Layah Jane, 4 p.m. (Strong --- National Museum of Play) & 6 p.m. (Jazz Street Stage)

This 24-year-old Canadian songstress walks the folk side of the street. Jane is folk in that her music tends to be acoustically rooted and politically charged. The jazz aspect sneaks in with her phasing and structure. She’s not a jazz musician per se, but neither was Rickie Lee Jones or Joni Mitchell. And both those grand dames pushed --- and still pushed whenever classifications and parameters loomed. Short answer: Layah Jane is beautiful music. You’re gonna like her.

For more information on Jane visit http://www.layahjane.com/. (FD)

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

Avishai Cohen Trio, 6 p.m. & 10 p.m., Montage

Over the past decade it would be difficult to find a bassist who has ascended faster than Avishai Cohen. Born in Israel, Cohen started his musical exploration on the piano. As a teenager, he became enamored of Jaco Pastorius and switched to the bass. He moved to New York in the 1990s and began to earn his reputation as an innovative bassist, playing with Ravi Coltrane, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman and others. In 1997 Chick Corea released Cohen’s first album on his Stretch label. The following year, Corea hired him to play bass in his new group, Origin. Since then Cohen has recorded nine critically acclaimed albums as a leader.

For more information on Cohen visit http://www.avishaimusic.com/. (RN)

Bill Frisell Trio, 6 p.m. & 10 p.m., Kilbourn Hall

Guitarist Bill Frisell’s sound is as much about the unexpected sonic aftermath as it is about the player’s approach. Despite holding the guitar and clearly being the one in charge, in a live setting it seems like the music plays Frisell. His sound is guitar based and he’ll rattle off a list of six-string heroes you’d expect, like Hendrix, Rush, and Montgomery. But he puts himself in the middle of less conventional settings to push his limits --- and listeners’ buttons.

At a Frisell show song quotes and melodies will often bubble up, like Lucinda Williams’ “Ventura,” which wound up being Frisell’s opening selection at his Kilbourn Hall appearance last year.

Live, Frisell hovers over his rig tweaking and listening, tweaking and listening until he throws a saddle over something that catches his ear and rides.

For more information on Frisell visit http://www.billfrisell.com/. (FD)

Trio Nosso, 6:15 p.m. & 10 p.m., Max of Eastman Place

You are unlikely to find virtuoso performers more astounding than the three Brazilians who make up Trio Nosso. Guitarist Nelson Faria’s fingers can take off racing down the fret board with the speed of a gazelle. He can also play complex solos composed entirely of chords. The talents of six-string bassist Ney Conceição can be placed somewhere between the otherworldly sound of Jaco Pastorius and the slapping funk of Stanley Clarke. Whether using his sticks or his hands, drummer Kiko Freitas is a veritable percussion machine. Together these three are as tight as an ensemble can get. (RN)

Andy Milne’s Dapp Theory, 6:30 p.m. & 10 p.m., High Fidelity

Yeah, I know, hip hop has been given a bad rap. But vocalist John Moon's contribution to Dapp Theory's sound should have you leaving with a willingness to give the Beat's bastard offspring a second chance. The band refers to Moon as a "percussive poet" drawing fire from both Salvador Dali and Ornette Coleman. Front man Andy Milne (who also tickles the ivories for Ravi Coltrane) is the type of jazzer who holds tried 'n' true elements up along with experimental ones, proving no matter how gone you get, there you are.

For more information on Dapp Theory visit http://www.andymilne.com/dapp_site/. (FD)

Cowboy Mouth, 7 p.m., East Ave/Chestnut Stage

We’re nice and heavy with New Orleans artists this year. Most are a tad more traditional than, let’s say, Cowboy Mouth. However, none are more full-on New Orleans than these guys. Folks, this is a rock ’n’ roll band, period. It may have never quite cracked the mainstream --- and that’s a good thing, if you ask me --- but for 15 years Cowboy Mouth has burned up the road and stages, baptizing those along the way in their own sweat. I once saw Cowboy Mouth drummer/singer Fred Le Blanc do a drum solo with his head.

It’s loud, it’s relentless, and the band also struts with the sort of pride and moxie that turned into resiliency after Hurricane Katrina, when the band lost its houses, but not its home. The latest album, Voodoo Shoppe, addresses the pain left in the storm’s aftermath with the poignant “The Avenue,” but then immediately gets back to the wiseass wit with “Joe Strummer,” in which the protagonist dumps his girlfriend ’cause she ain’t hip to who Joe Strummer is.

For more information on Cowboy Mouth visit http://www.cowboymouth.com/. (FD)

The Capitals, 7 p.m., East Ave/Alexander Stage

Nick and Pete Namniak have known John and Jay Pritchard since they were toddlers. At about the age of 9, the boys took up instruments and, a decade later, The Capitals are a seasoned band. The strange thing is, the members seem to have grown up in a time warp, learning the ropes by listening The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. Having digested the best of the 1960s and 1970s, The Capitals has emerged as a band in its own right.

For more information on The Capitals visit http://www.thecapitalsonline.com/. (RN)

Walter “Wolfman” Washington & The Roadmasters, 7:15 p.m. & 9:15 p.m., Jazz Street Stage

As a teenager Walter “Wolfman” Washington backed up Lee Dorsey. He also spent time playing guitar for Irma Thomas and tore up New Orleans dives and juke joints with Johnny Adams. Whenever Washington flew solo he got tagged as a bluesman; however, his music seems to be more of a Crescent City cross-section vivisected and resurrected with Washington’s howl and hellacious guitar. His guitar solos build with a sort of strip tease cruelty before the blow off, where the man picks the high notes with his teeth. Here comes the Wolfman!

For more information on Washington visit http://www.walterwolfmanwashington.com/. (FD)

Jens Winther European Quintet, 7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., Reformation Lutheran Church

Jens Winther European Quintet lives up to its name. Winther, a Danish trumpet player with a sensitivity and flair reminiscent of Miles Davis, has assembled an all-star European Union of swing. Swedish tenor saxophonist Tomas Franck, Italian pianist Antonio Fario, Swedish bassist Palle Danielsson, and German drummer Dejan Terzic are all top players; together they are on a par with any American unit. The group’s album, Concord, showcases Winther’s considerable writing skills on seven tunes that recall the best hard bop of the 1950s while simultaneously pushing jazz into the future.

For more information on Winther, visit http://www.jenswinther.net/. (RN)

Soul Rebels Brass Band, 8:30 p.m. & 10 p.m., Club Pass Big Tent

New Orleans’ Soul Rebels came up traditionally, playing parades and jazz funerals. Also keeping with tradition, The Neville Brothers frequently have the band warm up and ultimately melt the stage for their home gigs. It’s this parade mentality that sends audiences. Music is not a stationary force; it should move you, and move with you.

At the heart of The Soul Rebels is ballsy brass. It gets goosed with some R&B and some funk, yet it’s that parade drive that’ll get you movin’. Who knows, maybe the band and audience will march outta the venue and do a few laps outdoors. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.

For more information on Soul Rebels visit http://www.soulrebelsbrassband.com/. (FD)

Rusted Root, 9 p.m., East Ave/Alexander Stage

In the 1980s, before jam bands were everywhere, there was the Iron City’s Rusted Root. What made the group stand out then --- and now --- was vocalist Michael Glabicki’s multi-octave warble and the band’s ability to kick out the jams without kicking a dead horse. With a well-honed subtlety the band seems to work more in textures than grooves per se. Sure, the members groove and jam to get the dance floor good and frothy, but the band successfully eludes a lot of the disjointed segues that addle so many jammers by working as a polished, single-minded affair.

For more information on Rusted Root visit http://www.rustedroot.com/. (FD)

Shooter Jennings, 9 p.m., East Ave/Chestnut Stage

Shooter Jennings is more Southern rock than country. And despite his rural lineage, Shooter don’t wail like Waylon. Sure, he played the part of his pop in Walk The Line,but that’s about it. What he does do is cop the greasy, long-haired, middle-finger salute of Skynyrd (before gravity interfered) and Charlie Daniels (before God interfered) and lets fly with a full-blown, balls-out guitar rebellion. There’s still a large dose of outlaw country in this maverick, who promises to put the “o” back in country. His music comes out in bursts of honky tonk piano and the mournful cry of the lonesome pedal steel. That all may say “country,” but the guitars still holler “rock ‘n’ roll, y’all.”

For more information on Jennings visit http://www.shooterjennings.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.