Let's get this party started!  We are less than a month out from the Rochester International Jazz Festival, hitting the streets of downtown Rochester from June 20th through June 28th and JazzRochester will be there for all 9 days, baby! There are fewer "bucket lists" artists and some changes from prior years (see my kick of post [here]), but there is still a lot of music this year that I want to hear. Last year I had to take it easy as I was preparing for a total knee replacement in late July, but this year the gloves (and knee brace) are off!

At the RIJF you are often confronted with so many options, pulling you in different directions musically. Some are imposed on you by timing, some by lines, some by sheer accident after hearing raves about an artist you didn't even have on your radar. But, you have to make them. As RIJF Producer John Nugent's oft repeated adage goes . . . "It's not who you know, it's who you don't know." So, you do you, but if you're interested, here are the artists/groups I am aiming to hear on the first night of the 2025 RIJF (I've included links so you can check them out yourself):

• I often start of the RIJF at the early show at Kilbourn Hall. Waiting in line to get a wrist band gives me an opportunity to say hello to the folks I always see at the festival (and sometimes that's the only time as they filter onto Jazz Street.  This year, I'll be waiting in that early line for vocalist Ekep Nkwelle, a rising young star in the jazz scene. I am impressed by the wide range of artists she with whom she has collaborated, from swinging hard with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (perhaps she'll be singing with them the next night in the headliner show of the LCJO in Eastman Theatre?) to singing on Dave Murray Quartet's very recent Birdly Serenade disc. She's also a Producer Pick this year.  Ekep Nkwelle will be on the stage at Kilbourn Hall at 6:00 and 9:00 pm.

• Anyone who reads these pages knows I have a soft spot for the Hammond B3 and the organ jazz trio. While I'm not sure that he'll be sporting a B3 and Leslie speaker, I'll also be catching the Dan Wilson Organ Trio. Guitarist Wilson toured extensively with the late, great B3 master Joey DeFrancesco and has a deep understanding of the musical language of the organ trio deeply-rooted in the church tradition, blending gospel, blues, and traditional jazz, playing with a modern edge. I heard him in a Max's show during the 2022 RIJF (interestingly enough on June 20th) and I'm coming back for more. Dan Wilson's Organ Trio will be hitting the stage at the Temple Theater at 7:00 and 9:15 pm.

• If you read these pages, you also know that I like to stretch my ears. My last stop of the first night will be to do that with The Fringe, a trio originally formed in 1971 by saxophonist and George Garzone, who is now complemented by bassist John Lockwood and drummer Francisco Mela. Garzone is legendary in Boston and a renowned educator, known for his inventive "Triadic Chromatic Approach," and for navigating complex harmonic landscapes with fluidity. John Lockwood is a veteran who lays down a foundation rooted in his deep experience having played with the likes of Joe Henderson and Freddie Hubbard. Inventive Cuban drummer Francisco Mela rounds out the group on drums, and plays with rhythmic ingenuity and explosive energy. The Fringe will at Montage Music Hall at 6:00 and 9:30 pm (note that the late show is a bit earlier than previous years at the Montage).

While I've made my choices, there are often artists who I wish I could hear as well. For one reason or another you may want some alternatives, so here they are:

• Sullivan Fortner, will be playing solo piano at the Eastman's School's Hatch Recital Hall at 5:45 and 7:45 pm.

• Brazilian Helio Alves' Samba Jazz Trio will be on the stage at The Inn on Broadway at 5:30 and 7:45 pm

• Vocalist Caity Georgy will be gracing Max's at Eastman Place at 6:15 and 10:00 pm