Cover Story
The Rochester 10
Greater Rochester is filled with talented people working to make the region a better place to work, live, and play. But it often seems like the same names grab the headlines, while other no-less-deserving people go unnoticed. The Rochester 10 — an annual project by CITY — is designed to bring some of the community’s…
Open Letter Books finishes 2016 strong
The last few weeks of December set Open Letter Books up for a great 2017. In mid-December, The National Endowment of the Arts awarded the small literary translation press an Art Works grant of $40,000. This was the largest amount awarded to any Rochester organization this cycle — BOA Editions and George Eastman Museum each…
Film review: ‘La La Land’
An ambitiously vibrant, often dazzling pastiche of great movie musicals, “La La Land” is practically impossible to dislike.
Sheppard, former police chief, considers mayor run
Rachel Barnhart, former WROC reporter and anchor, is also exploring a bid. Both Sheppard and Barnhart say that they will announce their decision in the coming months.
Film review: “Always Shine”
Anna (Mackenzie Davis) and Beth (Caitlin FitzGerald) are two L.A. actresses looking to reconnect and repair their friendship while on a weekend getaway to Big Sur, where festering personal and professional jealousies make for a tenser experience than either anticipated. Then things get weird, as the unnerving “Always Shine” descends into a slippery tale of…
FILM | “The Maltese Falcon”
End your 2016 in murderous, hard-boiled fashion when the Eastman Museum’s Dryden Theatre (900 East Avenue) screens John Huston’s classic 1941 film noir “The Maltese Falcon” on Saturday, December 31. Often credited as the first screen noir, the film is based on Dashiell Hammett’s novel and stars Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, a ruthless private…
Waiting for Uber dreams to come true
Uber and Lyft are most likely on their way to Upstate, but they’re stuck in traffic.
ART | “Squared Off”
Through January 6, Nu Movement Cooperative Studio (716 University Avenue) is hosting “Squared Off,” an exhibit of work by 23 Arena Art Group artists. Artwork includes drawings, ceramics, mixed media collages, monoprints, paintings, and photographs, all square in dimensions, and some including the geometric form as the subject. The Arena Art Group is an active…
The Lounge offers the full experience
Joseph Cipolla, owner and executive chef of The Kitchen and now The Lounge, says he and his team “want to create the whole night out.” “I like to create things that relate to my own life,” Cipolla says. “My wife and I get all dressed up for a night out, and when dinner is over…
COMEDY | The Capitol Steps
The Capitol Steps probably couldn’t have picked a better year to celebrate its 35th anniversary. The satire practically writes itself after this election cycle — “At what expense?” is a question for another time. The popular comedy troupe released its 40th (at least) album this year, “What to Expect When You’re Electing,” with songs and…
Film review: “Jackie”
With his first English-language feature, Chilean director Pablo Larraín (“No,” “Neruda”) mixes historical drama, character study, and moody tone poem with just a touch of camp in “Jackie,” the filmmaker’s intricate and enigmatic portrait of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Examining the subjects of celebrity, politics, and the process of constructing history, the film isn’t exactly…
SINGER-SONGWRITER | Aaron Rizzo
Known as a producer and sideman, Rochester musician Aaron Rizzo is flexing his wings and working in solo artist to the list of credits as well. Rizzo’s guitar playing chimes with moderate melancholy and maximum soul. I can’t wait to hear an album’s worth of what he is truly capable of. Aaron Rizzo plays with…
FOLK | A Girl Named Genny
On a cold winter night, there’s nothing like some good ole Americana to warm the soul. A Girl Named Genny will get your blood pumping with its earnest brand of folk. Whether the band is playing lovely down-home ballads or songs fit for a hootenanny, the infectiousness of the music is undeniable. And if some…
JAZZ | Chet Catallo & The Cats
You’ve heard his distinctive guitar sound on hits like “Shaker Song” and “Morning Dance.” That was back in the 1980’s when Chet Catallo was an original member of the fusion group Spyro Gyra, playing on and writing many of the group’s tunes. In recent years Catallo has branched out far beyond fusion, embracing a style…
ROCK | Walrus Junction
If the music lineup at Abilene this Friday were a holiday meal, local quintet Walrus Junction’s set would be the tantalizing appetizer. As part of an already loaded feast that includes Rochester favorites The Fox Sisters and Hinkley, Walrus Junction makes its Abilene debut and opens the evening up during Happy Hour with an energetic…
POP | Rubblebucket
Exuding joy and possibility with every trumpet blast and tightrope-act vocal riff, Brooklyn-based Rubblebucket’s songs act as tiny encapsulations of a happiness that’s hard to nail down. “November” (which could very well act as a spiritual successor to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September”) is a brass-filled rollercoaster of a song, and “Came Out of a…
BLUEGRASS | The Blind Owl Band
Saranac Lake’s The Blind Owl Band really hammers the bluegrass. I mean, when the band’s done you could call it black-and-bluegrass … or bruised grass. In its blazing performances, the band calls upon traditional and non-traditional strains to reach its own blend. Look out. The Blind Owl Band plays Thursday, December 29, at Flour City…
Aaron DeRuyter fishes for country twang
For a while there, Rochester musician Aaron DeRuyter figured the best way to describe his music was by calling it country. The thing is he didn’t really like country … or did he? “Eventually it occurred to me that I did actually like country,” DeRuyter says. “And I was playing alt-country before I knew it…
Album review: ‘Aziza’
Aziza “Aziza” Dare2 Records daveholland.com There are jazz groups whose greatness lies in a rapport established after playing together for many decades. But sometimes the magic can come from the opposite formula: musicians drawn in from different corners, bringing their differences to the table. Bassist Dave Holland, saxophonist Chris Potter, guitarist Lionel Loueke, and drummer…
Urban Action 12/28
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Doc examines migration of Latinos The Rochester Committee on Latin America and Veterans for Peace Chapter 23 will present “Harvest of Empire: The Untold Story of Latinos in America,” a documentary film, on…
Feedback 12/28
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. Comments of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. Red-light cameras…
Music review: ‘North’
Kevin Hays New Day Trio “North” Sunnyside Records kevinhays.com The cover of Kevin Hays New Day Trio’s album “North” features a detail of a wall in Harlem rich in layers of posters in a variety of styles. The cover is especially appropriate for an album not only multilayered in terms of complexity, but also in…
Eastman Museum focuses on objects of memory
Photographs have always served as objects of memory: distilling moments of time, faces, and places on material surfaces that may be revisited until the fragile material wears out. Yet in this digital age, when photographic prints are all but obsolete, the very fact that they are objects of memory serves as the subject matter for…
White still pursuing military school
A proposal made earlier this year for a military academy within the Rochester City School District continues to draw support and criticism. School board President Van White recently sought advice from Paul Vallas, a nationally-known superintendent who has worked with the Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans school systems. Vallas is both hailed and derided for…
Truth, lies, and politics: how smart are voters?
Waiting for Donald Trump: Second of a series on the 2016 presidential election and what comes next.
