Eastman School of Music musicians — current students, faculty, staff, and alumni as well as students and faculty from the Eastman Community Music School (ECMS) — will be appearing in more than two dozen shows during the 2014 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival (XRIJF).
This year’s festival runs June 20 through 28 at 18 venues, most of them within a short walking distance of the School’s campus on Gibbs Street — which gets renamed “Jazz Street” during the event.
Every year since the festival was launched in 2002, jazz guitarist Bob Sneider and his trio close out each night with a jam session at 10:30 p.m. at the Rochester Plaza State St. Bar & Grill. He continues that tradition this year, and double bassist Jeff Campbell will be joining the group on June 24 and 25. Underscoring why he’s been dubbed “the hardest-working guy at the jazz festival,” Sneider is adding host duties for the Jazz Workshops for Aspiring Music Students with international musicians performing at XRIJF. The five workshops will be held June 23 through 27 at 1 p.m. in the Ray Wright Room (Room 120) in the Eastman School of Music (ESM).
Jazz fans will be able to catch Sneider, Campbell, and other Eastman musicians throughout the Festival and on different stages:
Friday, June 20:
— ECMS Mike Kaupa Combo and Paul Hoffman Combo, 6 p.m., Jazz Street Stage
— Holophonor, a group formed at the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and which includes Mike Cottone, trumpet, 6:15 and 10 p.m., Max of Eastman Place
Saturday, June 21:
— Bill Dobbins, piano, plays the music of Dave Brubeck, 5:45 and 7:45 p.m., Hatch Recital Hall
— Bob Sneider Jazz Combo and Mike Kaupa RCSD Combo, 6 p.m., Jazz Street Stage
Sunday, June 22:
— ESM Jazz Honors Unit 1, Jimmy Robbins Jazz Sextet, Jimmy Roberts, trombone; Gomeh Barak, trumpet; Evan Burrus – saxophone; Emiliano Lasansky, bass; Eric Metzgar, drums, 6 p.m., Jazz Street stage
— Saxophonist Dave Glasser & Friends, including Bill Dobbins, piano, and Rich Thompson, drums, 6 and 10 p.m., Rochester Club
Monday, June 23:
— John Nyerges, piano, Noon, Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County
— Jazz Workshop for Aspiring Music Students, John Sneider, trumpet, 1 p.m., Ray Wright Room (Room 120, Main Building)
— ESM Jazz Honors Unit 2, Wendy Eisenberg Earth Science. Wendy Eisenberg, guitar; Aaron Staebell, drums; Tyrone Allen II, bass; Brandon Choi, trumpet; Andrew Links, keyboard, 6 p.m., Jazz Street Stage
— ESM-XRIJF Gerry Niewood Jazz Scholarships Concert, 8 p.m., Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra directed by Howard Potter; Eastman Jazz Ensemble directed by Bill Dobbins, with special guest John Sneider.
Tuesday, June 24:
— Gabe Condon, guitar, Noon, Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County
— New Horizons Big Band, 6 p.m. Jazz Street Stage
— Peter Bernstein & Friends, including Bob Sneider, 7 and 9:15 p.m., Rochester Club
Wednesday, June 25:
— ESM-XRIJF Jazz Scholarship Alumni, 6 p.m. Jazz Street Stage
— Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra, 7 p.m., Jazz Street Stage
— New Horizons Vintage Jazz Band, 8 p.m., Jazz Street Stage
— Music Educators Big Band, 9 p.m., Jazz Street Stage
— Bertoncini/Jenkins/Sturm (Clay Jenkins, trumpet), 7 and 9:15 p.m., Little Theatre
Thursday, June 26:
— ECMS Saxology I and Saxology II, 6 p.m., Jazz Street Stage
Friday, June 27:
— Harold Danko, piano, 5:45 and 7:45 p.m., Hatch Recital Hall
— ECMS Latin Jazz and Junior Jazz, 6 p.m., Jazz Street Stage
— The Wee Trio, with bassist Dan Loomis and drummer Jared Schonig, 7 and 9:15 p.m., Little Theatre
Saturday, June 28:
— ESM Jazz Honors Unit 3, Gomeh Barak Quintet, Gomeh Barak,trumpet, Adler Scheidt, guitar, Clayton Farris, piano, Evan Burrus, saxophone, Emiliano Lasansky, bass, Joe Parker, drums, 6 p.m., Jazz Street Stage
— The Wee Trio, with bassist Dan Loomis and drummer Jared Schonig, 6 and 10 p.m., The Rochester Club Groove Nights Series
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