Blue legend Taj Mahal performed at the Eastman Theatre at Day 1 of the 2024 CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival. "This is a great festival if you've never been," said attendee Cormic Merle of Irondequoit. "You've got to come out and catch some of the free shows. They are just fantastic."The event features more than 325 concerts, with more than 1,700 artists from around the world performing at a dozen venues across the downtown area.
"Rochester gives you so much. During the summer, there's so many festivals," said city resident Yolanda McArthur. "The jazz festival is one of the best.""We're locked and loaded," said Marc Iacona, the festival's executive director. "In my opinion, we're unique. You can park your car and walk to all of these places.""We've been waiting for this since last year on the last day ," said attendee Sharyn Leahy of Walworth.
People can stop there to cool off or buy drinks and snacks, and there's even a stage inside so you won't miss a beat of the music.Guests on Day 1 were treated to a headlining performance at the Eastman Theatre from blues legend Taj Mahal, who spoke with 13WHAM ahead of his show, explaining his unique way of preparing to hit the stage.
"I never have a setlist. I've never put a setlist on a guitar," he said. "When you see it written down, that setlist is what I played that time. We get up, make sure the instruments are in tune, and then whatever whatever tune hits me to open up with, we go with. Remember, we came to knock them alive — not knock them dead."Christie Dashiell of North Carolina serenaded a packed room on Gibbs Street. Her nearly hourlong set featured songs she wrote during the pandemic.
"I haven't been here long in Rochester, but from what I can tell, it's a really warm place and very inviting," Dashiell said."It's passion. It's planning. It's basically a collaboration of everyone getting together and doing what they need to get done," Iacona said. "A lot goes on behind the scenes, and that's what makes us proud to be a part of it as producers.
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