On Wednesday night, downtown Minneapolis felt a bit like New York City’s 52nd Street in the 1930s and ’40s. You could go to the Dakota for guitarist Julian Lage’s group, run over to Ninth Street to Hell’s Kitchen (the old Rossi’s, good riddance) and dance to the music of the Wolverines Trio with vocalist Maud Hixson, then head back to the Dakota for Tia Fuller, the saxophonist in Beyonce’s band and an accomplished jazz artist.

People were enjoying the beautiful night on the Dakota’s patio and outdoors at the Local and the News Room. As you opened the door to Hell’s Kitchen and headed for the stairs leading down to the club, Maud’s voice and Rick Carlson’s piano came up to greet you, a good distraction from the terrifying chandelier in the stairway. (If you haven’t seen it, this writer won’t spoil the surprise.) The audiences were sizable and enthusiastic at all three events. What recession?

So we don’t really have a “street of jazz,” as New York City did back in the day, but there’s a lot of live jazz to choose from in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. Some of it is outdoors and free.

Here’s what to look for this weekend and into the week.

The Dakota Combo. The final performance of the elite student septet, a partnership between the MacPhail Center for Music and the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education. For the past year, these young musicians have worked and rehearsed under Kelly Rossum, the trumpeter and former MacPhail jazz coordinator who’s about to move to New York City. The septet consists of: saxophonist Ryan Freitas (Willmar High School), drummer Cameron LeCrone (Minnetonka High School), trumpeter Jake Baldwin (Minnetonka High School), bassist Cory Grindberg (Minneapolis South High School), pianist Joe Strachan (Northfield High School), trombonist Carson King-Fournier (Apple Valley High School) and tenor saxophonist Tony Pistilli (Providence Academy in Wayzata).

The group recently made a studio recording, and copies will be available free. Stick around to hear the two most recent winners of the Dakota Foundation/Schubert Club Jazz Piano competition: Strachan (2009) and Jacob Wittenberg (2008). Saturday, July 18, 11:30 a.m, Peavey Plaza. Free.

Tim Sparks. If CDs wore out like LPs do, at least one copy of Tim Sparks’ “The Nutcracker Suite” (Acoustic Music Records, 1992) would be fried. It’s an exquisite take on the roasted holiday chestnut that ends with Balkan folk dances. The highly respected finger-style guitarist rarely plays in Minneapolis anymore, and most of his recent recordings are on Tzadik, the avant-garde/experimental label founded by John Zorn. Here’s hoping we’ll hear tracks from his latest, “Little Princess” (Tzadik, 2009), arrangements of traditional Jewish tunes by klezmer clarinetist Naftule Brandwein. If reading that made your eyes glaze over, please go here and click on “Der Rebbe’s Hasid” or “Little Princess.” This was a last-minute booking and may be under the radar for many people; if I could set this whole paragraph in blinkie text, I would. With Chris Bates on bass, Jay Epstein on drums. Saturday, July 18, 11:30 p.m., Dakota ($5).

Minnesota Jazz All Stars. The Old Log Theater in Excelsior has included several jazz events in its Sounds for Summer series. On Monday evening, Cliff Brunzell leads an ensemble of some of the Twin Cities’ best-known, best-loved jazz musicians: pianist Jeanne Arland Peterson, saxophonists Percy Hughes and Irv Williams, accordionist Larry Malmberg, drummer Mac Santiago, bassist Clyde Anderson and Reuben Ristrom on guitar and banjo, with featured vocalist Charmin Michelle. Coming up in the series: pianist Butch Thompson (July 27), Moore by Four (Aug. 10), and the Barbary Coast Dixieland Band (Aug. 14). Monday, July 20, 7:30 p.m., Old Log Theater in Excelsior ($22; group discounts available). Order online or call 952-474-5951.

Pamela Espeland keeps a live jazz calendar and blogs about jazz at Bebopified. She throws out the occasional jazz-related tweet.