ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The 22nd annual Rochester International Jazz Festival begins Friday, filling the city’s streets and concert venues will music from world-class artists.

The festival runs for nine days in a row, ending on Saturday, June 28, with a free headline show from fan favorite Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue. His last performance at the festival two years ago drew an estimated 15,000 people.

In total, there will be over 285 shows across 18 different stages. That includes the return of the free headliner series at Parcel 5 and the East & Alexander Stage. News10NBC has your guide to the festival, the forecast, and interviews with some of the musicians. You can see the complete list of performances and get tickets here and see the list of venues here.

Festival forecast: Beware of high heat indexes

Friday’s opening day of the festival will be a beauty, with temperatures in the 70s and only a small chance for a localized drizzle. On Saturday, the day is mostly clear but watch out for some late-night severe storms.

During the weekday, beware of high heat indexes at or above 100 degrees. We’re tracking temperatures in the 90s on Sunday through Tuesday and near 90 on Wednesday. However, it will feel hotter because of the humidity. There are also chances of thunderstorms starting on Wednesday. The festival will go on rain or shine, except for thunder. Here’s your forecast:

Who are the free headliners?

The big stage at Parcel 5 will once again return for some all-star free headliner shows. There will also be a free headliner at the East & Alexander Stage. All free headliners will start at 9 p.m. Here’s the schedule:

• Saturday, June 21: Chris Lane, a modern country artist with hits like “Find Another Bar” and “Dancin’ In The Moonlight”, will perform at the East & Alexander Stage.

• Wednesday, June 25: Jesus Molina, an acclaimed jazz pianist, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and online piano tutor, will perform at Parcel 5.

• Thursday, June 26: Los Lonely Boys, three brothers who have toured the world with their unique Texas blend of rock and roll, will perform at Parcel 5. In their career, they’ve sold 2.5 million records, won a Grammy, and received five Grammy nominations.

• Friday, June 27: Lettuce, a six-member musical collective that defies genres, will perform at Parcel 5. Their music mashes up jazz chords, psychedelic passages, big horns, hip-hop elements, and improvisation.

• Saturday, June 28: Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue will once again come to Rochester to take the Stage at Parcel 5. This year’s show comes after his performance in the Super Bowl in February. New Orleans native Trombone Shorty has released five chart-topping studio albums. He has collaborated with music legends including Pharrell, Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson, Foo Fighters, ZHU, Zac Brown, Normani, and Ringo Starr. 

Who are the ticketed headliners at Kodak Hall?

Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theatre will host some legendary musicians during the festival’s ticketed headliner series. All shows will begin at 8 p.m. Here’s the schedule:

• Friday, June 20: Smokey Robinson, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who pioneered Motown with his group “The Miracles”, will perform.

• Saturday, June 21: Grammy-winning trumpeter Wynton Marsalis will take the stage with the Lincoln Center Orchestra.

• Tuesday, June 24: Multi-instrumentalists The Wood Brothers will bring American roots music to the stage. Their music is a combination of folk, gospel, blues, and jazz.

• Wednesday, June 25: Rickie Lee Jones, the hit singer and songwriter who combines pop, jazz, folk, and R&B, will perform.

• Thursday, June 26: Thundercat, the acclaimed bassist and singer whose work transcends genres, will take the stage. His 2020 album “It Is What It Is” won Best Progressive R&B Album at the Grammy Awards.

Eastman students set to perform original song titled “Thank You for not Smoking”

The Dan Atkinson Septet, a collective of Eastman School of Music students, is set to play at the festival on Friday night, including an original song titled “Thank You for not Smoking”.

That name comes from a sign that Dan Atkinson, a Rochester native trombonist, saw while writing the song in an Eastman practice room.

“Inspiration strikes at really strange times. I was practicing up in one of the rooms and I ended up just writing this song out of nowhere,” he said.

Atkinson got invited to play after making a connection with festival producer Mark Iacona while playing a gig at Stromboli’s Restaurant on East Avenue. Atkinson is looking forward to playing with his friends for the Rochester community.

“He liked what he heard, so he had us at the Wegmans’ tent this year, and I’m just really happy to be playing there, he said. “…A friend of mine a while back said, the better you know someone as a person, the better you know them as a musician. The more I play with this group, it just gets truer as it goes. These are all just my best friends. They’re who I play with best.”

The group will play two free shows at the Wegmans Pavilion on Friday, one at 7 p.m. and another at 9 p.m.

Prime Time Brass celebrates 20 years as a band

This year at the festival, Prime Time Brass is celebrating its 20th year as a band. The band featured over 30 of the area’s top brass musicians. Bill Ray says it has been an honor to play at the festival every year since 2013.

“It’s pretty cool. There’s not many bands that get that opportunity to play every year like we have,” he said. “…We get on stage and we play traditional big band stuff and then we get out in the audience and we’re high-fiving. We’re sitting in the chairs playing with the audience and getting them involved, singing with us.

The band will play a free show on Friday at the Rochester Regional Health Big Tent at 6 p.m.

“Incubator for younger artists”; Eastman grad set to perform with Lincoln Center Orchestra

Alexa Tarantino, an Eastman School of Music graduate who will be performing with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on Saturday, says the festival isn’t about who you know, it’s about who you don’t know.

“What’s really interesting is the festival is an opportunity for people to meet new artists that they’ve never heard and then eventually maybe become big fans of theirs. So it’s an amazing sort of incubator for us younger artists,” said Tarantino.

News10NBC has your guide to the festival’s lineup and a look at what’s new this year. You can see the complete list of performances and get tickets here.

Return of the East & Alexander Stage after a decade

This year’s edition of the jazz festival will feature a stage that hasn’t been seen in a decade. The corner of East and Alexander will host the stage, co-sponsored by the city of Rochester and the Gianinny Realtor family.

Mayor Malik Evans said the area has always been special to Rochester and many new businesses have popped up in recent years, offering more for people to enjoy. Marc Iacona, Jazz Fest Executive Director and Co-Producer, shared his excitement for the festival’s return.

“Come down, enjoy yourself, know that you’re going to hear some great music starting at 7 p.m., and our headliner Chris Lane is going to be playing, and after the last note plays, don’t go home,” he said. “You’re going to have great places to go out and eat and hang out and see people and have a great time all the way through the night.”

Last year, the Gianinnys purchased four historic buildings in the area, investing millions to enhance both commercial and residential use in East and Alexander’s entertainment district.

Iacona said the festival has grown so much during its 22 years, offering a platform for both world-class artists and local high school musicians. The festival has also evolved to include all different genres of music.

“What we try to do is program a consistency of what people come to expect in the ClubFest series. The free element is awesome because it’s different genres of music,” he said. “We get people to come down of all ages and around three o’clock, everything starts, the high school jazz bands, all the way to the jam session at the Hyatt. So it’s a complete circle of music and everybody just getting together. It’s almost like a reunion every year.”

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