4:30 p.m.: Rochester Area High School Bands City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage (Free)
5:15 p.m.: Rochester Area High School Bands City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage (Free)
5:30 p.m.:Cindy Blackman Quartet Harro East Ballroom ($20, or Club Pass)
It's not every day you hear a hard bop drummer as powerful as Cindy Blackman. More stunning is that fact that Blackman wrote and arranged almost all of the highly polished tunes on her recent two-disc CD, "Music For The New Millennium." Equally impressive is the dexterity of her solos, especially on "The Drums And Me." But, then again, Blackman has spent some time in some pretty serious musical company. After moving to New York City in the early 1980's, she played in the bands of Freddie Hubbard, Sam Rivers, and Jackie McLean. More recently, she's recorded with a variety of jazz and pop artists, including George Benson, Wallace Roney, Lenny Kravitz, and Joss Stone. (RN)
6 p.m.: David Liebman Quartet Montage Music Hall ($20, or Club Pass)
Saxophonist and flautist David Liebman first came to prominence with the late-1960's fusion group Ten Wheel Drive. During the 1970's he brought his powerful tenor saxophone playing to the bands of greats like Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, and Chick Corea. Since breaking out on his own, Liebman has made more than 100 recordings as a leader, exploring straight-ahead, fusion, free jazz, and Latin music. But on his latest album, "Blues All Ways," Liebman returns to the music that drew him deeper into jazz. Along with several original blues tunes, he pays homage to his saxophone hero, John Coltrane, ending with "Bessie's Blues," the song Coltrane wrote in homage to Bessie Smith. (RN)
6 p.m.: Lou Donaldson Quartet Kilbourn Hall ($25, or Club Pass)
When you hear the term soul-jazz, you might think of any number of contemporary artists. But if you want to go back to the source, you would do well to listen to the music that alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson released on the Blue Note label in the 1960's. Donaldson had already established his cred on recordings with Thelonious Monk, Milt Jackson, and Clifford Brown. His work with Art Blakey pre-dated the Jazz Messengers. When he struck off on his own, his first several albums in the 1950's displayed the influence of Charlie Parker and the blues. But when he combined soul and jazz in the 1960's he found a groove that proved to be irresistible to a wide audience. (RN)
6 p.m.: Beaucoup Blue City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage (Free)
Beneath father/son guitar duo Beaucoup Blue's casual blues and stroll lies a gentle folkiness that stands apart from the sinister slide and darkness. When a band like this Philadelphia pair keeps it this bare-boned and simple, there's room for the music's ghosts to cavort in the dust and decay. David and Adrian Mowry's harmonies are that kind of bloodline magic that aren't written or rehearsed; that's just how they are. Their music has that journeyman feel of American folk built up by travels up and down the Eastern Seaboard and beyond. Beaucoup Blue is riveting and haunting, with that kind of beauty you can still hear long after the last note fades away. (FD)
6 p.m.: Shirantha Beddage Quartet Club Pass Big Tent ($20, or Club Pass)
Saxophonist Shirantha Beddage impressed a lot of fans at the 2006 RIJF with his energetic performance. Born in North Bay, Ontario, Beddage came to Rochester to earn his doctorate at the Eastman School of Music. While there he received the school's Raymond and Maxine Schirmer Award for achievements in jazz composition. His wonderfully personal album, "Roots and Branches," confirms the high level of his compositional talents in addition to showcasing his formidable skills on the baritone, tenor, and soprano saxophones. Beddage, who also plays piano, serves as director of jazz studies at Schwob School of Music in Columbus, Georgia. (RN)
6:15 p.m.: Sachal Vasandani Max of Eastman Place ($20, or Club Pass)
This year's line-up has it's share of wailers, shouters, and belters, but the cool and casual set is gonna be here, too. Jazz vocalist Sachal Vasandani works standards and originals in a similar vein, with a maturity you'd expect from more seasoned, salty cats. Based now in New York City, Vasandani grew up in Chicago listening to the jazz --- from Ellington to Jarrett --- his folks spun on the turntable. His warm tenor fits nicely in the classic trio format, an arrangement that complements a tone accessible to those far outside the standard cocktail-sippin', finger-poppin' fan. (FD)
6:30 p.m.: JazzKamikaze High Fidelity ($20, or Club Pass)
When the five members of Denmark's JazzKamikaze got together for the first time to compete in Young Jazz 2005, they didn't know they were forming a lasting bond. They won the competition and went on to win "Young Nordic Jazz Comets" the same year. The following year they won the audience's prize for Best Group at the Getxo Festival in Spain. Saxophonist Marius Neset won best instrumentalist at the same festival, and it's not difficult to hear why; he honks his horn like a combination of Maceo Parker and Hank Mobley. The other band members --- Morten Schantz (keyboards), Kristor Brødsgaard (bass), Daniel Davidsen (guitars), and Anton Eger (drums) --- cook at as high a temperature as any American jazz group. (RN)
6:45 p.m.: Miguel Zenon Quartet Christ Church ($20, or Club Pass)
Saxophonist Miguel Zenon left his native Puerto Rico to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. It wasn't long before he was noticed by Bob Moses, who asked him to play with the Either/Orchestra. After earning a masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music, he played with a host of jazz giants, including Charlie Haden, Ray Baretto, and Bobby Hutcherson. On his latest album, "Awake," Zenon composes tunes that fit beautifully with his sinuous alto style. His quartet --- Louis Perdomo (keyboards), Hans Glawischnig (bass), and Henry Cole (drums) --- is well suited to his unique style. (RN)
7:15 p.m.: Cindy Blackman Quartet Harro East Ballroom ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
7:15 p.m.: Rochester Metro Jazz Orchestra City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage (Free)
7:30 p.m.: Kristian Blak & Yggdrasil Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($20, or Club Pass)
Danish composer Kristian Blak has lived in the Faroe Islands. His music is a mixture of indigenous music from around the world --- going so far as to write and record with its more literal influences like birds, running water, and ocean sounds --- with a huge sense of wonder. The music on his latest, "Live In Rudolstadt," has female vocals intoning with heartbreaking invocation and beauty as the instrumentation builds around nature's unscripted events. Blak is a master of utilizing space. That means the space between the notes he writes have the ability to crush, and the spaces he chooses to perform are as integral as the musicians themselves. Cinematically, Grieg's "Pier Gynt Suite" always gets the gig when music is needed for a morning or springtime setting. Let's give it a rest, shall we, and wake up to Blak instead. (FD)
8 p.m.: RIJF-ESM Jazz Scholarship Concert w/Joe & Pat LaBarbera Eastman Theatre ($5)
Tenor saxophonist Pat LaBarbera and drummer Joe LaBarbera were born in Mt. Morris, New York, to a family that produced three notable jazz players. (The other is trumpeter/arranger John LaBarbera.) Pat joined the Buddy Rich Band when he was fresh out of Berklee College of Music. A proponent of John Coltrane-style blowing, he toured and recorded extensively with Coltrane's drummer, Elvin Jones. Well known on the Rochester scene, and nationally, Joe has worked with Chuck Mangione, Tony Bennett, and Jim Hall, but he is best known for his two years touring with Bill Evans, until the pianist's death in 1980. (RN)
8:30 p.m.: Todd Londagin Quartet Club Pass Big Tent ($20, or Club Pass)
He plays the trombone. He tap dances. He sings. He looks smooth. Band leader Todd Londagin earned his bones busking all over the world with his family's jazz band before moving to New York City to found The Flying Neutrinos. Londagin floats in that dreamy bygone era with a voice like Chet Baker that rises above big band brass and class. His is the band of choice when folks like Joel Silver and Jerry Seinfeld throw a party. And now he's going to play ours. Bring your own lampshade (FD)
8:45 p.m.: Miguel Zenon Quartet Christ Church ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
9:15 p.m.: Rochester Metro Jazz Orchestra City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage (Free)
9:30 p.m.: Kristian Blak & Yggdrasil Lutheran Church of Reformation ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10 p.m.: David Liebman Quartet Montage Music Hall ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10 p.m.: Sachal Vasandani Max of Eastman Place ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10 p.m.: Lou Donaldson Quartet Kilbourn Hall ($25, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10 p.m.: Todd Londagin Quartet Club Pass Big Tent ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10 p.m.: JazzKamikaze High Fidelity ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10:30 p.m.: Jazz Session w/Bob Sneider Rochester Plaza Hotel (Free)
You'd better arrive early if you want any chance at a seat at the Bob Sneider Trio's exceedingly popular jam session, held every night at Crowne Plaza's State Street Bar and Grill. Starting at around 10:30 p.m. and getting hotter as the night progresses, the session attracts some of the festival's finest musicians for after-hours jams. Sneider is a world-class jazz guitarist who has superb support from Mike Melito on drums and Phil Flanigan on bass. You never know who will show up. Wynton Marsalis played for an hour after his concert last year. George Benson, Chris Potter, and Eric Alexander are among the many other stars who have sat in with the band. (RN)
For more information, and to order tickets, visit the RIJF website.