Cover Story
The Rochester 10
A look at Rochesterians doing great things for the city’s future
SOUL/BLUES | Johnny Rawls
Johnny Rawls sings the bluesy side of soul — or maybe it’s the other way around. This Mississippi-born singer has been nominated for a Blues Award 12 times. He was O.V. Wright’s music director until Wright’s passing in 1980, and Rawls released his first solo album after knocking about as a sideman “Here We Go”…
ART | Mirko Pylyshenko Retrospective
Mirko Pylyshenko taught printmaking at SUNY Brockport during the Cold War era, and for more than 60 years has served the Rochester Ukrainian community in the fields of the arts, education, religion, youth programs, and the credit union movement. Pylyshenko’s work — characterized by graphic, bold lines and figurative elements — has been shown widely.…
The Velvet Noose uses atmosphere and spoken word for primitive humanity exploration
The Velvet Noose is a duo of sublime simplicity masquerading as complexity. It skates the razor between a song’s impulse and its actuality. Alyson Trombulak, the spoken word component of The Velvet Noose, offers beguiling hints at a broader picture over Harold Taddy’s soundscape manipulation via a droning MOOG Oscillator. The band conjures wonderment and…
FILM | ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’
By now you might be a bit over the holiday spirit — hell, I was done with carols and seasonal films when they debuted in November (sorry-not-sorry). So if you’re looking to clear your brain of Santa and mangers and panic-heavy commercialism for a tic, head over to the Dryden Theatre for one of two…
Album review: ‘The Mauve Album’
Passive Aggressives Anonymous “The Mauve Album” Self-released facebook.com/paaband Passive Aggressives Anonymous’s new “The Mauve Album” opens with a Martin Denny-esque, cocktail shift and shuffle of sorts that lulls the listener into an immediate hypnotic willingness. So much so that the album’s songs segue smooth and seamlessly with little or no warning. You’ll find yourself in…
ART | ‘Art of the Book’
Artists have long been challenging and disrupting the “book” concept. The Central Library’s “Art of the Book” exhibit, now in its 7th year, is displaying dozens of works by artists from across the US and Canada that reinterpret the traditional relationship between paper and ink, from beautifully and intricately designed artist books to completely deconstructed…
Album review: ‘Forever Shine’
Nate Coffey “Forever Shine” Self-released Comin’ on long and strong a little like Gary Moore, Rochester’s Nate Coffey uses his guitar to set fire to everything in sight on his new CD, “Forever Shine.” Now with this one, Coffey has really got his fingers in the mix, up to the second knuckle. On some of…
HOLIDAY | Kwanzaa Activities
Kwanzaa began Tuesday, December 26, and continues through January 1, and in Rochester, daily activities have been organized around the city by the Rochester Kwanzaa Coalition. On Wednesday, December 27, the day recognizing the principle Kujichagulia (self-determination), the Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Avenue; 276-8900; mag.rochester.edu) will host a Kwanzaa Family Fun Day, noon to…
New Year’s Eve 2017 Guide
[ COMEDY ] New Year’s Eve Spectacular Featuring live music, live actors, a champagne toast at Midnight, followed by after-show dance party. 7:30 & 10 p.m. $25-$30. Geva Theatre Center, 75 Woodbury Blvd. 232-4382; gevacomedyimprov.org. New Year’s Eve with Tony Baker 7:30 & 10 p.m. $20-$25. Comedy @ the Carlson, 50 Carlson Rd. 426-6339; carlsoncomedy.com.…
INDIE ROCK | Anamon
Ana Emily Monaco, vocalist and guitarist for the trio Anamon, flirts with punk and country and likes to keep her songs short and sweet. The tunes are mid-tempo numbers with elements of shoegaze, stripped down but lush with cinematic reflections of life’s grind. Anamon — also including bassist Benton Sillick and drummer Aaron Mika —…
HARDCORE | Bone Mask
Bone Mask checks all the boxes for a self-described sludge-doom-hardcore band. The pounding, propulsive drums; crushing guitar and bass; and guttural vocals are all there. But what stands out about the band’s EP, which it released last summer, is just how unrelenting the music is. It’s not so much a bludgeoning, brutal quality as it…
Feedback 12/27
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com or post them with articles on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com. Those of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published; we edit selections for publication in print, and we don’t publish comments sent to other media. Rochester’s DACA students On our article on the challenges…
Area will celebrate Douglass’s 200th
Local governments and numerous Rochester arts organizations are planning a year’s worth of events to commemorate Frederick Douglass’s 200th birthday. The former slave, abolitionist, writer, and orator – who chose February 14 as his birthday – lived in Rochester from 1847 to 1872 and published his newspaper, The North Star, here. The City of Rochester…
Local, national alarm over CDC censorship
Words matter. That’s why so many people and organizations were alarmed by reports that the Trump administration told top Centers for Disease Control officials to avoid seven terms as they prepared budget documents: transgender, fetus, evidence-based, science-based, vulnerable, entitlement, and diversity. (The CDC’s head denies that the terms are banned and that any language suggestions…
Just Juice, in a new location, focuses on healthy tonics for what ails
Just Juice, in early December, opened its new location on University Avenue — down the road from its former spot in the M/Body Fitness building — a chic little joint designed by Lives Styled to feel like a balmy oasis, with seating and counters by Staach. Just Juice offers personalized juice cleanses as well as…
REGGAE | Forever Party
For those that love John Brown’s Body, this is the band’s send-off; it’s taking an indefinite hiatus. The Ithaca-based “future roots reggae” band is saying its goodbyes to fans and to 2017 with a one of a kind show featuring three bands that have never shared a stage, and likely never will again. JBB will…
ROOTS ROCK | Woody Dodge
In the Americana tradition of cats like Tom Petty and Neil Young (yeah, yeah, I know, he’s a Canuck), the scenesters in Rochester’s Woody Dodge rocks with equal parts bang and twang. The clean guitar-driven music moves seamlessly and so will you. Do-si-do. Woody Dodge plays Friday, December 29, at Abilene Bar and Lounge, 153…
POP | Kaylin Cervini and Her Wolves
Dressed like she’s heading over to Grandma’s house, Kaylin Cervini sings with a hint of mystery in her beautifully warbling alto. Her music is in the folk vein without the distraction of an agenda. This leaves plenty of room for the drama to show up and out. Kaylin Cervini and Her Wolves plays with Vinyl…
Warren wraps up top staff changes
Mayor Lovely Warren has completed the reworking of her top-administrative staff, leaving most of her key management team in place as she starts her second term. Warren announced the last of her administrative changes this afternoon: Marisol Ramos-Lopez, the Commissioner of Recreation and Youth Services, and John Merklinger, Director of Emergency Services, are leaving. The…
How will we fill up downtown’s retail space?
As residential development continues downtown, we need to think creatively about how we use first-floor space in this post-retail environment.
Recap: CITY’s top movies of 2017
Adam’s favorite films of 2017 were stories that said something about the current state of the world, or reminded him of the humanity that makes it worth fighting for.
Film review: ‘The Greatest Showman’
It’s easy to respect the ambition behind “The Greatest Showman,” an all-new, completely original movie musical based on the life of circus impresario P.T. Barnum. Coming from a first-time filmmaker — Australian music-video director Michael Gracey — the long-in-the-works film has been something of a passion project for star Hugh Jackman. The film’s an over-the-top,…
