Another full-swing day at the Jazz Fest

The Rochester International Jazz Festival has been rolling on for a full week now, and at the start of Day 8, the crowds of festival regulars seemed a bit weary. The few droplets in the air didn’t help, and it seemed like a warning for what might come, but the periodic and completely manageable rain faded away, helping the festivities return to full swing. 

With a lengthy festival like this one, whenever concert burnout starts setting in, the key is to pace yourself. Or you could take the opposite route, and just keep going no matter what, and that reckless approach served me well because my energy was immediately restored by each performance I witnessed. And my spirits were especially up with the Brighton High School Jazz Band kicking off the music on Jazz Street, which brought me back to when I played on that same stage with the Brighton Middle School Jazz Band. These free early shows from school jazz bands have always been a great way to start each day, as well as support some of the incredible music programs in our schools. 

The Yvonnick Prene Quartet kept the festival interesting, showing the audience in Montage Music Hall how much someone can riff on the harmonica. Their show was called “A Harmonica For Django,” and it was an entire tribute to Django Reinhardt. Reinhardt is an iconic Romani guitarist and composer who effectively invented Manouche Jazz, a mix between swing music and traditional Romani folk music. With immense respect and appreciation for Reinhardt, this quartet covered some of his best songs, some of his lesser-known songs, and even some that were never recorded.

Reinhardt was not a harmonicist, but he was known to sometimes have a harmonica in his band. Even if he didn’t, Yvonnick Prene’s harmonica could still keep up with any sort of instrument or musician that Reinhardt recorded with. His skills on the chromatic harmonica dispel all of the limitations of a tiny, overlooked instrument. Frequently, Prene would trade solos with the guitarist or follow the guitar’s runs in unison, with perfect accuracy. He made it seem like the harmonica could really do anything, and its sharp and thin tone fit perfectly within the style of jazz that the four musicians paid tribute to. 

Prene was backed by two guitarists—Dion Berardo on lead and Josh Kaye on rhythm—and the bassist Clovis Nicolas. The four of them had complete control over these ornate and beautiful songs, bringing the magic of Reinhardt to life and prompting me to wish I were listening to this while relaxing in a nice restaurant in Paris. If you don’t know what I could mean by that, look up any Django Reinhardt song, and you’ll recognize this style of music from any movie that has a French restaurant in it. 

The quick rumbles of thunder I heard while leaving Montage Music Hall caused me to swiftly retreat into Innovation Theatre where the String Queens was expected to be playing. The string trio was sure to bring a lot of life, as their entire act is based on using music as a tool for hope, spirit, and soul. The group often performs at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., but they have also played at Carnegie Hall and even performed at former Vice President Kamala Harris’ Inauguration Concert. 

Kendall Isadore plays the violin, Dawn Johnson the viola, and Élise Sharp the cello. The three are all full-time music teachers, and when they aren’t educating elementary to college-aged students, they are bringing stunning arrangements of familiar tunes to enraptured crowds. The trio played everything from Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” to George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” all while passionately striking their string instruments with heavy intention. 

The String Queens don’t exclude the audience from anything. During each one of their pieces, they encouraged snapping, clapping, and singing from the crowd. It wasn’t until the end of the show that the audience was warmed up enough to really start biting on these opportunities, but getting the admittedly stiff Club Pass crowd to that point is an immense achievement. Even in the pretty clearly planned-out jam session in the middle of their set, the String Queens got everyone in the audience to help create the medley of tunes to fuel the jam. 

All this was really in the name of education, and what the three teachers showed was that you can always be learning, no matter what age you are, and often the learning can be within the guise of performance. During these audience participation sections, the trio executed lesson plans about syncopation, the tradition of sampling in recorded music, and chord progressions. These lessons were disguised in audience participation sections for pop hits like “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi, or “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire. 

Now, I had heard “September” three times already this week at the festival, and I’ve heard “Despacito” maybe a million times throughout my life. Their inclusion in the set would have set me off just a bit if it weren’t for the fact that they were presented with such genuine love for music as a medium. It is impossible to be peeved by a piece of music when it is presented under the message that all music needs to be treated as magical. And it seems so obvious: they are right. Music is magical. And it gives us hope, and it brings us together, and it teaches us about ourselves, and all the messaging that the String Queens hoped to instill in me from the start seeped in as I watched the three of them move through this setlist with unbreakable soul. 

Isadore’s facial expressions and dramatic violin movements, Johnson’s cooperative contributions and awed reactions to the arrangements, and Sharp’s rooted support on the cello show that the String Queens care. They care so much about the music they are playing, it doesn’t matter that sometimes the audience is slow to get into the participation sections, or that some of the song choices are a bit too obvious as crowd-pleasers, or even that some of the hairs on the bows for their instruments are snapping during every song due to the intensity each of them plays with. 

Pretty much every sit-down show at the Jazz Fest, including the show put on by the String Queens, gets a standing ovation at the end. In part, this is because all the shows are amazing, but also because everyone is standing up anyway to get out the door quickly and onto the next show. For the String Queens, though, the level of care, soul, and genuine feeling they had, combined with the musicianship and extreme talent between the three of them, earned the group a standing ovation mid-performance as well. It occurred following their arrangement of the Stevie Wonder tune “Isn’t She Lovely.” That’s the power of the String Queens, and even though it is corny to say this, I’m sure they would agree that it is also the power of music. 

To close out Day 8 on the big stage at Parcel 5 was the jazz-funk band Lettuce, a leading voice in the music scene for funk. The band was formed by four alumni from Berklee College of Music, contributing to the long lineage of music students who have made jazz-funk fusion bands. It is a formula that really works, and it worked especially yesterday as I saw a large crowd of mostly younger adults vibing hard to the rhythm and groove-oriented funk laid down by the band. 

Lettuce is more concerned with momentum and vibe control than they are with songwriting or structure. Their songs go on and on, but they never drag or outstay their welcome. The vague psychedelia of the synth, the continuous riffing from the brass section, little drum details here and there, the occasional vocal, and the infectiousness of each looping bass line all ensure that the music never gets stale. They are an impressive act, and their talents as musicians are most evident when you absorb their music as a whole, a continuous act of propulsion. Sure enough, an hour into the show had the crowd fully loosened up and swaying along—completely playing into Lettuce’s palm.

The journey that Lettuce took audiences on was the reward, but the high instrumental peaks the band reached in the process sweetened the pot. Catching up with friends, grabbing some food from the nearby food trucks and vendors, and enjoying some freely provided music was a great way to spend Friday night. 

As the Jazz Fest heads into its final day, it is worth taking a look at how impressively run this music festival is. After 22 years, the team organizing the festival has cemented its place as one of the best citywide community events, featuring nine days of world-class musicians with something for everyone to enjoy. There’s only one more day before the Jazz Fest disappears for a whole year, so if you haven’t gone this year yet, now is your chance.

For the Beacon’s Jazz Fest coverage, click here.

Jess Williams is a Beacon contributing writer and former intern.

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