Roberta Piket began her set at Hatch Hall, Friday night, with a kind of call and response between her right hand and her left on the Steinway grand piano. The dialog ranged from sparse melodies answered by blunt chords to lush clusters answered by pounding bass. Eventually all of this morphed into “Monk’s Dream,” the […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 1: Frank reviews Barbra Lica, Joss Stone, and St. Paul and the Broken Bones
Well, the 16th edition of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival took off its clothes and did a cannonball. The energy in the thick arid air was surprisingly electric; a vibe this strong at Jazz Fests past usually didn’t get this feverish so quickly. It must have been the battle for souls raging on two […]
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Jazz Fest 2017: Music around the fest
If the XRIJF’s more than 320 shows isn’t enough to quench your jazzy thirst, several other Rochester venues not affiliated with festival will host their own performances Friday, June 23, through Saturday, July 1. If you need a break from the Jazz Fest crowds, or want to catch one more show late night, keep an […]
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Jazz Fest 2017: Favorite Jazz Fest moments
Vagabonds invade Max One of my favorite Jazz Festival experiences was entirely unexpected. Between shows in 2008, I was walking down Gibbs Street when I ran into Frank De Blase. He told me I had to see this group at Max. I hadn’t planned to see them but Frank was adamant. On the stage I […]
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Jazz Fest 2017: What’s FREE at the fest
If you want to see live jazz but don’t want to shell out the extra cash for a Club Pass, the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Fest will feature around 100 shows across the nine-day event that are free of charge. Everyone likes free stuff, though, so be sure to get there early — good vibes […]
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Jazz Fest 2017: Meet the writers covering the XRIJF
Ron Netsky My real job is Chairman of the Art Department at Nazareth College and my main work is in the field of printmaking, but I love music and I’ve been writing about jazz for CITY since the 1990’s. Late-June is one of my favorite times of the year, a chance to indulge in great […]
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STONER METAL | Black Wizard
It’s been 47 years since Black Sabbath unwittingly created stoner metal (and heavy metal as a whole), and you would expect that nothing new could possibly be said about ripping bongs, cosmic entities, and following the smoke toward the riff-filled land. Leave it to Vancouver’s Black Wizard to take the tried-and-true, riff-worship formula and twist […]
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INDIE ROCK | The Ok-Ok’s
York, Pennsylvania-based indie rock band The Ok-Ok’s may be young but it brings the talent that most musicians work their entire lives for. On the group’s new full-length album, “22/17” — simply named because three of the members were 22 and one was 17 when it was recorded — singer Sadie Swartz belts soulful, wailing […]
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ROCK | The Wild
Somebody’s gonna get hurt; it’s just a matter of time. Canadian quartet The Wild is what you get if you mix Motley Crue with a bunch of pyromaniac, axe-wielding, beer-swillin’ gearheads with a penchant for blowing shit up and loud, fast rock ‘n’ roll. The band defies convention and gravity and comes off as one […]
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Broken bones, fractured soul
Singer Paul Janeway’s unassuming mug belies the soul monster behind it. He sings like he’s having a borderline fit, a Pentecostal tantrum. He moves about the bandstand like he’s got ants in his pants — fire ants. His band, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, is a powerhouse that hails from Birmingham, Alabama, and rocks […]
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Album review: ‘Little Steps’
Berta Moreno “Little Steps” Self-released bertamoreno.com She was born and raised in Spain, but Berta Moreno fell in love with American jazz and wanted to be part of it. Suffice it to say, her wish came true. Moreno’s debut album, “Little Steps,” not only showcases her prowess as an improviser on the saxophone, it also […]
