Summertime, and the music is easy to find.

At El Segundo’s Library Park, they’ll gather ‘round the gazebo bandstand Sunday at 2 p.m. to hear a little Dixieland and barbershop harmony.

At Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach, eyes and ears will be on Tex Beneke and his orchestra, who are famous for music in the Glenn Miller mood. They perform at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the amphitheater, against the backdrop of the park’s lake.

On Tuesday at 7 p.m., Susie Hansen offers Latin jazz in the glitzy food court at The Galleria at South Bay in Redondo Beach, where music mingles with dining at 18 eateries.

There’ll be noon tunes on the pier in Redondo Beach starting July 10, and Carson will begin a weekly concert series in various parks on July 20.

It’s summertime, and music is easy to find in the South Bay.

“Summer is a nice time to be able to kick back and unwind and just enjoy the music,” says Gala Burkholder, El Segundo’s cultural arts supervisor. “There are peaceful, relaxing surroundings under the trees with the gentle breezes.”

The outdoor park concerts cater to families, and people are encouraged to bring picnics and spread blankets and lawn chairs on the grass. “It’s intended to be a relaxing family event, and it’s nice to see children dancing to the music,” Burkholder said.

Pat Gray, who produces the summer series at Polliwog, calls it “a miniature Hollywood Bowl,” where some concert-goers bring small dining tables and candlesticks. A toy Spanish galleon gives children a place to play while their parents enjoy the music.

The Carson program spotlights ethnic music, which is designed to entertain the city’s melting-pot population, said Recreation Supervisor Lula Davis-Holmes. The series was patterned after one in Long Beach, she said, and “it was such a casual environment, we wanted to bring that same program to the city of Carson.”

At the Galleria and Redondo Pier, music is mixed with a little business promotion. “We hope people will buy food and drink, enjoy the music, and then go shopping afterward,” said Lauren Schwartz, the Galleria’s marketing director.

The pier concerts are presented near the entrance--with seating for 150 and standing room for a lot more--and Pier Assn. Promotions Director Jim Graham calls them a “midweek inducement” for people to come down to the pier.

“People debating where to have lunch might say, ‘Hey, they have music down at the pier on Wednesdays. Let’s go down and listen and have lunch,’ ” he said. “A lot of people on the bike path stop and listen for a bit.”

Turnouts at the concerts vary, from the 3,000-plus crowds that pack Polliwog to the 200 jazz buffs who listen at the Galleria.

But one thing unites all of the South Bay concert producers in their search for summer entertainers--the quest for a musical mix that offers variety and pleases audiences. And that can include everything except far-out jazz, heavy metal and hard rock.

“We don’t go to the far edge of anything,” said Polliwog’s Gray, whose coming music includes Dixieland, the 19-piece Bob Florence jazz band, the Billy Mitchell contemporary pop and jazz group, as well as country and bluegrass performers.

Later this summer, El Segundo will present such attractions as Nonesuch, a hammered dulcimer group performing folk music, chamber music and big band swing and Caribbean steel drums. The Palos Verdes Symphonic Band, a South Bay institution, also will play.

Schwartz at the Galleria said she tries to find music that appeals to a variety of ages. “Yuppies go for the modern groups, and older people go for big band music,” she said, adding that the consistent favorite every year is a Dixieland bunch called The Hot Frogs.

The Galleria’s sounds this summer include pop, a combination of jazz and the classics, big bands and an offbeat combination of Latin, Israeli and African styles performed by David Zasloff.

Said Graham of the Redondo Pier: “We feature an eclectic blend, from Hawaiian to country music, to calypso, steel drum sounds, to Dixieland, big band sounds and early rock ‘n’ roll. One group, the Dixie Chickens, even has a 92-year-old piano player.”

But Graham said his most popular repeat attraction has been the South Bay’s own Zydeco Party Band, with the Cajun sounds of Lisa Haley. “It’s high energy, super octane,” he said. “She’s brought the house down.”

And she’ll have a chance to do it twice this year because the pier has booked her for two concerts.

The South Bay summer concert schedule:

El Segundo: Library Park, Main Street and Mariposa Avenue. 2 p.m. Sunday, Hyperion Outfall Serenaders and Southbay Coastliners; July 14, Nonesuch; July 21, Steed Woodwind Quintet; July 28, Palos Verdes Symphonic Band; Aug. 4, Bob’s Big Band; Aug. 11, Pandemonium Steel Drum Band.

Manhattan Beach: Polliwog Park, 1601 Manhattan Beach Blvd. 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Tex Beneke Orchestra; July 7, Jake Porter’s Dixieland Band; July 14, Bob Florence Limited Edition; July 21, Doo Wah Riders; July 28, Billy Mitchell and Group; Aug. 4, L.A. Fiddle Band.

Redondo Beach: The Galleria at South Bay Picnic Place, Hawthorne and Artesia boulevards. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Susie Hansen; July 9, Transformation Jazz Trio; July 16, Owen Kirschner’s Big Band; July 23, Renee Grizzel Quartet; July 30, Steve Ezzo Band; Aug. 6, Red & The Red Hots; Aug. 13, David Zasloff; Aug. 20, Steve Bach Quartet; Aug. 27, New Rage.

Redondo Beach: Pier, end of Torrance Boulevard. Noon. July 10, Flatland Mountain Rock Band; July 17 and Sept. 4, Zydeco Party Band; July 24, Good Boys; July 31, Roger Neumann’s Luck Seven; Aug. 7, Band Called Zasloff; Aug. 14, Dixie Chickens; Aug. 21, Pacific Brass Quintet; Aug. 28, River Blues Jazz Band; Sept. 11, Ron Brown’s Country Sound.

Carson: July 20, 1 p.m. reggae, Anderson Park, 19101 S. Wilmington Ave.; July 27, 2 p.m., top 40, Carriage Crest Park, 23800 S. Figueroa St.; Aug. 3, 2 p.m., Top 40, Dolphin Park, 21205 Water St.; Aug. 10, 2 p.m., Latin, Veterans Park, 22400 Moneta Ave.; Aug. 17, 6:30 p.m., jazz, Calas Park, 1000 E. 220th St.