Solomon Burke. Jerry Lee Lewis. Madeleine Peyroux. Wynton Marsalis.

Promoter John Nugent has released the line-up for this year’s Rochester International Jazz Festival, and in its sixth year, the event has grown both in breadth and quality.

The festival will be held throughout the eastern part of downtown Rochester, inside and outside, from June 8 through June 16.

In addition to legendary jazz artists like Dave Brubeck, Jean-Luc Ponty, Wynton Marsalis, and Don Byron, the line-up again contains a bit of rock (including headliner Jerry Lee Lewis), country, and world beat. Some Jazz Fest favorites, like Mamadou Diabate, Bill Frisell, and Raul Midon, will be returning as well.

There’s a good bit of New Orleans jazz, a Latin night, and a Scandinavian series.

There’ll be new venues --- Harro East, the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, and a third outdoor stage for free concerts, at Alexander Street and East Avenue. The George Eastman House will be showing jazz shorts and animated films, and an expanded museum series will feature artists that include Layah Jane and Gene Bertoncini.

City’s jazz writers have listened to music by nearly every artist coming to the festival. Here’s what they’re most looking forward to.

Frank De Blase:

Solomon Burke: I get chills just saying his name. No one sings r&b and soul like this man. And in that vein, Motor City r&b legend Bettye LaVette will be here, too.

The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis, is probably the most historically significant and potentially volatile artist on the roster. Elvis, Johnny, Carl, Roy: all these Sun Records innovators are gone except for the pumpin’ piano cat. I saw him two years ago, and he’s still got it.

New Orleans gets plenty of face time this year with acts like The Soul Rebels, Bonerama, and Dr. John bringing the joy and pain from the jazz holy land. It’ll be blue, too, with Big Easy guitar-slingin’ howler Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Texas power trio Los Lonely Boys, and a cat that digs back deep to Africa with his blues, Corey Harris.

Repeat treats include guitar wizard Bill Frisell; African kora player Mamadou Diabate, playing some of the most beautiful music you will ever hear; Raul Midon and his invisible trumpet; heartbreaking chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux; multi-instrumentalist Kevin Breit; and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.

In the spirit of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, we’ll get thrown some detours with jammers like Ithaca’s Revision, Rusted Root, and the polyrhythmic Canadian nuts The Shuffle Demons and Mr. Something Something. The legendary Toots and the Maytals will provide some reggae sun; rock ’n’ rollers Cowboy Mouth will show yet another side of New Orleans; and Shooter Jennings will bring the next wave of outlaw country and southern rock.

But as with every previous Jazz Fest, for every artist you recognize there are two you won’t. RIJF promoter John Nugent has done a splendid job bringing incredible unknown artists to the festival. By all means check out who you love, but take a chance, too.

Ron Netsky:

Among the headliners are Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Marsalis is a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, a superb arranger, master of the trumpet, and a charismatic ambassador of jazz. His orchestra has re-examined the legacies of Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and other jazz giants. The JLCO boasts top players in every chair, including Ryan Kisor, Marcus Printup, Victor Goines, and Ted Nash.

It’ll be a fantastic festival for piano stars, ranging from the legendary Dave Brubeck to Eldar, the Russian wunderkind barely out of his teens. Also on tap is Geri Allen, one of the finest improvisers and composers of the last several decades.

America’s greatest clarinetist (hands down in every poll), Don Byron, is among the innovators slated for the Kilbourn Hall stage. Byron’s interests are wide-ranging, from Mickey Katz to Raymond Scott to Jr. Walker. At the RIJF, he’ll bring a trio drawing on music from Ivey Divey, his album exploring the bass-less trio of sax giant Lester Young.

Every night the finest in Scandinavian jazz will be showcased at the Lutheran Reform Church. None of these bands are household names in the United States, but festival-goers will be knocked out by groups like Five Corners Quintet from Finland. The band conjures a dream world of jazz glory, slipping in and out of swing, samba, mambo, and bebop with a wonderful affection for the music.

The following articles include a comprehensive schedule, bios of nearly all the 100-plus artists, and ideas about where to go, where to stay, what to do, and where to eat if you're visiting Rochester. If you need further information about the Jazz Festival, visit the RIJF's official website at www.rochesterjazz.com.