Bellevue will sway to a jazz beat this weekend as the 2009 Bellevue Jazz Festival returns to the city.

The event, May 22-24 at the Meydenbauer Center, brings together a lineup of jazz artists and student musicians for a weekend celebration.

Featured artists will include Dianne Reeves, Strings Attached, Mingus Big Band, Kurt Elling, Patricia Barber, Danilo Perez, Mose Allison Trio, and Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra with the Bellevue Jazz Festival Rising Stars.

Packages and individual tickets are available online through Brown Paper Tickets at bellevuejazz.com and range from $15-$85, with student discounts available.

Twenty free performances by regional artists will also take place throughout Downtown Bellevue, including jam sessions and the Bellevue Jazz Festival Student Showcase at Bellevue Arts Museum. See bellevuejazz.com for schedule and venue locations.

The 2009 Bellevue Jazz Festival marks the launch of an education initiative to celebrate and develop emerging jazz students. Rising Stars offers promising students from the region the opportunity to rehearse with noted area musicians in a workshop environment, and then perform in a professional setting as part of the festival.

The three Bellevue Jazz Festival Rising Stars ensembles will open for the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra at 7 p.m., Sunday, May 24, at the Theatre at Meydenbauer Center.