Every year, the North Beach Jazz Festival brings a wide variety of swinging sounds to venues all over the Bay Area. Once again partnering with concert producers (and organizers of the annual San Francisco Funk Festival) Sunset Promotions, the concerts that make up this year's festival will mix local jazz favorites with headliners playing everything from Hammond B-3 funk, Latin boogaloo and soulful reggae. Though the 2006 festival was threatened by public demands for more control over alcohol consumption during the centerpiece concerts at Washington Square Park, cooler heads prevailed and organizers went on to pull off its most successful production to date.

The Festival got an early start on Sunday with three intimate shows at North Beach hotspot Mojito by talented Headhunters alumni Mike Clark on drums and Paul Jackson on bass (the pair anchored Herbie Hancock's massively popular '70s jazz-funk band) joined in a special trio by genre-blurring saxman Skerik, a man best known for leading his own experimental funk outfit Critters Buggin. The festival continues its traditional Wednesday night party with the annual Jazz on Grant celebration. A tribute to North Beach's glorious past when jazz spilled out of the streets from every bar and restaurant, Jazz on Grant brings an assortment of bands and DJs to practically every available space in North Beach. The true beauty of the event is that every single show is completely free. Highlights include a return kick-off performance by the Realistic Orchestra at Mojito at 7 p.m., rising local Brazilian outfit Boca do Rio at the Live Worms Gallery, guitarist Stephane Wrembel at Amante and much more.

Thursday night offers on five separate Latin-flavored shows in North Beach that can all be accessed with the purchase of a $10 wristband. Mojito welcomes a mix of salsa, reggaeton and hip hop from SF favorite Dos Four y Los Mios, while Grant & Green and the Live Worms gallery will feature live salsa and Latin jazz from New Orleans group Otra and John Ulloa y su Mision and the scorching Cuban grooves of Fito Reinoso and Maggy McGarry's offers Puro Bandido, a group featuring members of Santana and Malo.

On Friday night, the NBJF presents the first of two weekend shows at the Great American Music Hall with its annual Jazz Forward night. This year's spotlights takes a decidedly Los Angeles slant with soundtrack favorites Bitter:Sweet delivering their torrid bossa nova flavored electronica alongside analog-synth happy outfit The Frequency. On Saturday night, renowned Los Angeles funk big band the Breakestra unleashes hard-grooving originals and faithful takes on some of hip-hop's most sampled favorites, while local group J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science drops its own global sounds on a hometown crowd.

The biggest events of the Festival are the free weekend concerts given in North Beach's Washington Square Park. Saturday offers up "Ladies in the Park," a women-centric line-up of acts including rising Oakland hip hop/soul singer Jennifer Johns, cello-driven local pagan lounge ensemble Rosin Coven, SF Brazilian funk outfit Nobody from Ipanema and Los Angeles crooner. Sunday brings a different perspective with "Gentlemen in the Park" delivering a headlining performance by San Jose jazz legend and Sun Ra sideman Eddie Gale as well as Bay Area jamband heroes New Monsoon and LEBO (with ALO guitarist Dan Lebowitz), San Diego funk group On the One, local jazzman Gregory James and DJ Tom Thump. Visit the Festival's Web site for a full rundown of events.