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Lineup and venues announced for the 17th Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival

John Nugent with this year's lineup
Fred Sanfilipo
John Nugent with this year's lineup

Using his annual catchphrase, "We'll see you on Jazz Street," festival producer and artistic director John Nugent announced the lineup of artists that are booked for this summer's event.

It features over 300 shows at 20 venues, including one of the new venues, Grace Road Church on Liberty Pole Way, where organizers held their annual news conference.

Nugent produced the very first jazz festival in 2002, and says at this point, thousands of bands are sending him electronic press kits in hopes of playing in Rochester.

Executive Director and co-producer Marc Iacona says thousands of artists want to play XRIJF each year
Credit Fred Sanfilipo
Executive Director and co-producer Marc Iacona says thousands of artists want to play XRIJF each year

"All the major booking agencies come to us with their rosters.  So my job is spent more times telling people I'm sorry than I can give them a performance opportunity, but it's just incredible how many people interest in coming to perform here," he said.

That includes over 1,500 artists this year.

One of the venues that won't be used this year is Parcel 5.

Instead, executive director and co-producer Marc Iacona says they'll be bringing music to Manhattan Square Park.

"If we actually had a larger budget, we'd probably be doing two shows, one on Parcel 5 and one over at the park.  But it was there, we had a conversation with the city and I said, 'Hey, can we switch things up this year and try it?' And they said sure," he said.

Grace Road Church is one of the new venues for the festival this year
Credit Alex Crichton
Grace Road Church is one of the new venues for the festival this year

Organizers say the festival has a $10 million economic impact, and Iacona says the event brings in tourists who are music and art lovers who are also looking for destinations.

Xerox is the title sponsor once again, and despite a pending merger with Fujifilm, Lori Francis, director of global experiential marketing at Xerox, says the company plans to continue to support the community where Xerox was born.

"We analyze things on a yearly basis, and there's no reason to think why we're not going to move forward.  We're looking forward to what this new merger, the acquisition with Fuji-Xerox will bring, and we'll see what comes next," she said.

Find more at http://www.rochesterjazz.com/

Here's John Nugent talking about what makes this a jazz festival: