Cover Story
Douglass’s Rochester
Frederick Douglass lived in Rochester for a quarter of a century, and is buried here. The city likes to claim him as its own, but how has Rochester preserved Douglass’s memory and upheld his legacy of fighting for equality?
Tenants of Thurston Road apartment building plan rent strike
Tenants at 447 Thurston Road, an apartment building in the 19th Ward, held a press conference Tuesday to protest the building’s terrible, unaddressed conditions, and to announce a rent strike beginning in March. The speakers also praised Assemblymember Harry Bronson’s introduction of a Rochester Housing Court Act into the New York State Legislature. The City…
Business incubator space opens in Sibley building
High Tech Rochester has a new name: NextCorps. And this morning, the organization officially opened its new business incubator space in Sibley Square (the new name for the Sibley building). High Tech Rochester has operated out of temporary space in the Sibley building for the past few years while its new space was under construction. The…
Push for stronger police oversight continues
The activist group Enough is Enough is calling for the creation of a Police Accountability Board that would have the legal power to investigate, judge, and discipline Rochester police officers, particularly in cases involving excessive use of force.
The F Word: Stay cool
The F Word. An online column for me to pontificate, ruminate, placate, and salivate. We’ll have reviews and previews, we’ll discuss trends in local and national music scenes, and we’ll try to do it as reverently as possible. Yup. Let’s get started. When the curtain went up on the Kodak Theater for RAPA’s production of…
Saturday rally protests Trump’s actions
The historic Central Church of Christ was packed Saturday with about 500 people protesting President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and policies for their damage to the poor and people of color. In spite of the bitterly cold, damp weather, following the event at the church, many of the protesters marched up East Main Street to a…
Local leader calls for resistance to Donald Trump’s racism
Minister Franklin Florence Sr., a long-time religious and civil rights leader in Rochester, is calling for people from all over the region to join him in a “United Community Response to Donald Trump’s Ongoing Hatred and Racism.” The community response will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, February 17, at the historic Central Church of Christ,…
Another school shooting, another shrug from politicians
Here we are again, seeing the pictures of terrified children being led, single-file, to safety, hands on the shoulders of the child in front of them.
Seligman says goodbye – for the moment – to the UR
In an often emotional speech on Thursday, University of Rochester President Joel Seligman gave a farewell address to a packed auditorium at the Memorial Art Gallery.
Bobby Floyd is a piano player’s piano player
The first piano player who observed prodigious talent in Bobby Floyd was his mother. At the age of 2, he walked over to the old upright in the family’s Marion, Ohio, home and began picking out melodies. A short time later his parents discovered he had perfect pitch, and by 5, Floyd was taking piano…
Feedback 2/14
Send comments to themail@rochester-citynews.com or post them with articles on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com. We edit selections for publication, and we don’t publish comments sent to other media. Countering a year of Trump Our political process is in turmoil. The man in the Oval Office furthers the gridlock through exclusion, poisonous rhetoric, and falsification of fact…
Album review: ‘Half Moon’
Jackson Cavalier “Half Moon” Self-released jacksoncavalier.bandcamp.com This album is nothing short of beautiful. One-man-band Jackson Cavalier is a study in bittersweet juxtaposition as he and his lonesome guitar come steamrolling out in this rollicking, folk-rock display called “Half Moon.” The opening track, “Dead Bird,” is a happy finger-picked ode with Cavalier’s guitar style keeping it…
Towns, DOT at impasse on bike lane
East Avenue between the Rochester city line and its junction with Route 31F in Pittsford is overbuilt. It has capacity for far more cars than actually travel it and, because it’s so wide, it psychologically enables people drive faster than they should. So the State Department of Transportation wants to put it on a road…
Album review: ‘Happy Fire — New Kind of Jazz’
Hiro Honshuku’s Racha Fora “Happy Fire — New Kind of Jazz” JazzTokyo rachafora.com The jazz world is rich in albums filled with standards. There are literally thousands of interpretations of tunes like Jerome Kern’s “All The Things You Are” and George Gershwin’s “Summertime.” But it’s a safe bet you’ve never heard them played the way…
Bar Bantam brings a casual vibe and carryout service to Metropolitan Tower
Big changes at The Metropolitan building continue with the opening of Bar Bantam in the building’s newly renovated lobby. The restaurant, which opened February 1, serves breakfast, lunch, and aperitivo (happy hour), with plans to add a full dinner service in April. Bar Bantam is a joint venture between partners Lauren, Robert, and Evan Gallina…
LECTURE | ‘Reflections of the Divine: Art as Spiritual Cipher’
Atlanta-based artist Masud Olufani will visit The College at Brockport campus on Wednesday, February 21, to give a lecture titled “Reflections of the Divine: Art as a Spiritual Cipher.” Olufani’s work, which he describes as visual poems about the human experience, are currently displayed in the Tower Fine Arts Center Gallery as part of the…
Theater review: ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ at Blackfriars
When they hear “Glengarry Glen Ross,” most people will think first of the 1992 film adaptation starring Al Pacino (who won an Academy Award for his role), Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon, and Alec Baldwin. But in the theatre world, David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” has serious legs — the 1984 play won the…
JAZZ | Johnny O’Neal Trio
If you have any doubts about the piano prowess of Johnny O’Neal just consider one fact: Out of all the excellent pianists in the world, he was selected to simulate the great Art Tatum in the 2004 film “Ray.” O’Neal had already paid his dues playing with Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ray Brown, not…
CLASSICAL | Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The London-based Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has “thrown out the rulebook”: The ensemble often performs without a conductor, makes decisions by committee, and performs on period instruments. The program for OAE’s February 16 performance at Kodak Hall will include Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 4. While centuries-old instruments can sometimes be beaten…
JAM/JAZZ | Moho Collective
When it comes to stringed instruments, Moho Collective’s Kurt Johnson is a first-rate mechanic, an operator. I once saw him play a pedal steel with an Allen wrench. Fans are gonna love this: The band is releasing two new albums this year. But in the meantime, catch ’em live. This band is a great ball…
ART | ‘Playing in Color’
Whether Rochester-based artist Ray Ray Mitrano is creating participatory performances and workshops about electoral politics in America or encouraging imaginative thought on his monthly radio show “WAYO Play” on 104.3 FM, community involvement is key. Mitrano’s art doesn’t have viewers — it has creative collaborators. This week, Mitrano brings his radio show to the George…
FUNK/HIP- HOP | Critt’s Juke Joint
At the heart of every Critt’s Juke Joint show is Buffalo musician Eric Crittenden. The consistency stops there; the rest of the band is there upon invite and as Crittenden puts it, is “always revolving and evolving.” This time the funky soul outfit will evolve with members of Turkuaz — who made a dent here…
SPECIAL EVENT | Chili Cookoff
There are few foods more fitting for the winter season than chili. The popular comfort food takes the spotlight this week as local restaurants and culinary institutions compete to see who has the tastiest crockpot cuisine. Dogtown, Jeremiah’s Tavern, The Owl House, Jines, Abundance Cooperative Market, Hart’s Local Grocers, and others will vie to win…
FOLK | FOLK City
With a local folk and Americana scene brimming with talent, it was only a matter of time before Rochester hosted its own folk festival. A three-day extravaganza at Photo City Improv, the event benefits the work of REACH: Rochester Engaging in Action for the Chronically Homeless. FOLK City features more than six hours of music…
SPECIAL EVENT | NordicFest
Rochester-area residents can win the winter season this weekend by heading to Rochester Museum & Science Center’s Cumming Nature Center for NordicFest. Attendees can warm up with meat or vegetarian chili for sale — with proceeds benefitting the Genesee Valley Ski Patrol — and then partake in a 10k snowshoe race on Saturday and an…
CLASSICAL | Takács Quartet
Among all the classical music mediums, the string quartet possesses a singular combination of intimacy and immediacy that’s rare in other forms. As part of the Eastman-Ranlet Series, the storied Takács Quartet takes to the stage Sunday at Kilbourn Hall to perform string quartets by two of the greatest melodists in compositional history: Mozart, with…
FILM | ‘Peter Gabriel: The Making of So’
The Alternative Music Film Society continues its great series of film screenings this week with “Peter Gabriel: The Making of So,” commemorating nearly 33 years since Gabriel began working on the album that shifted him from a cult star to a household name. “So” contains hit tracks “Sledgehammer,” “Big Time,” and “In Your Eyes,” which…
HIP-HOP | Tyler, the Creator
In his earlier years, Tyler, the Creator — co-founder of the collective Odd Future — was known for his hateful lyrics and a general love for mayhem, but he’s recently shown some maturity in his career. In 2017, he produced and released his fourth studio album, “Flower Boy,” which is much more pop-influenced and personal…
CHORAL | ‘Frederick Douglass at 200’
The celebration of abolitionist Frederick Douglass’s bicentennial continues Friday at Hochstein Performance Hall with a tribute by Rochester Oratorio Society. The choir will be joined by Ghanaian master drummer Yahaya Alhassan and two dynamic soloists — soprano Kearstin Piper Brown and baritone Jonathan Rhodes — to perform local composer Glenn McClure’s “Emancipation Oratorio.” This compelling…
FOLK | John McCutcheon
When Pete Seeger praises your musicianship, you’re probably on the right track. And in return, multi-instrumentalist John McCutcheon has carried Seeger’s torch as a folksinger, storyteller, and social justice activist. A master on the hammered dulcimer, guitar, banjo, fiddle, and nearly anything else with strings, McCutcheon carries on a folk tradition of being versatile —…
What will we accomplish in our Year of Douglass?
If, after this year of celebration, we relegate Frederick Douglass to the history books again, we’ll be doing a great injustice.
Film review: ‘Fifty Shades Freed’
The “Fifty Shades” franchise packs up its riding crops, handcuffs, and nipple clamps as it reaches its third and climactic final chapter, concluding the story of Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and her tumultuous romance with brooding, kink-loving billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). The opening scenes of “Fifty Shades Free” find the couple tying the knot…
Film preview: ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’
The romantic drama “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” chronicles the later years in the life of Hollywood icon Gloria Grahame (played in the film by Annette Bening). Though Grahame’s legacy hasn’t stood the test of time as well as some of her peers, she made a name for herself in noir films and acted…
Focus intensifies on RCSD’s special education
The Rochester school district got some good news last week in the form of rising graduation rates. But concerns over the district’s special education program continues.
