June 30, 2026 – Hoke's Jukebox

A Review: Words and Pictures

As customary, seven faculty members of the Skidmore Jazz Institute offered lessons in sound Sunday to open the Saratoga Jazz Festival’s second day. Playing the Wood stage, the Faculty All-Stars honored saxophone giant John Coltrane with often modernist arrangements of ‘Trane tunes. (Saturday had featured an electric band playing Miles Davis’s most plugged-in music; 1969-’91. Both Miles and ‘Trane would be 100 this year.)

As usual, this 49th festival mixed old and new, jazz and non-, and growing numbers of women onstage. Like Saturday’s first festival day, the weather was more than fine.

Young alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin declared Sunday women’s day and hailed the “legends in the house,” led by Patti Labelle, dubbing her the Queen of Shenanigans. In ten of the two-day festival’s 22 total acts, women led or appeared as featured guests; not quite half, but getting closer.

The festival presented just one semi-big band, but no modern jazz pop crossover stars to invite young fans, as Laufey did in 2024. She drew such droves that she returned to sing last summer with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

A stage-ful, a Mouthful: Skidmore Jazz Institute All-Star Band. From left: Miki Yamanaka, Todd Coolman (who noted his name imposes serious responsibility), Dave Stryker, Quincy Davis, Steve Davis, Jimmy Green; Clay Jenkins stands behind Steve Davis

Players AND scholars, the Skidmore cats avoided the obvious at first, revving their trumpeter Clay Jenkins’s chart on Coltrane’s “Just for the Love” to bebop intensity. Arranged by Dave Stryker, and starring his guitar, “Mr. Dave” also felt fresh, off-center funk in a happy tussle. Leader Todd Coolman, wryest bassist around, dedicated “Body and Soul” to Katz’s Deli, mixing the fervent style of its 1930s origin with a syncopated beat, like layers of audio pastrami. Pianist Miki Yamanaka’s kimono-and-obi garb symbolized the band’s approach, bridging styles in distinctive ways. Seeing newly-arrived, black-shirted teenaged Institute kids enjoy their teachers’ playing felt like a fun affirmation of jazz’s future.

Miki Yamanaka, above; Clay Jenkins crouching at center, below

Slim, hyperactive in shiny silver and gold, Benjamin also had ‘Trane in mind and bravely deconstructed his iconic “My Favorite Things” on the Main stage. Dedicating it to Alice Coltrane, she warned it would get turbulent: “Seat belts are required.” She played it straight, blew it up, then repeated.

Lakecia Benjamin

Her tone was somewhere between Bird’s fluidity and David Sanborn’s rasp, her phrasing fast and sure. She set stuff on fire, igniting beauty in the flames with melodic intent and effect.

Also, like Terri Lynn Carrington and Patti LaBelle Saturday, Benjamin spoke, rapped and played about social justice. After listing treasured virtues, she said her “Ascension” expressed respect, a hymn-like statement in quiet melody. She performed like a fully-formed star; not one in the making but here now.

New Orleans pianist Kyle Roussel exceeded the high expectations those three words before his name automatically conjure. Traditional at first, he expanded Professor Longhair’s classic “Frankie and Johnny” into sound pictures of parades, rumbas, late nights at the club, spinning hot riffs off a steady roll.

Drummer Peter Barnado and bassist Nick Salcido played like reading his mind. In the trio or exploring solo, Roussel put immaculate technique in service of soul, and humor. Relaxed wanderings formed into what fans laughingly recognized as the theme from “M.A.S.H.” “Fur Elise” grew wings, dressed up as a blues, or Beethoven as thunderstorm, with a side of “Georgia on My Mind.”

Once he had everybody in his pocket, Roussel added singer Erica Falls. Precise and powerful as his playing, her voice assured “Nothing Is Impossible,” then “Come Together” added fierce, unsinkable, shared optimism.

Singer-guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram took the music to the people, direct. After hot guitar-blues blasts from the Main stage, he vanished as the band vamped on the defiant “Not Gonna Lie.”

Backstage? Melting from the heat? No, riffing hard, walking the aisle to stop right next to me. That close up especially, he seemed more commanding than in Springfield opening for Buddy Guy a while back. Freed of opening-act deference, he wailed wondrous and wild; a next-gen bluesman for our time.

Here’s his setlist, courtesy of SPAC VP of Communications Kristy Ventre:

Kingfish

Midnight Heat (live in london album)

Fresh Out (kingfish album)

Voodoo Charm (hard road album)

Empty Promises (single)

Not Gonna Lie (live in london album)

Mississippi Night (live in london album)

Bad Like Me (hard road album)

Outside of this Town (kingfish album)

662 (662 album)

After Kingfish’s happy hubbub on the Main stage (and off), singer-guitarist Sasha Dobson felt unfocused and too quiet on the Wood. Her languid pop-country tunes came to life, though, on the strong wings of Charlie Burnham’s agile, soulful violin.

Charlie Burnham

Dianne Reeves took over the Main as the queen she’s been for decades. Like her elder Patti Labelle on Saturday, Reeves has her whole voice, profound artistic depth and dedication to soulful song, anybody’s song. Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” hit early, a straight up rendition flowing into skat swing. She added uptempo Brazilian flavor to “What’s New?” – simmering down on a wordless repeating riff, a device she used often to tug tunes back down from the clouds where she rocketed them. She sang of peace, for everyone, her voice lifting to anthemic force; then Jobim’s “Samba de Bahia” flew even higher.

Dianne Reeves and band, top, Romero Lubambo at right; soaring alone, below. Smiling at Lubambo, below that

Here, Reeves’s decades-deep alliance with her Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo came to the fore, firing her “At Nine,” a hymn to children with bossa lilt and warm compassion. In the emotional, serene “Our Love is Here to Stay,” Reeves nodded at Lubambo and said with a quiet laugh, “I have to listen to him closely because he changes the chords on me.” She gracefully navigated even tricky harmonic detours. Like Lubambo, her band was aces, notably pianist Reuben Rogers and drummer Terreon Gully. And, like earlier words of welcome, she sang her introductions.

Dianne Reeves Digs Cimafunk, above, Cimafunk below

Then, she emerged from backstage to dance in the wings and phone-video Cimafunk tearing it up on the stage she’d just left to huge applause.

Like a Cuban James Brown, Cimafunk led a big band, got on the good foot and sang up a storm. He also drew the crowd into the music by inviting hordes onstage. So many happy dancers and awed stock-still fans came up that they all but hid the performers.

Singing in Spanish, he ring-mastered a big, joyful beat circus, funky and uplifting in any language, or none. Nobody had to understand the words to jump around happy and sweaty, though fans might parse the meaning from Cimafunk’s manner or how the band’s energy flowed.

Their flow felt mostly happy, relentless; a different sort of force from the electric shock-waves of the Miles tribute Saturday, but just as strong.

The Revivalists seemed an odd non-jazz choice to close on Sunday, but they surprised, as Kingfish had earlier Sunday.

Sorry to miss bold saxophonist Alexa Tarantino and bluesy soft-jazz singer Eddie 9V (whose new album is titled “Saratoga”) on the Wood, but the Revivalists’ strong set compensated.

For a proudly New Orleans band, they rocked steady, straight-ahead. Midway, strong-voiced always-in-motion singer David Shaw challenged the crowd to “make this a real rock and roll concert.” This did pump the energy, giving permission get wild; but the bustling band had long since made this intent clear. George Gekas’s bass hit as their loudest sound, pushing a thumping, two-drummers groove under hot electric guitar AND pedal steel, plus keyboards and sax.

Above. bassist George Gekas, left, and guitarist Zack Feinberg; David Shaw, below

As much as their tight performance, well-made songs impressed. Not what most would consider jazz, or New Orleans style, they engaged on their own terms and grabbed hard; shared fun in the groove, but meaning in the words. Songs from past albums drew recognition applause; “Down in the Dirt” from “Pour It Out Into the Night” cast a menacing mood, and both “Fade Away” and “Need You” from “Men Amongst Mountains” felt desolate, doomed. New tunes including “Razor Blades and Rumbas” (now, there’s a New Orleans title) and “Blood on the River” earned respect for words and music, writing and performance.

Festival producer Danny Melnick announced in one of many band intros that he’s already planning and booking acts for next year: the 50th Saratoga Jazz Festival June 26 and 27, 2027 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Gallery