ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Saturday marks the final day of the 23rd annual Rochester International Jazz Festival. The nine-day festival will close out with the return of a favorite, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.
Trombone Shorty, a Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist from New Orleans, will take the stage at Parcel 5 near East Main Street for a free show. It starts at 9 p.m. This will mark his 10th performance at the festival, and some of his shows have brought out at least 15,000 people to downtown Rochester.
This year’s festival has featured over 300 shows, bringing all-star musicians in jazz and other genres to Rochester. Over 100 of the festival’s shows are free, including those part of the free headliner series. The series kicked off on Saturday, June 20, with Grammy-winning blues guitarist and singer Robert Cray, who performed at the East and Chesnut Stage. The rest of the free headliners performed at Parcel 5, with the backdrop of the Rochester skyline.
In total, the festival includes 19 stages and 1,750 artists. Some Rochester businesses say they’ve seen a major boost in June from the festival and from the FIFA World Cup. The manager of 3 Daughters Tap and Tavern says the festival has brought in customers from New Hampshire, Vermont, and Michigan, and other countries, including Sweden.
Free outdoor show schedule for Saturday
Jazz Street Stage: Saturday’s free outdoor shows begin at 3:45 p.m., with local high and college jazz bands at the Jazz Street Stage on Gibbs Street. Then, the Eastman School of Music Jazz Honors will take the stage starting at 6 p.m. After that, the shows at the Jazz Street stage will close out with DK Harrell at 9:30 p.m…