All that jazz...

For its sixth-annual edition, the Beantown Jazz Festival has elevated its game. Now held in partnership with the Berklee College of Music, the weekend event features its strongest roster of performers yet, giving it the critical mass to put it on the national map. Most events are free and happen on Saturday, outdoors on Columbus Avenue. An opening-night concert, Sunday brunch, and public discussion programs round out the proceedings. Here, to whet your appetite, are a few highlights.

Carmen Lundy

Female vocalists may be in vogue but only when they’re genre-benders or cool neo-classicists. Carmen Lundy is neither, and her 30-year body of work remains criminally under the radar. Her abundant range and sinewy tone make her the kind of pure singer whose voice not only inhabits lyrics but is an instrument ready to swing. Her gigs and recordings on the jazz label Justin Time sometimes feature her brother, the similarly underrated bassist Curtis Lundy. Carmen Lundy performs Saturday at 4:40 p.m. on the Sovereign Stage, Columbus Avenue. Free.

Omar Sosa

Clad in the headwrap and flowing whites of an Afro-Cuban mystic, pianist Omar Sosa is as compelling to watch as he is to hear. While his garb honors his roots, his sound is an ongoing exploration that flows from angular Latin jazz to electronically enhanced world music, connecting the dots around the Atlantic basin and beyond. Sosa’s thrilling piano runs, his stints on percussion, and his twinkling demeanor convey in equal measures curiosity and charisma. Omar Sosa performs Saturday at noon on the Global Stage. Free.

Kenny Garrett

See the prolific, hard-working Kenny Garrett once and an image is etched in your mind: A lean, compact man bending furiously to and fro, extracting extravagant flurries and runs from his alto saxophone. The pyrotechnics and stamina are impressive, but there’s steak with this sizzle — Garrett, as fine an alto player as exists today, is a researcher unafraid to apply his intensity to ambitious projects. He learned to speak Mandarin for his latest, a jazz exploration of the spirituality of Africa and China. Kenny Garrett performs Saturday at 1:45 p.m. on the Sovereign Stage. Free.

Antonio Jackson

A Berklee grad and longtime familiar figure at spots like Wally’s and Slades, saxophonist Antonio Jackson is a preternatural melody man. Beneath the accessible — you might even say smooth — surface of his sunny compositions lurk the chops of a gifted straight-ahead player and an appreciation of structure that keeps the music from noodling. Onstage, the gospel-influenced Jackson plays with the intensity of a man bearing witness. Antonio Jackson performs Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on the Global Stage. Free.

Kendrick Oliver

Its leader plays the tuba, so you know Kendrick Oliver’s New Life Jazz Orchestra isn’t lacking for bottom. Houston-raised, Berklee-trained Oliver’s decade-old group has found acclaim as one of the finest old-style big bands in operation. Much of the original roster remains intact, with New York-based members such as saxman Miguel Zenon returning to Boston for gigs. Joining them for Sunday’s gospel brunch set is the rich-toned vocalist Kevin Mahogany. Kendrick Oliver’s New Life Jazz Orchestra performs at the Gospel Jazz Brunch, Sunday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Westin Copley Place, 10 Huntington Ave., Boston. Tickets: $40. 617-931-2000.

Hot Like Fire

Countless summer gigs on the Maine-to-Cape Cod vacation circuit haven’t diluted the authenticity of this longtime working reggae band, founded in 1989 by trumpeter Kelley Bolduc. The Agawam native and her Jamaican and Cape Verdean-via-Boston compères distill an optimistic, warm-weather sound; their finally released album features a contagious single and local hit, ‘‘Hot Like Fire Tonight.’’ Hot Like Fire performs Saturday at 3:50 p.m. on the Global Stage. Free.

And don’t forget ...

One of the festival’s two paying events, Friday night at the Berklee Performance Center more than justifies the price of admission with its exceptional lineup and theme. Exploring the history of the legendary Impulse Records is the master pianist McCoy Tyner, who took part in that history’s finest moments working with John Coltrane. Tyner’s current septet is an extravagant congregation of talent that includes bassist Charnett Moffett, Wallace Roney on trumpet, and Steve Turre on trombone. For those who like their jazz discussed as well as heard, two interesting public discussion events round out the program. Tonight at Harvard’s Carpenter Center, a photographer and art director discuss the art of the jazz CD cover, moderated by jazz scholar (and former Globe maven) Bob Blumenthal.

Tomorrow at Berklee, writer Ashley Kahn, whose previous books include multifaceted explorations of Miles Davis’s ‘‘Kind of Blue’’ and John Coltrane’s ‘‘A Love Supreme’’ — two of the foundational albums of modern jazz — presents his latest, ‘‘The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records.’’