The 2010 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival prominently features Eastman School of Music students, faculty, and alumni in the nine-day celebration in downtown Rochester. Held in the area surrounding Eastman’s campus on Gibbs Street, colloquially known as “Jazz Street” during the festival, the 2010 XRIJF will envelop Rochester’s East End in bebop, hardbop, latin, swing, and modern jazz.
Dave Rivello, a professor, arranger, composer, conductor, and director of the award-winning Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, conducts The Dave Rivello Ensemble on Friday, June 11, at 6 p.m. in the Verizon Wireless Club Pass Big Tent. Formed in 1993 as a vehicle for original works, the Dave Rivello Ensemble features a rhythm section, three reeds, six brass, including flugelhorn and tuba. Referred to as “dreaming in color,” Rivello’s music encompasses the jazz tradition and modern classical music, creating a unique blend of improvisation and notation. Trumpeter Mike Kaupa, featured soloist in the Dave Rivello Ensemble and faculty member at the Eastman Community Music School, performs a noontime concert with his own group on Wednesday, June 16, at the Central Library of Rochester.
Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media, early-jazz guru, and pianist Dariusz Terefenko (MM ’98, MA ’03, Ph.D. ’04) performs with the Smugtown Stompers on the S.S. Mary Jemison boat cruise on the Genesee River both Saturday, June 12, and Sunday, June 13, at 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. The Smugtown Stompers specialize in early-jazz repertoire with an emphasis on tunes written or recorded before 1930, including stomps, one-steps, two-steps, cakewalks, ragtime, blues, and popular songs.
Guitarist Graham Keir (BM ’10) celebrates his 2010 DOWNBEAT magazine Jazz Soloist Award on the City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage on Sunday, June 13, at 6 p.m. Trio Slaye, a contemporary trio comprised of pianist Chris Ziemba (BM ’09, MM), bassist Dave Baron (BM ’10), and drummer Kevin McDonald (BM ’10), will accompany Keir for the evening. Both Baron and McDonald perform twice on Tuesday, June 15: first in a noontime set at the Central Library of Rochester with pianist Matt Valerio (BM ’08) and then with Trio Slaye in the piano trio’s own set in the Verizon Wireless Club Pass Big Tent on Tuesday, June 15, at 6 p.m.
The award-winning Eastman Jazz Ensemble, conducted and directed by Professor Bill Dobbins, will feature saxophonist Dave Glasser (MM ’86) in its performance Monday, June 14, at 7 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Both the Eastman Jazz Ensemble and the Eastman Community Music School’s Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra perform in the concert, which recognizes Eastman Community Music School students who are receiving RIJF/Eastman School of Music scholarships. This year two high school seniors, saxophonist Erik Stabnau and guitarist Alex Patrick, are receiving the scholarships to continue their jazz studies at the Eastman School this fall.
Dobbins and his piano trio, featuring bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Rich Thompson, an associate professor at Eastman, perform on Tuesday, June 15, at Max of Eastman Place with sets at 6:15 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thompson, former drummer for the Count Basie Orchestra, also performs alongside Dobbins and his son, Evan Dobbins (MM ’94), in the Rick Holland/Evan Dobbins Little Big Band’s performance on Monday, June 14, at 6 p.m. in the Verizon Wireless Club Pass Big Tent; trumpeters Jeff Ostroski (MM ’06) and doctoral student David Hart (MM ’06), trombonist Nick Finzer (BM ’09), graduate student saxophonist Doug Stone, bassist Dave Baron (BM ’10), and doctoral saxophonist Mike Pendowski are featured in the Little Big Band. Thompson’s exhaustive performance schedule this year also includes a night with John Pizzarelli and the Woody Herman Orchestra on Wednesday, June 16, in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre at 8 p.m.
Eastman Community Music School ensembles led by Howard Potter, Bob Sneider, Jose Encarnacion, and Mike Kaupa, along with the Community School’s New Horizons Big Band and Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra, perform throughout this year’s XRIJF on the City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage. Since its establishment in 2002, the Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra, the Community School’s premier jazz ensemble, has received numerous accolades from the Essentially Ellington International Competition based at Lincoln Center. Guitarist and former Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra member Gabe Condon, a sophomore at Eastman and an honoree in DOWNBEAT magazine’s 2010 Student Music Awards issue, performs with his sextet Tuesday, June 15, at 6 p.m. on the City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage. Condon’s set features sophomore drummer Jeff Krol, sophomore bassist Matt Krol, doctoral pianist Nick Weiser (MM’10), junior saxophonist Ted Taforo, and doctoral trumpeter Mike Van Bebber and will include arrangements of compositions from Hank Mobley’s album “Soul Station.”
Honored during Eastman’s recent commencement proceedings as recipient of the Raymond and Maxine Schirmer Prize in Jazz Performance, saxophonist Will Cleary (MM ’10) appears on the City of Rochester Jazz Street Stage on Monday, June 14, at 6 p.m. Cleary’s performance features doctoral trumpeter Mike Van Bebber, doctoral pianist Nick Weiser (MM ’10), bassist Kyle Vock (MM ’10), and drummer Kevin McDonald (BM ’10); arrangements and original compositions will include works influenced by Horace Silver and Art Blakey.
After performing last fall in a concert celebrating the musical legacy of his father, and Eastman alumnus, Gerry Niewood to help establish the Gerry Niewood Memorial Scholarship, saxophonist Adam Niewood and his quartet perform Wednesday, June 16, at Max of Eastman Place with sets at 6:15 pm and 10 p.m.
The Po Boys Brass Band, performing for the second year in a row, this year promote their album Bone Break at their performance Friday, June 18, on the Jazz Street Stage at 7:15 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. The Po Boys play original charts and inventive covers, conjuring up anything from Stevie Wonder and Tower of Power to Led Zeppelin and Edgar Winter. “Founded by a bunch of trombone players