Rochester jazz fest lineup: From big names to rising stars
Let's start at the end: The final day of the CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival will feature a free show at Parcel 5 sure to bring out the funk.
On Saturday, June 29, the last of the nine days of the festival, Parcel 5 will be the site of a 50th anniversary celebration of a legendary funk album, "Rejuvenation," from the group The Meters.
The concert will include some of the original band members, along with Ivan Neville, who grew up with the Cajun-ripe musical influences of his family, the Neville Brothers.
The musical foundation of the group will be a modern funk ensemble from New Orleans, Dumpastaphunk.
This act was one of the many — 326 shows to be exact — unveiled at the annual festival's lineup reveal news conference Tuesday. And the festival, in its 21st year, will again include a "hybrid" schedule, with major ticketed shows at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre and free shows at Parcel 5.
Coming out of Covid
As is the norm, the lineup has musical tastes for everyone, from traditional jazz to the singular distinct sounds of Nordic jazz, from roots Americana to rhythm and blues.
While it's hard to say much positive arose from the pandemic, the hybrid concept is an exception.
In 2022, its first year back after the pandemic's onset, the festival scrapped the annual Eastman shows and instead had its major acts at Parcel 5, concerts that were financially bolstered by pandemic arts funding. The Parcel 5 free shows, which attract thousands, continue this year, and the Kodak Hall shows have again returned.
Among other free shows at Parcel 5 are Sheila E., who was a collaborator with the late musical genius Prince, and her E-Train band, and Los Lonely Boys, the longtime band with a boisterous Texas blues and Tejano blend.
Read This: Highland Park reservoir broke EPA rules. It was never covered for drinking water safety. Why?
What else at Rochester Jazz fest?
In other festival news:
The Islandic-Chinese jazz singer Laufey, who will be at Kodak Hall June 26, may well be one of the biggest coups, if not the biggest, in the festival's two-decade history. Laufey has sold out Radio City Music Hall and the Hollywood Bowl and took all of 18 minutes to sell out her Eastman show. (For those wondering, it's pronounced Lay-Vay.)
Guitarist extraordinaire Stanley Jordan will bring his Jimi Hendrix show to the Temple Theater on June 21. This is not a cover tribute, but a reimagining of Jimi's music with Jordan's jazz chops. Whereas, for instance, others revived "Little Wing" with stinging electricity — Stevie Ray Vaughan, we're remembering you — Jordan layers the song with a nuanced subtlety.
Speaking of guitarists, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram will headline another free show, on June 22 at the City of Rochester-sponsored stage at East Avenue and Chestnut Street. Ingram, whose popularity was born from YouTube videos when he was a teen, finds the sweet spot between blues guitarists who are incendiary and those who are skillfully delicate, wresting emotion from single notes.
The festival lineup is again rich with international flavors. Among the choices: the vibrant Latin sounds of Sofrito Latin Jazz Quintet, which will be at a new venue, the Inn on Broadway, on June 22; the Oddgeir Berg Trio June 25 show at Christ Church, a contemplative jazz composition constructed around the history of the small Norwegian island of Rolla, where 900 people live; and the jazz and bluesy vocals of Ekep Nkwelle, a Cameroonian-American who will be at Max of Eastman Place June 26. (The other new festival venue is The Duke at Sibley Square.)
Three-day and nine-day club passes are still available. The festival ticket office will move to Kilbourn Hall this year because of work at its usual East Avenue site. Tickets for headliner shows and Club Passesare available at rochesterjazz.com/tickets or by calling (585) 454-2060.
More information, and an entire festival lineup, is available at rochesterjazz.com.
Gary Craig is a veteran reporter with the Democrat and Chronicle, covering courts and crime and, for occasional peace of mind, the arts. He and his daughter once successfully accepted the challenge of making it to every Jazz Festival club venue for music in a single evening.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester jazz fest lineup 2024: From big names to rising stars
