Bastille Day comes a bit early this year for Francophiles, who can team up in the natural partnership with wine lovers and bon vivants in the annual celebration of the release of Muscadet wines with the Fourth Annual Muscadet Wine Festival this Friday. In an event that is distinctly French in both heritage and practice, the arrival of Muscadet wine -- a light, crisp white with tastes of fruit and flowers -- is a ritual considered a perfect match for New Orleans. We're the first American city to celebrate the arrival of Muscadets, and the indigenous cuisine is the perfect complement to the wine, which is best paired with all types of seafood including oysters, clams, fish and scallops as well as spring vegetables. (You don't suppose it also has to do with New Orleanians' penchant for great times, food and wine, do you?) The wine's culinary connection to local foods will be demonstrated by chefs from some of the city's best-known restaurants who are charged with creating dishes that bring out the best in the varieties of Muscadet wines available, which festival-goers will "pull" from barrels. To further accentuate the ritual's roots, host Royal Sonesta Hotel's (300 Bourbon St., 586-0300) Grand Ballroom will sport Impressionistic decor and live music to showcase the spirit of the times. Guests are encouraged to dress in Impressionist and turn-of-the-century costumes, adding to the Parisian cafe vibe. The event lasts from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Special drawings will be held, with two Air France tickets and a grand prize of a trip for two to Nantes, France. The event is sponsored by the Louisiana Chapter of the French-American Chamber of Commerce (FACC/LA) and the Nantes Wine Council in France. Proceeds to benefit FACC/LA and the Second Harvesters Food Bank. Tickets in advance are $40, $35 for members of the FACC/LA and $350 for groups of 10; $45 at the door for everyone. -- Frank Etheridge

Marc Stone Band 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 25 TwiRoPa Arts & Entertainment Building, 1544 Tchoupitoulas St., 522-1544 The playlists of DJ Marc Stone's radio shows on WWOZ 90.7 FM show a particular affinity for guitarists, as Stone plays diverse tracks ranging from former Clifton Chenier zyde-blues six-stringer Harry Hypolite to rising pedal-steel sensation Robert Randolph. It's probably because Stone's a versatile guitarist in his own right, and has played with a diverse roster of Louisiana artists from R&B legends like Eddie Bo and the late Tommy Ridgley to zydeco stalwarts C.J. Chenier and Terrance Simien. Now Stone's making a bit of a move from sideman to frontman, with a new four-song EP and a series of regular gigs. Stone's workmanlike vocals are passable, and unsurprisingly, the guitar work is the strong point of the EP, with "Tell Me" grafting some zydeco lines onto a soul- and gospel-infused number, "Restless Heart," beating with a grungy blues lead, and "Shining Like a Diamond" featuring some down-home country-rock flavored slide guitar that recalls early Lynyrd Skynyrd. Admission $5. Stone opens for Iris May Tango. -- Scott Jordan

Ian McPhail Jazz Quintet 10 p.m. Tuesday, June 25 Spotted Cat, 623 Frenchmen St., 943-3887 For a weekly gig at a tiny Frenchmen Street bar, tenor sax player Ian McPhail has a quite a scene happening on Tuesday nights. Leading a quintet of local talent through stimulating sets of straight-ahead jazz selections, he maintains an open atmosphere of improvisational creativity. Players include downtown musicians Todd Duke (guitarist with John Boutté and Loren Pickford), bassist Peter Harris, and drummer Josh Dixon, a back-in-town former New Orleanian who McPhail hails as one of the best drummers active on the local scene these days. McPhail asserts little control over his band, leaving them free to interpret standards from the likes of Charles Mingus and Wayne Shorter. Band members' originals also show up in set lists, and the gig draws a healthy trickle of musicians from outside the band, who sit in to keep the sounds fresh. Pianist Matt Lemmler shows up regularly, while Edwin Livingston and David Pulphus keep the bass chair rotating. No cover. -- Cristina Diettinger

Tulane Latin American Law Institute Wednesday-Friday, June 26-28 Tulane School of Law, 6329 Freret St., 865-5935 The nation's and New Orleans' relationship with Latin America is reaching a critical point. With the United States realizing the economic co-dependency and a need to secure allies in a hostile world political climate and New Orleans' attempt to establish our city and our port as a gateway to the Americas, understanding Latin American issues is now vital. The Tulane Latin American Law Institute has been established with three days of lectures, roundtable discussions and workshops addressing energy law, free-trade agreements and law-reform issues in Latin America and their impact to inter-American relations. The Institute will work to discover common ground in political, social and economic concerns and use the shared information to foster relationships among Institute attendees, which include academics, lawyers and members of industry. Registration is $395; contact Paige Lemieux at 865-5900 to register. -- Etheridge

Three 6 Mafia 10 p.m. Wednesday, June 26 House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE Memphis rap group Three 6 Mafia is a trash-talking testament to the market value of ghetto caricature. Borrowing heavily from the tried-and-true hip-hop crew formula, Triple Six is the Wu-Tang Clan of the Dirty South, a more thugged-out version of the Staten Island group that conquered the industry through a series of side projects, collaborations and spin-offs. Though they're not as talented as the Wu, nor as business savvy, the Three 6 marketing plan works to some degree. With comic-book monikers like Crunchy Black and Gangsta Boo, the group aggression-rapped its way to chart success by the year 2000. The single "Sippin' on Some Syrup"-- about the official cocktail of the Dirty South, cough syrup and club soda -- carried the album When the Smoke Clears to the Top 10. The group now tours on the residual strength of its 2001 release, Choices. Tickets $25. -- Diettinger

Sojourner Truth Meets Lafitte 7 p.m. Saturday, June 29 Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center, 1724 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., 525-2767 Though born into slavery in New York in 1797 as Isabella Van Wagenen, Sojourner Truth rose above her trappings through a strong self-determination that became her hallmark trait to become one of the nation's leading abolitionists and women's rights leaders. Her fiery speeches all carried the message of empowerment, most notably her famed 1851 speech "Ain't I a Woman." Representing Truth's legacy is a dance theater performance looking at the life of Truth and the history of New Orleans' Lafitte Housing Development. Oral histories of Lafitte will be told by longtime Lafitte residents, including a monologue by Wilhemina Joseph, a founder of the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women's Drama Club. The piece will be performed by young girls in the Creative Communities Program housed in the Sojourner Truth Community Cente and adults from Lafitte. Kathy Randels directs, with music by Luther Gray, African dance by Aussettua Amor Amenkum and visual art by Shelley Boles. Admission by donation. -- Etheridge

The Winans Family 8:30 p.m. Saturday, June 29 Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts, 1201 St Peter St., 565-7462 It's been more than a decade since the entire Winans family has sung together -- understandable considering that Delores and David Wynans' 10 children have all followed in their parents' footsteps and gone on to successful careers in gospel music. For the record, this tour, dubbed "Together We Stand," will feature the Winans Brothers (Marvin, Carvin, Michael and Ronald), Bebe and Cece Winans, Daniel Winans, Angie and Debbie Winans, and Winans Phase II. While mom and dad's roots are in traditional gospel, the Winans brothers had numerous contemporary gospel hits in the '80s, while CeCe has enjoyed massive success with lush pop-like orchestrations of spiritual lyrics. Now Angie and Debbie, and Winans Phase II, are bringing hip-hop flavors to the fold. With 31 Grammy awards between them, the family has quite the musical terrain to cover, and to accomplish that goal, they'll take questions and requests from the audience during the second half of this historic reunion show. Tickets are $29 and are available through the box office (565-7490) or Ticketmaster (522-5555). -- Jordan

Superjoint Ritual plus Skinlab, Speedealer 9 p.m. Sunday, June 30 House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE Heavy metal needs a shot in the arm these days, considering that Metallica's on an extended hiatus, Axl Rose might Never finish his long-overdue Guns N' Roses album, and Ozzy Osbourne's gone from Prince of Darkness to reality-TV star. Pantera frontman (and New Orleans native) Philip Anselmo is just the man to step to the plate, and his current side project, Superjoint Ritual, is heavy metal without compromises. The band's new CD, Use Once and Destroy, combines the best elements of Metallica's speed leads with the sludge riffs of Osbourne's Black Sabbath anthems, while Anselmo's nihilistic lyrics make Rose's anger sound tame. It's all fueled by Anselmo's caustic, indecipherable vocal screams, and some crushing drum work. (It must be a coincidence that the guitar part on "Everyone Hates Everyone" is a slower take on Billy Squier's "Everybody Wants You.") The bass player for Superjoint Ritual's short tour is none other than Hank Williams III, who's indulging his hard-rock leanings in the most extreme way possible. Tickets $20. -- Jordan

Margaret Ross Tolbert: Aquifer Through July 27 LeMieux Gallery, 323 Julia St., 522-5988 What's with Florida, anyway? The place once touted by Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon as home to the Fountain of Youth has, after centuries of development, become better known for hanging chads, elder-scams and the Disney worldview. Yet, pockets of its besieged natural beauty linger on, and in parts of north Florida a number of those mysterious, crystal-clear, freshwater springs still abound. Painter Margaret Ross Tolbert has been exploring -- and painting -- them for years. Of her current Aquifer show at LeMieux, Tolbert says, "Painting and entering the springs are perhaps the two most similar experiences on the planet. They are both transformational areas of heightened awareness. Like the spring-maker, I, too, would like to cast out a veil of light, immerse the viewer in prisms of colored panels and offer a pocket of illusion. This pocket of illusion can be the most substantial of experiences." -- D. Eric Bookhardt