Trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis will figuratively wield the baton as conductor of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, which will launch a spring tour April 26 at the University of Indiana at Bloomington. The traveling conservatory will perform primarily in the Northeast and Midwest, winding down June 29 at Chautauqua, N.Y.

In the fall, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, and Roy Hargrove will co-headline a nationwide triple-bill, rolling out September 20 at Villa Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, Calif., and visiting at least 22 other cities through October.

Marsalis is widely considered to be the leading jazz artist and composer of his generation. In addition to winning numerous Grammy Awards and the Pulitzer Prize, he is the artistic director and conductor of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra – the official “house band” for Jazz at Lincoln Center.

If that weren’t enough, on March 20 he was named a “United Nations messenger of peace” by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The orchestra presents historic compositions by greats such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Billy Strayhorn, Charles Mingus and Dizzy Gillespie. In addition, the LCJO performs more recently-commissioned works by newcomers such as Benny Carter, Joe Henderson, Christian McBride and Marsalis himself.

The orchestra has 10 concerts on its spring itinerary, including performances in Chicago, Toledo, Albany, and Toronto.

Bringing a less traditional approach to wider audiences, the Hancock/Brecker/Hargrove outing offers a look at the cutting edge on the jazz evolutionary scale.

Pop audiences might be more familiar with Hancock for his 1985 crossover hit, “Rockit,” but the protégé of unconventional jazz icon Miles Davis has made his mark as one of the music world’s great innovators.

The revered keyboardist runs the gamut from classical piano to the latest in computerized wizardry, and fuses jazz with blues, funk, gospel and modern classical influences for his own unique signature.

Tenor saxophonist Brecker also blends pop, rock and R&B touches into his improvisational performances, and is thought to rank with Wayne Shorter as a major influence on today’s tenors.

Working most of his career as a studio musician, he’s performed not only with the top jazz artists of the day like McCoy Tyner, but also has worked with a range of others including James Taylor and Yoko Ono.

Perhaps his most unusual gig was collaborating with the late Frank Zappa on Live in New York and You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 – along with Terry Bozzio of Missing Persons and others.

Hargrove is a Marsalis-influenced trumpeter, steeped in the be-bop tradition but with a blues-styled sound. He started playing coronet at age 9 in his hometown of Waco, Texas – and by the time he was 17, he was invited by Marsalis to sit in with him at a Fort Worth gig.

Eventually, the trumpeter found himself sitting in at clubs with the likes of Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, and Hancock. He played with Sonny Rollins at Carnegie Hall in 1991.

He was later commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to compose “The Love Suite: In Mahogany,” which debuted in 1993.

Hargrove performed with Cuban pianist Chucho Valdez three years later at the Havana Jazz Festival, a collaboration that led to the formation of Afro-Cuban band Crisol. Hancock, Brecker, and Hargrove will hit more than 20 major and secondary markets this fall, including Boston and Amherst, Mass.; Los Angeles, Cerritos and Berkeley, Calif.; and Washington, Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis and Atlanta before closing October 29 in Naples, Fla.