THURSDAY, JUNE 18

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.: Alex Acuna 3 Harro East Ballroom

Acuna takes traditional Latin rhythms and gives them a contemporary boost. Peruvian percussionist Alex Acuna first came to the States in 1964 as a member of Perez Prado's band. Acuna split his time between Prado and studio work before joining Weather Report as a drummer and percussionist. He has recorded with Ella Fitzgerald, Chick Corea, Paco de Lucia, Joni Mitchell, and Lee Ritenour. His current outfit is straight-up Latin jazz with a little funk in the trunk. (FD)

6 p.m.: Monty Alexander Trio Kilbourn Hall

As a teenager, pianist Monty Alexander was already playing clubs in his native Jamaica with his band, Monty and the Cyclones. After touring the United States with Ray Brown, he began to build a reputation as an exciting pianist in his own right. By the mid-1960's he had earned his own recording contract. Since then he has recorded more than 60 albums, many of which explore reggae and calypso music, and other aspects of his Caribbean and Jamaican roots. (RN)

6 p.m.: Ryan Shaw Montage Music Hall

Ryan Shaw takes a break from touring with Brit-soul babe Joss Stone to rock with us for just one evening. But that may be all it takes to rejuvenate and resuscitate your faith in r&b. Hailing and wailing out of Decatur, Georgia, Shaw digs deep from the genre's classic era, when r&b actually meant rhythm and blues and had plenty of both. Shaw sings creamy smooth, with lofty forays into the clouds that will make you tingle. Wilson Pickett and Jackie Wilson may be gone, but it's comforting to know someone's still doing their work down here. (FD)

6 p.m.: Clay Jenkins & Friends Big Tent

Early in his career trumpeter Clay Jenkins played in the bands of Stan Kenton, Harry James, Buddy Rich, and Count Basie. Currently a member of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, he has recorded with Milt Jackson, Diana Krall, Ray Brown, and many others. A professor at the Eastman School of Music, Jenkins has also played with the school's jazz bands. In an Eastman performance a few years ago he brought the house down tackling Miles Davis' challenging parts in "Miles Ahead." (RN)

6 p.m.: Brockport Community Big Band Jazz Street Stage

6:15 p.m.: Susan Pereira & Sabor Brasil Max of Eastman Place

Though vocalist, pianist, and percussionist Susan Pereira infuses contemporary jazz into more intense Brazilian jazz, the sound is still rhythmically dedicated and sexy. A native of New York, Pereira and her group have ruled the Brazilian music scene in Gotham since the band's inception in 1983. Pereira's piano attack is bright and percussive, as is her vocal style, which she peppers with rapid-fire Portuguese and scat. (FD)

6:30 p.m.: Joe Baione Quartet Xerox Auditorium

Whether he's playing blues or bop, vibraphonist Joe Baione swings hard. He's capable of attacking the bars with lightning speed or slow, deliberate languor, but the common denominator is precision. Growing up in a musical family in Delaware, Baione was influenced by his father and two older brothers, all of whom were musicians. He also absorbed what he could by listening to the greats on his instrument. Later, he was aided in his education by veteran jazz producer, Todd Barkan, who produced his album. (RN)

6:45 p.m.: Tony Kofi Quartet Christ Church

Saxophonist Tony Kofi has seen to it that the English have no shortage of hard-bop edginess. Sounding as if he has absorbed all of the lessons of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," Kofi has taken it from there. And he's got the chops to pull it off. In terms of repertoire, when he's not playing originals, Kofi is partial to Thelonious Monk. After studying sax in England, Kofi enrolled in Boston's Berklee College of Music. Since then he's worked with Branford Marsalis, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Queen Latifah, and a host of others. (RN)

7:15 p.m.: Music Educators Big Band Jazz Street Stage

7:15 p.m.: Alex Acuna 3 Harro East Ballroom

See bio above.

7:30 p.m.: Nils Petter Molvaer Group Lutheran Church of the Reformation

Nils Petter Molvaer is the trumpeter for the apocalypse. His music is breathtakingly ambient as it explores sound spaces as intimate as the womb and as far-reaching as the heavens. It's narcotic and soothing, yet there are still elements there to provoke and evoke. Those of you who ordinarily shy away from the weird will be able to get your head around this a little easier. (FD)

8 p.m.: Michael McDonald Eastman Theatre

Michael McDonald joined The Doobie Brothers in 1975 as a replacement for the group's pianist. It wasn't long before his gruff vocals had become a large part of the group's trademark sound. McDonald also came up with a fresh syncopated style of songwriting that spawned hits like "What A Fool Believes" and "Minute By Minute." After leaving the Doobies, he embarked on a successful solo career with more hits, including "I Keep Forgettin'." In recent years McDonald has entered a third phase of his career as an interpreter of the great Motown song book and other r&b classics. (RN)

8:30 p.m.: KJ Denhert Big Tent

This lady lays it on pretty intense for someone who sites Joni Mitchell and James Taylor as major influences. When she isn't singing sweet, just dig the pops and snaps, twings and twangs of her progressive, aggressive acoustic guitar attack. A self-professed urban/folk/jazz artis, Denhert first hit the scene as lead guitarist in the all-female band Fire. She has lived in New York City since 1997, and she holds a residency at The 55 Bar and plays in The New York Unit as well. (FD)

8:45 p.m.: Tony Kofi Quartet Christ Church

See bio above.

9 p.m.: Joe Baione Quartet Xerox Auditorium

See bio above.

9:15 p.m.: Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra Jazz Street Stage

9:30 p.m.: Nils Petter Molvaer Group Lutheran Church of the Reformation

See bio above.

10 p.m.: KJ Denhert Big Tent

See bio above.

10 p.m.: Monty Alexander Trio Kilbourn Hall

See bio above.

10 p.m.: Ryan Shaw Montage Music Hall

See bio above.

10 p.m.: Susan Pereira & Sabor Brasil Max of Eastman Place

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)