FRIDAY, JUNE 12

4:30 p.m.: Rochester Area High School Jazz Bands Jazz Street Stage

5:15 p.m.: Rochester Area High School Jazz Bands Jazz Street Stage

5:30 p.m.: Jazz Mandolin Project Harro East Ballroom

The Jazz Mandolin Project's Jamie Masefield is sailing into uncharted waters with the mandolin. The band works freely in the jam band idiom, where its jazz and rhythm experiments are embraced and encouraged. But this isn't just a good time; this is some seriously heady stuff. In fact, parking the band under the jazz umbrella is simply because jazz is the only genre with parameters elastic enough to contain it. In 2005 the band played an interpretive work along with a cinematic interpretation of Tolstoy's "How Much Land Does A Man Need?" Who knows? But Masefield knows a man can always use more mandolin. (FD)

6 p.m.: Bill Frisell Trio 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, it seems that in a live setting, 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 his listeners' buttons. Within his music, unexpected sound quotes and melodies bubble up, like Lucinda Williams' "Ventura," which wound up being Frisell's opening selection at his Kilbourn Hall appearance two years ago. 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. (FD)

6 p.m.: Mike Kaupa Quartet Big Tent

Trumpeter extraordinaire Mike Kaupa has enlivened bands in the Rochester area for decades. He's been a regular performer in the Dave Rivello Ensemble, and in a variety of groups at the Strathallan Hotel. In every setting, he has beautiful tone and the ability to produce breathtaking melodic runs. The list of stars he has performed with includes Ben Monder, Mark Murphy, Gary Bartz, Luciana Souza, Steve Gadd, and Ray Charles. (RN)

6 p.m.: Eric Alexander Trio Montage Music Hall

Saxophonist Eric Alexander's professional career started in earnest when he placed second in the 1991 Thelonious Monk Competition (behind Joshua Redman - it was quite a year). In the 18 years since then, he has recorded a staggering 27 albums as a leader and more than 100 as a sideman. Among the new generation of tenor saxophonists, none have a more muscular, assured tone than Alexander. Whether playing originals or reinventing standards like "Where or When," Alexander never fails to take wonderful excursions on every solo. (RN)

6:15 p.m.: Gap Mangione Quintet Max of Eastman Place

Growing up in Rochester, Gap Mangione and his brother Chuck were introduced to some of the greatest musicians in jazz by their father. After collaborating as The Jazz Brothers in the 1960's, they worked together on several of Chuck's landmark albums in the early 1970's. And, after Chuck's phenomenal crossover success in subsequent decades, they reunited in 2007 for Chuck's Friends & Love reunion concerts. Gap Mangione has pursued a three-pronged career, playing solo piano, and leading small groups and a big band. He's been a fixture on the Rochester music scene for five decades, delighting fans with standards and original tunes. (RN)

6:30 p.m.: Billy Bang Xerox Auditorium

Billy Bang is one of the most creative and kinetic violinists in jazz today. As anyone who has heard him electrify audiences at past RIJFs, or in his collaborations with Garth Fagan Dance knows, it's not easy to remain calm while listening to Bang play one of his long, fiery solos. He bows and plucks his way up and down the neck at a frenetic pace, somehow managing to shape magnificent solos. When Bang creates a musical vortex with his violin, it's easy to get caught up in the swirl. (RN)

6:45 p.m.: Peter King Quartet Christ Church

Peter King is a remarkable saxophone player, combining the gorgeous tone of Stan Getz with the fluid melodic lines of Charlie Parker and the wild cascades of John Coltrane. In one rare performance he played Parker's saxophone, and made it sing once again. King has worked with greats like Nat Adderley, Red Rodney, and Maynard Ferguson, and was enlisted for a European tour with Ray Charles. Because he's done most of his playing overseas you may not have heard of him, but it is no exaggeration to say King is among the greatest alto players working today. (RN)

7:15 p.m.: Jazz Mandolin Project Harro East Ballroom

See bio above.

7:15 p.m.: The Faux Frenchmen Jazz Street Stage

This band certainly isn't fake, and it's definitely not French. The Faux Frenchmen comes from Cincinnati, where the people put cinnamon in their chili. But TFF doesn't rehash, but rather swings up or gypsy-fies tunes like the theme to "Spider-Man." t's all the Hot Club-era jump and swing a la gypsy jazz's big daddy, Django Reinhardt. (FD)

7:30 p.m.: Kari Ikonen Karikko Lutheran Church of the Reformation

Finnish keyboardist Kari Ikonen creates a sort of musical infinity within his music. While the trumpet intones lonely and dark, it's Ikonen's work with MOOG, synthesizer, melodica, and piano that truly paints the soundscape. Especially in the electronic realm, he creates notes that hang like definitions of god; notes that sound as if they were always there and always will be. He boogies more expectedly on the piano, but it's the gentle splash of esoteric sounds that really complements his band's more traditional cadence and approach. Very interesting, very cool. (FD)

8 p.m.: Smokey Robinson Eastman Theatre

It would be difficult to name a late 20th-century American songwriter with more classics under his belt than Smokey Robinson. Songs like "The Tracks of My Tears," "I Second That Emotion," and "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" made Robinson's group, The Miracles, one of the most popular acts of the 1960's. But he also wrote great tunes for others - "My Girl" and "Get Ready" for the Temptations; "My Guy" for Mary Wells - to name a few. Songwriting is just one part of Robinson's greatness. Was there a more gorgeous voice in all of pop music than the one that melismatically glided through "Ooo Baby Baby"? (RN)

8:30 p.m.: Organissimo Big Tent

Organissimo injects equal shares of soul, funk, gospel, and rock, and even throws a little Latin into the mix to emerge with a fresh take on the organ trio tradition. Hammond B-3 organist Jim Alfredson met guitarist Joe Gloss when they were students at Michigan State University. Once they hooked up with drummer Randy Marsh they were on their way. Alfredson and Gloss provide an engaging interplay of organ cascades and legato guitar runs over Marsh's steady beat. (RN)

8:45 p.m.: Peter King Quartet Christ Church

See bio above.

9 p.m.: Billy Bang Xerox Auditorium

See bio above.

9:15 p.m.: The Faux Frenchmen Jazz Street Stage

See bio above.

9:30 p.m.: Kari Ikonen Karikko Lutheran Church of the Reformation

See bio above.

10 p.m.: Gap Mangione Quintet Max of Eastman Place

See bio above.

10 p.m.: Bill Frisell Trio Kilbourn Hall

See bio above.

10 p.m.: Organissimo Big Tent

See bio above.

10 p.m.: Eric Alexander Quartet Montage Music Hall

See bio above.

10:30 p.m.: Bob Sneider Trio State Street Bar & Grille

The RIJF line-up may change from year to year, but one thing remains constant. Every night, after the last notes are sounded at venues around the city, the Bob Sneider Trio hosts the jam session at the Rochester Plaza Hotel's State Street Bar and Grill. Starting at around 10:30 p.m. and heating up as the night progresses, the session has attracted some of the festival's finest musicians - Wynton Marsalis, George Benson, Jake Shimabukuro, to name a few - for after-hours jams. (RN)