After a bit of hiatus, Exodus to Jazz is bringing a wide variety of jazz acts—from Grammy-nominees Tamir Hendleman and Gerald Clayton to local favorites Four80East—to Rochester. This year the ETJ moves to a more concert-like setting, relocating to the Lutheran Church of the Reformation at 111 North Chestnut Street in downtown Rochester (near the Eastman Theater), a great venue for hearing the typically acoustic sounds of the ETJ lineup and a favorite venue during the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival. Here's the diverse and talented lineup that ETJ is bringing to town, most of whom are new to ETJ and to Rochester:

• Tamir Hendelman Trio, Sunday, January 9th, 6:00 pm
• Gerald Clayton Trio, Saturday, February 12th, 8:00 pm
• Four80East, Saturday, March 5th, 8:00 pm
• Somi, March 26th, 8:00 pm
• Marc Antoine Trio, April 9, 8:00 pm
• Kate Davis Trio, May 7, 8:00 pm

I encourage you to check out the 2011 Schedule on the new ETJ site. Check back soon to subscribe to the ETJ site's posts (it is in part a blog) to get updates from ETJ "impresario" José DaCosta, who is going to try his hand at some blogging (with a little help from his friends like me) and wants his site to be more interactive with this great series' patrons and friends. Keep coming back as we'll be working on it over the next month.

Each artist/group will present two, one hour sets, with the doors opening one hour prior to the start of the concert. Tickets are priced as follows: Reserved seat table in front, $30 (Four80East and Marc Antoine, $35); Reserved theatre seats, $25; general admission theatre, $20. Responding to those who wanted a less costly on-line ticket outlet, ETJ has secured the services of BrownPaperTickets.com, with service fees substantially lower than other popular outlets. Tickets are also available at the That's The Ticket at Wegmans stores. More information here.

Looking forward to another great ETJ season in the new venue.  Hope to see you at one of these concerts. More on the individual artists as their concert dates approach.