The Twin Cities Jazz Festival used to be called the Hot Summer Jazz Festival. It used to be held in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. It used to last 10 days, instead of three.

Change can be good. We don’t really need the word “hot” in anything that happens in either city during the summer. The dual locations always felt a bit fractured to me; the festival’s new home is in St. Paul’s Lowertown, with its lovely Mears Park and growing nightlife scene. And we don’t have the bodies to support 10 days. The oldest continuously running jazz fest in the world, the Monterey Jazz Festival, is three days long and going strong.

It’s quality that counts, not quantity, and this year’s Twin Cities Jazz Festival has done a fine job of signing major headliners and popular area performers who should draw crowds of jazz fans and the curious. Anything in Mears Park or the new-this-year Sixth Street Stage is free. Some clubs and bars (not all) charge covers.

Mark your calendars now for June 17-19. Here’s what we know so far:

Thursday, June 17: Jazz Night Out. In Mears Park: Chicago jazz singer Pippi Ardenia. In the clubs: Stride Piano Night with Jon Weber, Butch Thompson, and Paul Asaro; Larry McDonough, Globafo, and Axis Mundi; Arnie Fogel and Maud Hixson; JoAnn Funk.

Friday, June 18: In Mears Park: trumpeter Sean Jones with his quintet; saxophonist Joe Lovano with US Five. On the Sixth Street Stage: Pete Whitman’s XTet; Denver-based saxophonist, flutist and clarinetist Aakash Mittal. In the clubs: Jon Weber, Peter Snell, Mary Louise Knutson, Pooch’s Playhouse, Atlantis Quartet.

Saturday, June 19: In Mears Park: Bobby Watson; John Ellis and Double-Wide with Jason Marsalis, Matt Perrine, and Brian Coogan; John Scofield’s Piety Street Band. On the Sixth Street Stage: Connie Evingson, the Twin Cities Seven with Charmin Michelle, Ronny Loew, Salsa del Soul. In the clubs: Jon Weber, Cory Wong, Frankhouse, Shoop.

Jazz this weekend and into the week:

Saturday, March 6: Matt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts. One night only. The brilliant and engaging “M@” is as much fun teaching a clinic as he is giving a performance. He has made eight albums as a leader and won numerous polls for his wonderfulness as a drummer. Wilson will be here with his stellar band Arts & Crafts: Terell Stafford (trumpet and flugelhorn), James Weidman (piano) and Martin Wind (bass). I haven’t seen Weidman, but Stafford and Wind are sublime. Here’s a different configuration of A&C performing Wilson’s “Feel the Sway” at the Elmhurst Jazz Festival in 2007. 8 and 10:30 p.m., Artists’ Quarter ($20). Reserve online. 

Monday and Tuesday, March 8 and 9: Hiromi. If you go and don’t want your jaw to drop, you’d best glue it shut. Ahmad Jamal loves Hiromi. Chick Corea loves her (and recorded an album with her, 2009’s “Duet: Chick & Hiromi”). She’s a hurricane on the keys, playing with passion, ferocity, joy and sheer strength that belies her tiny, always well-dressed and interestingly coiffed self. But don’t take my word for it. Watch this. 7 and 9:30 p.m., Dakota ($30/$20). Tickets at 612-312-JAZZ (5299) or online.

Thursday, March 11: Making Music with Dave King. As a prelude to his two-day reign at the Walker, “King for Two Days,” drummer Dave King (The Bad Plus, Happy Apple, Buffalo Collision, Halloween Alaska, etc.) will sit down with host James Everest (Roma di Luna, Vicious Vicious, etc.) for a conversation about ... who knows? Time signatures and toys? Get a glimpse into where King has been, where he’s going and what makes him click (bang, boom, ding, crash, clatter, squeak). 8 p.m., McGuire Theater, Walker Art Center. Free tickets at the Hennepin Lobby desk starting at 7 p.m.

Pamela Espeland keeps a Twin Cities live jazz calendar, blogs about jazz at Bebopified and tweets about jazz on Twitter.