By Tomm Carroll

Friday, October 12-Thursday, October 18—One of the most gorgeous voices ever heard in the folk-pop medium belongs to Lori Carson, the sultry singer-songwriter who has long been acclaimed by critics and appreciated by fans and virtually everyone who has had the opportunity to hear her.

And the too-rare opportunity to see and hear her perform live occurs Friday night when Carson visits McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica for a single show, accompanied only by her electric guitar. Ever since her remarkable debut album, Shelter, 11 years ago, Carson was an artist to be reckoned with. Her wonderful reworking of Paul McCartney’s "Junk" from that album brought out the song’s delicate nuances long before Elvis Costello and Anne Sophie von Otter did on their For the Stars release earlier this year.

Carson has gone on to record many more solo albums (her latest, a limited edition available only on her website, www.loricarson.com, is House in the Woods), as well as collaborative efforts (most notably, her work as vocalist and lyricist for Anton Fier’s amorphous Golden Palominos, which pre-figured trip-hop).

Folk Femme: Seventy years young and still going strong, legendary folk and soulful blues singer Odetta is back. She was a staple of the folk scene in the late 1950s and among her many young admirers then was one Robert Zimmerman, soon to become Bob Dylan. Odetta performs at the Magnin Auditorium of the Skirball Cultural Center in the Sepulveda Pass Thursday evening.

Blues Babe: It’s a long way from Broadway, but legendary jazz-blues singer Linda Hopkins brings her formidable talent the Lunaria supper club in Century City Saturday night. She’s sung Bessie Smith and Dinah Washington and everything in between, including standards with the Count Basie Orchestra. And she’ll sing for your supper this evening.

Other Shows of note this week:

Friday

Rolling Stones clone band Sticky Fingers get their tribute ya-yas out at 14 Below in Santa Monica, with opening acts Candy-O and 80D.

Bill Staines brings his East Coast storytelling and folk singing to Boulevard Music in Culver City.

Santa Monica’s Temple Bar features the triple bill of The Soul of John Black, Carlos Niño and Blood of Abraham.

Check out the off-season Mardi Gras sounds of The Savoy Family Cajun Band at the Getty Center in the Sepulveda Pass.

Saturday

Dread Zeppelin returns to 14 Below with its enjoyable Elvis-reggae-Zep shtick. Support bands include AC/DC cover band Bonfire, Trigger and Moe Jones.

Danger, Danger, Will Robinson! Bill ("Lost in Space") Mumy’s new band, The Jenerators blast off at Rusty’s Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier.

Sunday

Jazz-rock violin great Jean Luc Ponty performs and signs copies of his new CD, Life Enigma, at the Borders in Westwood 2:00 p.m. Free.

Monday

The New Breed hosts Open Mic Night at Harvelle’s in Santa Monica.

Tuesday

Acclaimed piano man Monty Alexander, with bassist Brandon Owens and drummer Mark Taylor, open a six-night stand at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City.

Wednesday

The Lady Sings the Blues as Micky Champion warbles in the key of indigo at Harvelle’s.

Thursday

Conga king and Latin jazz legend Poncho Sanchez visits the intimate environs of Temple Bar.

It’s Fast Times in Santa Monica when Lush hosts the band for ladies’ night.

YOUSSOU N’DOUR ROYCE HALL, UCLA THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18 Senegalese superstar and vocalist extraordinaire, Youssou N’Dour is Africa’s most recognized musician. Best known for his collaborations with Paul Simon, Neneh Cherry, Branford Marsalis and especially Peter Gabriel (who helped to popularize him throughout Europe and the United States),

N’Dour has a distinctive and mesmerizing five-octave voice that, according to Rolling Stone magazine, seems to have "the history of Africa…locked inside it."

Acclaimed for his work on "In Your Eyes" from Gabriel’s massive hit So album in 1986, he went on to headline the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! world tour with Gabriel, Sting, Bruce Springsteen and Tracy Chapman, and performed at Nelson Mandela’s birthday concert in London two years later.

Among N’Dour’s acclaimed albums are 1989’s Set, which includes his hit collaboration with Peter Gabriel, "Shaking the Tree"; the Grammy-nominated Eye’s Open in 1991; and The Guide in 1993, which features the smash hit single "Seven Seconds," a duet with Neneh Cherry.

N’Dour has a new album out, Joko (The Link), and his tour to support the release brings him to one of the few venues in town where the acoustics can do justice to his amazing voice -- Royce Hall.