Day 8 of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, June 19th, is going to be a night of choices and possible regrets. There are two of the offerings this penultimate night, neither of them particularly "jazz," that are vying for selection. It will probably be up in the air which one I actually choose until the night itself. That's the way the Festival goes, though. My June 19th is, with alternatives, shaping up as follows:

• The initial outing of the evening is a no brainer considering the rest of the evening. One of my "must sees" for this festival is guitarist Pat Martino who will be kicking off my Day 8 in Kilbourn Hall at 6:00 pm. His story is amazing, a man who basically came back to his music from a tabula rasa after a brain aneurysm in the 1980s that left him without much if any memory of his former days in the music. The story is continued from the write up on the XRIJF site in an interview on AllAboutJazz.com. To get a taste (although Joey DeFrancesco is also coming to the jazz Fest, I hear Martino will be appearing with Tony Monaco). For a recent taste of what we'll be hearing on Day 8, here's a video of the Pat Martino Trio with DeFrancesco on B3 from the Umbria Festival in 2007.
• Here's where it gets difficult, I really want to see one of the free shows, the "sacred steel" gospel of Robert Randolph and the Family Band at 9:00 pm, with the Rochester area's own sacred steel powerhouses The Campbell Brothers opening at 7:00 pm. I just love this stuff!   However, I also want to see bluesman Taj Mahal, who will be playing Eastman Theatre (with blues woman Susan Tedeschi and her band opening), starting at 8:00 pm. Finally, one of the highlights of the Made in the UK Series, and someone who I didn't want to miss if possible, is singer Norma Winstone who will be appearing in the Church of Christ at 6:45 and 8:45. Trouble is, they're all playing at times which will make it next to impossible to catch them all (although I'll try...). I'll make the choices on the spur of the moment. It's the only way this late in the game. By Day 8, you're running on how you feel ... what you need at that time.

As I keep pointing out, there's a lot more every night than what I'm setting out here in this and the other "pick" posts, so check out the entire artist lineup for each night here. Also note that while I'm selecting a time in coming up with my itinerary, most of the venues will have two sets, many around 6:00 and 10:00 pm.  There will be a mix of times in between those two main set times. Some artists are appearing on more than one day.

And again, Jazz@Rochester is on Twitter and I have created a widget, which has its own page to help you follow the conversation about jazz and the XRIJF on that popular micro-blogging platform. For those who want to begin the conversation now, start using #XRIJF as a hash tag (if you're on Twitter, you'll know what I mean) and help me spread the word to use that tag during the festival. If you'd like to access Jazz@Rochester on your smart phone, please try the new mobile site.

Previous Preview & Pick posts:

• Day One, June 12th Picks
• Day Two, June 13th Picks
• Day Three, June 14th Picks
• Day Four, June 15th Picks
• Day Five, June 16th Picks
• Day Six, June 17th Picks
• Day Seven, June 18th Picks

Other links:

• City Newspaper's XRIJF Guide for June 19th