Rock News: Music's high and low notes

BONNAROO TAPS DEAD, DYLAN

Bob Dylan, The Dead, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Dave Matthews will co-headline the debut of the Bonnaroo Festival in the Northeast Aug. 8-10 in Riverhead, Long Island. The event will take place on a 2,000-acre site in Enterprise Park at Calverton in Riverhead, N.Y. Tickets go on sale May 7 at Bonnaroo.com. "Bonnaroo NE" will feature two nights of performances by The Dead as well as one shots from Dylan, Petty, Matthews, the North Mississippi All-Stars, Medeski Martin & Wood, String Cheese Incident, Gov't Mule, Ween, Yonder Mountain String Band, moe., Soulive, Rusted Root, Les Claypool's Frog Brigade, Disco Biscuits, X-ecutioners, Yo La Tengo, Talib Kweli, Kings Of Leon, Los Amigos Invisibles, Cut Chemist and Grandaddy, among others.

JAZZFEST DOESN'T STOP

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival officially reopens Thursday but the free MO Fest, sponsored by the Mayor's office, got underway Monday at the Hibernia Pavilion in Woldenberg Park, along the Mississippi River, adjacent to the the French Quarter. The Rites of Swing, Revelation, Linnzi Zaorski and Delta Royale, Kelly Love Jones, Bust featuring Rebecca Barry, Juanita Brooks and the Charmaine Neville Band played Monday. The festival continues Tuesday from noon to 8 p.m. with The Pfister Sisters, The Friendly Travelers, Naked on the Floor, Josephine Mills, Big Sam's Funky Nation and Jon Cleary and The Absolute Monster Gentlemen.

SOLOMON BURKE SET FOR HANDY AWARDS

Legendary Solomon "Bishop" Burke will headline the 24th Annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards, the Blues Foundation announced. The Handy Awards, hosted by a trio of seasoned blues artists -- Delbert McClinton, Marcia Ball and Bobby Rush -- will take place May 22 at the historic Orpheum Theater, adjacent to Chicago's world-famous Beale Street in the "Home of the Blues." The event will be telecast on public television in the fall.

Burke, recognized for his excellence in blues recording and performing in a career that spans five decades, is nominated for four Handys, including Album of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, Best Contemporary Album and Song of the Year. Burke joins a galaxy of blues talent, including Chicago favorite Magic Slim, McClinton, Corey Harris with legends Bobby Rush and Sam Carr, plus Yugoslavian newcomer Ana Popovic.

This year's show also will include a performance from the International Blues Challenge solo and band winners Fiona Boyes and Delta Moon. In a series of events designed to capture the essence of a true and uniquely American art form known as the blues, the Handy Awards kicks-off the "Blues Weekend of the Year," a music festival that continues in the clubs on Beale Street. The Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization established to celebrate blues excellence and preserve the history and culture of the blues, leads the country in celebrating the Year of the Blues.

CASEY KASEM'S TOP 10

Radio and television personality Casey Kasem will issue three new CDs featuring top hits from three decades, the '60s, '70s and '80s, as part of the continuing series "Casey Kasem Presents America's Top Ten Hits." The three titles, "The 60s: Motown's Greatest Hits," "The 70s: Classic Rock's Greatest Hits" and "The 80s: New Wave's Greatest Hits," each will include 20 Top 10 tracks, comprehensive liner notes, artist photos and fun facts about the decade. The discs will be released simultaneously on May 20 through Top Sail Productions, a WEA distributed company.

"These CDs contain the hit music that helped shape and define our lives during three significant decades," Kasem said of the new releases. "The unforgettable songs on these collections from Motown's early days, and from the eras of classic rock and new wave are the soundtrack to our lives. They allow us to reminisce and enjoy great music, while reliving some of our most precious memories."

LES NUBIANS

The globetrotting French duo Les Nubians have several national television appearances in the coming weeks in support of the band's latest album, "One Step Forward." The duo will perform the album's first single, "Temperature Rising" with special guest Talib Kweli on NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly" May 1 and will host the MTV2 "Top Ten Soul Video Countdown" this week. "One Step Forward" (OmTown/Higher Octave), which blends soul, R&B, hip hop, reggae and Afropean rhythms, debuted at No. 79 on the Billboard Top 200, the highest debut of any French language album in more than 20 years.