What’s the best way to warm up for the Rochester International Jazz Festival? Attend the festival that started it all. Swing ‘n Jazz IX, Rochester’s longest-running jazz festival, sponsored by and benefiting The Commission Project, takes place Friday, June 2, through Sunday, June 4. TCP sends top-notch musicians to schools around the country, exposing students […]
Ron Netsky
Posted inMusic
When worlds collide
For most musicians the worlds of classical and pop music move in different orbits, if not galaxies. But when he sits down Tuesday at the Steinway piano in Kilbourn Hall, Christopher O’Riley will bring these spheres together. O’Riley is best known as the host of From theTop(5 p.m. Sundays, WXXI FM 91.5). The program, showcasing […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Acting white
One professor studies the fight between identity and achievement. One student copes with it.
Posted inMusic
Forever young
When I caught up with Marian McPartland by telephone last week she was in the middle of taping a new season of Piano Jazz, her long-running National Public Radio show. McPartland may be in her mid-80s, but the perennial hipster has recently released CDs with Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Costello, and Steely Dan. She’s busier than […]
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String theory
Of all the genres spawned by blues and folk music in the 1960s it would be hard to find one more inventive than that of the acoustic guitar instrumental. It was unmistakable on free-form radio: the bright, full, ringing chords, the impossibly complicated finger picking with the occasional harmonic chimes, backed by a throbbing bass […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Reclaiming rationality
Can a new enlightenment dawn in a Buffalo suburb? Open a newspaper or turn on a news broadcast: everywhere, it seems that religious fundamentalism is gaining ground. In several US school districts, fundamentalist Christians on school boards are insisting that science teachers discuss “Intelligent Design” when they teach evolution. Across the world, Islamic fundamentalists are […]
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Music Reviews 10.12.05
Various Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar Columbia Legacy If you love jazz guitar, make room for the most comprehensive collection ever assembled. Columbia selected vintage tracks from 33 labels to present 78 guitarists on four discs. Included in the oversize package is a 148-page lavishly illustrated book with an excellent essay by guitar historian […]
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The new swing
Kevin Mahogany has been heralded as the heir apparent to the great male jazz vocalists of the past, from Johnny Hartman to Joe Williams. But if there is one thing he is not, it’s a purist. “I wasn’t going to be a jazz snob because you’re going to miss out on so much if you […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
On the money
Part two of a two-part series. Some people live their lives according to religious principles. Steven Landsburg looks at life through the filter of economics. And if you read a selection of his books or magazine columns, you may be persuaded that economics play more of a role in your life than you realized. A […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
On the money
Part one of a two-part series. Think of life as a series of equations. Everything you do is a trade-off. Every decision has a plus or minus attached. You’ve never considered economics a part of your life? Steven Landsburg wants to change that. In popular books and newspaper and magazine columns, Landsburg vividly illustrates the […]
Posted inMusic
Like a larger-than-life music box
It’s practically impossible to succinctly review 100 concerts. And there’ve been nearly that many since we issued last week’s piece on the Rochester International Jazz Festival’s opening weekend. For those who missed out: our sympathy. This year’s RIJF was the best yet in terms of programming and (despite a few initial snags) overall organization. Over […]
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Opening notes: Jazz Fest in review
Four years along and the Rochester International Jazz Festival seems to be doing just fine. Throughout opening weekend, almost every Club Pass venue was filled to capacity as late-comers were turned away. But our music writers were there for all of it. Following is a compilation of their impressions from the festival’s first couple days. […]
