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01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, July 8, 2010

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The New York-Dominican vocal group Aventura has done as much as anyone to popularize bachata in the States, and it’s done it by mixing in styles such as modern R&B and hip-hop — including cameos from stars such as Akon and reggaeton’s Don Omar — while never losing the sinuous, guitar-based backbone that’s at the heart of bachata. Find out what the fuss is about firsthand Friday night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, 1 La Salle Square, Providence, at 9 p.m.

James Cotton has been playing the blues harmonica for more than 50 years, dating back to Muddy Waters, and he’s got the W.C. Handy (five of ’em) and Grammy (one) awards to prove it. He’s lost some of his vocal power over the years, but his harp playing still constitutes a clinic in the old-school electric Chicago blues. He’s at the Narrows Center for the Arts, 16 Anawan St., Fall River, Friday night at 8.

The outdoor summer concert series keep rolling along, and this week you can catch the barrelhouse- and New Orleans-inspired blues of “Rhode Island’s largest trio,” The Superchief Trio, at the ALCO Concert Series, held on the grounds of the American Locomotive Works complex and hosted by Everyman Bistro. The show starts at 7 and it’s free as a bird. (And it’ll be held inside Everyman if it rains.)

And Friday night, the WBRU-sponsored free concert series in Waterplace Park brings The Constellations, an Atlanta-based band with enough of a psychedelic weirdness to keep you scratching your head while you groove. Remember some of the heavier jams on Los Lobos’ “Colossal Head” album? A little like that. Waterplace Park is right in downtown Providence, and the show is at 7:30.

But the outdoor concerts aren’t just in Providence, and they’re not just on the weekend. The Blues on the Beach series started last week and continues with Professor Harp with Doug James and Johnny and The East Coast Rockers starting at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the Westerly Town Beach, at 365 Atlantic Ave., in Westerly. If it rains, they’ll head to The Windjammer at 321 Atlantic Ave.

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