Momentum grows for revisions to state’s bail reform laws
The leader of the New York State Senate says it’s likely that changes will soon be made to the state’s new bail reform laws, which end most forms of cash bail for nonviolent offenses. Meanwhile, the state’s chief judge also called for amendments to the laws.
Youth climate activists call on NY to sell its fossil fuel stocks
The state’s retirement funds have several billions of dollars invested in coal, oil, and gas companies.
Four more paperboys sue the Democrat and Chronicle claiming sexual abuse
The latest lawsuit brings the number of one-time paperboys to sue the Democrat and Chronicle for alleged sexual abuse to five.
POETRY | Def Meets Deaf Poetry Jam
Now in its 11th year, the Def Meets Deaf Poetry Jam showcases a unique live performance format. Deaf and hard-of-hearing performers will present poetry live in American Sign Language, taking turns on stage with hearing poets who perform spoken word work, which is in turn made accessible through live interpreters. This year’s lineup features a…
COMEDY | The Roast of Rochester
In one of the more unusual lineups of 2020, The Zone drive time radio hosts Mark Maira and Shane Allen are teaming up with former Judge Leticia Astacio to make some jokes at the Flower City’s expense. Garbage plates, the Fast Ferry, and the weather will all be on the menu as we hear from…
DANCE | Commotion Dance Theater: Leap Day Dance Performance
Beyond the pun in the title — and I’m always a sucker for those — it’s a whimsical and refreshing idea to host a quadrennial dance performance on leap day. Commotion Dance Theater is a mainstay act at Rochester Fringe, as well as the coordinators of the summer festival “Dances at MuCCC.” This leap day…
LECTURE | The Rainbow Dialogues
Intersectionality is this year’s topic at the third annual Anthony Mascioli Rainbow Dialogues. The half-day program is presented by the Rochester Public Library, Out Alliance, City Historian, and ImageOut. The event combines featured speakers with a selection of primary sources from LGBTQ+ historical archives to give new perspectives on activism over time. The Keynote Speaker…
BRAZILIAN FOLK | Forró Estrelas do Norte
Inspired by the traditions of Northeastern Brazil, local string band Forró Estrelas do Norte (North Stars Forró) formed in 2019 on a mission to bring traditional Brazilian folk music to Rochester. The group’s particular style, “forró,” is thought to have originated from the Afro-Brazilian word for “party.” Pulsing with spirit, the songs feature instruments such…
Selfhood and safety in black America
Two separate but complementary art exhibits interrogate the concepts of selfhood and safety, the inner lives and outer realities, experienced by black people in America.
JAZZ | The Pickle Mafia
Charlie Lindner has two different musical itches to scratch. Known for his otherworldly work with The Manhattan Project and his more earth-based jazz, Lindner is taking it another step beyond by combining the two with his band The Pickle Mafia. Backed by bassist Ben Chilbert and drummer Marco Cirigliano, Lindner’s got a jazz rash that…
Cyclist gets hit by car, then sued for $700
Cyclist Bryan Agnello was blindsided twice by the same motorist. First, when the driver rear-ended him. Then, a month later, when the driver sued him for $700 damage to his car.
ROCK | Max Creek
Max Creek is the original Northeast jam band that wrote the book about surviving rock ‘n’ roll. Since its formation in 1971, Max Creek has gone from quartet to trio to quintet. It’s played small clubs, headlined at big festivals, and everything in between. From the start, Max Creek has combined Americana with soul, jazz,…
Feedback 2/26/20: Caw’mon with the crows, bail reform works, RCSD re-do
This week, readers wax poetic on Rochester’s crows, mince no words on bail reform and Rochester public schools, and ask, “Why would anyone want to bring a child into this world?”
JAM BAND | Dopapod
Known for its use of palindromes, the Brooklyn-based electro-funk quartet Dopapod is touring behind the release of its newest album, “Emit Time.” Formed at Berklee College of Music in 2007, the band took a restorative hiatus in 2018 and is now back in full effect. Delivering an easy-going jam band vibe, Dopapod keeps the energy…
Lucky for you
Restaurant Good Luck recently opened Lucky’s on North Winton. Co-owner Chuck Cerankosky describes the new restaurant as a smaller, more casual, neighborhood version of Good Luck. “If Good Luck is for special occasions and showboating, this is an everyday place for everyone to have a great meal,” he says.
JAZZ | Steve Greene and Dave Arenius
The guitar is basically a few pieces of wood, cut into shapes and glued together, with steel or nylon strings attached. But, in the hands of Steve Greene, it sings with gorgeous clarity. Over the decades, he’s played with his trio and in The White Hots, among other configurations. He’s also released several albums of…
A hidden gem
For those not in-the-know, one of the best bottle shops in Monroe County, One Stop Brew Shop, is tucked away in Erie Canal Commons on Ridgeway Avenue in Greece, sandwiched between a liquor store and a jeweler.
Album review: ‘Chicory’
Alyssa Rodriguez ‘Chicory’ Self-released alyssarodriguezfiddle.bandcamp.com [ Updated 2/26/20 to reflect Rodriguez’s employment at WXXI ] On the four-song EP “Chicory,” released digitally on February 7, Rochester fiddle and dulcimer player Alyssa Rodriguez reminds us that the best folk music is tactile. You can hear the visceral nature of the instruments — the tension of the…
Mayor Warren opposes sex ed, STD vaccine bills
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren asserts her opposition to bills pushing for k-12 sex education and allowing minors to be treated and inoculated for STDs without parental consent.
Political disquiet
This week, the University of Rochester’s Humanities Center Public Lecture Series examines the themes of community, morality, and current events with acclaimed author Valeria Luiselli.
Falling slowly
“Once” is a captivating musical, filled with story and heartache, ghosts and grief. It has every opportunity to be Dublin embodied on stage — but the music must be honored the way it was written, or the production feels hollow.
Album review: ‘Iridescence’
Matthew Snow ‘Iridescence’ Self-released facebook.com/m.snowmusic Bassists are often thought of as supporting players in jazz ensembles. And on bassist Matthew Snow’s debut album, “Iridescence,” Snow takes only one brief solo. He’s a superb musician, but the album primarily serves as a showcase for Snow’s formidable skills as a composer and arranger. While his compositions recall…
Burning desire
Anchored by two exquisite performances from Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is a simmering love story about desire, the female gaze, and the enduring beauty of art.
THEATER | ‘Natural Shocks’
Some readers may recall the “heartache and the thousand natural shocks” from Hamlet’s third act soliloquy. In “Natural Shocks,” a one-woman drama by Lauren Gunderson, the phrase refers literally to the protagonist hiding in the basement because of a tornado outside. Summer Sattora stars as Angela, who lets the audience in on the story of…
SPORTS | Roc City Roller Derby Home Opener
Roc City Roller Derby has been undefeated in CITY’s annual “Best Local Women’s Sports Team” poll since the introduction of the category in 2015. If you haven’t seen a bout in person before, this is an excellent opportunity to get off the couch and into the bleachers. Expect an hour of fast-paced action, where the…
SPECIAL EVENT | Festival of Inclusion
The first ever Festival of Inclusion is coming up this week, thanks to a partnership between the Golisano Foundation, Special Olympics, and Best Buddies. The event, which kicks off 2020’s annual springtime Spread the Word Inclusion campaign to stop discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities, is set in Nazareth College’s new 108,000-square foot athletic complex,…
Commentary: How long is too long for a presidential campaign?
If it feels like the 2020 presidential election campaign is dragging on too long, that’s because it is.
City to fix worst rental dwellings and bill landlords
Rochester’s new Emergency Abatement Fund allows the city to repair serious problems in rental properties, then bill the landlord. If the landlord doesn’t pay up, the bill gets added to the landlord’s taxes.
Harold Danko, the piano worker
It was after a gig in 1980 when drummer Billy Mintz made an off-handed suggestion to pianist Harold Danko: “What if you played an annual concert, but you did it every February 29?”
The Dady Brothers, four others get their Rochester Music Hall of Fame call
There was never any doubt that the Rochester Music Hall of Fame Class of 2020 would include traditional folk duo The Dady Brothers.
The F Word: Giddy-up
I kissed the canvas twice this weekend with two knockout shows: The Tragedy Brothers at Three Heads Brewing and Kryst at Skylark Lounge.
Flower City Arts Center director steps down
During her 15-year tenure, Janice Gouldthorpe put the 50-year-old organization on sound financial footing.
Film review: ‘Beanpole’
The traumas of war linger long after the fighting has ended for the characters of Kantemir Balagov’s “Beanpole,” an unsparingly bleak but compelling tale of two female soldiers striving to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of World War II.
