The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival has announced the remaining four headliners of its 2017 edition. King Crimson, Joss Stone, Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, and Maceo Parker performing a tribute to Ray Charles join previously announced headliners Mavis Staples and Sheryl Crow. The Jazz Festival, now in its 16th year, will take place June 23 […]
Jazz Fest
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Jazz Festival announces two 2017 headliners
The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival has announced the first two headliners of its 2017 edition. R&B and gospel singer Mavis Staples will perform Wednesday, June 28, and roots rocker Sheryl Crow will play Thursday, June 29. Both shows are at 8 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Tickets for Staples are $25-$85, and […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 9: Ron reviews the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Experience, Brian Dickinson, and Laura Dubin
Bassist John Lee played with Dizzy Gillespie for the last 10 years of the great trumpeter’s career. Lee continued that legacy Saturday night at Kilbourn Hall with the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Experience. The group features another veteran player, master percussionist Roger Squitero, along with a host of young stars. Trumpeter Freddie Hendrix had a pivotal […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 9: Frank reviews Tia Fuller and Flat Earth Society
Going to the Jazz Fest is like eating ice cream for nine days straight. I like ice cream, but now my tummy hurts. So before I go on a ice cream-less sabbatical, I went down one more time for the crushed nuts, the hot fudge, and jazz. Tia Fuller bopped to the max at Max. […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 8: Frank reviews Curtis Stigers, Gregg Allman, and Los Lonely Boys
Well a wop bopa loo bop a wop bam boom. No sooner did I send up the Bat Signal for some scat then Curtis Stigers rolls into town delivering a mouthful of syllabic sensations. Suave ain’t the word; it doesn’t do the man justice. Stigers hit the stage with so much cocksure swagger it was […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 7: Frank reviews the Lauren Sevian Quartet, Dave Rivello, and Rai Thistlethwayte
Once I finished playing Monday morning quarterback with the cats at JAZZ 90.1, I crossed the street — to get to the other side and catch the Lauren Sevian Quartet deliver some hard bop via her baritone saxophone. Miss Sevian stayed mostly in the upper register while ignoring the delicious honks and growls associated with […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 8: Ron reviews Helen Sung, Ben Monder, and Matthew Halsall and The Gondwana Orchestra
The intimacy of Hatch Hall was perfectly suited to the highly personal set Helen Sung played Friday night. Between tunes, she told the audience about her musical journey, starting with her upbringing in Texas with a strict Russian piano teacher who told her classical music was the only music worth listening to and playing. Once […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 7: Ron reviews Jamison Ross, Cortex, and the Claudia Quintet
Jamison Ross has played at the XRIJF before as the drummer for Cecile McLorin Salvant, but Thursday night he was at the center of the Kilbourn Hall stage. There’s no doubt about Ross’s drumming prowess; he won the 2012 Thelonious Monk Drums Competition. But when it came to one of the competition’s prizes, a recording […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 6: Ron reviews Russell Malon and Marianne Trudel Trio
Russell Malone was one of the artists I was most looking forward to seeing at the XRIJF, and when he played his first tune at Kilbourn Hall, it seemed promising. It was his own tune, “Honeybone,” and it showcased that wonderful blend of lead and rhythm guitar, with gorgeous ringing tone, that Malone is known […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 6: Frank reviews Tia Brazda, Nikki Hill, Johannes Linstead, and Danielle Ponder
[IMAGE-1] Tia Brazda’s first show was sold out to the walls with a crowd forced to sit on old wooden chairs from the Marquis de Sade collection. But the charming Brazda made the pain in the ass worth it. Her just right amount of vocal flexibility was wrapped in coquettish velvet and sass — she […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 5: Ron reviews Nacka Forum and Christine Tobin
When I entered Kilbourn Hall a bit late for the Nacka Forum concert, saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar was in the middle of a solo. He wasn’t playing the sax, though; he was doing a deadpan, funny monologue about his desperation to move to the United States. He said he would have to marry someone, and it […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 5: Frank reviews Bria Skonberg, plays a show, and ends the night with the Dan Brubeck Quartet
[IMAGE-1] Despite her sunny looks, Bria Skonberg harbors a little darkness. She played around in minor keys, and introduced me to my new favorite tune, Sidney Bechet’s “Egyptian Fantasy.” The way she worked around its haunting Duke Ellington-esque elegance was tres cool. I couldn’t make up my mind if I liked her horn playing or […]
