The local sci-fi convention celebrates women’s contributions to the field
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni
Posted inMusic
Kissing Etta James
The Jazz Bloggers’ final notes on Etta James, Robert Glasper, Wayne Shorter and more.
Posted inMusic
James Brown nearly took off my head
Since the 5th Annual Rochester International Jazz Festival started on June 9, City Newspaper‘s music writers have been keeping tabs on the action at our Jazz Blog at www.rochester-citynews.com. The blog is updated daily with our critics’ takes on what they saw the night before, and what they’re looking forward to next. Below find a […]
Posted inCulture
Fiz – 5.31.06
Candy coated About a year and a half ago, Henrietta artist Keith Avery set his artistic talents on an unlikely canvas: Pez dispensers. You know Pez — it’s the tablet candy sold in supermarket checkouts that pops out of cheap plastic sticks, typically topped with the heads of cartoon characters like Donald Duck or movie […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
‘We play’
When class is in session for CapoeiraMandinga Rochester, the rhythm grabs you from the parking lot. As you enter the Elton Street building, the steady thump… tha-thump… tha-THUMP suddenly swells, reverberating down the stairwell. The pulse and boom of sound envelopes you and connects with a place deep in your body. Even before you’ve laid […]
Posted inMusic
Awakenings
A middle-aged woman looks directly into the camera and matter-of-factly says: “There’s been a hit put on me.” She explains that a man at her gym, whom she believes to be the head of the “gay mafia,” ordered the hit. The woman, Elida — the central subject of Rochester native and independent filmmaker Katie Adamides’ […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Autumn In Halifax
It was a willingness to venture into the unfamiliar that inspired David Merulla to pick up the guitar. About 10 years ago, he dove in more or less cold and bought an electric and acoustic guitar at the same time. “I wrote all the time,” Merulla says, “and got to this point where I was […]
Posted inMusic
Living mix tape
“I actually have a pile of records this high that I have yet to listen to,” sighs Keven Atoms. Atoms feels a little anxious about it, the same way you might when there’s homework hanging over your head. It may seem funny, but for Atoms, Queen Knobtweekah, and Jhim — a group of DJs that […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Find the nooks and crannies
In the Jazz Fest afterglow, it might be easy to view the rest of the summer concert season as a letdown. Don’t be fooled — you’ll really miss out if you don’t dig in the nooks and crannies. Rochester practically bursts with music, especially during summer, when you can gorge yourself on a dizzying range […]
Posted inMusic
It doesn’t have to be beautiful
“Nothing,” jokes Matty Sonar, describing what attracted him to playing in local noise outfit Gaybot. “I didn’t like it at all,” he says, “and I don’t know if I do now.” For Sonar, who provides beats and plays guitar, saxophonist Chris Wicks, and mastermind Brian Blatt (who most often embodies the Gaybot persona, though he […]
Posted inMusic
Of love and train wrecks
Ever since bands like Pavement and Guided By Voices first helped popularize a laissez-faire approach to recording and production values in the early ’90s, popular music seems to have fully embraced the concept of imperfection for its own sake. Early Pavement and GBV recordings — thin, scratchy, often homemade affairs — were full of glaring […]
