With a new title sponsor in place, Rochester International Jazz Festival, kicked off on June 20, with blistering heat in the forecast. The 22nd version of the renowned music festival brings nearly 300 acts to 18 stages in and around the grounds of Eastman School of Music.
Among those venues is Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, as they host the only ticketed events during the nine-day affair, with five exclusive shows.
With the heat taking its toll, ticketholders were more than happy to relax inside the air conditioned, nostalgic theatre for the respective shows at Kodak Hall.
Night one, music fans were treated to some Motown classics as Smokey Robinson brought his Legacy Tour to town. Celebrating 50 years of A Quiet Storm, Robinson took the stage in classic flashy form, donning a hot pink suit with matching saddle type shoes.
Prior to taking the stage, a video montage of the legendary career displayed, talking about how he was discovered by Barry Gordy following a failed audition at a record company. Robinson talked about Gordy approaching him, asking about the songs he sang in audition. The two hit it off, and subsequently Motown Records was formed.
Fast forward to 2025, the iconic singer and songwriter is now 85 and still touring and releasing music, including 2024’s Gasms. As the title may suggest, Smokey gets personal with this one (think Prince – Diamonds and Pearls era).
Every kind of gasm in the book
Each, I has ’em every time I take a look
Backed by his own six-piece orchestra (Smokes Angels), two backing vocalists, a flutist, percussionist, keyboardist, and pianist, Robinson took the packed house on road trip back in time with classic tracks like “A Quiet Storm,” “My Girl,” and “I Second That Emotion.” Each song pulling at the listeners emotions and making them forget that we are a quarter of the way through the 21st century.
With temperatures rising outside, night two of music found Kodak Hall and its patrons cooling off to the smooth sounds of Wynton Marsalis. A more typical jazz sound than the previous night’s show, Jazz at Lincoln Center had the standing room only crowd focused as Marsalis played a two set show.
Starting off the show, the Lincoln Center’s Artistic Director took the stage with an exuberant septet, playing a powerful set of six compositions. With a few words between each piece, Marsalis led his ensemble in a mastery of sound. Each piece containing exquisite solos, as the musicians stood in place at their music stands. In standard fashion, applauses and random “Bravo!” after each solo.
Where you see your people, even if you don’t know they are your people.
Marsalis talking about “Deeper Than Dreams”
With a brief intermission, I reflected on first set and the big thing that stood out was that fact that there were no noticeable phones being raised to take pictures or videos. Was it too taboo for that show? Was the age group to blame? Regardless of reason, it was nice to see nearly 2200 patrons sitting there, old school, without a phone held high.
For the second part of the show, Marsalis takes the stage with his orchestra of 15 musicians, including the seven from the opening set. Again, compositions with solos incorporated.
Jazz in truest form. On stage where music is taught, learned, and expressed, Marsalis and his ensembles captivated the crowd from start to finish, playing the sounds they live and breathe on the daily.
After a couple nights off, Kodak Hall opened its doors again on the 24th, welcoming the Americana sounds of The Wood Brothers. With a much younger crowd than the first two shows, this show brought a new level of enjoyment to the festival.
A little Allman Brothers, a little Lumineers, and touch of blues rock, The Wood Brothers bring an ethereal sound that will both calm you and bring you to your feet. With around 1,200 fans grooving to the rhythm, Oliver and Chris Wood, joined by drummer Jano Rix, led the crowd on an unforgettable journey of sound.
With a new album looming on the horizon (Puff of Smoke/August 1), this trio stayed true to their roots, playing a psychedelic blend of genres. Vocalist Chris Wood calmly unleashes the lyrics, while Oliver and Jano equally fill the background with 70s era rock vibes from the percussion, guitar and harmonica.
While majority of the fans were glued to their seats, there was a couple random pods of people that rose up and started dancing. “Shoofly Pie” was the magic song that brought some fans to life. A blend of upbeat vocals with subtle guitar sounds and smooth percussion made a perfect concoction of dancing music.
Take a choo-choo today, head New England way
And we’ll put you in the happiest mood. with:
Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy
The midway point of the festival brings cooler and more comfortable temps, as well some old school folk-pop music. Coming to the stage next, is two-time Grammy winner Rickey Lee Jones. She is the fourth of five headliners and provides a fourth distinct sound to the stage at Kodak Hall.
Breaking onto the scene in 1979, Jones garnered a quick and solid following, which led to four Grammy nominations in 1980. She ultimately took home the Grammy for Best New Artist that year. Grammy number two would arrive nine years later after a collaboration with Dr John led to a win in Best Jazz Vocal Performance.
On this night, though, there were no Grammy’s or Dr. John. Delivering a rustic and raw sound, Jones comes out to cheering fans and sets up, center stage.
Tinkering with her guitar which she says is brand new and being temperamental, she keeps the crowd at bay, as she rolls into her first song, “Danny’s All-Star Joint”. Seamlessly going from song to song, Jones tells fans to yell what they want to hear next, joking about going off the cuff. She adds “sing along if you want to, just don’t screw up”. In the end, Jones gave the fans what they came for, and the fans gave her what she asked for and that was to sing along.
The final night of music on the stage of was from Thundercat, who dropped an out of this world set for the younger fans. Review and photos can be found here Thundercat: Master of Funk
What is Jazz? A question that Oliver Wood said he gets asked often. “Is it Miles Davis or is it Kenny G?” He gave a simple answer of “It’s fun music.”
For 22 years, festival organizers Marc Iacona and John Nugent have brought in top notch acts that may not always be jazz by definition, but these acts will always bring out the locals who all have one thing in common and that is love for music, fun music. With iconic stages like that at Eastman Theatre, artists love showing up for fans of any demographic.
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