Free Listening Posts for Local Jazz

Westwood Village Jazz at the Hammer--The courtyard at the UCLA Hammer Museum is a breezy, leafy cocktail spot that the museum recasts, for four Fridays each summer, as a no-cover jazz venue. With the program in its seventh year, the schedule features four outstanding shows, with the courtyard and (pay) bar opening at 5 and music at 6:30 p.m. Coming shows: John Clayton, July 12; Bill Henderson, July 19; Paul Smith Trio, July 26; and BoneSoir, Aug. 2. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood Village, (310) 824-6365 or www.westwood-village.org.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art--Top jazz, drinks, a full-service snack bar, the Pentimento restaurant and some of the masterworks of world art history: No wonder the Friday night free jazz series at LACMA draws hundreds of music lovers and their families. The series runs April through December, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Museum is open until 9 p.m. The Chris Colangelo Quartet plays this Friday. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., (323) 857-6115 or www.lacma. org.

Summer Nights at MOCA--This year’s 12th annual downtown jazz series at the Museum of Contemporary Art got kicked off by Latin jazz master Pete Escovedo last week. Each show is free and features a pay snack bar and a changing menu of specialty beer and wine for sale. The 12-week series also features free museum admission. Tonight: Hadda Brooks and Linda Hopkins. Now at the Geffen Contemporary, 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo, downtown L.A. Later in the summer, moves to 250 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. (213) 633-5334 or www.moca-la.org.