Rock News: Music's high and low notes

RUBEN BLADES ON THE AIRWAVES

Musician/actor/activist Ruben Blades, whose new compact disc "Mundo" is set for release Sept. 17 on Columbia Records, will make an appearance on Showtime's "Resurrection Blvd." on Wednesday.

Blades, who stars as a homeless man, joins a list of several guest luminaries this season including Sinbad, Paul Rodriguez, Lou Diamond Phillips, Craig Kilborn and Jose Feliciano.

"Resurrection Blvd.," which began its third season on June 26, is the first weekly one-hour dramatic series to predominantly feature Latinos in front of and behind the camera.

Blades' "Mundo" is a collection of 14 tunes melding Latin, Celtic, Middle Eastern, African, Afro-Cuban, jazz and flamenco.

ROY ROGERS AND NORTON BUFFALO GO TO CHINA

Roy Rogers and Norton Buffalo, virtuosos on guitar and harmonica respectively, have been invited by the government of China to perform at the Beijing and Wuhan International Cultural Festival in late September, 2002. More than 250 artists from 50 countries will perform at the festival, which has a goal "to promote mutual understanding among different nationalities and to enhance the exchange between China and other countries."

Since 1998 the festival has been sponsored by the Beijing government and the China National Tourism Administration. Rogers and Buffalo have just released their first duet recording in 10 years, "Roots Of Our Nature," on Blind Pig Records. The disc focuses on American roots, folk and blues, covering a diverse range of styles.

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST 17 SET

South by Southwest Music and Media Conference's 17th edition will take place March 12-16, 2003, organizers announced. Touted as "the standard by which popular music conventions are judged," SXSW Music draws a Who's Who of musicians, record company executives, club owners, radio programmers, writers, publicists and professionals of all kinds working in the music industry.

The first registration deadline is Sept. 20. The music conference offers a broad range of presentations, panels, workshops and interviews. Specialized sessions such as the Continuing Legal Education program, demo listening panels and one-on-one meetings in the Mentor Program distinguish the SXSW experience.

The music festival will feature acts from around the world in a plethora of styles. In the past two years, before they made an international name for themselves, artists such as The Strokes, The White Stripes and Norah Jones gave performances at SXSW. Applications for consideration to be a showcasing artist at SXSW 2003 are now being accepted. Complete information is available at sxsw.com/showcase with discounted fees for online applicants.

WHADAYAGONNADO?

This Sunday marks the return of the HBO phenomenon "The Sopranos," featuring Little Steven Van Zandt as mob consigliere and Bada-Bing owner Silvio Dante. The show is just an hour long but fans needing a longer Little Steven fix need not worry. In most markets across the United States, "Little Steven's Underground Garage" hits the radio airwaves just as "The Sopranos" ends at 10 p.m.

Tune in as Steven trades mob hits for hits by British Invasion stars (the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds), American garage classics (the Kingsmen, the Electric Prunes), garage/punks (the MC5, the Stooges) and current bands devoted to the underground sound (The Hives, The Greenhornes, The Shazam, and more.) "Little Steven's Underground Garage," which debuted in April 2002 on 23 stations, has now grown to 61 affiliates across the country, with New Orleans, Memphis and Portland, Ore. as the newest additions.

JAKOB DYLAN FALLS INTO THE GAP

As part of The Gap's new "For Every Generation" advertising campaign, Jakob Dylan, lead singer of The Wallflowers, will perform an acoustic rendition of "What's So Funny ('Bout Peace, Love and Understanding)." The 30-second commercial will premiere on major networks nationwide throughout this week. The Wallflowers' new album "Red Letter Days" will be released Nov. 5 on Interscope records.