Dave Rivello Ensemble, 4 p.m., Memorial Art Gallery

It is not easy to put together a big band dedicated to playing innovative, original music, but that’s exactly what Dave Rivello has done. Many of the finest musicians in Rochester are attracted by Rivello’s compositions, his arrangements and his air-tight conducting. Rivello’s top-notch group can be compared to the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, or the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He also leads an excellent band at the Eastman School of Music, but his own ensemble provides a chance for him to indulge in his own vision, a musical palette full of adventurous harmonies that recall composers from Mingus to Stravinsky. The band can blow you away with dynamics, but it can also slow down for a gorgeous ballad like Rivello’s “Sometime.”

For more information on Rivello, visit http://www.daverivello.com/. (RN)

Rochester Area High School Jazz Bands, 4:30 p.m. & 5:15 p.m., Jazz Street Stage

Smugtown Stompers, 6 p.m., Jazz Street Stage

Several Jazz Fests ago Rochester's Dixieland darlings, The Smugtown Stompers, added a kind of carnival joy to Gibbs Street with the band's Basin Street bop. The joyful noise served as a swingin' segue from gig to gig. Though New Orleans is getting a lot of face time this year, it's gonna be left up to the Stompers for the most part to preserve the hall and bring the brass when saints from all over the world come marching in. (FD)

Gap Mangione Quintet, 6 p.m., Club Pass Big Tent

Some jazz fans will remember him from his recordings with his brother Chuck Mangione, as The Jazz Brothers, in the early 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Others are more familiar with his piano solo, small group, and big band performances and recordings of recent years. One thing’s for sure: Gap Mangione has been a fixture in the Rochester music scene for five decades. He’s sure to delight RIJF crowds with a mixture of standard and original tunes.

For more information on Mangione, visit http://www.gapmangione.com/. (RN)

Madagascar Slim, 6 p.m. & 10 p.m., Montage

If you think this dude’s handle is a little long, just dig the label mom and dad originally stuck on him: Randriamananjara Radofa Besata Jean Longin. Yup, let’s stick with Slim. Slim’s brothers played Salegy, a popular style of dance music in Madagascar. Young Randriamananjara --- or Slim --- would watch his guitar-playing brother’s technique and emulate it whenever he could get his hands on the instrument. But it was when he first heard Jimi Hendrix, then B.B. King, and was able to draw a parallel between them that Slim knew what he wanted to do. His folks shipped him off to Canada in 1979 ostensibly to further his education, but Slim had but one desire: to learn English so he could sing the blues he was already playing.

For more information on Madagascar Slim visit http://www.madagarscarslim.ca/. (FD)

Geri Allen Trio, 6 p.m. & 10 p.m., Kilbourn Hall

The balance between traditional jazz and more forward-moving music is a precarious one, and not for the faint of heart. Few players --- of any instrument --- stand astride both worlds more confidently than pianist Geri Allen. Her compositions are complex and challenging, yet never lacking in gorgeous melodies. Her command of the piano is beyond question, with both hands equally adept at impossibly tricky maneuvers. She’s played with the greats --- Betty Carter, Woody Shaw, Paul Motian --- and the greats have played with her (Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland accompanied Allen on her last trio album, The Life Of A Song). Whether playing a superb original, like “LWB’s House,” or a standard, like “Soul Eyes,” Allen is guaranteed to bring her fresh, original, and vibrant style to the keyboard.

For more information on Allen, visit http://www.geriallen.com/. (RN)

Esperanza Spalding, 6:15 p.m. & 10 p.m., Max of Eastman Place

When Esperanza Spalding entered the music room at her Portland, Oregon, high school and saw a brand new bass, it was love at first sight. She was taught a simple blues run and found that she could produce a good sound right away. That was a mere six years ago. At 21, after studying at the Berklee College of Music, she is teaching there and sharing the stage with Michel Camilo, Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, and others. Listening to her album, Junjo, it’s not difficult to understand her rapid ascent. Not only is Spalding an excellent bassist, she also has a beautiful voice, which she employs to sing lilting vocalese melodies with a Brazilian tinge. A formidable composer, singer, and bassist, Spalding will be a force to reckon with for many years to come.

For more information on Spalding visit http://www.esperanzaspalding.com/. (RN)

Jonathan Kreisberg Trio, 6:30 p.m. & 10 p.m., High Fidelity

Over the past 10 years Jonathan Kreisberg has emerged as one of the most innovative guitarists on the New York scene. In demand as a side-man, he’s played with Greg Tardy, Jane Monheit, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and many others. But his work as a leader is currently getting the most attention. Kreisberg plays with a virtuosity achieved by few guitarists. He moves over the neck with ease, coaxing out complex solos filled with distinct voicings.

For more information on Kreisberg, visit http://www.jonathankreisberg.com/. (RN)

Stephane Wrembel Trio, 7:15 p.m. & 9:15 p.m., Jazz Street Stage

It just simply wouldn’t be a jazz festival without this stuff. Frenchman Stephane Wrembel calls his music “Gypsy jam” --- a hybrid of world music dominated by his Gypsy guitar. At the heart of this music --- and in the heart of Wrembel --- stands Django Reinhardt, the undefeated heavyweight master of Gypsy jazz guitar. Reinhardt’s two-fingered tight tone and jump is unmistakable on his original recordings, and equally recognizable when they surface directly or indirectly as influences, like they do with cats like Wrembel. The teenage Wrembel was turned on to guitar via the ones you’d expect like Hendrix and Zeppelin. But when he went to the Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois at age 20, it was clear what he would be doing from then on.

For more information on Wrembel visit http://www.stephanewrembel.com/. (FD)

Peter Asplund Quartet, 7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., Reformation Lutheran Church

A few years ago many Swedish jazz critics selected Lochiel’s Warning by the Peter Asplund Quartet as the best jazz album of the year. One critic went further, calling it “an instant classic” and “one of the best Swedish albums of all time.” None of this is surprising considering the fact that Asplund is well known as one of Sweden’s finest trumpet/flugelhorn players. When Jacob Karlzon (piano), Hans Andersson (bass) and Johan Löfcrantz Ramsay (drums) are added to the mix, the result is one of Sweden’s finest ensembles for both traditional and contemporary jazz.

For more information on Asplund visit http://www.peterasplund.com/. (RN)

Raul Midon, 8 p.m., Eastman Theatre (w/Solomon Burke)

While guitarist Raul Midon was deep into his set at the 2005 RIJF, it was a riot to watch the sardines crowded around the stage crane their necks in search of the horn player they thought they heard. Well, there wasn’t one. You see, within Midon’s set of aggressive percussive acoustic music (think Havens or Feliciano), the man would frequently break into a jazzy trumpet improvisation through pursed lips…and no horn. Midon tip-toes through enough styles --- including reggae, flamenco, jazz, Afro-Cuban, pop, and soul --- that it doesn’t matter what you plan on getting out of his performance. You’ll definitely leave with more than you came in with.

Fore more information on Midon, visit http://www.raulmidon.com/. (FD)

Solomon Burke, 8 p.m., Eastman Theatre (w/Raul Midon)

Remember when soul was from the soul? When the blues and R&B were too? Singer Solomon Burke is regal. Solomon Burke is larger than life. Solomon Burke is soul.

Born in Philadelphia in 1940, Burke came up through the church. He gave his first sermon at age 7. In addition to the gospel sounds of Clara Ward and the more lowdown secular wail of Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, young Burke dug on cowboy singers like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers as well. In 1960 he signed to Atlantic Records, where his soulful take on country --- or vice versa --- gave him immediate multicultural appeal. Burke had a string of hits between 1961-68 like “Cry To Me,” “Just Out Of Reach,” and “Got To Get You Off My Mind.”

All the world’s a pulpit for Burke, who frequently performs on a throne with plenty of pageantry and glitz. Yet his amazingly versatile baritone overshadows it all.

For more information on Burke visit http://www.thekingsolomonburke.com/. (FD)

Steps Ahead, 8:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m., Harro East Ballroom

When Steps Ahead was formed by vibraphonist Mike Mainieri in 1979, jazz was deep into the fusion era. Despite the competition from a profusion of jazz/rock groups, Steps Ahead surged to the top of the heap, earning a reputation for consistently cutting-edge, experimental music. Over the years many of the finest instrumentalists in jazz passed through the group’s ranks, including Michael Brecker, Steve Gadd, Peter Erskine, Eliane Elias, and Mike Stern. The 2007 line-up, featuring Mainieri with saxophonist Bill Evans, bassist Anthony Jackson, and drummer Steve Smith, is no less impressive. (RN)

Shuffle Demons, 8:30 p.m. & 10 p.m., Club Pass Big Tent

You might think this one is for the kids, what with the amazing technicolor stage clothes, interpretive dance, and hijinks. The Shuffle Demons are a cross between New Year’s Eve and a hockey game. The band plays with a big ’n’ bombastic blast that typically boils over the stage and into the stands. Talk about surround sound. The Demons have been doing this for 20 years, after getting its start as a street band in Toronto. The talent warranted the clubs and theatres the group graduated to, but you couldn’t take the street out of ’em. These guys are berserk.

For more information on the Shuffle Demons visit http://www.shuffledemons.com/. (FD)

Jazz Jam w/Bob Sneider, 10:30 p.m., State Street Bar & Grill

The crowd will grow larger and larger every night as festival-goers catch on to one of the RIJF's best treats. Starting at around 10:30 p.m., at the Crowne Plaza's State Street Bar and Grill, the superb Bob Sneider Trio hosts a rousing jam session. Sneider is a world-class jazz guitarist who has equally top-notch support from Mike Melito on drums and Phil Flanigan on bass. If that's not enough, you never know who will visit the bar and jam after a gig. George Benson, Chris Potter, and Eric Alexander are among the stars who have sat in with the band. So have a wide range of local musicians, from high school students to pros.

For more information on Bob Sneider, visit http://www.bobsneider.com/index.shtml. (RN)

For more information or to buy tickets, visit the Rochester International Jazz Festival website.