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Day 5 marked the halfway point for the 2025 Rochester International Jazz Festival. The celebration showed no sign of stopping.
My exploration of Tuesday’s activities began with the Laura Dubin Trio at the Inn on Broadway, a highly anticipated performance with regard to Dubin’s technical skill and Rochester background. Not only has she performed at the Jazz Fest five times in separate seasons, but she also reflects on watching its shows as she grew up in the area.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” she shared mid-set after introducing a piece by Ray Thompson, an artist she’d seen perform in the city back in her high school years.
With Dubin at the keys, joined by a bassist and Dubin’s husband, Antonio Guerrero, on drums, the trio took their spin on a broad range of tunes, ranging from Great American Songbook selections to traditional jazz, classical pieces, and original compositions. Not only is Dubin a well-seasoned performer, but she and Guerrero have also released 11 self-produced albums in their almost 11 years of marriage.
While previous sentiment compared the festival’s jazz to a conversation, Dubin’s felt more like a dance. In isolation, she flitted diligently between the highs and lows of the piano, precise and always in motion. As she twirled her right hand to a flutter of arpeggios and eloquent riffings, her left hand kept time as if an entirely different mind: grounded in its structure and melody, rather than its intricate movement. With the band at Dubin’s side, the trio came alive and came to full fruition: nutty bass tones and the well-refreshing swing of the drumset.
Above all, the show was satisfying. The audience would chuckle when a familiar melody—such as Irving Berlin’s “Putting on the Ritz”—came to play, before morphing into what seemed to be a different tune entirely. Chord resolutions, although reserved for endings and melody callbacks, were relieving as ever. Dubin’s music delights me in how it subverts the classical, wandering the imagination instead of what’s precisely written on the page.
There were entire pieces I recognized by name, yet not by sound, which was the fun of the hour. There were pieces I didn’t recognize at all, including an original tune inspired by Vienna’s Ringstrasse boulevard and the traditional Viennese waltz, yet felt comfortingly familiar in their kindly warped adaptation of classic styles.
In the sunlit space of the Inn’s second floor, Dubin’s arrangements and the warm ambience of the room were reminiscent of bar jazz: walking up to the pianist with your favorite tune and a $10 bill with the giddy joy of finding your piece revitalized at the hands of the artist. I, for one, couldn’t be happier to be at the table.
Speaking of tables, if there’s one call louder than music at the Jazz Fest, it’s hunger. Especially with the heat, the best way to enjoy your visit is to stay rested, stay hydrated, and stay (comfortably) full. Dipping just a few streets down from the festivities, I stopped at Chick’n Out for a quick bite (of, you’d never guess it—chicken) and a break from the noise. If you’re downtown for the festival, it’s the perfect time to explore nearby local restaurants and support the community. Particularly as an unexpectedly free order of parmesan fries landed on my table and paired wonderfully well with my sandwich, Chick’n Out is a personally certified great place to start.

The next stop of the evening was down at the Jazz Street Stage: the Music Educators Big Band directed by Bill Tiberio. A conductor at the University of Rochester and a small army of additional Monroe County performance groups, Tiberio is a familiar face, yet one I hadn’t had the chance to see in action. Joined by around a 20-piece ensemble flush with saxophones, brass, and a hearty rhythm section, the big band is composed of music educators and performers, many of whom are currently teaching in the area.
Tibero’s selection leaned primarily toward contemporary work—what he spoke on as the present and even future of jazz composition—highlighting group favorites and pieces composed by the instrumentalists of the group. With bright tone and energy, the ensemble swept through a range of rock, funk, and Latin tunes, spending plenty of time to highlight individual performers along the way in a series of solo improvisations.
Joey Stempien, the group’s pianist, held a personal favorite with an original arrangement entitled “The Maw,” which united the sections through brassy harmonies and a rich melody line, simultaneously triumphant and soothing. On June 28, Stempien will return to the stage with his own big band, showcasing student talent.
Completing their repertoire, the ensemble ended the evening with a traditional Latin tune, paralleling the setting sun with the orange glow of their sound and instruments in the dawning night.
At this point, it was nearly 9 p.m., and fatigue was beginning to seep in. I made my way to the nearby Wegmans Pavilion and gratefully took a seat under the shaded tent. A breeze was starting to cross the pavilion, the temperature had receded from the scorching 90s, and best of all, the music was just about to begin.
If songs could heal, I’d just taken a second-life potion in the form of the Flower City Trio’s smooth set of jazz. With an electric guitarist, drummer, and synth keyboard pianist, the trio sank into their set with ease, sending sweet waves of washed strings and reverb-bubbling piano across the tent.
The trio’s sound was full, but never overwhelming. The group stayed tactfully in tune with their flow and kept the physicality to do so, bouncing and swaying with each hit of a snare or strum on the fretboard. Their sound, while relaxed, particularly in comparison to the brassy big band from shortly before, was still ripe with energy: oozing lush harmony and diligent movement between the keys and running guitar. The group presented a combination of its own compositions, as well as its favorite jazz pieces and a few curveball selections. A “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Nirvana cover that traded heavy rock for hearty harmonies was not on my Jazz Fest bingo card, but was a wonderfully pleasant surprise.
The trio’s swinging sound, lush and centered and textural, provided exactly the balance I needed to end the night on a high note, or a good chord.
Satisfied with the evening and slowly drifting off to dreamland, I took my leave for the night—ready for more on Day 6.
For the Beacon’s Jazz Fest coverage, click here.
Alex Holly is a member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort.
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Drove up from Connecticut for the festival Tuesday and Wednesday. I also heard both the Music Educators set and the Flower City trio. What incredible groups. I was especially blown away by John Viavattine’s solos with the group. I also got to hear him the next night doing Brecker Brothers arrangements. Amazing! The Flower City trio was so enjoyable to listen to, especially their take on Joe Henderson’s Recordeme.
See you there next year.