Cover Story
The fate of Parcel 5
What’s going to happen to Parcel 5? And when?
City Council narrowly passes Cobbs Hill Village legislation
After more than two years of plans, revisions, and discussion, Rochester Management’s proposal to redevelop its Cobbs Hill Village senior housing complex has received the approval of City Council.
Yet another attempt to improve city schools
We should insist on excellence. We should not tolerate poor performance. But we cannot expect Rochester teachers to do the impossible.
Local solar options grow
Renewable energy advocates have long said community solar could help make renewable energy more accessible to renters and homeowners who can’t afford rooftop solar panels. And now, with some state regulatory obstacles cleared, more community solar projects are coming online in the Rochester region.
State ed sends a distinguished educator to city school district
State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia appointed Jaime Aquino as a distinguished educator for the Rochester City School District. Aquino, who starts on August 18, has over 30 years of educational experience, including serving in senior positions in the Los Angeles, Denver, and Hartford public school districts, according to a statement from Elia. “The Rochester City School District…
Douglass statues coming to Rochester streets
The fact of Frederick Douglass’s presence will always be a part of Rochester, and now a set of life-sized statues will bring his physical representation to contemporary city streets.
SPECIAL EVENT | Black Queer Prom
High school prom can be a time of awkward disappointment for many. Even more so for members of the LGBTQ+ community, who may not have had the option to attend prom as their authentic selves. Black Queer Prom seeks to remedy that affront by providing an evening of music, elegance, and fashion, and attendees have…
Little painted wonders of Josephine Tota resurrected by MAG
“The Surreal Visions of Josephine Tota” includes more than 90 paintings that the artist made in the late stages of her life. Tota was 70 years old when she began painting small, intricately detailed, surreal works in egg tempera and gold leaf on wood panels.
Feedback 7/18
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. Money’s power…
Urban Action 7/18
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Meeting set on Whole Foods Plaza plan Brighton Grassroots, a citizens’ group fighting the proposed Whole Foods Plaza, is urging residents to attend the Brighton Planning Board’s public hearing on Wednesday, July 18.…
JAZZ | Marc Antoine
If smooth jazz guitar is your cup of tea, there’s no one smoother than Marc Antoine. The French guitarist has lent his talents to Sting, Cher, Celine Dion, and many others. Last year he recorded the hit album “So Nice,” with David Benoit. Opening up for Antoine at Anthology will be Rochester’s own Paradigm Shift…
AMERICANA | Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Jason Isbell’s latest, “The Nashville Sound,” transcends the alt-country subgenre. I’m not much of a country guy, but this was my go-to album during a difficult period in my life: Isbell’s voice lent comfort to my heart, and the music itself felt so honest. My favorite songs had the most energy, but it was the quieter tunes,…
POP | Zigtebra
Zigtebra has a way of mellowing the heart with its deep, trance-like soundscapes and danceable love anthems. This Chicago-based, lo-fi pop duo met in an LGBTQ dance troupe and began to write and play shows together. After embarking on a 120-day tour in 2017, Zigtebra made a creative pact to release one new song and…
TECHNO SWING | Ginkgoa
It’s not like swing needs any help getting under the skin and loosening joints, but techno swingsters Ginkgoa throw the two genres together for a hook-filled, dance floor-flooding event. It’s flapper jazz meets disco; Tin Pan Alley colliding with a dishwasher. Singer Nicolle Rochelle gives off a relaxed hint of Helen Kane with a coo,…
Album review: ‘The Heart Mixtape’
Tahj Elliott “The Heart Mixtape” Self-Released soundcloud.com/tahjelliott Last month, Rochester musician Tahj Elliott threw all of his emotions, struggles, and pieces of his everyday life into 17 tracks. “The Heart Mixtape” is a piece that, all the way through, tackles a variety of contemporary rap and R&B styles. Elliott, who handled a bulk of the…
FREAK ROCK | Calliope Musicals
Man, this is some wild, weird stuff. Austin, Texas’s Calliope Musicals is an epic, psychedelic, overload and its own polyphonic spree. You don’t hear the same thing twice as the band assails you from all sides. Utilizing a minimalistic approach in comparison to the largess blasting out the business end, it’s a heads-up game on…
Album review: ‘Delivery’
Mikaela Davis “Delivery” Rounder Records mikaeladavis.com It’s all about delivery, according to harpist and singer-songwriter Mikaela Davis. Her band’s new album, aptly titled “Delivery,” out on Rounder Records, is filled with all things dark and venerated. You get the sense through Davis’s songwriting that whatever this record is, it’s as much a gift to herself…
After nine years, The Tombstone Hands finally releases its first album
Rochester instrumental power trio The Tombstone Hands is a full-throttle, in-your-face, guitar-driven frenzy. Guitarist Steve Litvak wields his guitar like a Viking while drummer Brian Peet and bassist Dennis Jones lay down a groove that peels asses off of barstools. The threesome has been at it since 2009, and they figured nine years of rockin’…
ART | Margery Pearl Gurnett: ‘Reflecting Forward’
Rochester-based artist Margery Pearl Gurnett’s long career in the arts has evolved; she has transitioned from working in hot glass to incorporating a variety of different media. Her current solo exhibit of work explores dream-like worlds created in glass that has been layered with paper, paint, found objects, and a range of other re-contextualized materials.…
COMEDY | Ryan Hamilton
Nationally-known comic Ryan Hamilton reaches to his roots and applies small-town Idaho storytelling and sensibilities, expanding pithy comments into contagiously funny narratives. Hamilton has performed standup on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Conan, Comedy Central, Showtime, and elsewhere, and has opened for Jerry Seinfeld, whose influence can be heard in Hamilton’s approach and pacing.…
ART | Robert Seebach ‘The Surreal Plane’
Robert Seebach’s paintings explore both the physical and metaphysical, featuring figures and objects in surreal landscapes depicted in ways that draw the viewer to explore relationships and the human experience. Rich colors and stark contrast between landscape, figures, and objects encourage the viewer to explore the subconscious mind as well as the physical relationships between…
SPECIAL EVENT | Convention Days at Seneca Falls
Celebrate the 101st anniversary of women getting the right to vote in New York State, and the 170th anniversary of the first Women’s Rights Convention with the annual Convention Days in Seneca Falls. This year’s event explores the power of words with family-friendly special programs happening throughout the town, including special public talks, children’s activities,…
MUSEUM | Fairy Houses Award Winner Display
An annual feature of the Corn Hill Arts Festival is the Fairy Houses Tour. If you missed the festival this month, The Strong Museum is offering an opportunity to explore the whimsy and magic of the fairy houses with a display of 10 award-winning fae habitats. View the best creations from categories such as Most…
Preview: WALLTHERAPY 2018
Now it its seventh year, Rochester’s annual home-grown mural festival, WALLTHERAPY, is back this week with a scaled-down but nonetheless ambitious event. This year’s event features a tight roster of just six artistsinvited to paint walls around the city, as well as the second annual Art & Activism conference.
Roc’s oldest soul food joint specializes in sweet potato pies
The Sweet Potato Pie Factory & More started as a sweet potato pie and soul food stand on the side of the House of God Church
Film review: ‘Sorry to Bother You’
“Sorry to Bother You” is an outrageous, wholly original, and dementedly weird feature directorial debut from hip-hop artist and activist Boots Riley. With a swaggering, anti-establishment, punk rock attitude, and fueled by a righteous anger, Riley’s film is an excoriation of late-stage capitalism and greed that plays like a fever dream.
Film review: ‘Leave No Trace’
The film tells the story of a father and daughter happily living off the grid, squatting on public park land in Portland, Oregon. When a jogger spots the daughter and alerts the authorities, the pair are turned over to social services, who begin efforts to reintegrate them into society.
