2:30 p.m.: Dixieland Cruise Mary Jemison Riverboat (Free)
4 p.m.: Dixieland Cruise Mary Jemison Riverboat (Free)
4 p.m.: WXXI Jazz Films Eastman Theatre ($27.50-$85)
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.: Eddie Daniels Quartet Harro East Ballroom ($20, or Club Pass)
Leonard Bernstein compared the virtuosity of Eddie Daniels on the clarinet to that of Arthur Rubinstein on the piano, calling him "a thoroughly well-bred demon." And that's just the impression he's made in the classical world. In the jazz world Daniels' career has been equally stunning. He started as a tenor saxophone player with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in the mid-1960's, but after a clarinet solo on one of the band's albums won him Down Beat magazine's International Critics New Star on Clarinet award, he began to specialize on the instrument.Today he is equally adept at both, unleashing powerful melodic solos on standards and his own compositions. (RN)
6 p.m.: John Scofield Trio Kilbourn Hall ($25, or Club Pass)
Since starting at the top with Miles Davis in the 1980's, John Scofield has stood apart from the pack with the raunchiest guitar style in jazz. He's got the jazz chops, but he loves the electric fuzz, resulting in a kind of Jim Hall-meets-Jimi Hendrix sound. Occasionally touring with Medeski, Martin & Wood has brought him a new generation of fans. His latest album, "This Meets That," finds him in the company of long-time trio mates Steve Swallow (bass) and Bill Stewart (drums) playing his wonderfully brooding originals, traditional blues --- "House Of The Rising Sun" --- and some curve-throwing choices, like a mellow rendition of Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors" and a scorching take on The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." For those who appreciate a more political slant, you can practically hear the sarcasm dripping from "Heck Of A Good Job." (RN)
6 p.m.: John Beck Quartet featuring Mike Cottone Club Pass Big Tent ($20, or Club Pass)
John Beck is well known as principal timpanist with the Rochester Philharmonic (since 1962!), and as a professor of percussion at the Eastman School of Music. But in his youth Beck also played jazz with no less than Coleman Hawkins and Hot Lips Page. He also taught Steve Gadd. Trumpeter Mike Cottone recently won the solo jazz chair audition with the US Air Force Band of Liberty in Boston. He has studied with a variety of jazz luminaries, including Marcus Printup, Bob Sneider, and Clay Jenkins, and is currently a member of the Dave Rivello Ensemble. (RN)
6 p.m.: NeoCollage City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage (Free)
In so many groups that goose classical music instrumentally, rhythmically, or theoretically, the classical still manages to win out. Perhaps these artists have been browbeaten or are too afraid to take the plunge. Maybe they just don't know where to start. Maybe they're just goofy on mothballs. NeoCollage ain't scared. Plunge? This young quintet does a cannonball. Formed in 2004 when all its members were freshman at the Eastman School of Music, NeoCollage started out merely as a group of friends who wanted to play together despite their instruments' (electric harp, double bass, two violins, and electric vibraphone) supposed incompatibility. What came out is now a brilliant synthesis of classical tones, funky rhythms, and electronic textures. It'll blow the doors off the way you think about classical music, and music in general. NeoCollage proves there are actually a few unexplored avenues left that sound so sweet. (FD)
6 p.m.: Howard Alden Montage Music Hall ($20, or Club Pass)
After picking up the guitar at the age of 10, Howard Alden began to study the work of the musicians he most admired: Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, and Barney Kessel. So it's no coincidence that when he emerged on the jazz scene in the 1980's he was one of the leading practitioners of the clear, crisp, fluid, old-school style. Borrowing a page from his hero, George Van Eps, Alden began to play a seven-string guitar in 1992. In addition to more than 20 albums as a leader, he has collaborated with some of the top names in jazz, including Benny Carter, Clark Terry, Warren Vache, and Kenny Davern. (RN)
6:15 p.m.: Dharma Jazz Max of Eastman Place ($20, or Club Pass)
In Dharma Jazz, a hybrid group combining jazz and Indian music, each member brings a wealth of experience. Indian-born Badal Roy came to New York in 1968 with little more than his tablas and almost instantly found himself recording with Miles Davis and John McLaughlin. He went on to play with P-Funk, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ornette Coleman. Guitarist Vic Juris has played with Gillespie, Chico Hamilton, and Phil Woods, and recorded 15 albums as a leader. Keyboard player Lewis Porter has worked with Ravi Coltrane, Wycliffe Gordon, and Dave Liebman, and is the author of "John Coltrane: His Life and Music." Percussionist Karttikeya plays Naal drum, djembe, and acoustic and electronic drum sets in rock, jazz, funk, country, and blues bands. (RN)
6:30 p.m.: Juliet Lloyd High Fidelity ($20, or Club Pass)
Beantown beauty Juliet Lloyd's songs are like little lullabies in reverse; they're music for the waking hours. Born and raised in Rochester and educated at Berklee School of Music, Lloyd swims in a crowded pool of young female artists with something to say and something to play. Yet her plaintive voice is just gorgeous over her minimalistic work at the piano. She is somehow more enchanting and perhaps a little more chilling than her contemporaries who simply try to bust clouds; it's effortless pop. Lloyd doesn't sound as if she's trying, but you'll be glad she does. (FD)
6:45 p.m.: Kristian Blak & Yggdrasil Christ Church ($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)
7:15 p.m.: JazzKamikaze City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage (Free)
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)
7:15 p.m.: Eddie Daniels Quartet Harro East Ballroom ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
7:30 p.m.: Jacob Anderskov Lutheran Church of Reformation ($20, or Club Pass)
Since emerging from Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen in 2002, Danish pianist Jacob Anderskov has become one of the leading jazz musicians in Denmark. At last count he has five working ensembles, but when he performs at the RIJF he will play solo. That should provide a chance for audiences to fully appreciate his gorgeously evocative style. On his 11 albums, Anderskov demonstrates his dexterity in a world of varied and unorthodox time signatures and harmonic structures. His sets should be some of the most progressive and captivating of the festival. (RN)
8:30 p.m.: Alison Brown Quartet Club Pass Big Tent ($20, or Club Pass)
In 1978 Alison Brown appeared to be on her way to a brilliant career as a bluegrass banjo player. As a teenager she won first place in the Canadian National Banjo Competition, leading to an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. Then disaster struck - she got into Harvard University, where she studied history and literature. It got worse; she earned an MBA at UCLA. But, after two years at brokerage firm Smith Barney in San Francisco, Brown came to her senses and quit. She's been a banjo player ever since. After spending three years touring with Alison Krauss in the late 1980's/early 1990's, she formed her own group. Over the last decade she has become one of the leading proponents of contemporary banjo, recording five albums as a leader. (RN)
8:45 p.m.: Kristian Blak & Yggdrasil Christ Church ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
9:15 p.m.: JazzKamikaze City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage (Free)
See bio above.
9:30 p.m.: Jacob Anderskov Lutheran Church of the Reformation ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10 p.m.: Alison Brown Quartet Club Pass Big Tent ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10 p.m.: Howard Alden Montage Music Hall ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10 p.m.: Dharma Jazz Max of Eastman Place ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10 p.m.: John Scofield Trio Kilbourn Hall ($20, or Club Pass)
See bio above.
10 p.m.: Juliet Lloyd 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.