It’s hard to simply refer to an artist as “versatile,” especially when there’s no foreseeable limit to that artist’s talent. Take one Herb Heinz, for example. Whether he’s working as a guitar-playing sideman and backing up a musician such as singer-songwriter Teressa Wilcox, or playing straight-ahead rock ‘n ‘roll, reggae, and other styles with his […]
Music
Posted inMusic
AMERICANA | The Observers
When Buffalo musician Tyler Westcott comes into Rochester, as he does regularly, there’s no telling which of his bands he’ll be bringing with him. But fans in the 585 will have plenty of options this month: the Django-inspired jazz quartet The Paper Roses, the bluesy roots music dynamo that is Folkfaces, and the old-timey hot […]
Posted inMusic
Album review: ‘Nod’
Nod ‘Nod’ Self-released nodrock.bandcamp.com Nod’s first release way back in 1992, simply titled “Nod,” is a got-damn classic of delirious dissonance. And it’s now available on Spotify and other streaming platforms. Catching Nod live is a bit of a gamble: You don’t know whether you’ll catch the genius of Scrappy Joe (guitar, vocals), Tim Poland […]
Posted inMusic
Same title, different songs
January is Jeff Riales’s month. He’s in the midst of a month-long residencyat Abilene Bar & Lounge, and Friday night at Hochstein Performance Hall, he returns to the event that he inadvertently helped to create, “If All Rochester Wrote the Same Song.”
Posted inMusic
INDIE POP | Laveda
Laveda is the unassuming, Albany-based duo of Jake Brooks and Ali Genevich. And though their music is drenched in dreamy digital textures and silky pop production, you won’t want to sleep on this band. The sound has its share of lo-fi and shoegaze elements, but the result is always intentional, polished, and filled with momentum. […]
Posted inMusic
JAZZ | Levin Brothers
After studying at Eastman School of Music, bassist Tony Levin was enlisted by Chuck Mangione. But that was just the beginning of a career that would include work with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, and many other top artists. Meanwhile, Tony’s brother Pete Levin was playing various keyboards with stars such as […]
Posted inMusic
Album review: ‘Warbirds’
CHRMR ‘Warbirds’ Self-released chrmr.bandcamp.com Do you like Tool? Do you dig abstract time signatures that serve the chaos appropriately? Do you like heavy bands that are heavy with a purpose, and aren’t just there as a soundtrack to a botched autopsy? Rochester’s CHRMR keeps it dark and dirty throughout the eight powerful tracks on its […]
Posted inMusic
SINGER-SONGWRITER | Joe Kaplan
Joe Kaplan is best known around these parts as the guitarist for the reggae-rock outfit Personal Blend, and as the frontman for the folk-leaning reggae band The Forest Dwellers. But on Thursday, he’ll be playing solo as part of the singer-songwriter showcase series at The Daily Refresher. In this more intimate acoustic context, Kaplan’s crafty […]
Posted inMusic
CLASSICAL | William Warfield Scholarship Concert
One hundred years after William Warfield was born, the Rochester vocalist’s legacy is still spreading. “My uncle’s career as a singer was really because of the generosity of others,” William’s nephew and singer Thomas Warfield says. With that idea in mind, the William Warfield Scholarship Fund was created in 1977 to offer financial support for […]
Posted inMusic
The music of Rochester composer David Temperley
David Temperley composes tuneful, expressive pieces in a classical mold. But he also draws on influences from the popular music he grew up listening to on the radio.
Posted inMusic
The F Word: Ska brother number one
As a musical style, ska has its limits. Sometimes there’s not enough subtlety perpetrated by its purveyors…but as with Some Ska Band, sometimes there is.
Posted inMusic
AMERICANA | The Honey Smugglers
The Honey Smugglers have been prominent players in the Rochester Americana scene for five years now, and they’ll be celebrating the milestone with a show on some familiar stomping grounds at Three Heads Brewing this Friday. Fronted by the affable, energetic singer-mandolinist Brian MacDonald, this six-piece band finds itself flowing somewhere between alternative folk, bluegrass, […]
