If anyone feels like the nine days of this year’s Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival went by in a blur, you’re not alone. According to XRIJF organizers, more than 208,000 people followed the music downtown across this year’s run. But if you missed it, the festival will be back for an 18th edition on June […]
Jazz Fest
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Jazz Festival announces full 2018 lineup
Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival producers John Nugent and Marc Iacona on Tuesday announced the lineup for this year’s festival, the XRIJF’s 17th edition, and to music fans, the most wonderful time of the year. The festival runs June 22 through June 30 in downtown Rochester. Having already announced this year’s Kodak Hall at Eastman […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 9: Frank reviews Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People and The Hooligans
Shootin’ pretty pictures (instead of dirty pool) and trying to give solid testimony to the plethora of artists I’ve seen over the last nine days has left your boy a little punchy folks — tore up from the floor up; beat up from the feet up. But just the same, I once more lugged my […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 9: Ron reviews Donny McCaslin, Matthew Stevens Trio, and Benny Green
The final night of the Jazz Festival was a disappointing end to a great festival for me. For instance, I expected a lot from Donny McCaslin’s set at Xerox Auditorium. McCaslin is a fine saxophone player, and his recent involvement in David Bowie’s final album has given him new visibility. But if tonight’s show is […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 9: Daniel reviews Balkun Brothers and Bonerama
When the band playing consists of only electric guitar and drums, somehow you just know it’s going to be gritty. Such was the case when the Balkun Brothers, Steve and Nick, took the stage with their Southern-style blues rock. There’s something about a rock duo that can sound incredibly full and satisfying, despite the lack […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 8: Frank reviews Binker and Moses, tries to see King Crimson, and ends the night with Caravan Palace
It has been exactly a year when I last set foot in a church. In fact, it was the same church I was in tonight to see, hear, and experience the elegant chaos of British duo Binker and Moses. B&M rocked Christ Church like a hell-bound stage coach reverberating around the nooks and spaces usually […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 8: Ron reviews 4 By Monk By 4, Tessa Souter, and Ariel Pocock
At Kilbourn Hall Friday night, 4 By Monk By 4 was something akin to a Thelonious Monk symphony, or at the very least, a Monk piano sonata. Because the great jazz composer’s tunes have a lot in common with each other — notably off-kilter timing and dissonant melodic twists — an hour of nothing but […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 8: Daniel reviews Iris Bergcrantz Group, Filthy Funk, and Sammy Miller and The Congregation
Upon hearing Iris Bergcrantz Group (featuring Anders Bergcrantz) at the Lutheran Church, the individual performances stood out immediately. As an ensemble, however, the net effect was more muted. To describe Iris’s pure vocal tone as merely ethereal would be clichรฉd and somewhat misleading. Her voice was also grounded and worldly. At times, the melodies had […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 7: Frank reviews The Wee Trio and Sheryl Crow
The Wee Trio was anything but wee as they filled the Wilder Room Thursday night with hip, bouncy bop. The atmosphere in the room is a tad stiff without music, and it’s still stiff with music. The picture the band painted didn’t entirely color the walls, but I loved it. The trio was equal amounts […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 7: Daniel reviews Phronesis, Jeff Coffin’s In Orbit, and Oskar Stenmark NYC Quartet
As the members of Phronesis made their way to the front of the Christ Church sanctuary for its first set on Thursday night, they looked more like a rock band than a jazz trio. Group leader and double bassist Jasper Hรธiby looked a bit like a lankier, Nordic version of the late, great Kurt Cobain, […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 7: Ron reviews Youn Sun Nah, Manuel Valera, and The Walt Weiskopf Quartet
How did a South Korean singer with a fantastic voice end up on a Rochester, New York, stage singing Tom Waits’ “Jockey Full of Bourbon” with a punk-metal vibe and earn a standing ovation and an encore? That might have been the question on your mind if you had just arrived at the Xerox Rochester […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 6: Daniel reviews Shauli Einav Quartet, Electric Kif, and Klabbes bank
Shauli Einav Quartet’s first set at Max of Eastman Place on Wednesday night was among the more traditional jazz performances I’ve heard at the festival so far. While this isn’t exactly my style, the musicianship was impeccable, and the overall vibe was suave and sexy. An Eastman School of Music alumnus, Einav’s delivery on the […]
