Night 6 of the CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival .... Wednesday is over the "hump" for me at the RIJF. Looking forward from Wednesday, you realize there are only 3 more nights of the festival left and you feel most the exhaustion brought about by the preceding five nights. My Wednesday will follow a familiar path, venue-wise.  While you should do you, here's the acts I'll be hearing on Wednesday, June 26th of the RIJF:

• Starting out with the Bill Charlap Trio in Kilbourn Hall, which is one of the best spaces to hear an excellent piano trio like this. Grammy-winner Charlap and his mates bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington were a standout for me when they played in 2011. These three have been playing trio together for so long that they anticipate and  move as one through the music, whether it is a swinging standard or a quiet ballad. The Bill Charlap Trio will be playing Kilbourn Hall at 6:00 and 9:00 pm.
• The next stop is in the UK at the Global Jazz Now series where the Alex Hitchcock Quartet is on offer. I'm pretty sure that saxophonist Hitchcock is not bringing the whole Dream Band (way more than a quartet), the music I heard from a very recent live album would be beautiful in the soaring spaces of Christ Church, but it he may show up with some members or some of the first call jazz players he works with here on this side of the pond.  Either way, I'm looking forward to hearing something and someone new (although there may be some familiar Brits in his band who have been at RIJF before.  Alex Hitchcock Quartet can be found at the Christ Church at 7:30 and 9:30 pm.
• I'm going to finish up the night with vocalist (and Producer Pick) Ekep Nkwelle. She's a new voice on the scene.  Check out her singing and beautiful arrangement of Geri Allen's "Timeless Portraits and Dreams"with the Julliard Jazz Ensemble in 2022, included on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts. Just the type of music to end a night in the Atrium at Max of Eastman Place, where she and her band will be presented at 6:15 and 10:00 pm.

There are some artists on this night who I wish I could hear but can't. Given my choices above, you might also want some alternatives. Here's some other choices:

• If solo piano is more your style on this night, then you can't go wrong with Manuel Valera. While a purveyor of the infectious music and rhythms of Cuba with his working band New Cuban Express, he is just as comfortable with Monk. Valera will be appearing solo at ESM's Hatch Recital Hall at 5:45 and 7:45 pm. The Manuel Valera Trio will be playing sets the next night on June 27th at the Inn On Broadway at 5:30 and 7:15 pm. 
• I have seen the Producer Pick the Levin Brothers several times as they appear around Rochester once in awhile due to connections in this part of the world (they were last year in December 2023, presented by the Bop Shop at the Lovin Cup). Bassist Tony Levin is a graduate of Eastman and is more known for his work with Peter Gabriel and the later version of King Crimson than for jazz, but he has major jazz chops. His brother Peter has played piano and keyboards on a host of jazz and pop albums. They both have played with a who's who of jazz luminaries.  Plus, from what other band else are you going to hear a jazz arrangement of King Crimson's "Matte Kudasi" (I saw King Crimson with Tony in college, and had that album ... yes, I wasn't always a jazzhead)? While I won't be hearing them this time around, the Levin Brothers be playing at Montage Music Hall at 6:00 and 10:00 pm. The next night, June 27th, they'll be at the Wilder Room at 6:00 and 10:00 pm. 
• Cuban-born pianist Hilario Duran and his Trio is another option for those who want more mambo and other Cuban rhythms. I've heard Duran play a number of times at the festival (he has hailed from Toronto for a couple of decades so gets here relatively often), but he's an amazing pianist and his trio is outstanding.  The Hilario Duran Trio will be playing the Wilder Room at 6:00 and 10:00 pm.
• Added June 25th: As I forgot to add his second date to the post for yesterday, you may have heard about the infectious and joyous performances by the Paa Kow Afro-Fusion Orchestra at the Montage on the 25th. I heard a number of people saying they were there for the early show.  They will also be playing at the Duke on the 26th at 7:45 and 9:45 pm.

I've included links to the RIJF page for each artist where you can check out the links to their websites and to their music on Spotify. I'm currently building an RIJF 2024 Spotify playlist with a track from recent albums that I could find for all of the picks I've made my picks (and others listed). Please go give it a listen.