The sixth night of the Rochester International Jazz Festival is packed with artists I want to hear … way more than I will be able to. So, you do you, but if you’re interested here are the artists/groups I am aiming to hear on June 24th of the 2026 RIJF. The headings are links to their RIJF page so you can check them out yourself. It is possible to go hear the full sets on these picks (depending on how fast you walk, in some cases). I’ve added links at the end to a couple more I wish I could fit in.
Cécile McLorin Salvant
Cécile McLorin Salvant is so much more than a jazz singer, although she is one of the best with a string of Grammy and other awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship, the so-called “genius grant,” and a Doris Duke Artist Award. Just this spring she was named Jazz Journalist Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year and, with her long-time collaborator pianist Sullivan Fortner, awarded Duo of the Year. She is known for unearthing rare and forgotten songs and mining the connections in song between vaudeville, blues, global folk traditions, jazz, and baroque music. Wynton Marsalis has described her as possessing “poise, elegance, soul, humor, sensuality, power, virtuosity, range, insight, intelligence, depth and grace.” Salvant will be releasing a new album on Nonesuch Records a couple days after she appears at RIJF. On the album With Every Breath I Take, her first with orchestra, Salvant and the Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley perform timeless and new songs arranged by composer and bandleader Darcy James Argue. Here’s a performance of Salvant’s composition Left Over from that album on YouTube. This one is, of course, an RIJF Producer’s Pick.
Venue: Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre
Time: 7:00 pm
Avishai Cohen Big Vicious
Trumpeter Avishai Cohen, a native of Israel, grew up in a musical family with his saxophonist siblings: sister Anat and brother Yuval. Cohen has created a deep body of work on multiple projects, including his trio Triveni with bassist Omer Avital and drummer Nasheet Waits, a quartet, and the 3 Cohens, his “family band” with his siblings. After many years based in NYC, Cohen formed Big Vicious after relocating to his native Israel, gathering Israeli players to shape the music from the ground up in his most genre-defiant project. In a 2020 review of their Big Vicious album in SoundStage! Access, Joseph Taylor observed that the band “could have the impact and longevity of that of a band like Weather Report, taking jazz into new places within a more tightly structured approach to the music.” Big Vicious is an RIJF Producer’s Pick.
Venue: Temple Theater
Time: 7:00 pm & 9:15 pm
Willie Jones III featuring Eric Scott Reed
Percussionist Willie Jones III and pianist Eric Scott Reed are long-time collaborators. Jones has performed with Roy Hargrove featured on performances and tours with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, He has been the first-call drummer for artists including Sonny Rollins, Ernestine Anderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton, Frank Wess, Bill Charlap, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock, and Hank Jones. Reed had a long association with Wynton Marsalis, who helped get a start and included him in many of his ensembles. He has also worked in in the bands of Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson. They are very likely to bring a hard-swinging sound to the RIJF over two days. If things don’t look like they will work itinerary-wise, I may have to try to work them in on the 25th.
Venue: Max of Eastman Place
Time: 6:15 pm & 10:00 pm
You Might Also Consider …
I won’t be hearing these artists, despite wishing I could, but that doesn’t mean you can’t:
- the Bad Plus: I saw this last iteration of this iconic band at the Little Theatre in February. This is their final tour. .
- Bill Frisell Trio: Bill Frisell is a frequent flyer at the RIJF and while I absolutely love listening to anything he does (and every time he comes it is unique), just couldn’t fit this one in.
- The Coltrane Sutras: This group from Canada with their blend of Indian, Japanese, Chinese, and Afro-Cuban influences sounds right up my alley, but alas ….
- Jamie Baum Septet+: The description of Baum’s compositions sounded intriguing, but I’m just going to have to check her recordings out this time around.
- The Kings of Latin Jazz Tito Puente JR. and Nestor Torres Together: This is one of the free shows at Parcel 5. It will be amazing. I hope I can at least hear a bit when walking from one place to another.
Whatever you choose, I hope you take some chances and let something unexpected grab your ears. Tell me who you’re planning on seeing in the Comments below (for those of you who get the email, you’ll have to come to the site first). I’ll be back with more picks for the rest of the RIJF soon.
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