It's been said before, but it bears repeating: Few cities on the planet offer as many free concerts as our town does during the summer. The bigger events — like the 25 years of legendary Thursday nights on Santa Monica Pier, the Skirball Center's carefully curated “Sunset Concerts,” and the world-exposing, culture-mixing Grand Performances series downtown — get their props, but those programs just scratch the sonic-freebie surface. The Levitt Pavilions in Pasadena and MacArthur Park present sounds five nights a week, Culver City's music fest has been kickin' it for 15 years, and Tuesdays at Hollywood & Highland and Fridays at LACMA keep jazz alive. Want a sampler this week? Try Ghanaian world-reggae rock outfit Rocky Dawuni and the Revelation Project and North African fusionist MC Rai at Grand Performances on Friday, and Malian electro-rootsman Issa Bagayogo at the Skirball next Thursday. This summertime, when the recessionary living may or may not be easy, at least a whole lot of live music won't cost you a cent.

Fri., July 10, noon, 2009

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