Break out the lawn chairs and bring on the barbecue — it’s nearly September and that means Music On the Bay is back.

The jovial mobsters have done it again. Somehow, busy professional touring musicians have been persuaded to exit the I-5 corridor. Confronted by members of the MOB executive board, half a dozen groups have seen the light and are now eagerly packing their bags for their gigs at Mingus Park.

Let’s meet that happy group, the MOB’s most recent “volunteers.”

The first Tuesday in September brings Zulu Dragon with Paul Biondi. Zulu Dragon opened MOB’s 2006 Little Feat concert, and those who heard them then will want to arrive early at the park. As usual, dancing is encouraged (so long as sight lines are respected) and so this band, famed as the group that fires up the Slug Queen contestants prior to the annual Eugene Celebration, can be expected to get things off to a foot stompin’ start.

Sept. 2’s concert will feature not one, but two gifted groups. Portland-based Sneakin’ Out covers Led Zeppelin, Gershwin, the Beatles and Beethoven’s Ninth. They’re a bluegrass-driven trio who’ve opened for Pink Martini at the Royal Theatre in Victoria, B.C., and for k.d. lang in Portland’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. For genre-bending original songs and completely contemporary covers, Sneakin’ Out is the band of choice. NOS is the acronym for “new old stock,” a phrase that describes items manufactured long ago but never used. For famed violinist Darol Anger, New Old Stock is the “instrumental cream of the brand new string nation.” Together, they perform at Mingus Park on Sept. 9th.

The particulars of the New Old Stock band are straightforward: a cellist and four-time Grand National Fiddle Champion; his sister, the 2005 Grand National Fiddle Champion and veteran of concerts at New York City’s Carnegie Hall; the banjo player who, since the age of 16, has toured and performed with the likes of David Grisman; and a self-described “existentially confused hammer dulcimer” wizard, who brings jazz to bluegrass and finds the lyrical in zydeco.

Bluegrass royalty plays the park on Sept. 16, when Rhonda Vincent brings her band, The Rage, to a gig she has agreed to sandwich in between the 2008 North Carolina Mountain State Fair and Missouri’s 17th annual Starvy Creek Bluegrass Festival.

“Short of country icons Dolly Parton and Alison Kraus,” says MOBster board member Larry McCabe, “Rhonda Vincent is it.”

Vincent watched as her albums soared to the number one spot on Billboard’s bluegrass charts in 2003 and again in 2006. This year she’s number one again with “Good Thing Going,” the album that features a duet with Keith Urban. Local Teen Idol contestants would be wise to sit close and watch carefully, as this songbird carried off the Female Vocalist of the Year trophy for seven years running, awarded by the International Bluegrass Music Association.

For McCabe, the Sept. 23 concert is the cream of the crop, the icing on the cake, the lomi-lomi at the luau. When he booked Cecilio & Kapono, he was thinking of the years he spent on the island of Oahu and his delight in his favorite outdoor music venue, the Waikiki Shell.

Cecilio & Kapono have performed together for 35 years. Their current stateside tour, “C & K Back in the Day,” celebrates their music, their heritage, and their bond. McCabe calls them the Loggins & Messina of Hawaii, praising their “great harmonies and soft rock” sound.

The final Tuesday offering features a mainstream jazz group, the Mel Brown quartet, accompanied by the rich vocals of soul singer Liv Warfield.

Warfield arrived in Portland from Peoria on a track and field scholarship. Portland State University was good to her, but music called her soul. The band has been described as “soul jazz” and Warfield’s delivery, reminiscent of international star, Sade. Together, they might be the perfect choice for what the MOB dubs their “dance fundraiser.”

Yes, all of the concerts are free.

Yes, donations to this tax exempt nonprofit are happily accepted.

For more information, contact Larry McCabe at 267-4110 or visit their website at http://www.musiconthebay.com/.

Teri Albert reviews art and artists for The World. Comments on or story ideas for this column are welcome, and can be e-mailed to malbert3@verizon.net.