Classical musicians from Philadelphia and New York will perform at Delaware Valley College

There are many pleasant ways to spend a July weekend, but few offer the value of the WXPN (88.5-FM) XPoNential Music Festival, now in its 17th year and returning for the sixth time to Wiggins Park on the Camden waterfront. This year promises performances by more than 40 artists on three stages over three days. There's something for everybody - or at least everybody in the 'XPN indie/alt fan base. Artists include Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Alejandro Escovedo, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Rosanne Cash, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Cowboy Junkies, the Felice Brothers, Yo La Tengo, Dr. Dog and many more. The Kids Corner Garden is up and running noon to 6 p.m. with host Kathy O'Connell.

2010 XPoNential Music Festival, today through Sunday, three-day pass, $65 ($45 for members), daily, $30 ($20 for members), ages 2-12, $5. Tix at World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400). Information at xpn.org.

- Laurie T. Conrad

Some serious local talent will assist rising hip-hop star J. Cole when Heineken's Inspire event comes to town. Signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label, J. Cole's gotten a strong assist from that best-selling artist. Still, it's Cole's skills on the mike and in performances before packed audiences that really distinguish him from his peers. Helping out here are locally known and respected Marsha Ambrosius, who came to Philly from Liverpool, England, and became a force in the neo-soul scene in the duo Floetry; multiplatinum singer Musiq Soulchild; and last but certainly not least, arguably the world's greatest hip-hop DJ, Jazzy Jeff. The event and the beer are free, but tickets are limited; RSVP at www.redstar.heineken.com.

TLA, 334 South St., 3 p.m., free with

RSVP, 21-plus, 215-922-1011, www.redstar.heineken.com.

- James Johnson

Heartless Bastards frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom is from a long line of Ohio women rockers - from Chrissie Hynde to the lesser known indie-heroines Scrawl to the Breeders' Deal sisters. Each carries the wry sense of humor and pathos in her singing and songwriting of a survivor who continues to fight the good fight. That hits home in 2010 America. Over the course of three critically acclaimed albums, the Cincinnati quartet has dusted off and spruced up typical bar band blues. They incorporated some elements of folk and country on their 2009 release, "The Mountain." In the past year, their profile rose: "Sway" was used in TV's "Friday Night Lights"; they performed on "Austin City Limits" and opened for Wolfmother.

North Star Bar, 27th and Poplar streets, 9 tonight, $14-$16, 215-684-0808, www.northstarbar.com.

- Sara Sherr

It's been an unusually productive year for Orrin Evans. He cobbled together his Captain Black Big Band and quickly molded them from a ragged band into a raucously powerful (though still raw) ensemble. His latest CD, "Faith in Action" (Posi-Tone), was both a tribute to his mentor and longtime employer, saxophonist Bobby Watson, and a summation of Evans' idiosyncratic style. And there are recordings by the Captain Black band and his controversy-courting quintet Tarbaby, already in the can. The Philly pianist heads a different Quartet this weekend, but hardly an unfamiliar one: His musical and personal relationships with saxophonist Tim Warfield, drummer Ralph Peterson Jr. and bassist Eric Revis run deep. Evans' has said of this show, "We gonna be swinging!" There's no reason to doubt it.

Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St., 8 and 10 tonight, $15, 215-568-3131, www.chrisjazzcafe.com.

- Shaun Brady

A talented pool of Philadelphia Orchestra and New York musicians, making up the roster of the Lenape Chamber Ensemble, celebrate each summer by playing jewels from the vast chamber repertoire. Busy local pianist Marcantonio Barone gets the lion's share of work in this central program of a three-concert summer season. He'll perform in Schubert's Fantasy for violin and piano, then join string colleagues in Schumann's evanescent Piano Quartet, Op. 47.

Flutist Tanya Witek, principal flute of the New York Symphonic Ensemble and winner of a wealth of awards, is the esteemed soloist. She's chosen the romantic 1918 Nocturne and Scherzo for flute and strings, a rarely heard gem by American composer Arthur Foote.

Delaware Valley College, Routes 202 and 611, Doylestown, 8 p.m. tomorrow, $18, 610-294-9361, www.lenapechamber

ensemble.org.

- Tom Di Nardo