Ballard’s biggest music event of the season gets underway this evening.

The four-day Ballard Jazz Festival kicks off with the Brotherhood of the Drum where five Northwest drummers take the stage at The Sunset Tavern at 8 p.m. Tomorrow night is the Guitar Summit, also at The Sunset, with five great jazz guitarists starting at 8 p.m. Friday night is the big Jazz Walk. Twelve venues including Egan’s Ballard Jam House, Leif Erikson Hall and Conor Byrne, to name a few, will host 19 different groups starting as early as 7 p.m. The schedule for the night can be found here. One ticket gets you into all 19 venues. Saturday is the Mainstage Concert with the Joe Locke Quintet and the Corey Christiansen Quintet playing at the Nordic Heritage Museum. The newest tradition, the Swedish Pancake Jazz Brunch is Sunday morning also at the Nordic Heritage Museum. (Photo from last year’s Jazz Walk.)