The 2014 Xerox International Jazz Festival runs June 20-28, and City Newspaper will be out EVERY NIGHT of the festival, covering multiple shows. Check in first thing each morning for photos and reviews of the previous night’s entertainment, listed below by date.

For up-to-the-minute coverage of the festival follow City on Twitter (@roccitynews) and Instagram (@roccitynews) or Like us on Facebook (facebook.com/CityNewspaper).

• Free show schedule

• Meet the jazz bloggers

• Ron reviews Sun Trio, Partisans, and Holophonor

• Nicole reviews Lorraine Klaasen

• Frank reviews Roberta Gambarini, Janelle Monae, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Nikki Hill

• Ron reviews Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet, Sunna Gunnlaugs Trio, and the John Escreet/Tyshawn Sorey Duo

• Nicole reviews Ryan Dilmore

• Frank reviews Diana Panton, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, and Woody Pines

• Jake reviews Snarky Puppy

• Ron reviews Cécile McLorin Salvant, Gerald Clayton, and Euan Burton

• Jake reviews the Jon Ballantyne Trio

• Frank reviews Brubeck Brothers Quartet and Rachel Brooke Band

• Nicole shares her thoughts on Brubeck Brothers Quartet

• Photos of Harris Eisenstadt Golden State, Grupo Calle Uno

• Videos of Hot Club of Detroit, and Les Doigts de l’Homme

• Ron reviews Vijay Iyer Trio, Kari Ikonen Trio, and Julian Lage and Nels Cline

• Nicole reviews Catherine Russell

• Frank reviews Bonerama, Melissa Aldana and Crash Trio, Don Mancuso and DDrive, and Jeanne Jolly

• Ron reviews Louis Hayes & The Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band, Forever Young, and Tessa Souter

• Frank reviews The Lustre Kings, dodges the rain, and finds Lucky Peterson

• Photos of Bonerama at the Unity Health Big Tent

• Frank reviews Diane Schuur, 5Head, and Rebel Montez with Christine Ohlman’s ‘code of cool’

• Nicole reviews the Mike Stern/Bill Evans Band

• Ron reviews Warren Wolf, Brian Kellock and Tommy Smith, the Jonathan Gee Trio, and David’s Angels

• Photos from Lucky Peterson at the Big Tent

• Frank reviews Joey DeFrancesco, Buddy Guy, pops in at Party in the Park for Lucinda Williams, and then back to Jazz Fest for Selwyn Birchwood

• Ron reviews Manuel Valera, Anders Hagberg Quartet, and Ian Shaw

• Nicole reviews Cyndi Cain

• Frank reviews Bill Frisell, the Dirt Daubers

• Nicole reviews Ibrahim Electric

• Ron reviews Harold Danko, Phaedra Kwant, and The Wee Trio

• Nicole reviews Ester Rada

• Nicole reviews Norma Winstone

• Ron reviews Newport Jazz Festival All Stars, Stephanie Trick, and Scott Feiner & Pandeiro Jazz

• Frank reviews Cyrille Aimee, Joe Beard, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, and Chuck Mead and His Grassy Knoll Boys

This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2014.

2 replies on “JAZZ FEST 2014: City’s Daily Jazz Blogs”

  1. I would recommend Flat Earth Society. I saw them in Xerox last night and they play again in Lutheran tonight. Pretty large ensemble, five brass, five reeds, piano, guitar, bass, drums. A lot of rock beats, which I might in another case complain about, but the compositions and solos were really interesting. A lot of positive energy, too.

  2. The 13th Edition of the Jazz Fest was one of the best. This year many of the groups I found the most interesting were from overseas. On the last day Gwilym Simcock and the Norma Winstone Trio were both terrific. Norma Winstone is an absolutely top flight singer and this trio featuring an Italian pianist and German reeds player do more than play music, they create art. Can anyone forget Belgium’s Flat Earth Society. In the same tradition as groups like the Willem Breuker Kollektief, Pierre Dorge’s New Jungle Orchestra and the Italian Instabile Orchestra they gave us a new slant on what a big band might be. Brian Kellock and Tommy Smith from Scotland played tunes from the Great American Songbook with humor and great facility in a memorable show. The Shai Maestro Trio at the Rochester Club was great but didn’t get much press.

    Other outstanding shows were the Sun Trio from Finland, Nels Cline and Julian Lage, Harris Eisenstat’s Golden Gate, Manuel Valera, Bill Frisell and the Pat LaBarbera Quartet. Featuring his brother Joe on drums and fellow Toronto musicians on piano and bass this group was the festivals best example of what straight ahead jazz was and could be. After finishing the set, two Rochester musicians, trumpeters Clay Jenkins and Mike Cottone came on stage for two additional numbers. They sent the already 20 foot high ceilings of the Rochester Club into near earth orbit. A great set.

    Can’t quit without mentioning Cecile McLoren Salvant and Vijay Iyer. Both played great sets and proved they are artists who are redefining their genres and bringing original voices to the music we call jazz.

    There were other show I liked and I am sure many outstanding acts I couldn’t fit into my schedule. Anyone have other favorites to add?

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