The 15th Manchester Jazz Festival kicks off tonight. Over 80 bands will play at eight city-centre venues, at all times of the day and night, indoors and out, until Saturday 31st July.

2010 includes musical firsts from Britain and abroad, including a new suite for jazz orchestra composed by Manchester trumpeter Neil Yates and debuts from Spanish pianist Baldo Martinez and Franco-German duo Daniel Erdmann and Frances Le Bras. Other highlights include a jazz ’supergroup’ featuring UK piano prodigy Gwilym Simcock, red-hot Salford guitarist Mike Walker, legendary US bassist Steve Swallow and master drummer Adam Nussbaum, and Phil Bancroft’s multi-media ‘Home – Small as the World’ which features one musician’s contribution beamed directly by Wi-fi from his Manchester home.

Band on the Wall, Manchester’s legendary live music venue, features Indo jazz fusions from ex-Mancunian clarinetist Arun Ghosh and a set from the city’s most revered DJ Mr Scruff. And ’80s icon and ‘Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy’ star Kid Creole makes a rare appearance.

At the other end of the musical spectrum, Kit Downes’ Golden Age of Steam features an unusual lineup of bass clarinet, organ and drums, evoking swirling soundscapes and contemporary classical music. Vibraphonist Jim Hart joins forces with Ralph Alessi, the innovative New York-based trumpeter, to launch the festival on 23 July.

And the whole of the 25th July is devoted to the energetic and vital rhythms of Afro-Caribbean music. From 2pm, you can take part in special percussion and dance workshops in the Festival Pavilion in Albert Square, and at 8pm there’ll be a double bill featuring two of the north west’s foremost ensembles of this genre, Diáspora, a young 11-piece band with dynamic orchestrations, and Mojito, with authentic Cuban vocalists and a lively percussion section.

There will also be a continuation of the feature MJF Introduces each afternoon with six new young artists from Greater Manchester launching their careers at the Festival Pavilion in Albert Square. And there’ll be a series of afternoon tea events in the award-winning French restaurant at the Grade II-listed Midland Hotel.

You can find out all about the festival and check out all the listings here.