In July 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King received a request from the producers of the new Berlin Jazz festival to write a forward for the festival’s program. Although he did not actually deliver a speech at the festival, his words remain a powerful statement about jazz music and its musicians.  So, in commemoration of MLK Day, here is the text of the essay he provided the festival (and the world): 

God has wrought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create—and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations.

Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music.

Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.

It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of racial identity as a problem for a multiracial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls. Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down. And now, jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith.

In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these.

And for those of you who would rather hear the words, check out this video with a reading by multiple jazz artists, a production by Jazz In Pop Culture and SF Jazz:

JazzRochester aims at providing you with the most comprehensive listings for live jazz gigs in and around Rochester, New York. To help you find some live jazz to hear, I've gathered listings for the next seven days immediately below, with the rest of January and a February to follow, plus a growing number of gigs beyond that (and beyond ROC).  

Please let me know if you've heard about any gigs that I've may have missed here or if I have anything wrong  below (see the Contact Us link above to send an email if that's how you roll).  Tell your jazz-loving friends (and jazz musicians you know) about the site so they can join us here or on our other channels (you can send them to my most recent post about those channels JazzRochester . . . Fresh live jazz around ROC, served up in many ways!

JazzRochester aims at providing you with the most comprehensive listings for live jazz gigs in and around Rochester, New York. To help you find some live jazz to hear, I've gathered listings for the next seven days immediately below, with the rest of January and a February to follow, plus a growing number of gigs beyond that (and beyond ROC).  New entries on the venues this post: Spritz 146, a piano bar across from Lemoncello in East Rochester, and Henry's Bar in Fairport.

Please let me know if you've heard about any gigs that I've may have missed here or if I have anything wrong  below (see the Contact Us link above to send an email if that's how you roll).  Tell your jazz-loving friends (and jazz musicians you know) about the site so they can join us here or on our other channels (you can send them to my most recent post about those channels JazzRochester . . . Fresh live jazz around ROC, served up in many ways!

As I want you to do you, wherever you are (OK, not on TikTok...), I try to provide you with as many different avenues to access what we do here on JazzRochester. Periodically, I update this type of post to remind you all (and new readers) of that. To that end, you can get your JazzRochester in a number of ways:

• Email. Nearly 1000 of you get everything JazzRochester posts to this site via email. If you want to see everything in your Inbox, click on the "Get JazzRochester via Email!" link at the top of the site and fill out the form to get started (if you're new to the site, you may have seen a popup form as you scrolled through, too). I will not sell, spam or otherwise use the email addresses entered in there without your permission and you can unsubscribe at any time.
• X, or the social media site formerly known as Twitter. JazzRochester has been on Twitter since 2006 under the handle @jazzrochester. Over 11,000 Twitter users are following us there from here and all over the world. In addition to tweets of every post published on JazzRochester, I occasionally share other information about live jazz in Rochester and beyond. I follow as many local jazz artists, artists with connections to Rochester, and folks in the local jazz community as I find on X. If you're on X, you can also share individual posts by clicking on the  icon at the bottom of each post. 
• Facebook. Over 1,600 people have followed the JazzRochester page on Facebook. As with X, all posts published on the site are posted there, plus I share information about local live jazz, local jazz Events and other jazz links. If you're on Facebook, I'd appreciate it if you'd head over to the page and follow us there, even if you're getting our content some other way. Click on the Facebook icon at the top of the right column to check it out. Again, you can share individual posts by clicking on the icon at the bottom of the post.
• Instagram. JazzRochester is on Instagram and nearly 1000 users and bands follow us there.  I use that channel to share images of live jazz that I go out to hear and have recently started sharing what I have on my "turntable" as stories.  
• Reddit.  I'm there at ... wait for it ... u/jazzrochester. I recently started sharing the sites post to r/Rochester and r/FingerLakes. If you're on Reddit, I would appreciate it if you gave us some love and shared to any groups you think might help local jazz lovers find us.
• RSS Feed. A number of you have put the feed for JazzRochester in a feed reader, such as Feedly. An RSS feed is published automatically in Atom 1.0 and RSS formats. It should be auto-discovered by your favorite feed reader.
• Or just come back here from time to time... There are some I meet around Rochester who are long time readers, but say "I get your emails" and apparently have never been to the site itself to see all the other information to find here that don't show up in the other platforms you can consume our content through. I encourage you to visit us here anytime! The site should adjust to fit whatever device or screen size you're viewing it on. 

Here are some other notes on how we roll here at JazzRochester:

• I'm not the "jazz police". I may occasionally list something that you may not think of as "jazz."  I try to pull in all diverse parts and communities of jazz in Rochester and try not to impose my own preferences on my readers. Including a particular musician or group in the listings may result in another source listing them in the "jazz" category when their music is actually something else. My site also serves as the WGMC Jazz 90.1 "Club Calendar," so occasionally there are some blues gigs listed because they traditionally also shared blues. Let me know if you think something is inappropriate for the listings as I know I sometimes get it wrong and haven't heard everyone I list (although I try to find them online before I list those musicians and groups with whom I'm unfamiliar.
• More about Rochester jazz artists, groups and venues.  So you can find out more about local jazz artists or groups, or even listen to some of their music, I have a page with links to the websites of local jazz musicians and groups. Just click on the ROC Jazz Artists Websites link at the top of the site. I also link to venues that regularly present jazz in our area in the right panel, along with jazz-related links for Rochester and beyond.  Anyone or place missing?  Let me know.  
• Are you a ROC area jazz artist or venue?  I am trying to reach out directly to local jazz musicians and venues that regularly present jazz through email lists. Mostly it is reminders for when to send in gig info so you don't miss my publishing dates.  You can find out more and sign up by clicking on the Info for ROC Jazz Musicians & Presenters link.  
• Looking backward. JazzRochester can be searched by using search box in the right panel to find posts that include a particular artist or click on a category or monthly archive link in the right column to browse through posts. You can also use the categories to look back.  See what was playing in town as far back as 2006. 
• Looking ahead. Like many, I'm beginning to tire of X and while I won't leave it, I'm looking for other places to connect with the Rochester jazz community.  If you have any ideas, reach out using the email link at top.  
• Check out the About link at the top of the site to learn more about JazzRochester and find the "legalities", like our privacy and comment policies.

Let me know about what works and doesn't work by sending a question via email through the "Contact Us" link above. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask... here, via email, on X, on Facebook, by commenting on a post, or even if you see me at a gig. 

So subscribe, "like," or otherwise consume JazzRochester any way that works for you.  I won't judge... you do you. I'll just try to focus on getting more information about live jazz in Rochester and beyond out to our community here.  Share this post with those who you know who love getting out to hear live jazz.

Welcome to 2025 and I hope it will be filled with live jazz.  As you know, JazzRochester aims at providing you with the most comprehensive listings for live jazz gigs in and around Rochester, New York. To help you find some live jazz to hear, I've gathered listings for the next seven days immediately below, with the rest of January and a start on those in February to follow, plus a growing number of gigs beyond that (and beyond ROC). 

Help me fill these listings in! It's not unusual for it to be a bit lighter after the holidays, but as you can see below, the next seven days are barren. Let me know if you've heard about any gigs that I've may have missed here or if I have anything wrong  below (see the Contact Us link above to send an email if that's how you roll).  Tell your jazz-loving friends about the site so they can join us here or on our other channels.