Marian McPartland, the great English-born jazz pianist with a famous soft touch, will play at our own Sanders Theater July 11 at 8:30. There was a New Yorker profile on McPartland a couple of years back that made her sound dedicated and nice, and god-knows she probably is. For only two bucks it sounds like a good deal--definitely quality goods here. Pray that it isn't a hot night; Sanders can get pretty stuffy. Tickets at Holoke Center or the Loeb.

John Hammond, at the Performance Center this week, is a top-flight musician who dabbles with all sorts of material--lots of bluesy stuff, especially--and, for some reason, never seems to have hit it big. However, the real cognoscenti know he's good, and his show sounds definitely worth catching.

The Dells, smoothies from Philly, are at Paul's Mall this week. They're not going to make you jump up and down and scream, but they're very polished and fine to listen to. Good for a night of slick 60s R&B.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk is next door at the Jazz Workshop till the end of the weekend. Kirk is very high-energy and plays a zillion instruments, many of which you've never even heard of, often all at once. He's a giant anomaly in progressive jazz whose hay-days never seem to end. In a week less full of uniformly good stuff we'd recommend him without a second thought; he may be hard to squeeze in this week, what with Chem 20 hourlies piling up and all, but you really should catch his act at least once.

Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee look like maybe this week's best bet. The two veteran bluesman, who've been around forever and influenced just about everybody around, are at Passim's in the Square. You may have to wait in line for this--it's unusually good stuff for the Square--but Passim's at its best is a good place, so it'll be worth it. Not to be missed. July 10-14.

John Buttrick is what's in Cambridge this week for classical music buffs. He'll play Haydn sonatas and Chopin mazurkas on piano July 9 as part of MIT's chamber Music Festival. 8 p.m. at Kreske Auditorium, And free too!