Jazz@Rochester

Although cooler weatherwise, there's some hot jazz around in Rochester

While the weather is a bit cooler, there is a lot of hot jazz around Rochester for the next seven days. Here are your listings for Thursday through next Wednesday:

Thursday, July 9, 2009

• Vince Ercolamento w/ Andy Calabrese @ Coppergrass Bistro, 6:00 pm
• Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
• Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Jam Session w/Russell Fielder Quintet @ Merchants Grill, 8:00 pm
• Standard Jazz Quartet @ Starry Nites Cafe, 8:00 pm

Friday, July 10, 2009

• Vince Ercolamento Quartet @ Wegman's Canandaigua, 5:30 pm
• Madeline Forster (14 Fridays at the Village Gate) @ Village Gate, 6:00 pm
• Bobby Dibaudo Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Smugtown Stompers (River City Rhythms) @ Corn Hill Landing, Exchange Blvd & Plymouth Ave., 6:00 pm
• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Spot Coffee, 7:00 pm
• Jazz on the Green @ Jack's Place, 7:00 pm
• Nancy Kelly @ Green Pastures, Elmira NY, 7:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• Artisan Jazz @ Starry Nites Cafe, 8:00 pm

Saturday, July 11, 2009

• The Westview Project @ Cornhill Arts Festival, Atkinson St. stage, 11:30
• Paradigm Shift & Jimmie Highsmith Jr. Group (“Jazz for JOSANA” benefit for Flower City Habitat for Humanity) @ Charlie Brown's on the Green at Durand Eastman Golf Course, 2:00 pm
• Co-Existence @ House of Guitars, 5:00 pm
• Jim Nugent Trio @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Pane Vino, 7:00 pm
• Nancy Kelly & Rick Holland Little Big Band @ The Antique Airshow @ Geneseo Airport, 7:00 pm
• Todd East @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• Gap Mangione Big Band @ Penfield Amphitheater, 7:00 pm
• The Bowties @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Gabe Condon Jazz Trio @ Jasmine's Asian Fusion, 8:00 pm
• Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, July 12, 2009

• Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
• Kirk Whalum @ RIT Inn & Conference Center, 5:00 pm
• Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Jazz Ensemble (RPO in the Neighborhoods) @ Park Avenue Green, Park Ave & Barrington Sts., 7:30 pm

Monday, July 13, 2009

• Annie Wells @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Johnny Russo’s East Hill Classic Jazz Trio @ Geneva on the Lake, 6:30 pm
• Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm
• The Rod Blumenau Swingtet @ Penfield Amphitheater, 7:00 pm
• Bobby Henrie & The Goners @ Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, 10:00 pm

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

• Brad Batz Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Jim Nugent Trio @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

Inspire the development of more "Chops" around Rochester

One of the things that you discover during the Rochester International Jazz Festival is that many of the high school jazz ensembles around here have "chops" way beyond those that my high school group had back in the 70s. I'm always impressed by them both as groups and some of the individual players.

I was recently contacted about a new documentary film called Chops. The film is about one high school jazz band's experience at the Essentially Ellington high school jazz competition, following them from their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida to NYC to participate in the 11th annual competition at Lincoln Center. The film has been endorsed by Jazz at Lincoln Center where the competition and festival is held and was screened there, film festivals throughout the country. One cool aspect about this film is how its makers and distributors are promoting it (in addition to contacting jazz blogs, that is). As jazz festivals and publications are hurting in today's economy, the film's distributor has set Chops up to be a great fund raising tool for jazz-related organizations, distributing it through a screening approach that allows anyone who hosts a screening to keep 100% of the proceeds from a screening. You can view the trailer for Chops at its official website and check out their unique approach to the screenings. There is also a page on Facebook to get updates about the film.

The return of Take Five Friday ... Some jazz links for you

Geez, I posted this first without an intro... We're back with Take Five Friday on Jazz@Rochester after another hiatus while we took in the Rochester International Jazz Festival and then had a bit of a rest. So, it's Friday and here are five more jazz-related links for you from around the interwebs:

• Someone caught the whole June 16th performance of the Bill Tiberio Band at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival on video and you can catch the performance and a bunch of others from XRIJF 2009 on the RIJF's YouTube site.
• There is this post on The Hope Chest blog that is built around a scan of a newspaper article on fitness that posits jazz as a drug, "just as intoxicating as morphine and cocaine; it is just as harmful....Jazz is killing some people; some are going insane; others are losing their religion." It's an interesting read along with the blogger's notes about the article and the intersection with race (the article from the black press in NY) (via Chris Van Hof of WXXI).
• I've recently acquired more of a taste for the music of larger jazz ensembles (Maria Schneider and Dave Rivello's work comes to mind...). Another recent entry onto the larger ensemble scene is Darcy James Argue's Secret Society. I like Secret Society's mashing up of rock 'n roll and jazz and they have some major chops on their instruments. There are others as well and as Martin Johnson wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal, they're not your Grandpa's big band. The Secret Society even has a blog.
• If you're a musician, you may want to check out the site AudioTuts (a tutorial site), there is a post with fourteen sites that will help you to practice music more effectively.
• For those of us who missed it, like myself, there is a recording of the concert on the Internet Archive of Robert Randolph and the Family Band (with the Campbell Brothers) at the East Ave & Alexander St Stage, during the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Fest on June 19th. I'm not

So take five and explore. Let me know what you think in the comments ....There will be five more next week.

Come out for Jazz for JOSANA and Habitat for Humanity

On Saturday, July 11th, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm, come out and support Flower City Habitat for Humanity's work in rebuilding the JOSANA neighborhood (Jay-Orchard Street Area). You can do that in style and at "the Club" with an afternoon of jazz at Charlie Brown's on the Green at Durand Eastman Golf Club with funky sounds of Paradigm Shift and the Jimmie Highsmith Jr. Group. There also will be all-you-can-eat Southern BBQ buffet, cash bar, and drawings for prizes. Tickets: $20 in advance or $25 at the door, or at the The Bop Shop, Record Archive, Habitat ReStore (755 Culver Rd., Tues-Sat/9-5), by phone at 585.546.1470, x305, or online at Habitat's site.

We're back ... Here are your Rochester jazz listings for the next seven days

Seven days ... nothing... sorry about the silence. I'm still recharging from the XRIJF and catching up with some work. But the jazz around Rochester, NY, keeps marching on ... so here are the listings for the next seven days.  I have a feeling that there are some missing here, but everyone's on vacation this week so perhaps this is it.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

• Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
• Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Bob Sneider with Dino Losito and Mike Melito @ Kilbourn Hall, 7:30 pm

Friday, July 3, 2009

• Holiday Smooth Jazz with Jimmie Highsmith Jr. @ Pazzo Cucina, 5:00 pm
• Bobby Dibaudo Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Jazz on the Green @ Jack's Place, 7:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• Pat Bianchi Organ Trio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• The Bowties @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Mark Cassara Band @ Bistro 135, 9:00 pm

Saturday, July 4, 2009

• Gap Mangione Big Band @ Sodus Point Light House, 2:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 8:30 pm
• Bob Sneider with Pat Bianchi & Mike Melito "Down by the Riverside" following the City of Rochester Fireworks with the RPO, 10:30 pm
• Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, July 5, 2009

• Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
• Jim Nugent Trio @ Esperanza Mansion, 3456 Route 54A, Bluff Point, NY 14478, 4:00 pm
• Smugtown Stompers (Vitale Park Summer Concert Series) @ Vitale Park, Big Tree Rd, Livonia, 6:00 pm
• And All That Jazz @ Union St, Spencerport, 6:30 pm

Monday, July 6, 2009

• Annie Wells @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Quinn Lawrence Trio Swing Dance @ Flat Iron Cafe, 8:30 pm

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

• Todd East @ Bistro 135, 6:30 pm
• Johnny Russo’s East Hill Classic Jazz Trio @ Geneva on the Lake, 6:30 pm
• Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm
• Bob Sneider @ Penfield Amphitheater, 7:00 pm
• Nostalgic Reunion Jazz Ensemble @ Darien Lake PAC, 7:00 pm

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

• Gabe Condon Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Jim Nugent Trio @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

Jazz Fest is over ... but jazz in Rochester isn't!

I finally am starting to catch up from nine (well, 8) days of jazz festing and already it's that time—that is, time to catch up with the jazz that will be playing in and around Rochester over the next seven days.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

• Medeski, Martin & Wood @ Party In The Park, 5:00 pm
• Vince Ercolamento @ Coppergrass Bistro, 6:00 pm
• Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
• Manouche A Trois @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Friday, June 26, 2009

• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ JC's Backyard BBQ,1789 Penfield Rd, 5:30 pm
• Vince Ercolamento @ Wegmans (Canandaigua), 5:30 pm
• Nancy Kelly @ Bear Bones BBQ (Auburn), 6:00 pm
• Paradigm Shift @ Abilene, 6:00 pm
• Bobby Dibaudo Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Greece Jazz Band @ Schoen Place, Port of Pittsford, 7:00 pm
• Jazz on the Green @ Jack's Place, 7:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• Bill Dobbins Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Tom Pesciotta Jazz Quartet @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Janet Beaman @ Bistro 135, 9:00 pm

Saturday, June 27, 2009

• Madeline Forster CD Signing @ Borders Books & Music-Victor, 7:00 pm
• Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
• The Westview Project @ Pane Vino, 8:00 pm
• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Jasmine's Asian Fusion, 8:15 pm
• Bob Sneider Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, June 28, 2009

• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Taste of Rochester, 12:30 pm
• Nostalgic Reunion Jazz Ensemble @ Rochester Harbor and Carousel Fest, in the Jazz Tent, Ontario Beach Park, 2:30 pm
• Blue Spirit Band @ Bop Shop Atrium (Bop Arts Presents...), 8:00 pm

Monday, June 29, 2009

• The White Hots @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Dave Rivello Ensemble @ Kilbourn Hall, 7:30 pm

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

• Johnny Russo’s East Hill Classic Jazz Trio @ Geneva on the Lake, 6:30 pm
• Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm
• Eastman Jazz Faculty Quartet @ Kilbourn Hall, 7:30 pm

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

• Dave Mancini Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:30 pm
• Jim Nugent Trio @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Paul Hofmann @ Kilbourn Hall, 7:30 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

All good things must come to an end ... Last night at the 2009 XRIJF

The motto on the new T-shirt I bought on Thursday night is "It's not who you know; it's who you don't know". This is the festival music director John Nugent's mantra and a good descriptor for the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival. The last night for this year's XRIJF was a good case in point.

I started out with someone I know—Joe Lovano and Us Five in Kilbourn Hall at 6:00 pm and then turned to those I didn't. It was raining when I got to Jazz Street and throughout the last night of XRIJF, but luckily the line for Joe Lovano was not so far that I had to stand in it (without umbrella). Joe Lovano was one of my "must sees" for this year's festival. Us Five is a new project that features his wife Judi Silvano as a vocalist, although singing songs is not her role. Using her voice to scat or mimic instruments, Silvano adds to the quartet of James Weidman on piano, Cameron Brown on bass, and the outstanding Francisco Mela on drums to make it a quintet. Lovano's set was fantastic, starting with the title piece off his new album with the Us Five Folk Art and including other tracks off the album and standards like Mal Waldron's Soul Eyes. In addition to tenor sax, he played an aulochrome, a double soprano saxophone, tuned to different keys that created a sort of two tone (except when he concentrated on one side of the mouthpiece). His compositions were inventive and fun. He also gave the rest of his band, including his wife, wide areas to shine, which they all stepped up to regularly.

I sloshed my way through the puddles, slowly, as excessive use and tucking behind seat backs had blown out one of my two bad knees, over to the Reformation Lutheran Church for my last taste of the Nordic Jazz Now series with Delirium. This quartet of Finns and Danes were very playful and inventive, with compositions and playing mixing straight ahead with freer sounds. I especially liked the second piece, which was an almost 1920s stomp, punctuated with periods of zany dissonance. The cornet/trumpet player stood out for his versatility with the horn, constantly changing the sound of his horn with dampers and other tools to get desired effects.

I finished out the 2009 Rochester jazz festival by checking out the last of the Made in the UK Series groups, Tim Garland's Lighthouse Trio, over at the Christ Church. Reed many Garland arranged music on Chick Corea's new album The New Crystal Silence, worked with vibist Joe Locke on a project, and I'd heard great things from various folks about this group. The Lighthouse trio consists of Garland, Asaf Sirkis (who plays a custom built set of frame drums, bass Udu, Hang drum and other percussion instruments), and the young pianist Gwilym Simcock. There is no bass. With the ambient noise of the rain outside providing an added layer, these three created a tapestry of inventive music in the now great sounding space of Christ Church. Due to my knee needing some attention and the great music I'd just experienced, I decided to go on home and skip the after hours. The Lighthouse Trio was a great way to end this year's festival.

For more, I'll point you toward stories and posts in the Democrat & Chronicle, City Newspaper, and any blogs or other sources I can find:

• City Newspaper, ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009 BLOG: Day 9: Joe Lovano, Aaron Park Trio, final thoughts (Ron Netsky).
• City Newspaper, ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009 BLOG: Day 9: Joe Lovano, Marta Gomez, Dwayne Dopsie, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Buckwheat Zydeco (Frank DeBlase).
• City Newspaper, ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009 BLOG: Day 9: John Boutte, Tim Garland, Delirium, Dwayne Dopsie (Saby Reyes-Kulkarni).
• Democrat & Chronicle, City swells with fest's finest sounds (Jeff Spevak).
• Democrat & Chronicle, Rain soaks jazz festival's final day, but enthusiasm still reigns (Anna Reguero).
• Reguero also has a few blog posts up from throughout Day 9 on the HerRochester Arts Blog including some video from the after hours party where Joe Lovano played starting here (remember to move up the blog from there to see the rest).
• Norma Winstone and Aaron Parks Trio have been added to Will Yurman's Jazz Tales.
• Over at Popwars blog, there are two more to check out, at Go to Church and their last of the festival Live Jazz Withdrawal.

OK, tie a toe tag on it. The 2009 Xerox International Jazz Festival is over, kaput, fini, long live the 2010 Xerox International Jazz Festival! Although there will be some occasional content here relating to the jazz festival, I now return you to your regularly scheduled Jazz@Rochester programming.

Hangin' with @40,000 of my closest friends ... Day 8 at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival

Friday night at the Xerox Rochester Jazz Festival was about crowds and moving through a wide spectrum of music. According to the D&C, the folks at XRIJF believed that there was perhaps 40,000 happy music listeners milling around the East End to hear the free shows on East Avenue and the great music still going on in the Club Pass venues (and of course, Taj Mahal with Susan Tedeschi in Eastman).

The evening started out for me at 4:30, getting in line for guitarist Pat Martino's 6:00 pm appearance in Kilbourn Hall with Hammond B3 organ player Tony Monaco and young Jason Brown on drums. After brain surgery in 1980 for aneurysms, Martino lost his memory, including how to play the guitar and so much more (he almost didn't recognize his parents). He studied his own recordings and used other technology to help reverse this memory loss and relearn the guitar before starting to record again in 1987. Last night's incredible performance drove home how hard that road back must have been. He showed amazing technical skill, moving through pieces at lightning speed, but also played with a lot of emotion and would take chords and notes in different directions than I was expecting. I think that half the guitarists in Rochester were in that performance, just soaking up the sounds coming out of Martino's fingers. Monaco's seemed to be having a great time as he mouthed, ran and growled his way through solos and comping behind Martino, using those two Leslie boxes on the stage to their fullest effect. Brown held down the grooves well and had some spot on short solo runs.

After leaving Martino, I looked for my lost Downbeat hat (my favorite) over at the Eastman and jazz fest office lost and found, but it seems to have found a new head to perch itself on. I went over to meet my wife, who was coming in to see Susan Tedeschi and Taj Mahal. She never made it in as she didn't give herself enough time to get through the huge mess that the East End became around 7:00 pm as the free concerts began. She found no place to park and finally gave up. I ducked into Eastman Theater and heard a bit of Tedeschi's set. She's a great blues rocker, but I'd heard her several times before and moved on since my wife wasn't there to share it with me. Headed over to Christ Church to catch a bit of UK singer Norma Winstone. I'm afraid I just wasn't into the singers this year and only made it for a couple of songs before heading out again.

Next stop was a quick trip to the tent to catch up with some friends. When I entered, Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers were playing at full tilt with the washboard player nearly knocking himself over (he was pretty thin...) with those two spoons and Dopsie just pounding the keys of his accordion. Everyone was on their feet in front and having a big party.

Back over to Eastman where the crowd was heading back in for Taj Mahal. While I've seen gigs by some of the great blues artists (Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Pinetop Perkins and others in the 80s and 90s in Chicago), I wish I had a seat for this show (on sold out shows my media access gets me in the door, but the seats are for paying bums...in the UK sense). Taj Mahal is the real deal and the first part of his set was fantastic. He came with just a bass player and drummer, but that's all he needed as he made that guitar sing. However, even if I had a seat, I'm not sure I would have felt like sitting it (I was kind of restless last night). So after four or five songs, I moved on....

Ended up the evening at the State Street Bar & Grill at the Rochester Plaza hotel for the after hours. Took the bus down there from Jazz Street. My friends had preceded me and secured a table in the outside patio. Much more comfortable than inside and a prime perch for watching the proceedings going on as artists and others arrived. They've set up a projection screen for the live video of the band inside and a pretty good sound system, so we could watch and hear the jam session inside (when it got crowded, you can't even hear inside, so in some ways it was better). We just sat and laughed and had a few beers as we wound down from the day. 

For more, I'll point you toward stories and posts in the Democrat & Chronicle, City Newspaper, and any blogs or other sources I can find:

• City Newspaper, ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009 BLOG: Day 8: Pat Martino, Joe Romano Tribute, Susan Tedeschi, Taj Mahal (Ron Netsky).
• City Newspaper, ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009 BLOG: Day 8: Ryan Shaw, Susan Tedeschi, Taj Mahal (Frank DeBlase).
• City Newspaper, ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009 BLOG: Day 8: Arve Henriksen, Dwayne Dopsie, Tower of Power, Po Boys Brass Band (Saby Reyes-Kulkarni).
• Democrat & Chronicle, City swells with fest's finest sounds (Jeff Spevak).
• Democrat & Chronicle, Tedeschi's talent thrills Eastman (Jack Garner).
• Democrat & Chronicle, Final night at Rochester International Jazz Festival (Jeff Spevak).
• Anna Reguero has a few blog posts up from throughout Day 8 on the HerRochester Arts Blog including some from the after hours party here (remember to move up the blog from there to see the rest).
• Nils Petter Molvaer Group has been added to Will Yurman's Jazz Tales.
• Showstopper on PopWars.
• It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing. Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, in Mr. Nightime.

MIA on Day 7 of the jazz festival in Rochester, but still there in spirit...

Don't recall this ever happening before, but last night I opted to sit out a night of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival.  I decided to go home to my loving, but "jazz widow" spouse instead of hitting the Club Pass circuit and Kilbourn Hall. Due to work obligations she has been unable to join me at the festival this year. Looking at my Twitter feed and reading the reviews, it sounds like I missed some great music. Rested (well, relatively) and ready for the final two days! This time I'll just point you toward what others said about last night out there in the Democrat & Chronicle, City Newspaper, and any bloggers or other sources I can find, although none were found when this posted (I may add some later):

• City Newspaper, ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009: Day 7: Monty Alexander, Tony Kofi, Michael McDonald, Ryan Shaw (Ron Netsky)
• City Newspaper, ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009: Day 7: Brockport Community Big Band, Ryan Shaw, Michael McDonald, KJ Denhert (Saby Reyes-Kulkarni).
• City Newspaper, ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009 BLOG: Day 7: Joe Baione Quartet (Dale Evans)
• Democrat & Chronicle, McDonald brings the past rocking to life (Jeff Spevak)
• Democrat & Chronicle, Friday's best bets at jazz fest (Jeff Spevak)
• Democrat & Chronicle, Upcoming jazz festival performers will have tough acts to follow (Jack Garner)
• Democrat & Chronicle, Taj Mahal performs tonight at Rochester International Jazz Festival (Jeff Spevak)
• D&C staff music writer Anna Reguero wrote quite a few posts on the D&C's HerRochester Arts blog last night starting here with RIJF Day 7 (when I posted, this post was actually on the second page of the blog, so after you read it you should click on the Arts Blog title to be taken back to the front page, where her posts end at 2:46 a.m. with a video of KJ Denhert at the after hours). In these posts there is also some video of Toni Kofi playing at the after hours and a nice post about Monty Alexander, among others.

Check out 6x6x2009 at RoCo ... One block down from Jazz Street

Add more art to your Jazz Festival experience by dropping in to see the Visual Art Event of the Summer at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center! Over 3.050 artworks submitted from 17 countries, 36 states, and 4 species! All these pieces (which are all 6"X6") are available for only $20! And you will be supporting the programs at Rochester Contemporary Art Center The exhibition runs from June 6th to July 12th at Rochester Contemporary Art Center 137 East Avenue, 1 block east of Jazz Street. There are special Jazz Festival hours:

• Friday June 19th 1-10pm
• Saturday June 20th 1-10pm

You can also view and buy works of art online on RoCo's website.