---

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. - they were the voices of the Rat Pack who dominated Las Vegas entertainment during the 1950s and '60s.

The big three are gone but their music continues nightly throughout the summer at the Col. Blackinton Inn on North Main Street (Route 152) in Attleboro.

On Monday evenings from 6-9 p.m. Mike Dutra delivers the Chairman of the Board's material. On Tuesdays from 6-9, Steve Palumbo performs as Dean Martin, and on Thursdays from 7-10 Manny Barros stands in for Sammy Davis Jr.

Blackinton delivers music on the patio seven days a week during the summer months, with Jazz Set performing 7-10 p.m. on Saturdays and during jazz brunch from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., and Mike Welch holding down piano bar duties from 6-9 on Wednesdays.

So far, the themed-jazz approach has been paying dividends. "We've been getting a good reaction," says entertainment manager Marianne Record.

After-beats:

Aretha Franklin has been added to the JVC Jazz Festival Newport lineup and will headline Aug. 9 at Fort Adams State Park. The multiple Grammy Award winner joins an all-star lineup of jazz artists and other musicians including Sonny Rollins, Chris Botti, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.

Some of the major attractions at the annual festival include Sonny Rollins, Chris Botti and Herbie Hancock. For more information visit www.festivalnetwork.com or call 877-655-4TIX.

There'll be plenty of jazz - and dance music, and R&B, and soul - at the genre-bending Providence Sound Session '08 staged by the Providence Black Repertory Company and The City of Providence. The July 6-12 festival includes free outdoor concerts at Waterplace Park as well as shows at The Providence Black Repertory's Xxodus Cafe and a carnival-style parade ending in a vibrant block party in the heart of downtown.

This year's festival includes jazz legend Jon Hendricks, R&B sensations 112, dance music pioneer Wunmi and trumpeter Maurice Brown. Xxodus Cafe kicks off a series of music attractions July 7 with the Elan Mehler Quartet, Oveous Maximus, Grow and Eric Roberson. Hendricks and Brown will be onstage at Waterplace Park June 12. For more information visit www.providencesoundsession.com.

For the fifth year, the Wequasset Resort and Golf Club is pursuing a relaxed approach to a summer jazz festival not by jamming thousands of jazz-lovers into the venue over a single weekend, but by scheduling top-notch jazz performers one at a time over the course of two weeks.

The shoreside resort offers a romantic setting under the stars with the Kenny Werner Trio on July 1; female vocal trio String of Pearls on July 2; the White Heat Swing Orchestra July 8, the Dave Schnitter Quintet July 9, Roseanna Vitro July 11, and Jazz for Kids with Boston Pops percussionist Ricardo Monzon July 12. Concerts, except Jazz for Kids, are at 8:30 p.m., with a two-drink minimum. For information call 800-225-7125.

Jazz trumpeter Carlos De Leon and his band will be featured in a July 4 concert at Providence's Waterplace Park as a preliminary to the city's fireworks celebration. Saxman Greg Abate will close the six-week series of Friday night concerts Aug. 1.

All concerts are free and begin at 7:30 p.m. For more information visit www.providenceri.com/ArtCultureTourism. Rick Foster blogs daily on jazz throughout southeastern Massachusetts and New England at thesunchronicle.ning.com/profile/RickFoster.