Music Picks July 10-16 | Live: The Roots, Founders Title, Wynton Marsalis, Aimee Mann, Blackhole/Madraso 

Thursday 7.10
THE ROOTS, THE KNUX
Can I get a “Hell, yeah!”? Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Twilight Concert Series kicks off another season of free outdoor performances tonight with Philadelphia hip-hop kings The Roots and newcomers The Knux. Headlining act The Roots return to town after playing The Depot in May with queen bee Erykah Badu—a performance many marked down as the best of 2008. Maybe so, but watching the Ill-a-delph collective blow up the Gallivan Center under the stars might just trump their previous gig. And The Knux? Well, they know how to get a party started. Put the needle on their debut record and watch the whole room bounce: “I need a fresh cappuccino with a mocha twist/ fresh, fresh cappuccino with a mocha twist,” the New Orleans pair throws down one of the catchiest lines this side of “Shake it like a Polaroid picture.” Song of the summer? You be the judge. Gallivan Center, 239 S. Main, 7 p.m. Free. All-ages. Info: 535-6117

• Also Thursday: Dear & The Headlights (Avalon); Redlight Books Benefit (Burt’s Tiki Lounge); Prezident Brown (Huka Bar); The LBC (Harry O’s, Park City)

Friday 7.11
FOUNDERS TITLE FOLK & BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL
Get out of the heat and into the mountains for the annual Founders Title Folk & Bluegrass Festival. There’s lots to do in the valley this weekend but, unless Oh! Wild Birds has a gig, this is the only place you’ll find a bouzouki. That’s one of Kort McKumber’s many favorite instruments. The Colorado-based Americana artist also picks a mean banjo, plays cello, guitar, harmonica, piano … the list goes on. In fact, most of the festival’s featured acts can handle just about anything that lands in their laps—not the least of which is pedal-steel. This year’s lineup also includes Lori McKenna, Charley Simmons, Sam Bush Band, The Hackensaw Boys, Carrie Rodriguez, Cherryholmes, Tim O’Brien, Chatham County Line and many others. Discounted tickets available for full-time students and seniors (65 and over). Snowbird, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Friday 3 p.m.-11 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Tickets: FoundersFestival.org

JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA w/ WYNTON MARSALIS
Red Butte Garden’s Outdoor Concert Series opens [see Five Spot] with the smooth sounds of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and under the leadership of Wynton Marsalis, a skilled trumpeter and charismatic director who’s known to joke around with the audience between numbers. Truly a tour-de-force and proof positive of power in numbers, the 15-member orchestra features some of today’s best jazz soloists including Marsalis, Sean Jones, Ryan Kisor, Marcus Printup, Vincent R. Gardner, Chris Crenshaw, Sherman Irby, Ted Nash, Walter Blanding, Joe Temperley, Dan Nimmer, Carlos Rodriguez and Ali Jackson. Bring a blanket and a picnic for a cool (as in hip) evening under the stars. Red Butte Garden, 300 Wakara Way, 7 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 587-9939

• Also Friday: Salt Lake City Jazz Festival (Washington Square—see Essentials, p. 25); Dear Stranger, Paxtin (Kilby Court); Journey (Usana Amphitheater); Jagertown (Liquid Joe’s); Three Reasons (Club Vegas); Ashlee K (Huka Bar); Ikonoklast (Brewskis, Ogden)

Saturday 7.12
AIMEE MANN, MARC COHN
I fell for Aimee Mann before she went solo, in the halcyon ’Til Tuesday days. Her run with the ’80s pop group left us with smart, sensitive songs about luckless dreamers lifted or wrecked by love (Check “The Other End of the Telescope,” co-written by Elvis Costello). Years later, Mann saved Magnolia for me with “Save Me,” one of her many heartbreaking contributions to the somewhat sprawling film’s soundtrack. Her latest release, @%&*! Smilers, continues to focus on regular folk trying to get by—and often failing. On “Freeway,” even Mann second-guesses herself: “Everything I do is wrong, but at least I’m hanging on,” and again on “31 Today”: “I thought I’d be happy by now.” Perhaps a gig with the inimitable Marc Cohn in a scenic mountain setting will do the trick. Deer Valley, 2250 Deer Valley Drive South, 7 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 435-655-3114

BLACKHOLE/MADRASO EP RELEASE
If it seems like forever since you’ve heard from our friends Blackhole, just know that in between occasional gigs, they’ve been holed up in their practice space and in the studio working on new material. Until the long-awaited full-length follow-up to their 2006 eponymous debut hits streets, those craving a new taste of throbbing double-bass action can snack on Blackhole’s new 7-inch split EP with Seattle’s Madraso. The Pseudo Recordings label mates share at least one thing in common: kick-ass rock you can feel in yer bones. Due to some technical glitches, physical copies may or may not be on hand for sale. But Pseudo’s Ryan Workman says, never fear—pre-ordering is an option. Besides, how can it be rock & roll if everything goes according to plan? Burt’s Tiki Lounge, 726 S. State, 10 p.m. Info: 521-0572 (with Accidente)

• Also Saturday: Salt Lake City Jazz Festival (Washington Square); Film School, Vile Blue Shades (Kilby Court); Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Sandy Amphitheater); Boys Like Girls, Good Charlotte (Great Saltair); Founders Title Folk & Bluegrass Festival (Snowbird); Band of Annuals, Will Sartain (Urban Lounge); Massive Damage Tour (Paladium); D.I. (Bar Deluxe); Rise Music Festival (Huka Bar)

Sunday 7.13
Salt Lake City Jazz Festival (Washington Square); Founders Title Folk & Bluegrass Festival (Snowbird); Kohabit (Why Sound, Logan)

Tuesday 7.15
Low, TaughtMe (In the Venue—Read Article); Jonny Lang, Dusty Rhodes & The River Band (Red Butte Garden); Blue Turtle Seduction (Paladium); Valient Thorr (Club Vegas—venue change)

Wednesday 7.16
King Khan & The Shrines (Urban Lounge—Read Article); Bella Morte (Burt’s Tiki Lounge)

Coming Up
Andrew Bird, Josh Ritter (Gallivan Center, July 17); Feist (Deer Valley, July 17); Doomtree, Flobots (Avalon, July 18); Rocky Votolato (Velour, July 18); Paul Oakenfeld (In the Venue, July 19); Elvis Costello, The Police (Usana Amphitheater, July 19); Flogging Molly (Great Saltair, July 19); Lyle Lovett (Kingsbury Hall, July 19); Sera Cahoone (Kilby Court, July 20); John Mayer (Usana Amphitheater, July 21); Watson Twins, Tim Fite (Urban Lounge, July 21); Boris (Urban Lounge, July 26)