Lincoln Center Out of Doors Presents Free Roots of American Music Festival, 7/31-8/1

Marking its 40th anniversary, Lincoln Center Out of Doors continues its schedule of FREE performances on the plazas of Lincoln Center. The 40th annual edition of the festival presents a wide range of music and dance events by dozens of international, U.S. and local artists. Coming up on July 31 and August 1 is the annual Roots of American Music festival. Detailed descriptions of the performances, and a complete schedule, follow.

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND TAKE PLACE ON LINCOLN CENTER'S PLAZAS between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues, from West 62nd Street to West 65th Street (except where noted). Take No.1 IRT to 66th Street/Lincoln Center Station) OR the A, B, C, D and No. 1 trains to 59th St/Columbus Circle.

Visit www.LCOutofDoors.org for a complete schedule or call 212-875-5766.

? 27th Annual Roots of American Music's Ponderosa Stomp: The Detroit Breakdown showcases the spiritual continuum and musical progression that has long served as the hallmark of a true artistic metropolis. When Motown put Detroit on the map, it was with an international influential sound best exemplified by the pioneering girl group The Velvelettes, who join stirring soul men Melvin Davis and Spyder Turner, and wah-wah guitar-slinging funk brother Dennis Coffey in a revue of classic Northern soul, backed by R&B all-stars The Party Stompers. A showman of the first degree, bluesman Eddie Kirkland's emotion-laden singing and gritty guitar-playing kicks off the day in high style. (July 31, 2 p.m. - Hearst Plaza/ Barclays Capital Grove.)

? Ponderosa Stomp: The Detroit Breakdown continues with Detroit rock icons of the first tier, garage rockers Mitch Ryder (and the Detroit Wheels) and Question Mark presided over America's rock & roll conversation in the 1960s, when radio gems like Ryder's high-octane Devil with a Blue Dress On and the colorful Mysterians' 96 Tears made both artists into two of the most popular recording artists in America. Equally inspired by the blues, R&B, and garage punk pioneers who had come before them, The Gories may have been too incendiary for their time, their influence continues to reverberate. Many pop scholars and fans have only recently discovered Death, a reignited 1970s trio of African American proto-punk rockers that were true anomalies in the Detroit ferment. (July 31, 5 p.m. , Damrosch Park Bandshell.)

The Ponderosa Stomp creates a showcase for living history and thriving art, spotlighting the unsung heroes who planted the very roots of American music.

? 27th Annual Roots of American Music presents Dig: Their Royal Hipness. The Asylum Street Spankers infuse rollicking old-time music with bawdy modern-day humor and an audacious live show. The four masked men in Los Straightjackets let their precision instrumentals do all the talking, conversing in the retro-chic riff-ology of surf-music, perfect for a beach party or the slap-and-tickle burlesque choreography of The World Famous Pontani Sisters. Niger's innovative desert blues band Etran Finatawa ("stars of tradition") casts a hypnotic spell with mesmerizing droning riffs and uplifting chants. (August 1, 2 p.m , Hearst Plaza/ Barclays Capital Grove.)

? Dig: Their Royal Hipness continues in the evening: Sandra Bernhard's knife-edged humor skewers the state of modern culture, fueled by rebellious rock & roll attitude. David Johansen, the flamboyant performer of New York Dolls and Buster Poindexter fame, weaves punk rock swagger, beatnik folk, and gutbucket blues. In Shel Sliverstein's hipster Hamlet: The Street Chant, Original Baadasssss Melvin Van Peebles adds rhyme and modern meaning to a street-savvy update of the Bard's classic tale. Steve Cuiffo channels the groundbreaking work of the controversial comic and social satirist Lenny Bruce. Cats and kittens, dig Rod Harrison's "hipsemantic" inhabitation of the coolest, grooviest, swingin'est, Lord Buckley. (August 1, 6 p.m., Damrosch Park Bandshell.)

? An iconoclastic 12-piece marching band conceived by Bang on a Can, the Asphalt Orchestra performs ambitious processional music from every corner of the world. Its selections have the ability to coax funk from the funereal and turn a half-time show into a marvel of sophistication. The group performs world premiere commissions by Yoko Ono and David Byrne with Annie Clark. (August 4 - August 8, various locations.)

Commissioned by Lincoln Center for Lincoln Center Out of Doors. Asphalt Orchestra is a creation of Bang on a Can with founding support from The Rockefeller Foundation's New York Cultural Innovation Fund and Lincoln Center for Lincoln Center Out of Doors.

? Brilliant keyboardist Robert Glasper is on a mission to bring jazz to the masses by infusing it with chordal dynamism and beat consciousness. His band, the Experiment, is as comfortable swinging hot bebop riffs as it is laying down the funk for this evening's superstar guests, hip-hop philosopher MC Q-Tip and neo-soul singer Bilal. Vocal powerhouse José James' rich baritone retains the sparkle of jazz traditionalism even as it charms revelers on the dance-club circuit. His torch songs are safe havens for pointillist grooves as well as post-Coltrane electronica. (August 4, 7:30 p.m., Damrosch Park Bandshell.)

Presented in partnership with Brooklyn Arts Council's Black Brooklyn Renaissance, Black Arts + Culture, 1960-2010, in cooperation with Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and sponsored by MetLife Foundation.

? Celebrate the 80th birthday of a true giant of modern dance, Paul Taylor, with both of his esteemed dance companies sharing a program for the first time. The extraordinary PTDC performs Airs, Syzygy, and Company B, moving from sublime lyricism to full-throttle physicality to the poignant dualities of love and war. Taylor 2 performs Taylor's signature masterpiece Esplanade, as well as an unprecedented live collaboration with Asphalt Orchestra, which performs an original arrangement of the score to the pioneering 3 Epitaphs.(August 5, 7:30 p.m., Damrosch Park Bandshell.)

? Formed with the late Klaus Dinger after their stint in Kraftwerk, Krautrock pioneer Michael Rother's influential 1970s art band NEU!'s moody instrumentals unleashed dark tunings and off-kilter motorik rhythms that later surfaced in the music of David Bowie and Sonic Youth-whose drummer Steve Shelly joins Rother, Benjamin Curtis (School of Seven Bells) and Aaron Mullan (Tall Firs) in the first live presentation of this music in more than 35 years, along with material from Rother's Harmonia and solo work. A visionary musical sorcerer, Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal continues to be a force of nature, pursuing jazz-based experimentalism heightened by the grace he brings to the whimsical. (August 6, 7:30 p.m., Damrosch Park Bandshell)

Hermeto Pascoal presented with support from the Consulate General of Brazil in New York and in cooperation with Americas Society.