Painting sepia-toned portraits of life in the Midwest, The Cordial Sins maintain a balance between dreamy, floral pop and grungy alt-rock. Inspired by life-flashing moments from its first national tour, the band has just released its new EP, “In Memory,” via Diversion Records. Vocalist Liz Fisher sings indie rock melodies with silky smoothness, similar to […]
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CLASSICAL | Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
RPO Music Director Ward Stare’s program for this week’s concert features two very different works from 1919. Cellist Andrei Ioniศฤ (pictured), who was a powerhouse a couple of seasons ago in Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto, returns as soloist in Edward Elgar’s magnificently melancholic concerto, first performed (unsuccessfully) in 1919. That’s also the year that Igor Stravinsky fashioned […]
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JAZZ | Olli Hirvonen’s New Helsinki
“Breathtaking” might be the first word that comes to mind when you hear the music of Finnish guitarist Olli Hirvonen. His seemingly impossible dexterity is matched by his propulsive phrasing and imaginative melodic leaps. It’s not surprising that he won the 2016 Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition, especially considering the fact that the jury was headed […]
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2019 RMHOF inductee Christine Lavin plays Cafรฉ Veritas
Folk singer-songwriter Christine Lavin is a bon vivant. She is a born entertainer, but the SUNY Brockport graduate is also a connector with a tremendous social circle.
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Album review: ‘The Fine Line’
Bob Sheppard ‘The Fine Line’ Challenge Records bobsheppard.net You may not have heard of saxophonist Bob Sheppard, but you’ve surely heard him play. He’s worked with Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, and Herbie Hancock on the jazz side, and Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, and Steely Dan in the pop realm. Released last May, Sheppard’s excellent album […]
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Eastman School’s China tour to go on despite student ban
The Eastman School of Music plans to go ahead with an upcoming scheduled eight-city orchestral tour of China, despite that countryโs denial of visas to three members of the orchestra who are South Korean nationals.
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Album review: The Space Between Disguises
Simone Baron & Arco Belo ‘The Space Between Disguises’ GenreFluid simonebaron.bandcamp.com When I read in the liner notes for Simone Baron & Arco Belo’s forthcoming album โ out November 8 โ that Baron’s ensemble was “genre-queer,” I thought this was a bold appropriation of a gender term. But after listening, I realized that “The Space […]
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The F Word: Mirth, monkeyshines, and beer
Last Friday night, I found myself at the Bug Jar. The joint was sold out to the walls. The crowd had successfully shoehorned itself into the venue to dig Screaming Females โ a ferocious band that punctuates its music with full-throttle vocal vibrato and howlinโ guitar.
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JAZZ | Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
The first jazz orchestras came to prominence about a century ago. Since then interest in the form has ebbed and flowed, but over the last three decades, no ensemble has done more to keep the flame alive than the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Music Director Wynton Marsalis. Aside from Marsalis — one of […]
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JAZZ | Mwenso and the Shakes
Michael Mwenso conducts the Shakes with every bone in his body. He’s like a human metronome or a man-sized baton, pouring himself out on the stage in an unrelenting display of positivity. It’s an eclectic collision of jazz and world beat affirmation. Born in Sierra Leone and raised in London, Mwenso packs visceral energy and […]
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PSYCHEDELIC ROCK | The Mushroom Cloud
Get down and dirty to the funky rock variations of Connecticut-based quartet The Mushroom Cloud. Featuring guitarist-keyboardist Paul Harris, guitarist Matt Cuddy, bassist Ryan Berry, and drummer Russ Harris, the band has been sharing its mostly instrumental jam sessions with audiences since 2011. The Mushroom Cloud mixes rock, funk, electronica, and psychedelia into a danceable […]
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SURF-INSTRUMENTAL | Los Straitjackets
If you’re looking for Rochesterian and elite guitarist Greg Townson on stage with his band Los Straitjackets, it’s easy: He’s the one in the mask. Formed in Nashville in 1988, this band plays slick surf and instrumental guitar music, with a hilarious deadpan approach as the play exclusively in Luchador masks. Viva Los Straitjackets! Televisionaries […]
