WEEKEND FORECAST

TODAY

POP MUSIC

Georgia

jammin’

For their first album in three years, “Earth to America,” the veteran Georgia jammers Widespread Panic tried something different, heading to Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, to add their name to a roster of recording acts that includes AC/DC, Lenny Kravitz, Shakira and Al Green, to name a few. The results bring some new twists to their dense, rootsy rock sound, but after 20 years together, the live experience remains what this chops-heavy band is all about.

Widespread Panic, Wiltern LG, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, 8 tonight. $37.50. (213) 380-5005.

* Also Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.

JAZZ

Schuur will swing by

As most of her fans know, jazz singer Diane Schuur’s nickname is

Deedles. In fact her new

CD, “Live in London,” opens with her number “Deedles’ Blues.” But

Schuur has nothing to be sad about. “Live in

London,” which was released June 6, is Schuur’s 20th CD. She has been nominated for a Grammy five times and has won two: Her 1986 CD “Timeless” and her 1987 “Diane Schuur and the Count Basie Orchestra” both garnered her the best jazz vocal Grammy. She’s spending the weekend in Hollywood.

Diane Schuur, Catalina Bar & Grill, 6725 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. today. $18 to $30.

(323) 466-2210.

* Also, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

ART

Sheets of creativity

The group exhibition “Shifting Dimensions: Sculptors on Paper” looks at how artists fabricate three-dimensional constructions on a sheet of paper by using materials such as stone, wood, plaster, ceramic and wire. Lithographs, assemblages and sculptures will be on view by artists including Peter Shire, Ynez Johnston, Henry Moore and other 20th century artists.

“Shifting Dimensions: Sculptors on Paper,” Tobey C. Moss Gallery, 7321 Beverly Blvd., L.A. Opens today. (323) 933-5523.

* Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Ends Sept. 7.

MUSEUMS

Expressively spiritual

Richard Pousette-Dart, the youngest member of the Abstract Expressionists, took a spiritual approach to his work that set him apart from many of his existential New York School peers. With more than 50 works on display, the exhibition “Transparent Reflections: Richard Pousette-Dart, Works on Paper, 1940-1992” follows the progression of his career and looks at how his lifelong interest in Eastern philosophy and transcendentalism played a role in his iconography.

“Transparent Reflections: Richard Pousette-Dart, Works on Paper, 1940-1992,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. $5 to $9; 17 and younger, free. Opens today. (323) 857-6000.

* Hours: noon to 8 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays; noon to 9 p.m. Fridays; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Ends

Sept. 17.

FRIDAY

EVENTS

Kicking up the sawdust

The first Sawdust Art Festival in 1966 was held on a vacant lot. The festival got its name when organizers had to put sawdust on the ground to keep dirt and dust from covering the art works and their creators. As a matter of tradition, when the 40th annual Sawdust Art Festival opens Friday, about 50 tons of sawdust will cover the festival grounds. More than 200 artists will display their work, including ceramics, hand-blown and fused glass, photography, watercolor and oil paintings, jewelry, leather and sculpture. Also workshops, demonstrations, live entertainment, food and other refreshments will be featured.

Sawdust Art Festival, 935 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Opens Friday, 10 a.m. $3 to $7; 5 and younger, free. (949) 494-3030. www.sawdustartfestival.org* Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, except July 4 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). Ends Sept. 3.

WORDS

Resident mouse

“The Grey Album,” Danger Mouse’s definitive mash up of 2004, was an amalgamation of Jay-Z’s “The Black Album” and the Beatles’ “The White Album,” an ingenious concept that nevertheless could’ve easily been written off as nothing more than an empty stunt. With Danger Mouse’s latest project, Gnarls Barkley, a collaboration with former Goodie Mob member Cee-Lo, he’s proved himself a musical visionary. Elvis Mitchell, host of KCRW’s “The Treatment” and former New York Times film critic, chats with Danger Mouse (a.k.a. Brian Burton), the 2006 L.A. Film Festival Artist in Residence.

L.A. Film Festival: Conversation with Danger Mouse and Elvis Mitchell, Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd. 7 p.m. Friday. Free. (310) 443-7000.

THEATER

‘Red Gap’ for radio

In California Artists Radio Theatre’s production of Harry Leon Wilson’s 1915 comedy “Ruggles of Red Gap,” stage and screen veteran Michael York and former Abbey Theatre director Vincent Dowling share the lead as Ruggles, an English valet in the Wild West. York heads the cast at the 1:30 p.m. show; Dowling plays Ruggles at 7:30 p.m. The large ensemble also features William Windom, Samantha Eggar, Jane Withers, Jo Anne Worley, Beverly Garland, H.M. Wynant, Peter Dennis, John Bliss, Diane Mercer, Bob Legionaire and John Harlan. The 90-minute performance, adapted by Peggy Webber, will be recorded for XM Satellite Radio with two intermissions.

“Ruggles of Red Gap,” Beverly Garland Theatre, 4222 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood. 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Friday. $20. (213) 683-3422. www.calartistsradiotheatre.org.

DANCE

Masters

on the bill

Edward Villella’s acclaimed Miami City Ballet returns to the Southland with two programs of choreography by 20th century masters. On Friday and Saturday, the dancers perform Jerome Robbins’ ebullient “Fancy Free,” George Balanchine’s propulsive “Stravinsky Violin Concerto” (both to live music) and Twyla Tharp’s ballroom-influenced compilation of duets, “Nine Sinatra Songs.” On Sunday afternoon, the bill switches to Robbins’ atmospheric “Dances at a Gathering” and Balanchine’s lighthearted “Western

Symphony” (to tape).

Performances take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion as part of the Dance at the Music Center series.

Miami City Ballet, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. 7:30 p.m. Friday. $25 to $95. (213) 365-3500 or www.musiccenter.org/dance.html

* Also 7:30 p.m. Saturday (three-part program) and 2 p.m. Sunday (two-part program).

SATURDAY

POP MUSIC

Funk and salsa beats

By day California Plaza is a place for downtown worker bees to scarf down their lunches and enjoy a cascading fountain between the high-rises. But Saturday night the suits and ties give way to south-of-the-border sounds and spirits, specifically Mexican alt-rockers Kinky and Colombia-based dance alchemist Sidestepper. Kinky’s rollicking mix of electronica and funk should blend nicely with the eclectic fusion of Sidestepper, a British-born producer with a love of Latin American rhythms and salsa-bred instrumental accents. Is it cross-cultural tourism? Or a glimpse of a globalist future where lines separating genres, languages and cultures become meaningless? You’ll be too busy dancing to decide.

Kinky, Sidestepper, Grand Performances at California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Avenue, L.A. 7 p.m. Saturday. Free. (213) 687-2159.

MUSIC

Early start to the 4th

Conductor Victor Vener and the California Philharmonic get an early jump on Independence Day festivities with an “American Celebration” program, including music by Copland, Gershwin, Tchaikovsky and Carolyn Bremer. Sheldon Epps, Pasadena Playhouse artistic director, will be the narrator in Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.” Pianist Bryan Pezzone will be the soloist in Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” The concert will be played twice -- first at the L.A. County Arboretum and Botanic Garden on Saturday, and reprised at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sunday.

California Philharmonic, Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. 7:30 p.m. Saturday. $20 to $95. (626) 300-8200. www.calphil.org.

* Also Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A., 2 p.m. Sunday. $40 to $90.