Delving into 2010's Fringe programme offers treasure trove of musical riches

TO MISQUOTE an old Incredible String Band song, the Fringe comes sneaking up when it thinks you're not looking… Yes, it's that time already, and as Auld Reekie breaks into its annual cultural lather, with the Fringe opening on 6 August, here are a few pointers to folk, jazz and related antics taking place.

An established hotbed of folk and other sounds, the Acoustic Music Centre @ St Brides (venue 123: www.acousticmusiccentre.co.uk) hosts innumerable acts, which this year includes the Amy Geddes Trio, Edinburgh jazz singer Sophie Bancroft, swing jazz fiddler Alex Yellowlees and the Galician band Lincorne. There's also jazz guitarist Ged Brockie working with a chamber orchestra, a new collaboration, KAN, led by flute and fiddle aces Brian Finnegan and Aidan O'Rourke, and, all the way from Missouri, Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three.

There are some hails and farewells, with emerging singer Chloe Matharu scheduled and the final Fringe performance of ebullient folk veterans the McCalmans.

The venue is also running the compellingly off-the-wall collaboration between dancer Frank McConnell and singer-songwriter Michael Marra, A Wee Home from Home.

The AMC also spills over into a concert series at the Queen's Hall (venue 72: www.thequeenshall.net) including queen of Anglicana Eliza Carthy, Orkestra del Sol's brass band mayhem, and seasoned Scots folk stars Battlefield Band, Capercaillie and Dougie MacLean. There's also the contemporary collaboration of Drever McCusker Woomble, US visitor Arlo Guthrie and Mr McFall's Chamber playing the music of Martyn Bennett and Fraser Fifield.

Edinburgh's famously intimate singing howff, the Royal Oak (venue 309: www.royal-oak-folk.com) is bursting at the seams with singer-songwriters including Robin Laing, Gill Bowman and Kieran Halpin as well as flautist Nuala Kennedy and the eclectic Bellevue Rendezvous.

Meanwhile, the Famous Spiegeltent (venue 87: www.spiegeltent.net) returns to George Square with the Poozies, Shooglenifty, "hobo chic" troubadour Duke Special and on 7 August (though unbilled in the Fringe programme) the harp-percussion duo of MacMaster/Hay. And once again Valvona & Crolla's delicatessen (venue 67: www.valvonacrolla.com) goes musical, with the dexterous clarinet-accordion duo of David Vernon and Dick Lee, classical guitarist Luca Villani's show Chitarra Virtuosa and Philip Contini's Dean Martin tribute Wham! Bam! Thank You Ma'am!

The Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival proper may finish on 8 August, but the music plays on, notably at the award-winning Edinburgh Jazz Bar (venue 57: www.thejazzbar.co.uk) where a broad spectrum takes in trumpet and sax aces Colin Steele and Martin Kershaw with their Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! tribute to the Adderleys, while guitarist Graeme Stephen's trio NeWt does Led Zeppelin, and the New York-based Russian trumpet ace Valery Ponomarev returns with his quintet.

The Lot (venue 24: www.the-lot.co.uk) sees the return of favourites including Moishe's Bagel, the Yiddish Song Project and New York singer-songwriter Dean Friedman, while the Outhouse (venue 99: www.outhouse-edinburghco.uk) welcomes the return of the irrepressible Barbara Morrison.

Assembly @ Assembly Hall (venue 35: www.assemblyfestival.com) features the big vocal sound of the Soweto Gospel Choir. Its associate Assembly @ George Street (venue 3) has the superb Barb Jungr and chanteuse Camille O'Sullivan, while Assembly @ Princes Street Gardens (venue 52) includes guitar wizard Antonio Forcione.

Further browsing of the orange-headed music pages of the Fringe brochure reveals much more, not least in various churches, including the Scottish harp programme at St Andrew's and St George's West (venue 111: www.standrewsandstgeorges.org.uk), and Scots and Chinese musicians including the Whistlebinkies and the Harmony Ensemble over at the Canongate Kirk.

Meanwhile, a satellite event, Fringe by the Sea (www.fringebythesea.co.uk), brings a veritable spree to venues in North Berwick from 10-15 August, with performers including the Treacherous Orchestra, Julie Fowlis, the Alan Pratt Blues Council, Martin Taylor and Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham. And while you won't find it in the Fringe programme, a "mile of buskers" is planned for Portobello Promenade on 28 August. Bring your bucket and spade.

• For full festival listings, see www.edfringe.com