Hope For the World

MONTEREY WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL These days, as the world becomes ever more divided, music from different cultures can tie people together better than anything. At four performances tonight through Sunday, music as diverse as Jewish Diaspora Fusion, Moroccan Gwana trance music, and Persian Emigre Fusion will be performed on various Peninsula stages. From past experience, I can testify this is one of the grooviest festivals around. (See story p. 29) [CC]

8pm tonight, shows through Sunday. Monterey and Carmel venues. Call 622-9060 for tickets and details.

friday 9|26

Finding (Out About) Nemo

THE ART THAT MADE NEMO Doug Nichols is a 15-year veteran of the computer animation industry whose most recent credit is that of art manager for what is now the highest-grossing animated film in history, Pixar's Finding Nemo. As a guest of the Monterey County Film Commission's "focus on film" lecture series, Nichols speaks about his hand in the production of Finding Nemo and discourses on the history of computer animation in film. [MDB]

9pm. Santa Catalina School Performing Arts Center, Mark Thomas Drive, Monterey. $15 general; $12 for "Friends of the Film Commission" or Monterey Bay Aquarium Members; $10 for children. 646-0910 or www.filmmonterey.org.

Muy Caliente

RED BEANS & RICE 10TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW Ten years ago, guitarist Gil Rubio and a few friends from Alligator's backing band played their first show at the Monterey Brewing Company on Cannery Row. Though that popular nightspot poured its last pint years ago, Rubio's group, Red Beans & Rice, is now a local institution. The guys have been voted "Best Local Band" by our readers for the past eight years, and this past weekend the group achieved one of its biggest goals by performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival. [ST]

9pm. Sly McFly's, 700 Cannery Row, Monterey. 649-8050.

saturday 9|27

Carnival For A Cause

KIDRAGEOUS CARNIVAL If your kid is begging for the newest Sponge Bob fashion accessories, take him or her to a carnival instead. The Kidrageous Carnival features old-fashioned fun like magicians, bounce houses and dunk booths while raising awareness about childhood cancer. It all takes place under the auspices of Jacob's Heart, a local children's cancer association. [ST]

Noon. Toro County Park, 501 Highway 68, Salinas. Free admission. 477-0690.

Young Guns

CARMEL VALLEY SOUL, BLUES AND JAZZ REVIEW "Take the fear out of music and make it fun." That's what local blues guitar master Stu Heydon says the 7th annual Carmel Valley Soul, Jazz, and Blues Review is all about. Students from the Carmel Youth Center Recording Studio will get a chance to play on stage with local musicians such as Lee Durley, Bruce Forman, Thelma Howard, the Blue Tones, and more. In addition to lots of great jazz there will be a BBQ, raffle, and silent auction. Proceeds from the event will benefit local school music programs, Jazz Masters Workshop, and the Carmel Youth Center. [NP]

Noon. Hidden Valley Music Seminars, Carmel Valley Road and Ford Road, Carmel Valley. $20 adults, $10 youth. 659-7100 or www.cvkclub.org.

I Was a Teenage Maltshop

'50S FLASHBACK SOCK-HOP AUCTION AND DINNER Tonight America's Last Hometown relives the magic of the 1950s, without the Cold War. The Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce hosts this fundraiser which includes a classic car exhibit and barbecue dinner prepared by Alan Cohen of the Lighthouse Cafe, followed by an auction, raffle and '50s dance. Participants are encouraged to come in full period regalia for the costume contest with cash prizes. The poodle skirt and the pompadour will be resurrected and everyone will fill up on barbecue and dance with their shoes off. [MDB]

5-9pm. Chautauqua Hall, 16th Street and Central Avenue, Pacific Grove. $15. 373-3044.

Parade of Colors

WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL PARADE To celebrate this weekend's World Music Festival (see pg. 29), the Cultural Council of Monterey County has invited more than a dozen Monterey Bay area groups to dance and sing their way down Monterey's Alvarado Street, and perform a free concert on the Colton Hall lawn. Santa Cruz's Brazilian percussion group Sambadá leads the parade starting at Portola Plaza while the party continues with puppetry, Aztec drumming, Bahamian dance, folklorico dancing, Philipine music, Turkish music, and much more. [CC]

11am. Portola Plaza, Alvarado Street, Pearl Street, Colton Hall in Monterey. Free. 622-9060.

The Singer's New Song

KENNY RANKIN Ever since he introduced a generation to the torch ballad with his 1975 version of Lennon and McCartney's "Blackbird," Rankin has danced along the pop-jazz border. His first appearance in Carmel in three years finds this veteran stylist at a watershed career moment--on his latest album, A Song For You, accompanied by guitarist David Spinoza and bassist Christian McBride, he does so with a distinctly jazzier swing. This solo performance in an intimate setting is bound to be memorable. [EJ]

7:30pm. Carmel Jazz and Blues Company, 236 Crossroads Blvd. $35, students under 18 half price. BYOB. 624-6432.

He Plays Guitar

WILLIAM KANENGISER In a two-hour performance, guitar soloist William Kanengiser will mix traditional Spanish guitar with classical interpretation of jazz guitar. Kanengiser is an instructor at the University of Southern California and a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. This event is a fundraiser for art and music programs in the Washington Union School District, which are the schools in Toro Park and San Benancio. [AS]

8pm. Steinbeck Forum of the Monterey Conference Center, 1 Portola Plaza, Monterey. $20. 375-2486 or 484-5848, or www.starrsites.com/CarmelClassicGuitar.

Knock, Knock, Who's There?

ARTISTS' STUDIO TOUR It's always fun to go behind the scenes and see how stuff is made. Anyone who's visited a brewery, or a dairy farm, or a factory knows the special insider rush of being in the presence of creative energy. So how cool is it to drive around the county for two days and visit local artists in their homes and studios? Smell the paint, see the canvases stacked up against the walls, get to know the people behind the names. (see story p. 15). [SF]

11am-6pm today and Sunday. Free, self-drive tour. For maps and information call 372-4930 or visit www.artists-equity.org.

sunday 9|28

Memoirs Of A Geisha And A Monk

BOOK READING Blackberries in the Dream House tells the story of a forbidden love between a geisha and a Buddhist monk in Kyoto, 150 years ago. Think Memoirs of a Geisha in an older, artistic Japan, infused with poet Diane Frank's flowering, sensuous prose. The novel has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and today, Frank will read from her book at Borders. Her friends describe her as "a harem of seven women in one very small body." The reading will be accompanied by Master Shakuhachi flutist John Singer, the only performer outside of Japan who specializes in the extremely rare, 200-year-old Shakuhachi flute. [JL]

2pm. Borders Bookstore, 2080 California Ave., Sand City. Free. 899-6643

Bounce Houses, Mariachis and Dancing

FIESTA AT THE MISSION BASILICA Peel yourself off the shag carpet and head over to the Carmel Mission for the 39th annual fiesta in the courtyard. Arts and crafts booths, children's games and bounce houses will be set up, as well as a wine garden and beer and margarita purveyors. Red Beans and Rice will play, along with mariachi bands. Dancing is expected. The event is a fundraiser for the Junipero Serra School with chicken dinners, hot dogs and hamburgers prepared by the parents. [AS]

11am-5pm. In the courtyard of the Carmel Mission, Rio Road at Lasuen Drive, Carmel. Free.

wednesday 10|1

Bang the Drum Fastly

SCRAP ARTS MUSIC In the tradition of Stomp and Blue Man Group, this Vancouver-based music ensemble features five athletic percussionists beating out rhythms on "instruments" of their own construction, while performing tightly choreographed dance moves (see story p. 40). Co-founder Gregory Kozak calls it "action percussion," and the critics call it fabulous. [SF]

7:30pm. World Theater, Sixth Avenue on CSUMB campus, Seaside. $20. 582-4580 or www.csumb.edu/worldtheater.