By Sean Nelson, MSN Music Editor

Here's how the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival works, according to those in the know: Real parish-dwellers leave New Orleans just before the Mardi Gras yahoos invade, but everyone -- and that means everyone -- comes back in time for Jazz Fest. For nearly 40 years, Jazz Fest has honored its home town with the very finest in jazz, blues, R&B, folk, rock and roll, zydeco, hip-hop, gospel, world and improvisational performance the world has to offer. And this year, of all years, Jazz Fest organizers have outdone themselves.

Spread over six days (April 28-30, May 5-7) and across several stages at the Fair Grounds Race Course, the 37th annual Jazz Fest will present several hundred bands and solo performers representing all conceivable genres of music. A few of the big names? Sure: How about Bruce Springsteen, Fats Domino, Jimmy Buffett, Lionel Richie, Dave Matthews, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Keith Urban, Yolanda Adams, Allen Toussaint with Elvis Costello, the Meters, Angélique Kidjo and Buckwheat Zydeco?

Still on the fence? How about Etta James, Herbie Hancock, Warren Haynes, Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band? That really is just a small sample of the music that'll be presented. The festival also offers parades and craft booths celebrating the rich history of the great city of New Orleans and more rich bayou cuisine than you could possibly ever eat.

2006 brings the first Jazz Fest since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and its surroundings last September. The festival's organizers are acutely aware of the event's role in the ongoing process of rebuilding and revitalizing the great city. Festival Director/Producer Quint Davis believes that music "is the true heart and soul" not just of Jazz Fest but of New Orleans itself. "It's of the force that drives and defines," he said. "Not merely for entertainment, but to feed our souls ... Jazz Fest 2006 [is] the great New Orleans homecoming. Anybody who comes to this year's festival will bear witness to the healing power of music."

Needless to say, the world will be watching, and so will MSN Music. Our coverage of the 2006 Jazz Fest will put you right in the thick of things -- from early video coverage of the city's festival preparation to live webcasts of some of the performances; from an essay about the festival's heroic history by jazz scholar Ashley Kahn to daily dispatches live from the fairground. We'll also have galleries full of festival photos past and present, a full run-down of both weekends' performers, artist interviews and maybe even a nice bowl of jambalaya to tide you over. Come back often for previews, reviews and updates of the great New Orleans Homecoming: Jazz Fest 2006.