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Swinging into the city with the summer heat, the Rochester International Jazz Festival begins its 22nd year today.
The festival, in partnership with Rochester Regional Health this year, draws thousands to downtown Rochester and is expected to feature over 285 performances, including 110 free shows, workshops, and jam sessions. The Jazz Fest ends on June 28.
Once again, the Rochester Beacon plans to cover the Jazz Fest, featuring some performances and artists. If you’re looking for a place to start, here are a few artists to watch.
Sullivan Fortner
Kicking off the festival on Day 1 is Grammy-winning Sullivan Fortner at Hatch Recital Hall. He plays one of the first shows at 5:45 pm. It’s hard to go wrong with Fortner, whose rhythmic post-bop interpretations on solo piano are mesmerizing.
Backed by the traditions of his home New Orleans, Fortner’s mastery of meter, harmony and impulse come together to create performances that evoke a joyful and curious spirit. If you’d rather see his piano skills backed by more jazz musicians, you’re in luck because he’s playing again with his trio the next day (June 21) at Max of Eastman Place.
Performance: June 20
Venue: Hatch Recital Hall Eastman School of Music
Time: 5:45 p.m., 7:45 p.m.
Tickets: $30/door or club pass
Sasha Berliner Quartet
Vibraphonist Sasha Berliner and her quartet take the Inn on Broadway on Saturday, June 21. Berliner highlights the often-overlooked vibraphone with melodic and exhilarating compositions. The artist got her start as a rock drummer, but after picking up the vibraphone in high school, it has become her life passion, which is present in the adventurous and genre-bending directions Berliner takes her music.
As the youngest musician to win the Downbeat Critics’ Poll category for “Rising Star — Vibraphone” in 2020, Berliner is just getting started as one of the most exciting new jazz vibraphonists. And with her best album yet, “Fantome,” under her belt, she is sure to wow the Rochester Jazz Fest audience.
Performance: June 21
Venue: Inn on Broadway
Time: 5:30 p.m., 7:45 p.m.
Tickets: $30/door or club pass
Bruce Barth & Eri Yamamoto
Sunday has both the legendary modal jazz pianist Bill Evans with his VansBand Allstars crew, and the Afro-Cuban group Okan, who return to the Jazz Fest following their amazing 2023 performance. Both are exciting acts, but what is even more exciting is the return of Bruce Barth & Eri Yamamoto, who played a duet performance that blew us away at the festival in 2023.
Barth and Yamamoto form a duo that complements each other perfectly. Yamamoto came to the United States in 1995 from Osaka, Japan, to join the jazz program at New School University, where she swiftly found a unique, powerful and distinct voice in her piano style. Barth is defined by his versatile and harmony-rich cinematic compositions, making him the perfect support for Yamamoto’s voice. Yamamoto, in return, supports the imaginative directions he takes throughout his pieces. When they are together, they are the pinnacle of jazz fusion—a duo that left the audience stunned when they were last at Rochester Jazz Fest.
Performance: June 22
Venue: Hatch Recital Hall, Eastman School of Music
Time: 5:45 p.m., 7:45 p.m.
Tickets: $30/door or club pass
Mike Stern Band
If you’re looking for an electrifying start to your week, an evening with Mike Stern delivers pure, high-voltage jazz. A professional guitarist for over 50 years, Stern’s work knows no boundaries in depth and innovation, melding classical jazz technique with rock-star power, bebop’s speed, and the smoothness of the blues. The six-time Grammy nominee has collaborated with musicians including Blood, Sweat, and Tears, the Becker Bros, and Miles Davis, and in 2012 was presented with Guitar Magazine’s Certified Legends Award. While an injury to his right wrist in 2016 left Stern with nerve damage that threatened his ability to even hold a pick, immense work in physical therapy strengthened the musician to a steady comeback, culminating in his projects “Trip” (2017) and “Eleven” (2019) shortly thereafter.
As a chameleon of his craft and one of the most esteemed guitarists of his generation, Stern brings his canon of jazz fusion to the Theater at Innovation Square on Monday, June 23.
Performance: June 23
Venue: Theater at Innovation Square
Time: 6:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m.
Tickets: $30/door or club pass
John McKenna Resonant Structures
Amid the Jazz Festival’s sea of saxophones, trumpets, and keyboards, one may not expect to hear the shining call of a Resonant Structure Instrument on full display. You may not know what an RSI is either. Not to worry—John McKenna Resonant Structures has the answers.
The McKenna quartet, consisting of McKenna, Jim Robitaille, Tom Casale and Hugh Sicotte, presents jazz standards and original compositions featuring these Resonant Structure Instruments: water jet cut aluminum pieces synthesized through McKenna’s work with structural forms and environmental impact. Paired with a shared interest in modular synthesis and electroacoustics, the group meshes classic jazz instrumentation with more experimental soundscapes, creating a unique and delightful experience fit for the festival. Bring your ears, your curiosity, and get ready for a captivating evening of sonics, science, and structures.
Performance: June 24
Venue: Montage Music Hall
Time: 6 p.m., 9:30 p.m.
Tickets: $30/door or club pass
Shebad
No matter what chaos surrounds them, music is always the answer for Shebad. Formed by vocalist Claire Voy and multi-instrumentalist Ciccio Spagnolo, the Guelph-based musical project aims to bring contemporary artistry to the next age of indie soul: exploring electronic synthesis, modern jazz-rock, and themes of human connection, identity and spirituality. The five-piece ensemble seamlessly blends lines of funk, fusion, and more intimate soul melodies, treating both the ears and the spirit to their rich array of arrangements.
Off the recent release of their debut album “Music is the Answer”, Shebad brings its tour to Rochester on Wednesday, June 24, ready and steady to spin its new wave of sound to a wider world at the 2025 Jazz Festival.
Performance: June 25
Venue: The Duke
Time: 7:30 p.m., 9:45 p.m.
Tickets: $30/door or club pass
Salami Rose Joe Louis
A woman of many names (four, to be exact), Salami Rose Joe Louis is also a woman of many hats. As the producer, musician, and composer of her work, Louis is a storyteller above all: all three of three fates holding the strings to the tapestry of her sonic design.
Her lengthy discography travels intergalactically across genre and stylization—ambience, electronic-funk-jazz, experimentalism—all while centering her soft vocals and trusty Roland MV8800 synthesizer, “Funfunfun.” Louis’ most recent work, 2025’s “Lorings,” turns her focus from cosmological science-fiction to a new world of internal contemplation, maintaining and even elevating her depth and body of work.
With Louis, you never know what to expect. However, you know it’s going to be good. For the Jazz Festival, she enters the terrain of live performance with her quartet at her right hand and ingenuity at the left, and is prepared to give Rochester a show.
Performance: June 26
Venue: The Duke
Time: 7:30 p.m., 9:45 p.m.
Tickets: $30/door or club pass
The String Queens
The indefinable String Queens center coherence, rhythm, beauty, and most importantly, soul within their baroque jazz-pop. Frequent performers at the Kennedy Center in D.C., the String Queens channel their deep appreciation of music as music educators to create a performance style that weaves together string arrangements of familiar pop tunes, jazz staples, and classics from the baroque era.
Just as impressive as their talents in arrangement and string performance is the infectious, life-affirming messaging they underline, creating a singular voice for hope and peace. These expressive musicians will play at Innovation Square on Friday, June 27.
Performance: June 27
Venue: Theater at Innovation Square
Time: 6:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m.
Tickets: $30/door or club pass
Doreen Ketchens New Orleans Jazz
Closing out the festival with performances on June 27 and June 28, Doreen Ketchens is sure to pack the heat of New Orleans as she makes her debut at the Rochester Jazz Festival. A clarinetist like you’ve never heard before, Ketchens effortlessly blends the soul and grit of her city with classically based training, and was recently awarded a doctorate from Five Towns College in 2022. She’s performed for presidents, at the Kennedy Center, and of course around the vibrant streets of New Orleans, where she got her start. Ketchens is joined by her husband, Lawrence Ketchens II (a multi-instrumentalist), and daughter Dorian Ketchens on the drums, each dazzling musicians in their own right.
Together, they form an unstoppable family trio and invigorating ensemble—one that will have you moving, grooving, and feeling the music deep in your soul. You have three chances to catch the Ketchens before they’re gone, so be sure to make a stop for their performances.
Performance: June 27, June 28
Venue: Rochester Regional Health Big Tent (June 27), Kilbourn Hall (June 28)
Time: 8:30 p.m. (June 27), 6:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m. (June 28)
Tickets: $30/door or club pass
Free shows, headliner series, jam sessions, and workshops
Along with the paid “Club Pass Series” shows, the Rochester Jazz Fest also features free shows throughout the nine-day event, including jazz bands from local high schools and universities, as well as Rochester-based groups. These are always some of the best shows, especially since many of them are community-driven and held outdoors. The free headliner series at Parcel 5 will also host some of the festival’s best crowd-pleasers like the anthemic jazz pop trombonist Trombone Shorty, jazz-funk band Lettuce, and more. Free jazz workshops occur every day from 1-2:30 p.m., and jam sessions every night after 10:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency.
To plan your schedule at the festival, find more information on performances, and purchase tickets, download the official Rochester International Jazz Festival app. For the Beacon’s Jazz Fest coverage, click here.
Alex Holly is a student at the University of Rochester and a member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort. Jess Williams is a Beacon contributing writer and former intern.
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