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The quintet's treatment of 'Eleanor Rigby' almost ventured a bit too close to Muzaka treatment with steel drums, no lessuntil a lively break spiced it up and brought the loudest cheers yet from the room. It was quite a change from the venue's previous set, replacing the modern electric trappings with some sweet-toned guitar in the vein of Jim Hall.

Masami Kuroki was perfectly at home on Time's bandstand, seeing as how he was one of the first performers to play there when the place first opened. Just when it seemed they were trying to blow a fuse, they decided to ease into a little swing with Willard Robison's 'Old Folks.' Dynamic they certainly are predictable they're not.

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It was by far the biggest space of all the day's venues, but the seats were already full and the outer floor space was also filling up fast.

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These fellows know how to make a room hop. The keys and guitar were funked up in classic fuzzy 70s style while the saxophone and horns out front topped it off with a dash of soul. Half a block over and around the next corner, Franky Bradley's is a place already familiar with many varieties of entertainment (wink wink nudge nudge), so it wasn't out of character to host the fusiony good time offered by Three Oranges. Indoors or out, the neighborly feeling of community was there for everyone to enjoy, whether they were getting cozy together by choice or otherwise. Anibal Rojas and friends were brightening the place with a worldly mix of Latin feel and electric soul. At the very least, watching and listening from the sidewalk was more convenient than playing sardines with the packed-solid standing crowd that had already formed inside the door.

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The big first-floor windows were open onto the street just up the block at Time Restaurant (apparently named to suit the half-dozen clocks adorning the dining room, only one of them actually right). It was a lively, swinging treat and an excellent setup for everything else still to come. The saxophonist and his quartet gave one of the more straightforward club-style sets of the day, showing a little Sonny Rollins influence (beyond their leisurely rendition of 'Airegin,' that is) and offering some new original pieces. The upstairs room was already almost filled when Mike Cemprola kicked off at the start of the afternoon. Fergie's Pub isn't the kind of place you usually think of when you imagine a music venue, but it's nothing if not homey.

At least it helped a little to have the set times occasionally staggered 15-45 minutes apart. It does leave one spoiled for choice in having to decide which place to hit during a given time slot, but that's probably not such a bad problem to have.

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Each hosted a series of acts, mostly from right in town or from New York City, for a total of 20 performances and almost seven hours of musical enjoyment. Stuart's endeavor has grown from an uncertain 2012 Kickstarter campaign to a well-sponsored and enthusiastically attended affair that took over five venues this time around. The timing had it sandwiched between one dim dreary week and another, but the gods decided to give the city a clear, sunny and almost vaguely spring-like time for International Jazz Day on April 30th. I'm not sure if there was any backup plan for late stragglers clearly the familiar crowd knew they didn't want to wait too long to get in on the festivities. Center City Jazz Festival Philadelphia, PA Ap'The Fifth Annual Center City Jazz Festival is officially sold out!' Thus tweeted a spokesperson from two days before the start of Philadelphia's annual celebration (most likely its founder, local trombonist Ernest Stuart).

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