Morris Day, Ariel Pink headline this summer’s Twilight Concert Series

It may still be a touch gloomy outside, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from this summer’s round of Twilight Concert Series events at the Santa Monica Pier.

The free weekly show series, presented annually by KCRW-FM, Spaceland (the local concert company behind the Echo and Regent) and Rum & Humble, has announced its 2015 summer lineup, and the bills are doused in lots of excellent funk, jazz and rock.

The series runs each Thursday from July 9 to Sept. 10. This year’s installment kicks off with a double-funk bill of Morris Day & the Time (who recently played a charming TV engagement with local favorites Haim) and throwback synth-and-vocoder wrangler Dam-Funk.

The bills continue with, among many others, indie rockers Real Estate, the retro singer-songwriter JD McPherson, Jamaican dance hall singer and DJ Sister Nancy and art-pop provocateur Ariel Pink.

Perhaps the most intriguing lineup is a combo bill featuring the Rebirth Brass Band and Miles Mosley and the West Coast Get Down -- the loose mantle for the group of contemporary jazz musicians anchored by saxophonist Kamasi Washington.

The concerts are all-ages and start at 7 p.m. each night. The venue fills up quickly so an early start is recommended. You can’t take the Expo Line there quite yet, but once you can, we suspect a whole lot of downtown purists will discover the virtues of live music with your toes in the sand. The full schedule is below.

July 9 — Morris Day & the Time / Dam-Funk
July 16 — Real Estate / Hippo Campus
July 23 — ¡Cubanismo!
July 30 — JD McPherson / Sarah Gayle Meech
Aug. 6 — Australia Rocks The Pier
Aug. 13 — Sister Nancy / Jesse Royal
Aug. 20 — Ariel Pink / The Mynabirds
Aug. 27 — Jefferson Starship / Purple Mountains Majesties
Sept. 3 — Rebirth Brass Band / Miles Mosley and the West Coast Get Down
Sept. 10 — TBA

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