Jun 14-20, 2017

Jun 14-20, 2017 / Vol. 46 / No. 41

Cover Story

I Scene It: Elvis Costello at CMAC

Elvis Costello should be lauded for his bravery. His packed show at CMAC Saturday night had the man unapologetically taking chances. He showcased a lot of material from his 1982 album “Imperial Bedroom” to a crowd that sat through it waiting for the hits. “Imperial Bedroom” is classic Costello — though the melodies are a…

Frank De Blase

Bradd Addison Young’s surreal summer

Tomorrow is the last opportunity to catch “Faux Été” (“Fake Summer”), the solo show of Rochester-based artist Bradd Addison Young currently hosted at The Yards. Young’s mixed-media illustrations are fresh and strange, each pastel-toned picture a peek into a cartoonish, nostalgic narrative with a slightly ominous underbelly. His background is in studio art and graphic…

Rebecca Rafferty

Police-review leaders want change

Leaders of the Center for Dispute Settlement, which operates Rochester’s current police oversight process, say they would support having a neutral, trained, outside investigator or agency handle investigations of civilian complaints against police involving shootings or personal injuries.

Mary Anna Towler

INDIE ROCK | Vekora

During its all-too-brief initial run, Vekora was always one of the Rochester’s best-kept secrets. Its only full-length record, 2014’s “Vekora,” is a sprawling yet cohesive mission statement, blending The Appleseed Cast’s sense of atmosphere with the grandiosity of Brand New and Circa Survive. Vocalist Alexandra Wendt is an equally commanding and breathtaking presence on the…

Alexander Jones

Urban Action 6/14

This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Brighton goes green ColorBrightonGreen.org will hold a Brighton Eco-Fair in conjunction with the Brighton Farmer’s Market on Sunday, June 18. Attendees can learn about recycling, water conservation, and more from nonprofits, vendors, and…

CITY STAFF

PUNK | North Coast Punk Fest

The name of Rochester’s annual celebration of all things regionally punk leaves little to the imagination, and for good reason. You get what you’re paying for at the North Coast Punk Fest — and what you’re paying for is some of the finest punk rock that Western New York has to offer, no more, no…

Alexander Jones

Rochester, get ready to ride share

If all goes according to plan, Uber and Lyft will take to Rochester’s streets starting June 29. That’s the date ride sharing will become legal in New York, capping a multi-year legislative and public relations saga. Uber and Lyft have made it clear that they expect to have drivers on Rochester’s streets that day, picking…

Jeremy Moule

The ebb and flow of The Flood

The Flood is a subtle blend of roots styles and genres that make up a multi-layered sound. It’s personal and specific to this Rochester quartet, yet they don’t know what to call it. Keyboardist Josh Massicot punts. “Americana,” he says without thinking twice. “Well, we’re calling it Americana because we don’t know what else to…

Frank De Blase

Featured Artist: Binker and Moses

It seems to me that the jazz greats — the truly great ones, like Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, et al. — have elements to their sound that are there to confound for the listener’s own betterment. And it seems the more you train your ear in the direction of these passages, the more you begin…

Frank De Blase

Schools can’t do it all – no matter what we think

“What we know,” Pedro Noguera told an audience of teachers, parents, and community members at East High School recently, “is that when poverty is concentrated, schools almost always fail.” Almost always fail. Almost every one of Rochester’s public schools has a high-poverty student population. And most of the students in most of those schools are…

Mary Anna Towler

Album review: ‘The Crooked North’

The Crooked North “The Crooked North” Self-released thecrookednorth.com Local Americana band The Crooked North’s self-titled debut album is a rootsy tapestry of heartfelt songs that sound better with each subsequent listen. Mike Brown’s production is flawless, giving the music an added fullness and warmth that is paradoxically chill-inducing. The tender, balladeering track “Where We Are”…

Daniel J. Kushner

Featured Artist: Postmodern Jukebox

Have you ever caught yourself in mid-dance gesticulation thinking something like “If only this music had a little swing to it?” The hoi polloi likes its pop, its accessibility, and its simple fun. But what if there was one band to scratch both itches? Postmodern Jukebox is that band. Postmodern Jukebox is your band. Formed…

Frank De Blase

Defying gravity, all grace

Rochester Brainery Gallery Coordinator Jason Barber continues his curation of women-centric shows this month with Brittany Williams’ “Ascension.” Not only is the solo show by a young woman artist, but it exclusively features gorgeous portraits of young black women. The show’s title refers to Williams’ rising star in the art world, but also alludes to…

Rebecca Rafferty

Album review: ‘Exquisite Corpse’

Jon Lewis Band “Exquisite Corpse” Self-released jonlewis.bandcamp.com Rochester singer-songwriter Jon Lewis has mastered the art of catchiness. Drenched in sunshine, “Exquisite Corpse” is an enjoyable set of smooth, mid-tempo rock and pop that defies you to keep your toes from tapping. Lewis’s laid-back voice is easy on the ears, characterized by the kind of heart-on-the-sleeve,…

Daniel J. Kushner

ART | “Wear Orange”

Rochester Institute of Technology’s Gallery r joins the ranks of thousands of combined people, communities, and organizations across the country taking a stand against gun violence with the opening of “Wear Orange: Art to Action.” The exhibition is dedicated to National Gun Violence Awareness Month and features “The Mother’s Dream Quilt Project,” a series of…

Tori Martinez

Cheap Drinks: Neighborhood of the Arts

In this new series, CITY will test how far a cheap night out will take you in various Rochester neighborhoods. We’ll report back on where we went, what we drank, and how much we spent. Keep an eye out for more of these Cheap Drinks segments over the coming months

Katie Libby

Featured Artist: Tierney Sutton

When Tierney Sutton was a junior in high school, she performed a disco song in her school’s talent contest. Her dad was in the audience and, Sutton recalls, he had some advice for her: “You shouldn’t sing that crap,” he said. “You should sing Gershwin.” So, in her senior year, Sutton sang George and Ira…

Ron Netsky

LECTURE | Spring into Wellness Lecture Series

In today’s busy, uncontrollable world, it can be difficult to practice self-care, let alone finding the time to do so. Cobblestone Arts Center has been holding biweekly lectures provided by local professionals since early April, in order to combat everyday stress and conflict, along with teaching about health and mindfulness. As the last lecture of…

Tori Martinez

Featured Artist: Marcia Ball

Marcia Ball is a piano-playing neck-breaker from Orange, Texas, who tickles the ivories in a raucous barrelhouse style. Her voice has just enough of that roadhouse weariness to make her all the more enchanting and legit as her band summons the crowd with its boss back beat and shuffle. But Ball isn’t boastful when it…

Frank De Blase

VIDEO GAMES | “The Oregon Trail” Display

The Strong National Museum of Play will explore the history of educational software and video games through one of its newest displays, “The Oregon Trail, MECC, and the Rise of Computer Learning.” In 1971, Minnesota student teacher Don Rawitsch created “The Oregon Trail,” a game of problem-solving and decision-making set in 1848, as an interactive…

Tori Martinez

FESTIVAL | Savor Rochester

With more than 30 food and drink vendors, the third annual Savor Rochester festival is sure to draw crowds from all over the area. The event will feature locally made beer, wine, and food samples — vendors include Southern Tier Distilling Company, Black Button Distilling, and Brewery Ommegang, just to name a few — and…

Gracie Peters

Featured Artist: Barbra Lica

Toronto chanteuse Barbra Lica serves up vocal jazz that effortlessly shifts from seriously sensuous to quirky and Lauper-esque charming. Lica’s delicate phrasing offers a promise as if she’s unwrapping a sweet gift, slowly revealing the song to the audience. Her voice, the way she works in and out of a song, and her sense of…

Frank De Blase

SPECIAL EVENT | Hair of the Dog

Hair of the Dog is a wine and beer tasting event created by small business owners Alicia Thompson-Healy and Bethany Stevens for dog people, wine drinkers, beer aficionados, or some combination of the three. Wineries and breweries from the region will offer samples, and pet-friendly vendors will have booths for entertaining furry friends. Thompson-Healy owns…

Gracie Peters

DANCE | Dances at MuCCC 2017

The annual Dances at MuCCC festival has become a summer arts highlight and an intriguing, high-quality cross-section of what’s happening in the Rochester contemporary dance scene. This year, the fourth Dances at MuCCC festival will feature performances created by more than 20 choreographers across five nights, from Tuesday, June 20, through Saturday, June 24. The…

Jake Clapp

Featured Artist: Manuel Valera

Manuel Valera is a tough man to get a hold of. When I finally caught up with him by phone, he had just returned to his home in New York City on a red-eye flight from the West Coast. But he didn’t have a lot of time: he was getting ready to leave later that…

Ron Netsky

ROCK | Elvis Costello

I don’t have a top 10 list of shows I’ve seen over the years; I simply can’t do it. However, I do have a top two, and both of them are the same show: Elvis Costello at the Eastman Theatre. Costello played for four hours. In fact, his encore was almost longer than the first…

Frank De Blase

Featured Artist: Holophonor

Spoiler alert: there will be no holophonor on stage when the group of the same name performs at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival. Viewers of the television show “Futurama” may be disappointed, but lovers of progressive jazz will be just fine. In “Futurama,” a holophonor is a 31st century musical instrument akin to an…

Ron Netsky

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL | Tigerman WOAH

The members of the self-described “Northshore livin’, brown liquor drinkin’, woah-singin’, and good -rotten,” band Tigerman WOAH are brassy, debaucherous rock ‘n’ rollers from Lynn, Massachusetts. The band combines an Appalachian bluegrass style — using banjo-ukulele, guitar, percussion, and upright bass — with raspy lead vocals, aggressive strings, and mischievous sing-alongs for a sound that…

Amanda Fintak

AMERICANA | Lee Winright

Influenced by a long list of story-telling troubadours, like Robert Earl Keen and Fred Eaglesmith, Lee Winright has one toe in melancholy waters while he intones weary and lonesome. The Texan sets the scene for a honky-tonk in the morning where those characters are still bellied-up and drinking from the night before. Lee Winright plays…

Frank De Blase

Featured Artist: Donny McCaslin

When Donny McCaslin went to parties as a teenager in the early 1980’s, there was one record that was sure to be played: “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie. “I especially liked ‘Modern Love’ and ‘China Girl,'” says McCaslin of two of the album’s most popular songs. “I always describe it as the soundtrack of my…

Ron Netsky

POP | Bleachers

Jack Antonoff has a touch for weaving pop gold. Along with his work in the highly regarded indie pop band Steel Train and in Fun (the song “We Are Young” dominated 2012), Antonoff has writing credits on hits by Taylor Swift, Lorde, and Sia. With his project Bleachers, Antonoff finds influence in 80’s-style synth-pop and…

Jake Clapp

Featured Artist: Miguel Zenon

Growing up in a working class family in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Miguel Zenón was studying classical saxophone at a performing arts high school when his world suddenly opened up. “My friends were passing around tapes of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, and I became really interested in improvisation,” Zenón says. “Up to…

Ron Netsky

Feedback 6/14

Send comments to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. Those of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published. We edit submissions, and we don’t publish comments sent to other media. Paris and the politicization of climate The president has made a…

CITY STAFF

ROCK | Los Lobos

Los Lobos is the epitome of a cultural melting pot. The band blends American roots music, rock, and blues with Latin styles, including cumbia and norteño, to create a broad-based sound of its own. Established in 1973, Los Lobos topped the charts a decade later with a cover of “La Bamba” while its other tunes,…

Roman Divezur

Film review: ‘The Mummy’

Universal Pictures may have jumped the gun by announcing long-term plans for its “Dark Universe,” an interconnected series of films built around the studio’s stable of classic monsters, like Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, and my personal favorite, the Creature from the Black Lagoon. This planned franchise has suffered one failed launch already:…

Adam Lubitow

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