Downtown, the storm surge from the Rochester International Jazz Festival has ebbed, and things are getting back to normal. This year's stats: 125,000 people attended. All 3200 club passes sold out. Al Green concert: a near sell-out. Reggae Night pulled about 10,000 people.

There has been grousing that the festival had too many non-jazz acts. But RIJF's John Nugent isn't the only jazz-festival promoter who mixes genres. "It's world wide," he says.

In fact, RIJF headliner Al Green will be at this year's Montreal Jazz Festival and the JVC Jazz Festival in New York City. "You've got to bring all styles of music in under the auspices of a jazz festival to make the nut," Nugent said in an interview last week. "If you don't, you're going to die. And if you don't have the sponsorship and the government support, you're going to die."

"It's not for the faint of heart, trying to put this thing together," he said. "There are a lot of Pepto-Bismol nights.

RIJF was actually heavy on jazz. Of the 95 bands profiled in City's Jazz Festival Guide, 69 were what writers here consider "jazz." Fifteen others, including Al Green and Billy's Band, were acts we think are "jazz-compatible." (You can see our calculations online - and post your own assessments - at rochestercitynewspaper.com.)

Here are some other Nugent thoughts from last week's interview (tightened up for this article).

On determining the number of Club Passes: We don't want to over-sell the airline, so to speak. We leave it with 60 per cent of the house for passes and the rest with walk-ups, depending on availability. Some shows will be more heavily attended than others.

On Rochester as a jazz town: Rochester's audience has a reputation as being very caring and listening and accepting. You know, bands come here from Scandinavia. They've never set foot in the United States, and they've got 700 people listening to them for their first set ever. It freaks them out.

On his dream line-up: Stevie Wonder and Van Morrison on the same bill. Where the hell am I going to fit them all? We're not in the rock arena with our event. It has to be proportioned to the venues you're doing. If Tom Golisano said, "Here's $2 million to do something at the airport and make it free," yeah, I'd bring in all the big names you could think. Hell, why not? It'd be fun, not without its headaches. Look, we're realistic here.

On planning the ratio of jazz to non-jazz artists: I would just say it's a feeling of... it's a blend of all styles of creative, improvised music. And of course the emphasis is on creative jazz. The core of the festival is creative jazz with a salute to historical jazz, to post-bop, to hard bop, to big band, to modern, to experimental. So it's all forms of creative improvised music, in my opinion.

On the Next Big Thing, out of this year's line-up: Definitely Jake Shimabukuro; totally unknown guy, a little buzz, and boom: he's a superstar and a virtuoso. I mean, there were 700 people who couldn't get in to hear the guy. He's gone down to New York to record with Nora Jones. So we'll bring him back next year, hopefully, and put him in a bigger venue.

On adding a British series next year: Christ Church has its roots in the Church of England. And if we get the funding from the British Arts Council, why wouldn't we do it? Money talks, and it makes a difference in how you program.

On who he's tried to get but couldn't: We've talked to Van Morrison many times, and we try every year. I've been trying to get Keith Jarrett for several years, and it hasn't worked out. James Hunter was booked, but he bailed to do something else. It's kinda like Keno; you pick your numbers and hope your number comes up.

On what comes next: "I'm going to go fly fishing in Northern Canada. I'm hoping to stand on my favorite rock that I go to every year. I liken my year of work to a fish that goes to sea and comes back to spawn and rejuvenate. So I'm just going to go up and meditate and reflect on everything and take all the suggestions people have been throwing at me. I do know one thing: the dates are June 12th through the 20th. There will be an eighth International Jazz Festival." 

How much jazz was there in this year's Rochester International Jazz Festival?

We did our own calculations and found a lot. Here's our breakdown of the 94 acts we profiled in our pre-festival guide. Agree? Disagree? We welcome your comments.

Jazz: 69 acts

Al Foster Quartet

Alison Brown Quartet

Amina Figarova Sextet

The Bad Plus

Barbara Dennerlein Duo

Beady Belle

Ben Britton Band

Ben Riley's Monk Legacy Septet

Bill Tiberio Band

Bob Sneider Trio

Catherine Russell

Cindy Blackman Quartet

Crittenden

David Liebman Quartet

Dave Rivello Ensemble

Dave Samuels Caribbean Jazz Project

David Murray's Black Saint Quartet

Dee Dee Bridgewater's "A Malian Journey"

Dharma Jazz

Djabe

Eddie Daniels Quartet

Frank Sinatra, Jr. & His Orchestra

Gillespiana - Tribute to Dizzy Gillespie

Henderson-Owens Trio featuring Dr. Lonnie Smith

Herb Smith

Howard Alden

Iro Haarla Quintet

Jacky Terrasson

Jacob Anderskov

Jae Sinnett Quartet

Jake Shimabukuro

JazzKamikaze

Joe & Pat LaBarbera

Joe Locke & Friends

John Beck Trio featuring Mike Cottone

John Scofield Band

Juliet Lloyd

Kevin Breit w/ Dawn Thompson

Kris Davis Quartet

Kristian Blak's Yggdrasil

Lou Donaldson Quartet

Michael Blake's Blake Tartare

Miguel Zenon Quartet

Music Music Music

Nate Rawls Big Band

NeoCollage

New Energy Jazz Orchestra

New Horizons Big Band

Ola Kvernberg Trio

Rachel Z

Richard Bona Band

Robi Botos Trio

Robin McKelle

Rochester Jazz @ The Philharmonic "Celebrating The Jam Session"

Sachal Vasadani

Shirantha Beddage Quartet

Slide Hampton & Friends

Sliding Hammers

Soul Rebels Brass Band

Spam Allstars

Supergenerous w/ Cyro Baptista

Taylor Eigsti & Julian Lage

Tierney Sutton Band

Tim Blane

Timo Lassy Band

Todd Londagin

Trio East

Wildbirds & Peacedrums

The Yellowjackets

Jazz Fest Friendly: 15 acts

Al Green

Beaucoup Blue

Billy's Band

Blue Vipers of Brooklyn

Carolyn Wonderland

Denis Parker & Scott Goudie's Rowdy Blues

Downchild Blues Band

Guy Barker & Ian Shaw

Medeski Martin & Wood

The Nighthawks

Saturday Night Fish Fry

Soul Stew

Soulive

Stephanie McKay

Wild Magnolias

Outside of jazz realm: 10 acts

Boz Scaggs

The Buddhahood

Cross Canadian Ragweed

Devon Allman's Honeytribe

Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers

Joe Bonamassa

John Viviani & Filthy Funk

The Kentucky Headhunters

The Skatalites

Third World