I’ve been to at least one festival every weekend this summer since Memorial Day with no sign of stopping straight through August and potentially September. Jazz and blues, Kellish Hill Farms, Big Splash, Sterling Stage, Balloonfest and possible trips down to Pennsylvania and Virginia for more are all on the list. Each have their charms and I walk out of most fests feeling satisfied and either soggy from rain or fried from sunburn. But this weekend’s Super Ball IX at Watkins Glen International wasn’t just another festival on the list. This weekend was an event, a marathon, or most accurately, an experience that will resonate with all the phaithful phans that saw the weekend through, with terrible tan lines to prove it.

Resurrecting the Blues.

David Bromberg visits the Westcott Nation on Friday to push his upcoming CD of duets with musical all-stars

29th annual Syracuse M&T Jazz Fest packed a serious punch this year with three headliner-quality acts back to back on Friday, June 24, and a brilliantly diverse, but extremely talented set of acts on Saturday, June 25, concluding with the untouchable Return to Forever IV.

Canadian rockers The Trews mix it up Wednesday, June 22, at the Westcott

The Toronto-based four-piece group The Trews have a busy summer ahead. With shows dipping down to New York City and over to British Columbia, it’s a good thing this family-focused band gets along. Brothers Colin and John-Angus MacDonald, with cousin Sean Dalton and longtime friend Jack Syperek, have hit it big in Canada with two gold records and 10 top-10 singles.

Music educator Steve Frank claims he’s not “an awards type of guy.” But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t won a slew of honors for the work he’s done to further jazz education in the Syracuse area for 30 years.

“It came from having an Italian mom that was kind of looked down upon even though she had a master’s degree in pharmacy when that wasn’t the case for women,” Cavaliere says. “She was looked down upon because she was Italian. So that’s always been an issue with me.

“We decided to up ourselves from last year We wanted to raise the bar. Balloonfest wasn’t going to exist a few years ago because they weren’t stepping it up with entertainment. It’s in my back yard and I hated to see it go. It’s a great family event.”.

Allman Joy.