CITY Newspaper Jazz Fest 2018

JAZZ 2018 FESTIVAL GUIDE

THE 2018 XEROX ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL Friday, June 22 — Saturday, June 30 Tickets & Venues Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre Series Headliner shows are held in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre (60 Gibbs Street).

These are ticketed shows; a Club Pass doesn’t work here. Tickets, which range from $30 to $125 (plus service charges), are available through the Jazz Festival website (rochesterjazz.com) or by calling 585-454-2060. Tickets for Alison Krauss are already sold out.

JUN. 13 2018, VOL. 47 NO. 41

Club Pass Series

A Club Pass is your ticket to the Club Series: you can go to as many concerts as you’d like at 12 smaller clubs and venues (listed below). The Jazz Festival has two Club Pass options: a three-day pass, which allows access to concerts on any three days of your choice during the festival, and the traditional nine-day pass.

And new this year, the festival created “shareable” and “personal” three-day and nine-day passes for various prices. The “personal” passes are sold out (but hey, that means if you now buy a Club Pass, you can share it).

Three-day passes are $194, plus service charges. The full nine-day Club Pass costs $244, plus service charges, and almost always sells out in advance of the festival.

If you don’t have one, you can still buy tickets ($30-$35) to the individual Club Pass concerts at the door, if space is available. Cash only. Be advised that Club Pass shows tend to sell out on a firstcome, first-served basis; even if you have a Pass, you should get there early.

The Jazz Festival is again using a wristband system at Kilbourn Hall and Max of Eastman Place. Starting two hours before Kilbourn Hall’s 6 p.m. show and Max of Eastman Place’s 6:15 p.m. performance, Club Pass holders and those paying in cash at the door can line up for color-coded wristbands that will specify 2 CITY

JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

return times for their show. Patrons can then leave, wander the festival, and come back at their designated time to enter the venue. You must be present in line to receive a wristband. And seating is still first-come, first-served.

Club Pass venues Christ Church 141 East Avenue (Made in the UK Series) Harro East Ballroom 155 North Chestnut Street Hatch Recital Hall at Eastman School of Music 433 East Main Street Kilbourn Hall at Eastman School of Music 26 Gibbs Street

Free Venues Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County (115 South Avenue) Free shows June 25-June 29 City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage (Gibbs Street at East Avenue) Free music daily City of Rochester East Avenue & Chestnut Street Stage Free shows June 22-23 and June 29-30 City of Rochester Stage at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park (353 Court Street) Free show June 29 Rochester Regional Health Big Tent (corner of Main Street and Gibbs) Free shows daily at 6 p.m.

Lutheran Church of the Reformation 111 North Chestnut Street (Nordic & Euro Jazz Now Series)

Avangrid Foundation / RG&E / Barclay Damon Fusion Stage (corner of East Ave. & Chestnut St.) Free shows June 24-28

Max of Eastman Place 25 Gibbs Street

The Street Craft Kitchen & Bar at the Hyatt (125 East Main Street) Free jam sessions every night. Karl Stabnau will lead June 22-23 and June 29-30; Bob Sneider leads June 24-28. All jam sessions start at 10:30 p.m.

Montage Music Hall 50 Chestnut Plaza Rochester Regional Health Big Tent Corner of Main and Gibbs streets Squeezers Stage at Anthology 336 East Avenue, entrance on Lawrence Street Temple Building Theater 50 Liberty Pole Way Wilder Room 120 East Avenue Xerox Auditorium at Xerox Plaza 100 South Clinton Avenue, entrance on Broad Street

Z

LISTEN UP!

CITY Newspaper has collaborated with the area’s top jazz radiostation, WGMC Jazz 90.1 t o bring you a playlist of our can’t miss acts from the 2018 Xerox Rochester Interational Jazz Festival. Find it online at Rochestercitynewspaper.com

INSIDE: FRIDAY, JUNE 22 ��������������4 INTERVIEW: SEAL

SATURDAY, JUNE 23 �������� 8 INTERVIEW: BRIAN SETZER'S ROCKABILLY RIOT

rochestercitynewspaper.com @roccitynews

SUNDAY, JUNE 24 ����������� 12 PROFILE: JACK BROADBENT

TUESDAY, JUNE 26 ��������� 22 PROFILE: JOE LOCKE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27 ���26 PROFILE: JAZZMEIA HORN

THURSDAY, JUNE 28 �����30 FEATURE: LAKE STREET DIVE

FRIDAY, JUNE 29 ����������� 34

CITY NEWSPAPER 250 N. Goodman Street Rochester, NY 14607 585-244-3329 Publishers: William and Mary Anna Towler Editorial department themail@rochester-citynews.com Music editor: Jake Clapp Contributing writers: Frank De Blase, Ron Netsky, Daniel Kushner

INTERVIEW: POKEY LAFARGE

SATURDAY, JUNE 30 ������ 37 PROFILE: AKIKO TSURUGA

VENUE MAP ���������������������� 20

Parking

Parking for all East End venues can be found in the East End parking garage at the corner of Scio Street and East Avenue. Additional parking can be found in the Washington Square Garage (111 Woodbury Boulevard) and the NYSUT lot (30 North Union Street). Daily parking at the East End and Washington Square Garages costs $7 per car; the NYSUT lot is free. Also be on the lookout for street parking or spots in surface lots throughout the neighborhood.

You can also find parking at the Sister Cities Garage (28 North Fitzhugh Street), Midtown Garage (270 East Broad Street, entrance on Clinton Avenue or Broad Street), and the South Avenue Garage (39 Stone Street). Those garages are $2 per hour, up to $10 max. For further details and specific street closings, visit XRIJF’s website (rochesterjazz.com).

Additional Information

The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival’s official website is rochesterjazz.com.

You can also visit the Jazz Ticket Shop and Info Center on the corner of East Avenue and Gibbs Street, open daily during the festival, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The XRIJF also has a mobile app for both Apple and Android phones. It includes a full schedule, venue and artist lists, maps, and an option to buy tickets online. Find the download button on the Jazz Fest website’s homepage or through the app store.

For additional Jazz Fest info, check out rochestercitynewspaper.com to get the online version of this guide, plus our daily Jazz Blog. CITY’s critics will offer up their reviews of the previous night’s concerts, and you can post your own thoughts in the comments section. We’ll also be posting photos, videos, and more. New blogs will be up by 8 a.m. each morning of the festival.

We’ll also post updates on our Facebook page (facebook.com/CityNewspaper) and on Twitter and Instagram (@roccitynews).

JAZZ 2018 FESTIVAL GUIDE

Art department artdept@rochester-citynews.com Art director/production manager: Ryan Williamson Designers: Renée Heininger, Jacob Walsh Advertising department ads@rochester-citynews.com New sales development: Betsy Matthews Sales representatives: Tracey Mykins, David White, William Towler Operations/Circulation kstathis@rochester-citynews.com Business manager: Angela Scardinale Circulation manager: Katherine Stathis Distribution: David Riccioni, Northstar Delivery Jazz Festival Guide 2018 is published by

COVER ILLUSTRATION BY DAVE CHISHOLM WWW.DAVECHISHOLMMUSIC.COM

WMT Publications, Inc. Copyright by WMT Publications Inc., 2018 - all rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system without permission of the copyright owner.

PRODUCED BY CITY NEWSPAPER

LINER NOTES

Read this publication online at: ROCHESTERCITYNEWSPAPER.COM

(FD) = Frank De Blase, Music Writer

or download a PDF of it to your tablet or mobile device at: ISSUU.COM/ROCCITYNEWS

This is Frank's 16th year covering the Jazz Festival.

(RN) = Ron Netsky, Music Writer This is Ron's 16th year covering the Jazz Festival.

PHOTOS COURTESY XEROX ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL

(JC) = Jake Clapp, Music Editor This is Jake's 5th year covering the Jazz Festival.

UIDE

rochestercitynewspaper.com

CITY 3

FRIDAY, JUNE

means of surviving and getting my music out there is not necessarily the most effective way to do it.

Back in the day, in the 50’s, before the advent of the concept album, people used to do single, single, single, single, and at the end of it they group all the singles together and put out a record — with maybe one or two good tracks on it. And in the 60’s, in the advent of LSD and psychedelics, people started making concept albums, and then the album track was born.

There’s no reason why it can’t go back to how the 50’s were and just keep putting great music out. So, I will be putting out EPs and songs and music — there will be plenty of music coming from me, don’t get me wrong.

It will just be really good music and it won’t necessarily be in the way of an album. I’ve always been focused on quality over quantity, so whatever I put out will have a level of integrity, and it won’t be just so I can quickly put an album out in order to stay relevant. I have no interest in that.

22

What is your earliest musical memory?

Singing “I Can See Clearly Now” on stage when I was 11.

SEAL [ INTERVIEW ] BY FRANK DE BLASE

IN THE POCKET FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, AND FACEBOOK @ROCCITYNEWS OR VISIT ROCHESTERCITYNEWSPAPER. COM FOR DAILY PHOTOS, SHOW REVIEWS AND COLOR REPORTING FROM THE FESTIVAL 4 CITY

JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

There is a certain amount of class and caution that’s required when an artist takes on standards. Not only are people hearing the interpretation, they also hear the original version dancing in their head. It’s a precarious position for an artist to be in: somewhere between honoring a tune’s legacy and putting just the right amount of personal spin on it.

Soul singer Seal’s latest album, “Standards,” released last year, is a study in reserve and elegance. Songs like Johnny Mercer’s “Autumn Leaves,” Cole Porter’s “Love For Sale,” and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” get Seal’s referential and reverential twist without traveling too far outside the original goalposts.

Maybe most widely known for his international hit “Kiss from a Rose,” Seal has won three Brit Awards and four Grammy Awards.

You put this man’s sandy, soulful croon over this fine selection of songs found on “Standards” and they’ll be swooning in the aisles.

CITY chatted with Seal about learning and unlearning songs, no longer putting out albums, and what’s on the horizon. An edited transcript follows.

CITY: What made you want to record an album of standards?

Seal: It’s a genre of music that I’ve always had

a great deal of admiration and appreciation for because they are simply great songs. The reason I became a musician in the first place is that I just loved great songs and I loved the impact that great songs could have on people emotionally.

When recording this album, how did you make the songs your own?

I had to learn them in order to respect and honor them, and then I had to spend time away from them and forget them before I actually sang them. So I had to learn them and unlearn them. And then trust in my DNA to prevail.

What was the hardest song to do?

“It Was a Very Good Year,” because it had the strongest narrative and those songs are all about narrative.

You told Billboard Magazine you probably won’t release any more albums, stating the concept is no longer relevant. What will you do instead for those who love and want to hear your music still?

Oh, I’ll make albums, I’ll always be an album recording artist, but to make albums as a

When did you realize you could really sing?

When I was 11, and my teacher whom I idolized put me on stage in front of parents and teachers at the PTA ceremony.

Will you do another standards album?

I never say never. I love doing a standards album because it’s discipline — it’s much harder than my own material. Because there I have songs which are bigger than me, which are iconic, which I have to uphold and respect and approach with a level of discipline and integrity that is at the highest level. And so I will never say never, but that’s not on my agenda right now. What’s on my agenda right now is my own music, which in fact the standards album inspired.

What’s a song you’d like to record?

“Angel Eyes” or “Bewitched.”

What are you listening to now?

Lots of disco. Chic, Nile Rodgers, and Sister Sledge.

What’s something you’ll never do?

Compromise. I will never compromise my integrity as an artist, ever. Ever.

What’s on your immediate horizon?

Whatever I’m doing right now — I don’t look to the horizons. I am living in the moment, right now is my horizon, right now. I don’t ever look beyond. I stay in the moment.

Seal headlines Friday, June 22, at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 60 Gibbs Street. 8 p.m. Tickets are still available for $70-$85. seal.com.

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CITY 5

THE PLAYERS Alfredo Rodriguez & Pedrito Martinez (Afro-

Cuban jazz) Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez was headed into a career as a classical player until he heard Keith Jarrett’s “The Köln Concert” and realized the possibilities of jazz improvisation. Rodriguez possesses the technique of Evgeny Kissin with an Afro-Cuban sensibility. Raised in Havana, Pedrito Martinez is one of the most indemand percussionists in both jazz and pop, enhancing the music of artists ranging from Wynton Marsalis to Sting. (RN)

alfredomusic.com; pedritomartinezmusic.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 22

Lakecia Benjamin (Hard bop, hip-hop) This

Ron Artis II & The Truth (Rock) Hawaiian guitarist Ron Artis II will knock you out with the big aloha from his guitar. The music jams within a tight and accelerated groove, as his guitar awaits to unleash its fury. (FD)

lakeciabenjamin.com

ronartisii.com

Marius Neset (Straight-ahead jazz) Norwegian saxophonist extraordinaire Marius Neset started out on drums at the age of 5. But a few years later, when he took up the sax, he found his true calling. While a teenager he moved to Copenhagen to study and it wasn’t long before he was recruited into the band of his teacher, British multiinstrumentalist Django Bates. Since then he has traveled the world as a leading tenor player with bands and orchestras. (RN)

Sara Gazarek Quartet (Vocal jazz) When

woman’s music is a streamlined locomotive hugging tight to the rails. Between angular blasts of her horn comes the rap with all its positive fury and funky groove. (FD)

mariusneset.info Matt Savage (Straight-ahead jazz) In the

Duchess Trio (Vocal jazz) Not only do the three women in Duchess Trio blend like The Andrews Sisters, but they can do it at a million miles an hour, like a jazzy auctioneer. I swear there’s more than threepart-harmony going on here. (FD) duchesstrio.

com Hip Spanic AllStars (Latin funk) This band

of San Franciscans is funky, funky, funky.

The band tempers straight-forward funk with Latin sub-rhythms and overtones. Your heart will flip as your back bone slips. Considering dancing at this show? You’d better warm up first. (FD) hipspanicallstars.com

Park Ave’s Hidden Treasure SERVING DINNER TUESDAY - SATURDAY Authentic Italian Dishes Charming Ambiance | Superior Service

263 Park Avenue • 442-5090 (private parking in back) baccosristorante.com Reservations Recommended 6 CITY

JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

early-2000’s, Matt Savage, not yet 10 years old, emerged on the national scene as a savant jazz piano player. Since then he has proven himself to be a simply superb pianist, playing and recording in a variety of ensembles and working with jazz artists like Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, and Arturo O’Farrill, and pop stars like Chaka Khan and Jackson Browne. (RN) savagerecords.com

Scott Sharrard (Rock) Last year, Jazz Fest had

Mindi Abair & The Boneshakers (Funk, jazz)

on page 4.

Mindi Abair is a wild and raunchy saxophone player in the tradition of Maceo Parker.

She’s also a bluesy singer and commanding presence on stage. Her group, The Boneshakers, is a funk-rock-jazz ensemble capable of tackling everything from James Brown dance tunes to Jimi Hendrix classics.

(RN) mindiabair.com

Jam Sessions with Karl Stabnau (Jazz jam) It’s situations like this that truly keep the jazz spirit of the Jazz Festival alive. The cat behind this jam is Karl Stabnau — named “Outstanding Jazz Soloist” by DownBeat magazine. Who will show up to jam? (FD)

joeyalexandermusic.com

an added bump up to big rock territory with Gregg Allman. Allman and his band rocked due to their band director, Scott Sharrard, who blazed a hole in the ceiling with his magnificent guitar work. Let’s see how he does with his own outfit. Sharrard shreds.

(FD) scottsharrard.com

HEADLINER | Seal. Check out the interview

Terell Stafford Quintet (Straight-ahead jazz) No less a jazz icon than McCoy Tyner has called trumpeter Terell Stafford “one of the great players of our time.” Audiences at two previous XRIJFs have learned that for themselves. Stafford, who has enhanced Tyner’s band and also lent his talent to Benny Golson, Kenny Barron, Jimmy Heath, and many others, is a formidable leader in his own right. (RN) terellstafford.com Vintage Trouble (Garage rock) In the spirit of bands like The Mooney Suzuki and The Hives comes LA’s Vintage Trouble with its in-yourface, excitable, exciting driving beat. With its members spending a lot of time air bound, the kids are gonna love this one with its hip shake rhythm and grind. (FD) vintagetrouble.com

karlstabnau.com Joey Alexander Trio (Straight-ahead jazz) At two previous XRIJFs, piano prodigy Joey Alexander has proven his keyboard prowess is no fluke. Alexander left festival audiences stunned, taking on the complexities of Thelonious Monk tunes and John Coltrane’s intricate “Giant Steps” with the ease of a veteran player. Now all of 14 years old, Alexander, has been declared a genius by Wynton Marsalis. (RN)

Sara Gazarek sings a tune like “I’m Old Fashioned” you get the impression she’s not kidding. She’s more than capable of wrapping her voice around an old standard like a classic jazz diva. Gazarek got a head start by winning the DownBeat Student Music Award for Outstanding Collegiate Jazz Vocalist in 2003. Since then she has toured extensively and was voted no. 3 in the Best New Artist category in the JazzTimes Readers’ Poll.

(RN) saragazarek.com

Phony Ppl (Hip-hop) Straight out of

Brooklyn, Phony Ppl plays trippy hiphop with a soulful slice. There’s still an edge, but the band is too cool to go careening over it. Soulful, stylish, and sly. (FD) phony-ppl.com

Will Vinson Trio (Straight-ahead jazz)

London-born saxophonist Will Vinson has been a force on the New York City jazz scene since 1999, enhancing the groups of artists like Kurt Rosenwinkel and Chris Potter and pop singers like Rufus Wainwright and Sufjan Stevens. Over the years Vinson has recorded six albums as a leader, showcasing his formidable skills as a player and composer.

(RN) willvinson.com

SHOWTIMEFRIDAY

SCOTT SHARARRD (& THE BRICKYARD BAND)

4:30 p.m. Greece Arcadia HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:15 p.m. Honeoye Falls-Lima HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:30 p.m. Mindi Abair & The Boneshakers Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 5:45 p.m. Matt Savage Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. ECMS Jazz Performance Workshops Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Prime Time Brass Rochester Regional Health Big Tent (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Hip Spanic AllStars Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Sara Gazarek Quartet Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Terell Stafford Quintet Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 6:15 p.m. Duchess Trio Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 6:30 p.m. Alfredo Rodriguez & Pedrito Martinez Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 6:45 p.m. Will Vinson Trio Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 7:00 p.m. Scott Sharrard East Ave. & Chestnut St. Stage (FREE) 7:00 p.m. Joey Alexander Trio Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 7:15 p.m. Mindi Abair & The Boneshakers Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Lakecia Benjamin Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 7:30 p.m. Marius Neset Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Phony Ppl Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 7:45 p.m. Matt Savage Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 8:00 p.m. HEADLINER | Seal Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre ($70-$85) 8:30 p.m. Ron Artis II & the Truth Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 8:45 p.m. Will Vinson Trio Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Vintage Trouble East Ave. & Chestnut St. Stage (FREE) 9:00 p.m. Alfredo Rodriguez & Pedrito Martinez Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Terell Stafford Quintet Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 9:15 p.m. Joey Alexander Trio Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Lakecia Benjamin Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 9:30 p.m. Marius Neset Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Phony Ppl Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Duchess Trio Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Hip Spanic AllStars Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Ron Artis II & the Truth Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Sara Gazarek Quartet Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 10:30 p.m. Jam Sessions with Karl Stabnau Street Craft Kitchen & Bar at Hyatt Regency (FREE) rochestercitynewspaper.com

CITY 7

SATURDAY,

JUNE

23

BRIAN SETZER'S ROCKABILLY RIOT [ INTERVIEW ] BY FRANK DE BLASE

Brian Setzer is the gateway drug. It doesn’t matter how cool you think you are, if you’re of this generation and know anything about rockabilly, you learned it because of Brian Setzer. If artists like Warren Smith, The Johnny Burnette Trio, Gene Vincent, and Eddie Cochran are in your record collection, it’s because of Brian Setzer.

If you learned how to make a towering pompadour using a cheap plastic comb and a can of Nu Nile, thank Brian Setzer.

This three-time Grammy-winning guitarist exploded on the scene in 1982 8 CITY

JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

after releasing two albums in England with his rockabilly trio, The Stray Cats.

Songs like “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut” were not only big hits at the time, but they helped spawn a worldwide rockabilly revival. The Stray Cats broke up in 1984.

Setzer’s fingerprints are all over the big band swing revival that hit planet Earth like a meteor in the mid-1990’s when, in 1994, he released “The Brian Setzer Orchestra” with the hit re-make of Louis Prima’s “Jump, Jive, an’ Wail.”

Setzer has sold more than 13 million records and is considered by many to be one of the greatest guitar players of all time, with his signature Gretsch 6120’s twang and blinding speed.

CITY gave Setzer a jingle to discuss having his own sound, where he first heard rockabilly, and if The Stray Cats are back.

An edited transcript follows.

CITY: The Stray Cats just played a sold-out show in Las Vegas. Are they back?

Brian Setzer: Ahh, The Stray Cats. We have

just a handful of shows, that’s all I can say at the moment. We’re having a little fun playing.

It feels like the good ol’ times.

What took you so long?

SHOWTIMESATURDAY

I guess everyone goes their own way, have different ideas of what they wanna do. But it felt good to get back together and play a couple of shows.

Do you play differently in The Stray Cats than you do solo-wise?

The Stray Cats are more about songs.

When I play solo, I can stretch out a little more on the guitar.

What are some of your own favorite records?

Who’s your favorite child? The one that doesn’t give you any trouble. I guess my favorite records would be the very first Stray Cats record. And my favorite big band record that I did was “The Dirty Boogie.” Those are two of my tops.

Where did you first hear rockabilly music?

I first heard rockabilly music in my house growing up. It was around a little bit. Later on when I was playing my own records, I distinctly remember my dad saying something. I was listening to “Honey Don’t” by Carl Perkins but it was The Beatles record, and my dad came in singing along, and I said, “How do you know this?” He said, “I don’t know who The Beatles are, but that’s Carl Perkins.”

We all got it kind of second hand.

Do you struggle with anything on the guitar? You make it look so easy.

You know there are always things I try to improve on. You’re always getting better. I play it every day — it just feels comfortable to pick it up. It’s like an old friend.

Any new projects in the works?

I haven’t written music in a long time. It’s been a while, at least a couple years, and I just started writing. I’ve got almost an album now. I’m probably going to record it this year.

What do you listen to for fun?

I put on the Sirius bluegrass channel when I ride around. I listen to all-roots music I guess you’d call it. I’m also hooked on big band jazz. When I listen to music, it’s usually that or blues, bluegrass, rock ‘n’ roll, even some old country.

MWENSO & THE SHAKES

3:45 p.m. Harley School Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 4:30 p.m. Penfield HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:15 p.m. Webster Schroeder HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:30 p.m. Jack Broadbent Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 5:45 p.m. David Hazeltine Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Eastman-RCSD Jazz Ensemble Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 6:00 p.m. 78 RPM Big Band Rochester Regional Health Big Tent (FREE) 6:00 p.m. R on Artis II & the Truth Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass)

8:30 p.m. H ip Spanic AllStars Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 8:45 p.m. Django Bates Beloved Trio Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. B rian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot East Ave. & Chestnut St. Stage (FREE) 9:00 p.m. Mwenso & The Shakes Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Melissa Aldana Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass)

6:00 p.m. D oug Stone Quartet feat. Josiah Williams Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass)

9:15 p.m. The Bad Plus Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass)

6:00 p.m. Melissa Aldana Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass)

9:30 p.m. S igurdur Flosason Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass)

6:15 p.m. Des Sourcils Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 6:30 p.m. Mwenso & The Shakes Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 6:45 p.m. Django Bates Beloved Trio Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 7:00 p.m. Significant Other East Ave. & Chestnut St. Stage (FREE)

What’s something you’re most proud of?

7:00 p.m. The Bad Plus Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass)

I’ve developed my own style on the guitar.

If I come on the radio somewhere, it sounds like me. I don’t sound like 100 other guys — I sound like me.

7:15 p.m. Jack Broadbent Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass)

Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot plays Saturday, June 23, at the East Avenue & Chestnut Street Stage. 9 p.m. Free. briansetzer.com.

8:00 p.m. H EADLINER | Boz Scaggs Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre ($52)

7:30 p.m. Scott Sharrard Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 7:30 p.m. S igurdur Flosason Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. C harlie Lindner Trio & Friends Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass)

9:30 p.m. Scott Sharrard Jazz Street Stage (FREE)

9:30 p.m. C harlie Lindner Trio & Friends Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Des Sourcils Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. R on Artis II & the Truth Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. H ip Spanic AllStars Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. D oug Stone Quartet feat. Josiah Williams Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 10:30 p.m. J am Sessions with Karl Stabnau Street Craft Kitchen & Bar at Hyatt Regency (FREE)

7:45 p.m. David Hazeltine Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) rochestercitynewspaper.com

CITY 9

THE PLAYERS

SATURDAY, JUNE 23 has arranged for a variety of large and small ensembles. While he is known for orchestral compositions, he also excels when playing straight-ahead jazz piano in his more intimate Beloved Trio, with Petter Eldh on bass and Peter Bruun on drums. (RN) djangobates.co.uk Doug Stone Quartet feat. Josiah Williams

(Jazz and hip-hop fusion) Saxophonist Doug Stone and rapper Josiah Williams meet at the intersection of jazz and hiphop, but there is no compromise on either end of the equation. On their new album, “The Early Riser,” the jazz component— featuring guitarist Chris Potter, bassist John Tate, and drummer Chase Ellison — is hard-bop while Williams’s rap is rhythmically intricate and refreshingly positive. (RN) dougstonejazz.com; jdeanwilliams.com Hip Spanic AllStars (Latin funk) See page

6 for the bio.

Jack Broadbent (Blues) See a profile on

with Jack Broadbent on page 12.

Jam Sessions with Karl Stabnau (Jazz jam) Turn to page 6 for more information.

THE BAD PLUS

The Bad Plus (Straight-ahead jazz) The Bad Plus shook up the jazz world two decades ago by covering unlikely pop songs, like “Life on Mars” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” But everything they played was executed with equal shares of subversion and musical intricacy. These guys have chops! The power trio is Reid Anderson on bass, David King on drums, and a new member — the first personnel change in the group’s existence — Orrin Evans on piano. (RN) thebadplus.com

Charlie Lindner Trio & Friends (Jazz fusion) Smugtown’s own keyboard mastermind Charlie Lindner really got on the radar with the swirling electronica of The Manhattan Project, which was heaped with international praise. His trio shows are not just mere performances but rather sonic experiments put on display.

Amazing vocalist Danielle Ponder joins the band for this show. (FD)

charlielindner.com David Hazeltine (Straight-ahead jazz)

bozscaggs.com

David Hazeltine began performing at the age of 13. Chet Baker noticed the young pianist when he was playing for the Milwaukee Jazz Gallery and suggested he move to New York. Once there, Hazeltine began stints with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and Slide Hampton’s big band. With three dozen albums as a leader, he is regarded as one of the most versatile pianists on the scene today.

(RN) davidhazeltine.com

Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot (Rock ‘n’

Des Sourcils (Gypsy jazz) Not just

HEADLINER | Boz Scaggs (Rock) There’s

a lot that goes into being Boz Scaggs, from singing with the Steve Miller Band to trying his hand in the R&B scene in London in the 1960’s; from getting caught up in San Francisco’s psychedelic scene to recording a record with Duane Allman; and so on. There’s more to Scaggs than “Lido Shuffle.” (FD)

roll) See the interview with Brian Setzer on page 8.

10 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

of the traditional Russian tune, “Dark Eyes.” (FD) dessourcils.bandcamp.com

inspired by Django Reinhardt, as countless bands are, but more specifically by the guitar master’s interpretation

Django Bates Beloved Trio

(Straight-ahead jazz) Over a four-decade career British multiinstrumentalist Django Bates has done just about everything in music. He plays keyboards and tenor horn and

Melissa Aldana (Straight-ahead jazz) Raised in Chile, Melissa Aldana moved to the United States in 2006 to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Aldana was 24 years old when she won first prize in the 2013 Thelonious Monk Institute’s Jazz Saxophone Competition. At her last XRIJF performance, she demonstrated a mastery of tone and phrasing that left no doubt about her prowess on the instrument. (RN)

melissaaldana.com

Mwenso & The Shakes (World beat) It’s as if Muddy Waters and Fats Waller played world beat while maintaining their blues and jazz sensibilities. Big and bold yet sweetly quiet when they want to put on the brakes. Captivating. (FD)

michaelmwenso.com Ron Artis II & The Truth (Rock) Turn

to page 6 for a bio.

Scott Sharrard (Rock) Bio on page 6.

Significant Other (R&B, soul) This Rochester septet blends rocked-up soul and R&B along with a decidedly unique reggae groove plugged in sparingly. They pack a punch with terrific vocals and an unorthodox instrumentation. (FD)

significantotherrocks.com

Sigurdur Flosason (Progressive jazz) Growing up in Iceland, Sigurdur Flosason began to play jazz while a teenager. After studying classical saxophone at the Reykjavik College of Music, he came to the United States to earn a master’s degree in both jazz and classical sax. With his progressive sound, Flosason has become a leader in the Icelandic jazz scene. (RN) sigurdurflosason.com rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 11

SUNDAY, JUNE

24

JACK BROADBENT [ PROFILE ] BY FRANK DE BLASE

By the time British slide guitarist, Jack Broadbent took the Montage Music Hall stage for his second set at last year’s Jazz Fest, the buzz was on and the word was out. Armed with a Hofner archtop guitar and a whiskey flask as a slide, Broadbent played those beautiful blues to a knockedout audience.

I let out a collective “hell yeah” when I heard he was coming back this year, so I gave Broadbent a jingle to see what made the man tick, what makes the man slide. The problem was he was quiet and shy — I mean his first three answers were “Montreal,” “Uh-huh,” and “Thanks” — not at all what I expected. I had a deadline. I had to think fast on my feet.

Broadbent practically makes his guitar talk, so why couldn’t I conduct the interview that way — by talking to Broadbent’s guitar? I still speak a little conversational guitar and I’m fairly fluid with English. Problem solved.

12 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

Broadbent kicked it off about his introduction to the slide guitar.

“I played in a lot of blues bands when I was growing up,” Broadbent says. “The slide guitar thing kind of just fell into my lap, if you’ll pardon the expression.

It wasn’t something I was consciously looking for. It sort of found me, I guess.”

Broadbent’s roots are in busking throughout Europe. The antiquity of busking combined with YouTube videos (one in Amsterdam had 425,000 hits) have made him an Internet darling. Here was a guy sitting down with a conventional guitar across his lap using a hip flask as a giant slide to cajole out of his guitar some of the greasiest slide I’ve heard since the late John Campbell. The sound is a cross between a weeping angel and an air raid siren.

Broadbent looks a lot like Jesus, but it’s his guitar that walks on water. I said this to Miss Hofner (Broadbent’s guitar) and she thanked me with a reverberating

“bomp-bomp” on the low strings.

One of the things that’s cool to watch is Broadbent’s treatment of other musicians’ music and how he gets lost in it. He tears into Jimi Hendrix and Canned Heat voraciously.

“It’s less about the song than it is how I feel about it,” he says. “It has to be something that I want to play every night or means something to me on a personal level, I suppose.” Miss Hofner concurs with another set of “bomps,” this time an octave higher and with a twinge of feedback.

When pressed for introspection and self-definition, Broadbent opens up a bit.

“I guess I’m gonna have to start saying it’s a combination or a mixture of folk, rock, and blues,” he says. “As far as I’m concerned it all comes from the same place. It’s about the songwriting for me. I consider myself a singer-songwriter.” Miss Hofner lets her low E-string hum in agreement.

In between jaunts in all directions, Broadbent is in the studio working on an album with an anticipated summer release.

“It’s going to be more folk-oriented,” he says. To which, Miss Hofner disagrees and lets fly with a wailin’ 12th fret attack on an Elmore James riff. It’s probably a good thing Broadbent doesn’t play Tuba.

Seriously, I’m going to have to conduct more interviews this way. Ta-wang, y’all.

Jack Broadbent plays Saturday, June 23, at Harro East Ballroom, 155 North Chestnut Street. 5:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. And again Sunday, June 24, at the Xerox Auditorium at Xerox Plaza, 100 South Clinton Avenue. 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Each show $30 or Club Pass. jackbroadbent.co.uk.

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6:15 p.m. Star People with Bobby Militello Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 6:30 p.m. Jack Broadbent Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 6:45 p.m. Beats & Pieces Big Band Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 7:00 p.m. Sonidos Unidos Fusion Stage (FREE) 7:15 p.m. The Dustbowl Revival Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Paradigm Shift & the PShift Horns Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 7:30 p.m. Kuara Trio Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Knower Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 7:45 p.m. Bill Dobbins Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 8:30 p.m. Moon Hooch Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 8:45 p.m. Beats & Pieces Big Band Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Sonidos Unidos Fusion Stage (FREE) 9:00 p.m. Jack Broadbent Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. One For All Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Paradigm Shift & the PShift Horns Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 9:30 p.m. Kuara Trio Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Knower Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Star People with Bobby Militello Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Christian Sands Trio Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Moon Hooch Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Triocity Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 10:30 p.m. Jam Sessions with Bob Sneider Street Craft Kitchen & Bar at Hyatt Regency (FREE)

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THE PLAYERS

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band) Manchester’s Beats & Pieces are a big band in all sense of the label except the music.

That is to say it doesn’t play typical big band music, but in size — 14 members — it is a big band. It is angular and explosive and it’ll certainly be a ball seeing them doing it in a church. (FD) beatsnpieces.net

Bill Dobbins (Straight-ahead jazz) Many jazz

fans think of Bill Dobbins as the consummate big band director. He not only conducts the Eastman Jazz Ensemble and Eastman Studio Orchestra, European jazz aficionados remember him as the long-time conductor of the WDR Big Band and Metropole Orchestra. But Dobbins is also an excellent pianist who has played with Clark Terry, Phil Woods, and Peter Erskine. (RN) esm.rochester. edu/faculty/dobbins_bill

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14 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

Christian Sands Trio (Straight-ahead jazz) Still in his 20’s, pianist Christian Sands is turning heads with his gorgeous lyrical playing.

During his teen years, Sands was mentored by piano great Billy Taylor, who had him close a set at a Kennedy Center performance. Sands studied at the Manhattan School of Music before touring with Christian McBride’s Inside Straight. (RN) christiansandsjazz.com

Colin Gordon (Straight-ahead jazz) If you wonder how saxophonist Colin Gordon acquired his gorgeous tone in his serpentine solos, consider the fact that he studied with some of the finest saxophonists playing today, including Steve Wilson, Eric Alexander, and Ramon Ricker. When it comes to repertoire, Gordon, who has played at festivals all over the world, seems to favor one of America’s greatest composers, Thelonious Monk. (RN)

colingordonmusic.com The Dustbowl Revival (Americana)

Americana bands mix their music with, on average, two or three styles.

Los Angeles-based octet The Dustbowl Revival mixes them all so smoothly it comes out of the oven as one hot, delicious dirge and boogie. (FD) dustbowlrevival.com Jack Broadbent (Blues) Check out the profile

on page 12.

Jam Sessions with Bob Sneider (Straightahead jazz) Visiting musicians who play at the XRIJF stay at the Hyatt Regency Rochester Hotel, and when they finish their final sets, they are sometimes so wound up they need to blow off steam at the nightly jam session, this year held at The Street Craft Kitchen & Bar.

Guitarist extraordinaire Bob Sneider, who has toured with Chuck Mangione and played with a Who’s Who of jazz greats, gets things started at 10:30 p.m. Past jammers have included Wynton Marsalis, George Benson, and Eric Alexander. (RN) bobsneider.net Knower (Electronic) Calling this band pop

or even contemporary new wave would be missing the point. Los Angeles-based Knower is pure jazz exploration with synth-pop tools. The vocals are enchanting.

(FD) knowermusic.bandcamp.com

Kuara Trio (Progressive jazz) In recent decades, some of the most fascinating explorations and expansions of jazz language have come from Scandinavian countries. As the Kuara Trio, Finland’s Markku Ounaskari (drums and percussion) and Samuli Mikkonen (piano) and Norway’s Trygve Seim (tenor and soprano saxophones) explore diverse genres, like Fenno-Ugrian folk music and old Russian hymns in a jazz context. (RN) kuara.org

Moon Hooch (Dance) It’s not a question

of if you’ll dance to Moon Hooch; it’s how wild will you go. The Brooklyn-based trio — saxophonists Mike Wilbur and Wenzl McGowen and drummer James Muschler — has a sound that’s closer to electronic dance music than anything. And there are a few electronics thrown into the mix, but you’ll mostly see the band masterfully controlling their instruments to create what it calls “cave music.” Gut-shaking lows, a soaring melody, and a muscular, unstoppable drum groove. It’s complex, energetic, and going to make you sweat. (JC) moonhooch.com.

One For All (Straight-ahead jazz) Formed in 1997, One For All is an all-star ensemble in the spirit of Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. With Eric Alexander on saxophone; Jim Rotondi, trumpet; Steve Davis, trombone; David Hazeltine, piano; John Webber, bass; and Joe Farnsworth on drums, the group will feature one great solo after another, but all for the common good.

(RN) stevedavismusic.com/one-for-all/ Paradigm Shift & The Pshift Horns (Jazz,

funk) Slipping easily into Wes Montgomerystyle solos, guitarist Mel Henderson has enhanced the music of Jack McDuff, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and others. Organ wizard Gerry Youngman has played his Hammond B3 with Martha Reeves, The Drifters, and more. Sean Jefferson holds the trio together on drums. The sum of these parts is Paradigm Shift, a trio that’s enlivened Rochester festivals for decades. At this year’s XRIJF the trio will be augmented with horns. (RN) psjazz.com

Sonidos Unidos (Latin) This Latin love

affair will give you polyrhythmic joy with its polyrhythmic flow. A cross between a smile you can shake to and a lap dance you can enjoy while standing up. (FD) facebook.com/

KUARA TRIO

Sonidosunidosmusic Star People with Bobby Militello (Straight-

ONE FOR ALL

ahead jazz) When the great Paul Desmond died in 1977, Dave Brubeck needed a topnotch saxophonist to fill that chair. One night while watching Maynard Ferguson’s band in the late-1970’s, Brubeck found his man: Buffalo’s Bobby Militello. Militello joined the legendary quartet in the early 1980’s, and stayed with Brubeck until the pianist’s death in 2012. (RN)

Triocity (Straight-ahead jazz) Multi-reedist

Charles Pillow has lent his talents to Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and many others. Drummer Rich Thompson has played with Clark Terry, Marian McPartland, and Dizzy Gillespie.

And bassist Jeff Campbell has shared the stage with McPartland, Gene Bertoncini, Rich Perry, and others. Together, these three Eastman School of Music faculty members are Triocity. (RN) rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 15

MONDAY, JUNE

THE PLAYERS

25

latest group, Maqueque, featuring five talented young Cuban women, creates an ambitious cross-cultural fusion. (RN) janebunnett.com

BuJazzO (Jazz ensemble with film) This German ensemble is celebrating 100 years of the Bauhaus movement. It will perform a live music to picture program with some of the short films dating all the way back to 1916. Yes, it’s as cool as it sounds. On Monday, BuJazzO will perform with the ESM Jazz Ensemble for the annual ESM-XRIJF Gerry Niewood Jazz Scholarships Night. (FD)

Joe Farnsworth Quartet feat. Eric Alexander

bundesjazzorchester.de Christian Sands (Straight-ahead jazz) Turn to

page 14 for a bio.

Cold Chocolate (Americana) Beantown

band Cold Chocolate takes all the sub-elements of the broader term “Americana,” mixes in some three-part harmonies, and comes out fresh and new with its acoustic muscle driving the point home. (FD) coldchocolatemusic.com

Hanna PK (Blues piano) Hanna PK left her native South Korea and fell right into Rochester’s lap of the blues. Her style is more barrelhouse and stride than you’d think as she rolls on through all 88.

Pretty damn cool. (FD) hearhanna.com Jam Sessions with Bob Sneider (Straightahead jazz) More information on page 14.

Jane Bunnett and Maqueque (Afro-Cuban jazz) For the last two decades, flautist and saxophonist Jane Bunnett has collaborated with a variety of Cuban musicians and has recorded award-winning albums combining the best of a contemporary jazz sensibility with the rhythmic roots of Afro-Cuban music. Her

16 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

(Straight-ahead jazz) Drummer Joe Farnsworth has provided the beat for Pharoah Sanders, Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, and many more.

At the XRIJF he’ll be joined by Eric Alexander, who cut his teeth with Charles Earland before joining a supergroup with George Mraz, John Hicks, and Idris Muhammad. Since then Alexander has made a name for himself as one of the most muscular sax players in jazz. (RN) joefarnsworthdrums.com; ericalexanderjazz.com Johnny Goldtooth and the Chevy Casanovas

(Instrumental rock) Johnny Goldtooth is the golden-grilled alter ego of Canadian guitar slinger Kevin Breit, who has guitar’d for Norah Jones, k.d. lang, The Sisters Euclid, and Irma Thomas. But he’s pulling away with some wild guitar reminiscent of the late Texas troublemaker Evan Johns. It’s raunchy, fun, and twangtastic. (FD) kevinbreit.com Moon Hooch (Dance) For a bio, turn to

page 15.

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Nathan Kay Quintet (Straight-ahead jazz)

Once you hear the sound of trumpeter Nathan Kay, you will not be surprised to learn that he won this year’s National Trumpet Competition (jazz category). When Kay and his excellent quintet — Lex Korten on piano; Rowan Wolf, saxophone; Mikailo Kasha, bass; and Stephen Morris, drums — launch into one of his tunes, you’ll be equally impressed with his compositional skills. Kay emerged from The Eastman School of Music ready to make his mark on the jazz scene. (RN)

Paul Jost (Vocal jazz) As a drummer, arranger,

and musical director Paul Jost has worked with a variety of musician over the decades, including Billy Eckstine, Ann Hampton Callaway, and Bucky Pizzarelli. But in recent years he has moved into the spotlight as an expressive singer who can scat-sing with the best of them while delivering standards from the Great American Songbook. (RN)

pauljostmusic.com Quincy Mumford and the Reason Why (Pop, soul) This is an incredibly tight band. It’s got a healthy splash of pop cracklin’ just below Mumford’s soulful surface. Blue eyed soul for the next generation. Sounds a lot like Maroon 5. (FD) quincymumford.com The Royal Bopsters (Vocal jazz) The two

women and two men in The Royal Bopsters all have great voices. Put them together and you get some unusual voicings on chords punctuated by voices poking out at every angle. The repertoire is full of standards but there is nothing standard about their delivery when these four voices add up to far more than the sum of their parts. (RN)

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Strings Attached (Dueling guitars) Born

at the Zinc Bar in New York City, Strings Attached features four of New York City’s premier six-string jazz masters: Jack Wilkins, Vic Juris, Ron Affif, and Mark Whitfield. A sweet, noodle-y cacophony.

(FD)

Teagan and the Tweeds (Rock) One of

this city’s premier acts. Fronted by vocal powerhouse Teagan Ward, this band is full of heavy hitters heavily hitting on

some excellent songwriting. They can grind an audience into the ground. (FD) teaganandthetweeds.com Trail of Souls (Vocal progressive jazz)

Norwegian piano trio In the Country has won fans at previous XRIJFs. This year the group will be fronted by fellow Norwegians singer Solveig Slettahjell and guitarist Knut Reiersrud. Along with some traditional Norwegian songs, Trail of Souls will also be exploring

African-American spirituals popularized by singers like Ethel Waters and Mahalia Jackson. (RN) trailofsouls.com Zara McFarlane (Vocal jazz) Over a cloud of curious jazz stylings, British vocalist Zara McFarlane stretches out on little vignettes of her own as well as stabs at time-honored classics that paint a picture of elegance and ease. (FD) zaramcfarlane.com

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12:00 p.m. Hanna PK Central Library (FREE) 1:00 p.m. Youth Jazz Workshop with Tommy Smith Eastman School of Music (Room 120) (FREE) 4:30 p.m. Greece Odyssey HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:15 p.m. Fairport HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:30 p.m. Cold Chocolate Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 5:45 p.m. Christian Sands Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Nathan Kay Quintet Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Brockport Big Band Rochester Regional Health Big Tent (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Moon Hooch Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Paul Jost Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. The Royal Bopsters Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 6:15 p.m. Joe Farnsworth Quartet feat. Eric Alexander Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 6:30 p.m. Strings Attached Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 6:45 p.m. Zara McFarlane Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 7:00 p.m. Teagan and the Tweeds Fusion Stage (FREE) 7:00 p.m. Jane Bunnett and Maqueque Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 7:15 p.m. Cold Chocolate Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. CNY Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 7:30 p.m. Trail of Souls Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Quincy Mumford and the Reason Why Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 7:45 p.m. Christian Sands Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 8:00 p.m. BuJazzO & ESM Jazz Ensemble Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre (FREE) 8:30 p.m. Johnny Goldtooth and the Chevy Casanovas Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 8:45 p.m. Zara McFarlane Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Teagan and the Tweeds Fusion Stage (FREE) 9:00 p.m. Strings Attached Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. The Royal Bopsters Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 9:15 p.m. Jane Bunnett and Maqueque Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. CNY Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 9:30 p.m. Trail of Souls Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Quincy Mumford and the Reason Why Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Joe Farnsworth Quartet feat. Eric Alexander Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Moon Hooch Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. J ohnny Goldtooth and the Chevy Casanovas Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Paul Jost Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 10:30 p.m. Jam Sessions with Bob Sneider Street Craft Kitchen & Bar at Hyatt Regency (FREE)

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2018 XEROX ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL

JAZZ FESTIVAL

FRIDAY, JUNE 22 - SATURDAY JUNE 30

SEE PAGE 2 FOR MORE VENUE INFORMATION

CLUB PASS SHOWS A | Christ Church B | Harro East Ballroom C | Hatch Recital Hall D | Kilbourn Hall E | Kodak Hall F | Temple Building Theater G | Lutheran Church H | Max of Eastman Place I | Montage Music Hall J | The Wilder Room K | Squeezers Stage at Anthology L | Rochester Regional Health Big Tent M | Xerox Auditorium FREE SHOWS

K EAS

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ALE

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1 | Avangrid Foundation/RG&E/Barclay Damon Fusion Stage 2 | Jazz Street Stage 3 | Stage at East Ave & Chestnut St. 4 | MLK Park 5 | Rochester Regional Health Big Tent 6 | Street Craft Kitchen & Bar 7 | Central Library

= PARKING = 90.1 JAZZ TENT rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 21

TUESDAY,

“In Rochester at the time there was a black jazz scene on Genesee Street and Jefferson Avenue, and there was an Italian jazz scene. They would overlap, and I was a product of this very fertile environment, keeping my ears open and learning from older musicians.”

Locke also studied theory and composition at the prep department at the Eastman School of Music.

JUNE

26

JOE LOCKE [ PROFILE ] BY RON NETSKY

IN THE POCKET FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, AND FACEBOOK @ROCCITYNEWS OR VISIT ROCHESTERCITYNEWSPAPER. COM FOR DAILY PHOTOS, SHOW REVIEWS AND COLOR REPORTING FROM THE FESTIVAL 22 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

As a teenager in Rochester, Joe Locke was studying drums and piano when his mom saw an ad for a vibraphone in the newspaper. She bought it and launched a career that has taken Locke to the top of the jazz world.

“I can still remember being in my bedroom on Park Ave practicing the vibes,” says Locke.

“There was never a guarantee that any sound I made with that instrument was going to go any further than the four walls of that bedroom, so the fact that people know my work is a tremendous honor for me.”

Locke has taken his vibes all over the world, but Rochester is still special.

In 2016, when he was inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame, he said that he’d always been jealous of musicians with a sense of place in their music.

“In the music of Jan Garbarek you could hear Scandinavia. In the music of Pat Metheny you could hear the Midwest. In the sound of Stanley Turrentine you could hear Pittsburgh,” Locke says. “It wasn’t until late in

life that I realized I actually did have a sound of the place where I came from and it was Rochester. That was very emotional to me. It’s almost like in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ where you knew how to get home all along.”

Locke’s professional career began at 15 when his friend’s stepdad asked if he wanted to go to a jam session at Jenks and Jones Lounge on Genesee Street. They loaded his vibes into a pick-up truck.

“In 11th and 12th grade, I was a kid and a student during the week and I got a steady job playing with much older musicians on weekends,” Locke says. “I remember feeling rather schizophrenic because I was playing in this very adult club on Genesee Street and then trying to be a student. The life I was living was a fast adult life. Smoking and drinking was a part of that.”

He was playing with Rochester’s jazz elite: saxophonist Tommy Robinson; drummer Tootsie Green; Joe Romano, sax; Vinnie Ruggierio, drums; and Steve Davis, John Coltrane’s bassist.

For decades, top vibes players like Lionel Hampton and Bobby Hutcherson used two mallets. From the beginning of his career, Locke has stood out with his mastery of the four-mallet technique.

“It’s always a compliment when I’m told how comfortable it looks,” says Locke. “It feels second nature. I’m so comfortable with four, it’s hard playing with two. My aim is off and my balance is off when I play with two. It’s all muscle memory.”

The technique is now common, and Locke has seen a blossoming of musicianship on the instrument.

“I really need to keep my game up because this is the first time the vibraphone has caught up to other instruments in as far as the level of expertise,” Locke says. “When I moved to New York there were incredible sax players, incredible piano players, incredible guitarists, but very few vibes players, and most of them didn’t play very well. Steve Nelson and I were the only ones on the scene.”

Locke has recorded three dozen CDs as a leader. His new album features his group, Subtle Disguise, with pianist Jim Ridl, bassist Lorin Cohen, and drummer Samvel Sarkisyan. Guest singer Raul Midon joins the group on Bob Dylan’s “Who Killed Davey Moore” and Blind Willie Johnson’s “Motherless Children.”

At the Jazz Festival, Locke will play with Ridl, Cohen, Sarkisyan, and a couple of surprise guests.

Aside from his dazzling speed and skill, it’s Locke’s brilliance as an improviser that has set him apart.

“I’ve tried to take the language of the great linear improvisers, saxophone players like John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, and Sonny Rollins, and apply it to the vibes,” Locke says. “Hopefully it’s really soulfully imbued but also with a lot of intellectual rigor.

“I wanted to try to achieve a style of playing that would excite other people hearing it, just like I was excited when I heard Michael Brecker, Joe Henderson, or Sonny Rollins play. I want to do that on the vibraphone.”

And there’s one more thing: Locke is visually exciting, dancing his way over the vibraphone.

“It’s not conscious at all. It’s just the joy of playing,” he says. “I live in a dark place a good amount of the time. I definitely suffer from dark moods. It’s my expressing that joy, where the clouds part and I’m experiencing joy of musicmaking in the moment.”

Joe Locke plays Tuesday, June 26, at Kilbourn Hall.

6 p.m. and 9 p.m. $35 or a Club Pass. joelocke.com.

SHOWTIMETUESDAY BELA FLECK AND THE FLECKTONES

STAY IN TUNE!

Tune in to 90.1 FM at 5pm every day during the festival for our take on the day’s shows!

CITY Newspaper has collaborated with the area’s top jazz radio station, WGMC Jazz 90.1 to bring you a playlist of our can’t miss acts from the 2018 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival

12:00 p.m. Mike Melito Central Library (FREE) 1:00 p.m. Youth Jazz Workshop with Dmitri Matheny Eastman School of Music (Room 120) (FREE) 4:30 p.m. Greece Athena HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:15 p.m. Spencerport HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:30 p.m. All Our Exes Live in Texas Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 5:45 p.m. Gary Versace Trio Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. New Horizons Big Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Rochester Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra Rochester Regional Health Big Tent (FREE) 6:00 p.m. VickiKristinaBarcelona Sings Tom Waits Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Dmitri Matheny Group Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Joe Locke Group Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 6:15 p.m. House of Waters Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 6:30 p.m. BuJazzO Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 6:45 p.m. Partikel Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 7:00 p.m. Fat City Fusion Stage (FREE) 7:00 p.m. Brubeck Brothers Quartet Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 7:15 p.m. All Our Exes Live In Texas Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Bill Tiberio Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 7:30 p.m. Lucia Cadotsch “Speak Low” Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Junior Brown Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 7:45 p.m. Gary Versace Trio Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 8:00 p.m. HEADLINER | Béla Fleck & The Flecktones Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre ($40-$55) 8:30 p.m. J ohannes Linstead’s Guitar of Fire Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 8:45 p.m. Partikel Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Fat City Fusion Stage (FREE) 9:00 p.m. BuJazzO Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Joe Locke Group Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 9:15 p.m. Brubeck Brothers Quartet Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Bill Tiberio Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 9:30 p.m. Lucia Cadotsch “Speak Low” Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Junior Brown Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. House of Waters Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. VickiKristinaBarcelona Sings Tom Waits Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. J ohannes Linstead’s Guitar of Fire Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Dmitri Matheny Group Jazz Noir Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 10:30 p.m. Jam Sessions with Bob Sneider Street Craft Kitchen & Bar at Hyatt Regency (FREE)

FIND MORE ON ROCHESTERCITYNEWSPAPER.COM

rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 23

THE PLAYERS

TUESDAY, JUNE 26 Johannes Linstead’s Guitar of Fire (Guitar

virtuoso) Whether on electric or acoustic guitar, virtuoso Johannes Linstead coaxes the notes out to release them to the night sky. He also has the hardware to prove his talent: He has been named “Guitarist of the Year” in the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards and won a UK “People’s Choice” award. Now he’s your choice. (FD) facebook.com/johanneslinsteadmusic

Junior Brown (Country) Junior Brown refuses

to choose. A pedal steel and guitar virtuoso, Brown has built his own Guit-Steel, best described as a Frankenstein hot rod. He bops, pops, and twangs, and sings with a voice from somewhere down in Ernest Tubb country.

(FD) juniorbrown.com

Lucia Cadotsch “Speak Low” (Vocal jazz) It seems every year, the XRIJF acquaints us with another great ethereal singer from across the ocean. This year it’s Zurich-born Lucia Cadotsch and whether she is singing the Kurt Weill song in the group’s name or another classic, her vocals are simply gorgeous. No shortage of the appeal lies in the eccentric and spare backing of Otis Sandsjö on sax and Petter Eldh on bass. (RN) luciacadotsch.com

HOUSE OF WATERS

All Our Exes Live In Texas (Indie folk) All

Brubeck Brothers Quartet (Straight-ahead jazz) Recording together since 1966, brothers Chris (bass, trombone) and Dan (drums) are jazz royalty. Having played with their legendary father, Dave Brubeck, the brothers have gone on to appear as staples at jazz festivals around the globe. I wonder if they take five to “Take 5.” (FD) brubeckbrothers.com

allourexesliveintexas.com

BuJazzO (Jazz ensemble with film) Find more information on page 16.

moving to New York in 2002, organist, pianist, and accordionist Gary Versace became the keyboardist of choice for greats like John Scofield, John Abercrombie, and Lee Konitz. Now on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music, Versace has played on Grammy-winning recordings by the Maria Schneider Orchestra. The late piano icon Marian McPartland called Versace “endlessly inventive.” (RN) garyversace.com

Dmitri Matheny Group (Jazz noir) A punk

House of Waters (World music) Moto

their exes live in Texas, that’s why they hang their hats in Australia. These four Aussie women harmonize regally over original compositions that threaten to break the singer-songwriter mold and the listener’s heart along the way. The quartet has played around the world with everybody and recently lent their harmonies in the studio to Kesha. (FD)

Gary Versace Trio (Straight-ahead jazz) After

Mike Melito (Straight-ahead jazz) This extraordinary jazz drummer lists his faves: greats like Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, and Max Roach. But he leaves one out: himself.

Not only does Melito play all over with everyone, but he teaches the rising young stars of the future. (FD) mikemelito.com

HEADLINER | Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

(Bluegrass, jazz) Grammy Award-winning banjo picker Béla Fleck and his band, The Flecktones, sold out Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre back in 2011, and it looks like there could be the possibility of that happening again. Fleck’s single note dexterity and whirlwind fingerpicking will astound and amaze. (FD) flecktones.com Bill Tiberio Band (Smooth jazz, funk) Bill Tiberio is well known for his work in music education, leading jazz bands and other ensembles at Fairport High School. But he also has a vital role as a sax man with a funky sound, often reminiscent of Maceo Parker.

Over the years, Tiberio has shared the stage with Fred Wesley, Lou Gramm, The Four Tops, and many more. (RN) billtiberioband.com 24 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

demands your wallet through clenched teeth.

Somewhere in the distance, a woman lets out a scream, before it’s stifled. Just another Saturday night in flugelhorn master Dmitri Matheny’s world, dark and dangerous.

Matheny is a disciple of the late flugelhornist Art Farmer and plays his mentor’s horn — his actual horn — live on stage. It’s swingin’.

(FD) dmitrimatheny.com

Fat City (Funk, soul) Fat City is a party band

for sure, with the big, bad funk and soul components to get tail feathers shaking. But as opposed to other heavy-hitting funksters and soulsters, Fat City also takes a swing at swing.

It’ll knock your block off. I blame the pumpin’ piano and B3. (FD) facebook.com/FatCityMusic

Fukushima (six-string bass) and Luke Notary (drums) are both extraordinary musicians, but what really sets House of Waters apart from the crowd is Max ZT and his wonderfully crazed Hammered Dulcimer playing. These three musicians create a sound that is not only huge, it’s like nothing you’ve ever heard before. (RN) houseofwaters.com

Jam Sessions with Bob Sneider (Straight-

ahead jazz) More information on page 14.

Joe Locke Group (Straight-ahead jazz) Check

out page 22 for a feature on Joe Locke.

Partikel (Progressive jazz) With Duncan

Eagles on saxophones; Max Luthert, bass; and Eric Ford, drums, the London-based group Partikel might sound like your standard saxophone trio. But the band’s approach to every aspect of composition, texture, rhythm, and harmony belies that notion at every turn. Get ready for a structured free-jazz excursion. (RN) www.partikel.co.uk VickiKristinaBarcelona Sings the Music of Tom Waits (Vocal jazz) These three women are treating

the music of Tom Waits as an actual genre — which it is. It’s also risky. Covering Tom Waits is like wrestling an alligator: if you win, you’ve got a new pair of shoes, but if you lose, Jack, you dead.

(FD) vickikristinabarcelonaband.com

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Your scat-singing is so strong. What instrumentalists have influenced you?

WEDNESDAY,

Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Louis Armstrong.

JUNE

27

What was your experience like in the Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition?

I loved the audience. I loved the variety of vocalists they had in the competition. It was also great to meet all of the phenomenal people who were judges — Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gretchen Parlato, Freddy Cole, Patti Austin, and Al Jarreau.

When I listened to you sing “Moanin’” I couldn’t help wondering how many octaves are in your vocal range. Some of your singing reminds me of the late (and great) Minnie Riperton.

Thank you! I’ve never heard that! I think I have a four octave vocal range.

On your album, “A Social Call,” your introduction to “People Make the World Go Round” is highly political. Why is it important to bring this into your music?

I am not trying to be political, but I just have to deal with the things going on in society, and I have to sing about those things on a consistent basis.

JAZZMEIA HORN [ INTERVIEW ] BY RON NETSKY

She was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, where her grandmother gave her a name that would prove to be prescient. “Jazzmeia” flowed nicely with her last name, Horn, but what are the odds she would grow into a sensational singer and breathe new life into a field once occupied by greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan? Jazzmeia Horn’s got it all: incredible range, flawless phasing, and gorgeous tone.

Horn attended the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas before heading to the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. After graduating, things began to move quickly for her.

In 2013, Horn took first place in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.

She followed that, in 2015, by winning first prize in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. Horn recorded her first album, “A Social Call,” last year and earned her first Grammy Award nomination.

26 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

In January, Horn’s electrifying performance of the jazz standard “Moanin,” complete with some wonderfully wild scat-singing, brought the Grammy audience to its feet.

Horn’s tour schedule has taken her all over the world. She found time recently to answer a few CITY questions by email. An edited version is below.

CITY: When you were growing up, how did the name your grandmother gave you affect you?

Jazzmeia Horn: It didn’t because I didn’t like

jazz music until I was in middle school, then people started asking me why I didn’t sing jazz. Until then, I was steeped in singing gospel music with the rest of my musical family.

What were you listening to growing up? Who were/are your favorite singers?

Rachelle Ferrell, Ledisi, Erykah Badu, Eartha Kitt, Earth, Wind and Fire, Lauryn Hill, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye.

At the start of “Afro Blue,” you expand the vocal vocabulary with all sorts of sounds. What’s behind this unusual and innovative approach?

As I was thinking about the title and the lyrics, I was emoting what came to my mind: “think of a land, my soul is from…”

In the middle of that track you engage in a contemporary rap-like section called “Eye See You.” Are you purposely fusing the past with the present in your performance?

Yes, because I was taught by my grandmother that I am responsible for the generation before me and after me.

Your appearance on stage, in African clothing, is striking. Why is it important to you to bring your African roots visually to your music which, of course, has African roots?

It is important for me to honor my ancestors and to pay homage to my culture and to those who came before me. I stand on their shoulders and they deserve my honor and my respect.

What is the best experience you’ve ever had singing?

The Grammy performance ranks up there, but I don’t think it was the best experience I’ve had. It was just that it was at the Grammys and I was so excited to be there.

Jazzmeia Horn performs Wednesday, June 27, at Temple Building Theater, 50 Liberty Pole Way. 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. $30 or a Club Pass. theartistryofjazzhorn.com.

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12:00 p.m. Brendan Lanighan Central Library (FREE) 1:00 p.m. Youth Jazz Workshop with Mike Melito Eastman School of Music (Room 120) (FREE) 4:30 p.m. Victor HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:15 p.m. Webster Thomas HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:30 p.m. Ghost-Note with MonoNeon Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 5:45 p.m. Harold Danko Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. New Horizons Vintage Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Greater Finger Lakes Jazz Orchestra Rochester Regional Health Big Tent (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Liz Vice Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Kate McGarry Trio Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Songs of Freedom Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 6:15 p.m. Megumi Yonezawa Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 6:30 p.m. Shake Stew Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 6:45 p.m. Julian Siegel Quartet Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 7:00 p.m. Tempest Fusion Stage (FREE) 7:00 p.m. Jazzmeia Horn Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 7:15 p.m. Ghost-Note with MonoNeon Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Music Educators Big Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 7:30 p.m. Torben Waldorff Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Rai Thistlethwayte Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 7:45 p.m. Harold Danko Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 8:00 p.m. HEADLINER | Alison Krauss Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre (SOLD OUT) 8:30 p.m. Davina and The Vagabonds Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 8:45 p.m. Julian Siegel Quartet Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Tempest Fusion Stage (FREE) 9:00 p.m. Shake Stew Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Songs of Freedom Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 9:15 p.m. Jazzmeia Horn Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Music Educators Big Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 9:30 p.m. Torben Waldorff Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Rai Thistlethwayte Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Megumi Yonezawa Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Liz Vice Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Davina and The Vagabonds Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Kate McGarry Trio Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 10:30 p.m. Jam Sessions with Bob Sneider Street Craft Kitchen & Bar at Hyatt Regency (FREE)

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THE PLAYERS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27

HEADLINER | Alison Krauss (Bluegrass, country, pop) Alison Krauss may have emerged as a prodigious teenage Bluegrass fiddler, but it wasn’t long before she became one of the greatest vocalists in country-pop history. Krauss, who has won more Grammy Awards than any other pop artist (27), has a voice that can only be described as angelic.

From the “O Brother, Where Art Thou” soundtrack to her gorgeous covers of songs like “All Alone Am I,” Krauss has the most beautiful soprano this side of heaven. (RN)

alisonkrauss.com Brendan Lanighan (Straight-ahead jazz)

Buffalo native and Hochstein School of Music instructor Brendan Lanighan’s mantle is getting increasingly crowded with various awards, including a DownBeat Magazine award. Not only that, but the trombonist has blown his horn for 5Head and Johnny Mathis. (FD)

ALISON KRAUSS

Davina and The Vagabonds (Boogie-

woogie) This piano playing lady will un-hinge and un-glue you, un-nerve you and un-screw you. It’s strictly a bawdy affair, with her band bustin’ up the barrelhouse blast and romp as Davina caterwauls and coos somewhere between Ella Fitzgerald and Betty Boop. (FD) davinaandthevagabonds.com

Jam Sessions with Bob Sneider (Straightahead jazz) More information on page 14.

Jazzmeia Horn (Vocal jazz) Check out page

26 for a feature on Jazzmeia Horn.

Ghost-Note with MonoNeon (Funk) This

is so whiplash and hairpin the audience is going to walk away holding their heads.

The multi-lingual beat and the band’s stupendous stop and start is probably next to impossible to dance to, but don’t let that stop you. (FD) ghost-note-official.com

28 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

is that rare jazz vocalist who has equal shares of great pipes and personality. Yes, she can reach the sky with her gorgeous soprano, but she’s also got an attitude built into that voice.

Whether she’s covering a Rodgers and Hart standard or a Joni Mitchell pop tune, she imbues it with her distinctive vocal touch.

(RN) katemcgarry.com

Liz Vice (Soul) The simple beauty in Brooklyn singer Liz Vice’s understated phrasing is soothing in the extreme. She doesn’t tear into her material as some vocalists are tempted to do, instead she lets her soulful tunes and tone tumble out into the air. (FD)

lizvice.com

Harold Danko (Straight-ahead jazz) Before

joining the jazz faculty at the Eastman School of Music, where he is now professor emeritus, pianist Harold Danko toured extensively as a sideman with greats like Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan and Lee Konitz, and was a featured performer in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. A formidable composer, his tune “Tidal Breeze” has been recorded by Baker, Konitz, and others.

(RN) esm.rochester.edu/faculty/danko_harold

Kate McGarry Trio (Vocal jazz) Kate McGarry

Julian Siegel Quartet (Straight-ahead

jazz) Known for his adventurous solos, Julian Siegel is one of England’s top saxophonists. But Siegel is equally adept at composing and arranging. Listening to his innovative playing, it’s not hard to see why he won in the jazz category of the 2011 London Awards for Art and Performance. (RN) facebook.com/juliansiegelquartet

Megumi Yonezawa (Straight-ahead jazz)

Pianist extraordinaire Megumi Yonezawa left her native Japan to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since graduating, she has been an in-demand player, working with top artists like Greg Osby, George Garzone, Nicholas Payton, and Dave Liebman. She is a brilliant player technically, but more importantly, she’s got a beautiful, lyrical style.

(RN) megumiyonezawa.com

Rai Thistlethwayte (Jazz, pop) His soulful falsetto and cocksure demeanor are beautiful. And when this Sydney-based musician starts to loop that falsetto while beat-boxing layers beneath, well brother, that’s when he’ll knock you out.

Cool and funky. (FD) raithis.com Shake Stew (Progressive jazz) The three

excellent horn players in the Austrian septet Shake Stew play some of the most wonderfully crazy lines and harmonies you’ll

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ever hear. If that’s not enough to set them apart from the crowd, just listen to the rhythms conjured up by the band’s two drummers and two bassists. The final ingredients are the insane (in the best sense of the word) compositions by group leader Lukas Kranzelbinder. (RN) shakestew.bandcamp.com

/ MOVIES

Songs of Freedom (Vocal jazz) It’s the

brainchild of drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. What if three great singers — Alicia Olatuja, Theo Bleckmann, and Joanna Majoko — wrapped their voices around songs associated with artists of the 1960’s who stood, in various ways, for freedom?

Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln stood for racial and political freedom, and Joni Mitchell was all about the freedom to love. Songs of Freedom brings their songs to a new audience in a new way. (RN)

unlimitedmyles.com/songsoffreedom Tempest (Rock) Featuring the incendiary guitar work of the legendary Don Mancuso, Tempest is a no frills, all thrills rock outfit. Bad Company, Aerosmith, you name it, they play it all. Come get your ya-ya’s out. (FD)

facebook.com/tempestroc

Torben Waldorff (Straight-ahead jazz) Born in Denmark and raised in Sweden, the excellent guitarist Torben Waldorff crossed the ocean to attend the famed Berklee College of Music. Since then he’s paid his dues playing with Ingrid Jensen, Donny McCaslin, Maria Schneider, and many others. When Waldorff takes off on a solo, he applies John Coltrane’s sheets-of-sound approach to the guitar. (RN) waldorff.com rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 29

really read music and I didn’t have much theory training but they still let me in.”

The group was unusual when it began in 2006 because there was no guitar or piano in sight.

“We didn’t have a chordal instrument when we started the band, and that sound still pervades what we do,” Price says. “Even though ‘McDuck’ is now playing electric guitar, the basis of how we arrange, which is sparse, using background harmonies to thicken up the sound, remains.

“We were in music school, so the weirder the better. While we have shed a lot of that, it still serves us really well in that the sound continues to be unique.”

THURSDAY,

JUNE

28

Lake Street Dive’s quirkiness is evident in a series

LAKE STREET DIVE [ FEATURE ] BY RON NETSKY

Six years ago, Lake Street Dive was touring like crazy but not getting much traction on the national stage. Then the band shot a video on a Brighton, Massachusetts, street corner and put it on YouTube. The video captured the exuberance of the four musicians performing the hippest version imaginable of The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”

Lead singer Rachael Price took a borderline bubblegum song and transformed it into a brassy jazz standard with superb support from bassist and vocalist Bridget Kearney, trumpeter Mike “McDuck” Olson, and drummer Mike Calabrese.

The video went viral and so did Lake Street Dive.

“We went from having nobody at our shows to having sold out shows,” Price says.

Reinventing old pop tunes is just part of the fun of Lake Street Dive, whose name 30 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

comes from a dive bar-filled street in Olson’s hometown of Minneapolis. The group’s originals, like “Good Kisser,” have an energy and spirit that’s simply contagious.

There’s another video that’s quite revealing

about Lake Street Dive: It shows Price singing “Dedicated to You” at the age of 12. She was already a force to be reckoned with.

“I always knew I wanted to be a performer,” Price says, “but it was when I was about 15 that I decided I wasn’t going to pursue anything else but music.”

That pursuit took her to Boston’s New England Conservatory, where she met Kearney, Olson, and Calabrese.

“The great thing about the jazz program at NEC is that while it is mostly people who were astoundingly great at music, they’re also very open to raw talent,” says Price. “I couldn’t

of Halloween videos made over the last 8 years, in which the group usually dressed like other two girl-two guy groups, including Abba, The Mamas & The Papas, and Fleetwood Mac. The band outdid itself in 2015 with a cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

“We weren’t sure if we could continue the Halloween videos every year, so we decided to do the most ambitious song possible,” Price says.

“We had a specific way of learning that because it’s so difficult. It took 20 straight days.

“Each day a different person had to transcribe 20 seconds, because in each 20 seconds of that song a lot happens. So everybody shared the responsibility of listening and transcribing and we just added on and added on and added on.”

The band likes to learn covers to inform its own songwriting, says Price, whose favorite singer is the late Donny Hathaway. “It’s really fascinating to take a song and take it apart and then put it back together in a new way. Then you figure out how strong the foundation of the song is.

“Sometimes you learn a song and you realize that when you put it in a different instrumentation or you slow it down or you change it up, it doesn’t actually work. But a truly great song, if you rearrange the parts but you keep certain foundational elements there, the song will still really shine.”

While their covers are strong, the band’s albums feature original songs by all four members. “The covers serve a great purpose especially when you’re hearing a concert of new material,” Price says. “They’re going to be sort of a relief, something familiar that you can sing along with. We’ll always play those but primarily our originals will always be the focus.

“A song like ‘Good Kisser’ was tailor made for Late Street Dive, but we write songs not necessarily for the band because we also want to expand the sound. So everything gets a fair shake.

If someone brings a song and it’s somewhat out in left field, we’re going to try playing it and see if we can make it work. At this point the other people in the band have my voice in mind when they’re writing a song.”

Lake Street Dive headlines Thursday, June 28, at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 60 Gibbs Street. 8 p.m. Tickets are $30-$75. lakestreetdive.com.

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tavernatgibbs.com

TAVE

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SHOWTIMETHURSDAY

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OPEN FOR JAZZ FEST • LUNCH & DINNER

GI BB

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LOCALLY & SUSTAINABLY SOURCED FOOD • HAPPY HOUR TUES-FRI 4-7PM

58 University Ave • Reservations 434-4195

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LIVE HAPPY

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12:00 p.m. The Djangoners Central Library (FREE) 1:00 p.m. Youth Jazz Workshop with Liam Noble Eastman School of Music (Room 120) (FREE) 4:30 p.m. Bloomfield HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:15 p.m. School of the Arts Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:30 p.m. The Suffers Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 5:45 p.m. Megumi Yonezawa Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Junior Jazz Ensemble Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Syndicate Jazz Band Rochester Regional Health Big Tent (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Davina and The Vagabonds Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Amanda Monaco Quartet Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Vincent Herring Quartet Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 6:15 p.m. Gwyneth Herbert Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 6:30 p.m. GoGo Penguin Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 6:45 p.m. Georgia Mancio and Alan Broadbent Quartet Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 7:00 p.m. Quinn Lawrence Band Fusion Stage (FREE) 7:00 p.m. Jazz Goes to the Movies with Mark Watters Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 7:15 p.m. The Suffers Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Soul Stew Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 7:30 p.m. Pilc-Moutin-Hoenig Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Ghost-Note with MonoNeon Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 7:45 p.m. Megumi Yonezawa Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 8:00 p.m. HEADLINER | Lake Street Dive Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre ($30-$75) 8:30 p.m. Sax-O-Matic Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 8:45 p.m. Georgia Mancio and Alan Broadbent Quartet Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Quinn Lawrence Band Fusion Stage (FREE) 9:00 p.m. GoGo Penguin Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Vincent Herring Quartet Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 9:15 p.m. Jazz Goes to the Movies with Mark Watters Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Soul Stew Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 9:30 p.m. Pilc-Moutin-Hoenig Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Ghost-Note with MonoNeon Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Gwyneth Herbert Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Davina and The Vagabonds Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Sax-O-Matic Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Amanda Monaco Quartet Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 10:30 p.m. Jam Sessions with Bob Sneider Street Craft Kitchen & Bar at Hyatt Regency (FREE)

1401 MT. HOPE AVENUE • ROCHESTER, NY 14620 beerheadbar.com • (585) 244-2337 @thebeermarketrochester

rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 31

THE PLAYERS

THURSDAY, JUNE 28

Amanda Monaco Quartet (Straight-ahead jazz) With a fluid contemporary style, Amanda Monaco is among the best up-andcoming jazz guitarists on the scene today.

A professor at Berklee College of Music, Monaco has played with Milt Hinton, Steve Wilson, Rufus Reid, and the Mingus Orchestra. As a leader, the Grammynominated artist has five albums under her belt. (RN) amandamonaco.com Davina and The Vagabonds (Boogie-woogie)

Check out the bio on page 28.

The Djangoners (Gypsy jazz) With

guitar-picking whiz kid, Bobby Henrie at the helm, this Rochester-based foursome is slick in its elegant, and accurate, recreation of Django Reinhardt’s Hot Club of Paris. It’s mesmerizing and exquisite.

(FD) reverbnation.com/thedjangoners Georgia Mancio and Alan Broadbent Quartet (Vocal jazz) Grammy-winning

pianist Alan Broadbent has played with everyone from jazz artists Charlie Haden and Diana Krall to pop icon Paul McCartney. Award-winning vocalist Georgia Mancio has worked with singers like Bobby McFerrin and Ian Shaw. Together the duo presents their new compositions, songs with a decidedly standard feel to them. (RN)

georgiamancio.com/alanbroadbentsongbook Ghost-Note with MonoNeon (Funk) Turn to

page 28 for the bio.

GoGo Penguin (Spacey jazz) Manchester’s

GoGo Penguin paints sonic soundscapes that don’t require a compass. It’s minimalistic acoustic electronica weirdness. You can listen for days. (FD)

gogopenguin.co.uk Gwyneth Herbert (Vocal jazz) Part jazz club singer, part bird, Gwyneth Herbert plays the space around her music with a smoky feel for her conventional muses. Breathtaking.

(FD) gwynethherbert.com

SOUL STEW

Soul.” Not as busy as New Orleans soul, Houston’s The Suffers plug retro and neo together, wowing the late night TV scene and NPR. Incredibly smooth and full of hooks.

(FD) thesuffers.com

ahead jazz) More information on page 14.

Jazz Goes to the Movies with Mark Watters

(Movie music) He wrote the scores for movies like “All Dogs Go to Heaven 2” and “Doug’s First Movie” and television series like “Paradise” and “The Little Mermaid,” and that’s just a fraction of Grammy-winning composer Mark Watters’s career. Let’s just say the man knows the music of films and how to take them into the territory of jazz. (RN) markwatters.com

Sax-O-Matic (Saxophone quartet)

Quebec’s Sax-O-Matic does a cappella beautifully and in reverse. No rhythm section to tie it down; no front man to stand in the way. Just four brassy saxophones festively intertwined. Almost too much fun. (FD)

HEADLINER | Lake Street Dive (Retro pop) Read a feature on Lake Street Dive on page 30.

sax-o-matic.com

Megumi Yonezawa (Straight-ahead jazz) Bio

Soul Stew (Soul, party) This is the embodiment

on page 28.

Pilc – Moutin – Hoenig (Straight-ahead jazz) When virtuoso pianist Jean-Michel Pilc teams up with bass master Francois Moutin and the exquisite and dynamic drummer Ari Hoenig the result is more than the sum of its parts.

On ballads and up-tempo originals, these two Parisians (Pilc and Moutin) and an American (Hoenig) play as one gorgeous unit. (RN)

motema.com/artists/pilc-moutin-hoenig 32 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

The Suffers (Soul) They call it “Gulf Coast

Jam Sessions with Bob Sneider (Straight-

of a classic live party band. Toronto’s Soul Stew scoops its influence from all the houses of the holy, including Stax, Motown, and Muscle Shoals. If you look up “soul” in the dictionary, you’d be missing the point and wasting your time. Get down instead, poindexter. (FD)

facebook.com/soulstewtoronto

Quinn Lawrence Band (Straight-ahead jazz) Maybe you’ve caught him at an after-hours jam session, playing hard-bop saxophone with the best of them. And then the next night you think your eyes and ears must be deceiving you when you find him blasting away with equal chops on the trumpet. Eastman School of Music graduate Quinn Lawrence is that rare musician who can hold his own on those instruments and more. (RN) Vincent Herring Quartet (Straight-ahead

jazz) To say superb saxophonist Vincent Herring has taken up the mantle is an understatement. Influenced by Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, Herring toured with the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band. He’s also worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Horace Silver, Cedar Walton, and Art Blakey, a “Who’s Who” of jazz’s greatest generation. (RN) vincentherring.com

rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 33

FRIDAY, JUNE

THE PLAYE

29

Buried Treasure feat. Bari Koral (Rock,

pop) Hailing from the Hudson Valley, Buried Treasure comes with its take on hits of the 1970’s, goosed with four-part harmonies. Dig hits by JJ Cale and Chuck Berry to mention two. (FD) facebook.com/

buriedtreasuretheband Community Soul Project (Funk, soul)

It’s too powerful to be simply called a band; Community Soul Project is an extended explosion, offering up funkified interpretations of soul, new and old. (FD)

communitysoulproject.com Pokey LaFarge plays Friday, June 29, at Martin Luther King Jr. Park at Manhattan Square, 353 Court Street. 9 p.m. Free. pokeylafarge.net.

Geoffrey Keezer Trio (Straight-ahead jazz)

POKEY LAFARGE [ INTERVIEW ] BY FRANK DE BLASE

Gather ‘round children and let me tell you of a man that plays a mean guitar and sings pretty. You can practically hear him jump out of a gramophone. St. Louis musician Pokey LaFarge is coming to town with his jumpin’ style of hi-tone bop. LaFarge plays what some call “hot music.” He mixes country, blues, and old-time jazz and jump with slick swing and even slicker rhythm changes.

The cat waxes cucumber while his music is downright wild and curious. It telegraphs the truth the way a palooka throws a punch.

CITY gave LaFarge a blast on the blower to pull on his coat for the what’s what in his world.

An edited transcript follows. Dig...

CITY: What is “Pokey LaFarge music”?

Pokey LaFarge: That’s a good question. It’s

one I’ve been asked many times over the years, and I don’t think I’ve ever given people the answer they want. It’s an ever-changing answer. It’s a mixture of all the obvious genres, you know, jazz and blues and country.

But I also feel like there are elements of rocksteady in there, some elements of Cajun, of R&B, of rock ‘n’ roll. The easiest way to put it is it’s roots rock ‘n’ roll. It’s the roots of rock ‘n’ roll.

34 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

Who has influenced you?

There is a lot of different music I listen to and am influenced by, so it’s ongoing. But the source was the blues when I was about 13 years old. Muddy Waters, stuff like that.

How do you keep historic music relevant?

I don’t really see it as historic. I’m writing all the time.

But you’re writing in an historic vein.

So is Bruce Springsteen. So is Bob Dylan. Those guys are timeless. My pursuit is timelessness.

All-time favorites?

Well I certainly love and respect the work of Tom Waits, especially post 1981. I really like Henri Salvador; he’s like the French Harry Belafonte.

You’ve gotta put Bob Dylan in there. Esther Phillips. I could go on forever, but that’s a good start. I’m learning French now, so I’m listening to a lot of French artists new and old. Let me look here in my iTunes — some really cool Latino music. I listen to a lot of world music, Latino music, and African music.

Is there anything you avoid musically?

No, not really as a general rule. I used to put boundaries on music. But not anymore.

So prodigious was pianist Geoffrey Keezer, he was recruited by the legendary Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers when he was 18 years old. Over the decades, Keezer has lent his keyboard talents to a wealth of jazz giants, including Art Farmer, Benny Golson, and Ray Brown, and branched out to play with pop stars like Sting. (RN) geoffreykeezer.com

Gwyneth Herbert (Vocal jazz) Turn to page

32 for a bio.

Jam Sessions with Karl Stabnau (Jazz jam) Turn to page 6 for more information.

Jazz is Phsh (Phish interpretation) More than just a Phish cover outfit, Jazz is Phsh interprets the music of Phish through a jazz lens. Interesting to say the least, what with Phish’s jazz leanings. It’s jazz interpreting jazz.

Better pack a lunch. (FD) jazzisphish.com Jean-Michel Pilc (Straight-ahead jazz)

Since coming to New York from Paris in 1995, Jean-Michel Pilc has been one of the most in-demand pianists on the scene.

With his gorgeous style and his wickedly fast fingers, Pilc has lent his talent to greats like Roy Haynes, Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Kenny Garrett, and John Abercrombie. Aside from his own excellent tunes, get ready to hear anything from Duke Ellington to Robert Schumann.

(RN) jeanmichelpilc.com

Jerry Granelli Band feat. Robben Ford (Blues) Talk about a jazz legend.

Jerry Granelli has worked with several generations of jazz greats, including Ornette Coleman, Sonny Stitt, and Mose Allison. When you listen to the Vince Guaraldi Trio play “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” that’s Granelli on the drums.

At the XRIJF he’ll be joined by Robben Ford, one of the great blues guitarists of the last half-century. (RN) jerrygranelli.com; robbenford.com

ERS HEADLINER | Jill Scott (Pop, soul) Grammy

Award-winner Jill Scott has studied to be an English teacher. She’s worked construction, and she’s served ice cream. Now this Philly native is serving up deep-dish, double scoop, cherry-on-top soul with a little pop on top.

While she hasn’t released an album since 2015, this soul shouting diva is focusing her energy on her “Live in the Moment Tour.”

(FD) missjillscott.com

The Klick (Funk, pop, soul) Made up of some of Rochester’s heaviest heavy hitters, The Klick emits thunder from all eight members. I’ve seen them before, nobody in the audience could sit down. (FD) theklick.net Maciej Obara Quartet (Progressive jazz) For the last half-century, Germany’s ECM Records label has been known for jazz artists engaged in relentless experimentation. On his latest album, “Unloved,” Polish saxophonist Maciej Obara fits the bill, exploring the contours of his instrument in a variety of harmonic settings. Obara’s quartet features some of Europe’s finest players: Dominik Wania, piano; Ole Morten Vaagan, bass; and Gard Nilssen, drums. (RN) maciejobara.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 29 scat solo over the chords. From Gospel to R&B, roots music to soul, McKelle covers a wide range of territory, sometimes in the same song. (RN) robinmckelle.com Rochester Jazz All Stars (Straight-ahead

jazz) All of them have played in a variety of settings at the XRIJF, but what if some of Upstate New York’s best players got together to showcase the prowess of Rochester’s jazz scene? The Rochester Jazz All Stars are Bill Dobbins on piano; Danny Vitale, bass; Mike Melito, drums; Bob Sneider, guitar; Vince Erocolamento, saxophone; and Mike Kaupa, trumpet. (RN)

Ryan Johnson Project (Funky jazz) This energetic Rochester-based band morphs mid-song to augment its funky curiosity with straight-ahead jazz explorations. It’s a search that mixes well in the brassy punch.

Come to think of it, the band is not so much funky as it is lively. Yeah, that’s it.

(FD) facebook.com/coexistencemusic Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles

(Rock ‘n’ roll) She’s sweet and congenial when you first meet her, that is until she picks up her guitar, plugs in, and peels out. Sarah Borges and her band stamp out some real longneck-drinkin’, tight denim and leather, barroom rock. Have mercy. (FD) sarahborges.com St. Germain (Techno, world) sporting a mix of organic, indigenous instruments with clean techno beats, St Germain plays his music for those who are awake enough to witness when night time turns to day. It’s got a jazzy chill. (FD) stgermain-music.com

Nicholas Payton Front & Center

(Straight-ahead jazz, funk) Born in New Orleans to a musical family, Nicholas Payton received his first trumpet at the age of 4. By 9 he was sitting-in with the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, and by 12 he was touring with the All Star Brass Band. After studying with Ellis Marsalis he played with greats like Ray Brown, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and many others. As a leader, Payton covers a wide swath of territory from jazz to funk. (RN)

Stephane Wrembel (Gypsy jazz) When Woody Allen wanted to conjure up the early decades of the 20th century in “Midnight in Paris,” he used more than winding streets and magnificent boulevards. To evoke the zeitgeist, he offered generous helpings of the Django Reinhardt-evoking music of one of the best Gypsy jazz guitarists playing today, Stephane Wrembel. (RN)

nicholaspayton.com

stephanewrembel.com

Pokey LaFarge (Roots rock) Check out an interview on page 34.

TFunk Crew (Funk) At the heart and

Robin McKelle (Vocal jazz) Singer Robin McKelle is tough to pin down.

One minute she sounds like a pop diva singing Steve Miller’s “Abracadabra,” the next minute she’s off on a burning

soul of this outfit is the heart and soul of Toronto powerhouse Soul Stew’s rhythm section. This is the band’s American debut, playing their own tunes along with stuff by The Meters, The Headhunters, and The Crusaders. (FD) facebook.com/

soulstewtoronto rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 35

SHOWTIMEFRIDAY

JILL SCOTT

12:00 p.m. Ryan Johnson Project Central Library (FREE) 1:00 p.m. Youth Jazz Workshop with Jon Ballantyne Eastman School of Music (Room 120) (FREE) 4:30 p.m. Canandaigua HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:15 p.m. Brockport HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:30 p.m. Robin McKelle Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 5:45 p.m. Jean-Michel Pilc Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Greece Jazz Band Rochester Regional Health Big Tent (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Buried Treasure feat. Bari Koral Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Rochester Jazz All Stars Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Nicholas Payton Front & Center Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 6:15 p.m. Stephane Wrembel Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 6:30 p.m. Geoffrey Keezer Trio Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 6:45 p.m. Gwyneth Herbert Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 7:00 p.m. The Klick East Ave. & Chestnut St. Stage (FREE) 7:00 p.m. Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles Martin Luther King Jr. Park (FREE) 7:00 p.m. Jerry Granelli Band feat. Robben Ford Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 7:15 p.m. Robin McKelle Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Community Soul Project Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 7:30 p.m. Maciej Obara Quartet Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Jazz is Phsh Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 7:45 p.m. Jean-Michel Pilc Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 8:00 p.m. HEADLINER | Jill Scott Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre ($75-$125) 8:30 p.m. TFunk Crew Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 8:45 p.m. Gwyneth Herbert Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. St. Germain East Ave. & Chestnut St. Stage (FREE) 9:00 p.m. Pokey LaFarge Martin Luther King Jr. Park (FREE) 9:00 p.m. Geoffrey Keezer Trio Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Nicholas Payton Front & Center Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 9:15 p.m. Jerry Granelli Band feat. Robben Ford Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Community Soul Project Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 9:30 p.m. Maciej Obara Quartet Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Jazz is Phsh Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Stephane Wrembel Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Buried Treasure feat. Bari Koral Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. TFunk Crew Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Rochester Jazz All Stars Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 10:30 p.m. Jam Sessions with Karl Stabnau Street Craft Kitchen & Bar at Hyatt Regency (FREE) 36 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

one played organ like Jimmy Smith in Osaka. So I decided to study classical music in college.”

Ten years later, on that visit to New York, she saw Dr. Lonnie Smith, but she was still puzzled.

“I didn’t know how he played what he played,” Tsuruga says. “I didn’t think I could play organ like that.”

Tsuruga returned to Japan and resumed her

AKIKO TSURUGA [ FEATURE ] BY RON NETSKY

Once in a while, Akiko Tsuruga has to pinch herself and ask, “How did I get here?”

She had a steady gig playing the organ in her hometown of Osaka, Japan, when she took a vacation in New York City.

While there, she heard her hero, Hammond B3 organ icon Dr. Lonnie Smith, playing in saxophonist Lou Donaldson’s quartet.

“When I saw the Lou Donaldson Quartet at the Village Vanguard, I thought, ‘Wow!,’” says Tsuruga. “A couple of years later I joined his band. I never thought I could move to New York and make a living playing music. My life is my dream life.”

Growing up in Osaka, Tsuruga started

to play the organ at the age of 3, and played at the family’s church. But her grandmother was a jazz fan and she shared her enthusiasm with Tsuruga.

She was 16 when her teacher at the Yamaha Music School introduced her to another kind of organ music, the B3, and one of its greatest players, Jimmy Smith.

“I thought Jimmy was great, but I couldn’t understand what he was doing in terms of technique, and I had never heard that kind of rhythm,” Tsuruga says. “After that I decided to learn piano because no

Osaka gig.

“I had learned the basic things,” she says. “I realized people liked my organ playing more than my piano playing. Also the feel of the keyboard — organ is much easier to play than piano. I felt that I could show my emotion more on the organ. I want to play like a big band by myself.”

Touring American bands came through the club, and one night she met drummer and singer Grady Tate. He was so impressed with her B3 sound, he asked her to move to New York.

“My mom came to the Blue Note when I played with Grady Tate,” Tsuruga says. “She said to me, ‘This is your life.’ And Grady was taking care of me, and in America, I had people around me who were so nice to me.”

“Dr. Lonnie Smith had an apartment in New York and I was chasing him,” Tsuruga adds. “Every time he was in town, I went to his place and watched how he played the organ. When I went to his gigs, I sat in front of the organ and I was watching his coordination.

“He introduced me as a student, and he was a great teacher. Sometimes we played together. I realized there was a difference and I asked him why was he different? He said it was rhythm, and he said, ‘Don’t just play, put your emotions into every note.’ I learned how to make it dynamic from Dr. Lonnie Smith, and I never paid a fee to him.”

SATURDAY,

JUNE

30

Tsuruga first played at the XRIJF with

Donaldson’s band a few years ago. She just about stole the show and was invited back with her own group. This will be her third visit to the festival.

When she’s the leader, selections range from jazz standards to more contemporary music, like “Where Is The Love” and “How Deep Is Your Love.”

And when she’s deep into a solo, she shows plenty of emotion.

“I just follow my heart. I never think I should play that chord or that voicing or that sound. I just listen to other people — the drummer, the guitar player — and they inspire me. I just try to play dynamics.”

The Akiko Tsuruga Trio plays Saturday, June 30, at Montage Music Hall, 50 Chestnut Street. 6 p.m. & 10 p.m. $30 or a Club Pass. akikojazz.com.

rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 37

THE PLAYERS

FRIDAY, JUNE 22 Dawn Thomson, cornetist Ron Miles, reed player Jeff Lederer, and bassist Martin Wind. (RN) mattwilsonjazz.com Sultans of String (World music) With

its seamless fusion of Spanish Flamenco, French Manouche, Arabic Folk, Gypsy Jazz, and more, the Canada-based Sultans of String are the epitome of world music.

And if you want to hear and see something completely different, four strings are never enough for violinist Chris McKhool. His super fiddle has six. (RN) sultansofstring.com

Thomas Strønen (Progressive jazz) With violin, cello, bass, and piano, Norwegian drummer and composer Thomas Strønen’s quintet may be unusual in the jazz world.

But that instrumentation is perfectly suited to Strønen’s serial approach to composition.

With works that gradually build to gorgeous crescendos, Strønen is one of the most respected and influential musicians on the Scandinavian jazz scene. (RN) facebook.

com/thomasstronen

ERIC KRASNO

Akiko Tsuruga Trio (B-3 organ jazz) Check out page 37 for a feature on Akiko Tsuruga.

Community Soul Project (Funk, soul) Check

Jam Sessions with Karl Stabnau (Jazz jam)

Bill Goodwin Trio (Straight-ahead jazz) Drummer Bill Goodwin was only 17 years old when he was tapped to go on the road with saxophonist Charles Lloyd. That was the beginning of a long career that has brought him to the stage with Art Pepper, George Shearing, Gábor Szabó, Jim Hall, Bill Evans, and many more. His long stint as producer and drummer with Phil Woods led to three Grammy Awards.

(RN) billgoodwindrummer.com

Deva Mahal (Soul) Daughter of Taj Mahal,

Joe Beard (Blues) Rochester’s own king of the blues has been slinging his big red guitar for 80 years now. And whereas some guitar players pack their playing full of drama, just watch Joe go with the understated flow. Utterly talented; utterly cool. (FD) facebook.com/joebeardblues

Butcher Brown (Funk, rock) In this

band’s bio, Butcher Brown refers to itself as garage punk jazz funk. And yes, those elements and underlying influences are in there. The group though doesn’t play it severe but rather puts a rockin’ stranglehold on contemporary jazz. (FD) butcherbrown.com 38 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018

out the bio on page 34.

seductive soulstress Deva Mahal sings the notes and wrings them out in a distinct, measured approach. Mahal sings at the pinnacle of emotion, with some boisterous blues power purring under the hood. (FD)

devamahal.com

Turn to page 6 for more information.

Eric Krasno Band (Blues rock) He was the co-founder of Soulive and Lettuce, and he’s played with everyone from The Rolling Stones to The Roots, not to mention writing tunes for artists as diverse as Norah Jones, 50 Cent, and Aaron Neville. Did I mention his Grammy Awards? Let’s just say Eric Krasno is one of the greatest guitarists and singers working today, and his band is as hot as it gets. (RN) erickrasno.com

Mark Lewandowski Trio (Straight-

Gap Mangione and the New Big Band (Big

Matt Wilson’s Honey & Salt Band

band) By the time he was 15, Rochester piano legend Gap Mangione was writing and arranging for local bands. At 80, he’s still at it with his own big band. Mind the gap. (FD)

gapmangione.com Geoffrey Keezer (Straight-ahead jazz) Turn to page 34 for the bio.

ahead jazz) One of the most in-demand bassists on the London jazz scene, Mark Lewandowski has played with the top British jazz stars. His latest album explores the legacy of the great keyboard player and songwriter “Fats” Waller. With tunes like “Jitterbug Waltz” and “Ain’t Misbehavin,” it’s a great legacy to explore. (RN)

whirlwindrecordings.com/mark-lewandowski/

(Straight-ahead jazz) Drummer Matt Wilson is known as one of the hardest working men in jazz. Aside from his work with Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, John Scofield, and many others, Wilson leads several of his own groups, notably Arts & Crafts. Wilson’s Honey & Salt Band explores the poetry of fellow Illinois native Carl Sandburg with singer and guitarist

Tower of Power (Funky brass) With

saxophonists Emilio Castillo and Stephen “Doc” Kupka still in the ranks, Tower of Power dominates like a hurricane straight outta Oakland. And they’ve been at it now for half a century and are now out on a 50th anniversary tour. The band is still big, bad, and bold. (FD) facebook.com/ officialtowerofpowerband William Sperandei Quartet feat. Pat LaBarbera (Straight-ahead jazz) Trumpeter

and pianist William Sperandei is a major player on the Toronto scene. When he brings his quartet to the XRIJF, it will feature tenor saxophonist Pat LaBarbera.

Born in Mt. Morris to a family that produced three notable jazz players (the others: drummer Joe LaBarbera and trumpeter John LaBarbera), Pat LaBarbera joined the Buddy Rich Band when he was fresh out of Berklee College of Music. He went on to tour and record with Elvin Jones and others. (RN) www.

canadianjazzarchive.org/en/musicians/williamsperandei; patlabarbera.jazzgiants.net

SHOWTIMESATURDAY

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SULTANS OF STRING

3:45 p.m. Hobart and William Smith Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 4:30 p.m. Newark HS Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:15 p.m. MCC Jazz Band Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 5:30 p.m. Deva Mahal Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 5:45 p.m. Geoffrey Keezer Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Abe Nouri Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 6:00 p.m. New Energy Jazz Orchestra Rochester Regional Health Big Tent (FREE) 6:00 p.m. Akiko Tsuruga Trio Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Bill Goodwin Trio Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 6:00 p.m. Matt Wilson’s Honey & Salt Band Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 6:15 p.m. William Sperandei Quartet feat. Pat LaBarbera Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 6:30 p.m. Gap Mangione and the New Big Band Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 6:45 p.m. Mark Lewandowski Trio Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 7:00 p.m. Community Soul Project East Ave. & Chestnut St. Stage (FREE) 7:00 p.m. Sultans of String Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 7:15 p.m. Deva Mahal Harro East Ballroom ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Joe Beard Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 7:30 p.m. Thomas Stronen Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 7:30 p.m. Eric Krasno Band Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 7:45 p.m. Geoffrey Keezer Hatch Recital Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 8:30 p.m. Butcher Brown Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 8:45 p.m. Mark Lewandowski Trio Christ Church ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Tower of Power East Ave. & Chestnut St. Stage (FREE) 9:00 p.m. Gap Mangione and the New Big Band Xerox Auditorium ($30 or Club Pass) 9:00 p.m. Matt Wilson’s Honey & Salt Band Kilbourn Hall ($35 or Club Pass) 9:15 p.m. Sultans of String Temple Building Theater ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Joe Beard Jazz Street Stage (FREE) 9:30 p.m. Thomas Stronen Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($30 or Club Pass) 9:30 p.m. Eric Krasno Band Squeezers Stage at Anthology ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. William Sperandei Quartet feat. Pat LaBarbera Max of Eastman Place ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Akiko Tsuruga Trio Montage Music Hall ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Butcher Brown Rochester Regional Health Big Tent ($30 or Club Pass) 10:00 p.m. Bill Goodwin Trio Wilder Room ($30 or Club Pass) 10:30 p.m. Jam Sessions with Karl Stabnau Street Craft Kitchen & Bar at Hyatt Regency (FREE) rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 39

40 CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL GUIDE 2018