegel at Rainbow Lagoon Park. David Sanborn, Brian Culbertson, the Jazz Crusaders and others will be featured Saturday. The 17th annual festival concludes Sunday with Poncho Sanchez, George Duke, Roy Ayers and others.

Long Beach Jazz Festival, Rainbow Lagoon Park, Shoreline Drive, between Pine Street and Linden Avenue, Long Beach. 7 to 10:30 p.m. Friday; noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. $35 to $160. (562) 424-0013 or www.longbeachjazzfestival.com.

MUSEUMS

In contact with history

Santiago Cucullu creates artworks with messages that really stick -- literally. Contact-paper collages decorate the walls of the Hammer Museum’s lobby, tackling subjects as varied as a memorial to Dusty Springfield, skinhead fashion, the libertarian library in Buenos Aires and racism in an Illinois police department. In the artist’s words, “the images of different stories start to stack together as their parts are replaced or embellished.” Cucullu combines fact and fiction to create his own, politically charged interpretation of history.

“Hammer Projects: Santiago Cucullu,” UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. Opens Saturday. Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays; ends Jan. 9. The lobby exhibition is free. Admission to the galleries is: adults, $5; seniors, $3; 17 and younger, free. (310) 443-7000.

FAMILY

A circus with soul

The big-top UniverSoul Circus, led by co-ringmasters comedian Shuckey Duckey and gospel singer Mabelle, is a funky-beat spectacular with singers, dancers, international circus artists, clowns, elephants and horses.

UniverSoul Circus, Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona. Opens Tuesday. Runs 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; noon, 4:30 and

8 p.m. Saturdays; 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends Aug. 22. $10 to $29. (213) 480-3232; (909) 623-3111. Also Aug. 25 through Sept. 6 at the Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood.

OPERA

Puccini at the Bowl

John Mauceri leads the Bowl’s first complete concert performance of Puccini’s grand opera of China, “Turandot.” For many critics, the unfinished masterpiece represents the composer’s best work. Soprano Andrea Gruber and tenor Richard Margison -- singing Turandot and Calaf, respectively -- are international stars, but watch for Hei-Kyung Hong, the Korean soprano whose performance as Liu for L.A. Opera in 2002 was affecting, lovely and vital.

“Turandot,” Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. 7:30 p.m. Sunday. $3 to $106. (323) 850-2000.

THEATER

Chekhov in China

In the American premiere of “A Winter People,” Chay Yew’s adaptation of Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” set in 1935 China, a middle-aged chanteuse returns from San Francisco to her family estate during the last days of the nationalist government.

“A Winter People,” the Theatre @ Boston Court, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. Opens 8 p.m. Saturday. Runs 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends Sept. 19. $30. (626) 683-6883.