Cover Story
A matter of trust
The police, the public, and the use of force
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 5: Frank reviews Vanessa Rubin, Postmodern Jukebox, and Hot Club of Cowtown
What a splendiferous, fantastical, and magical evening I had. After Monday morning quarterbacking the night before, and handicapping the upcoming schedule with the JAZZ90.1 jumpin’ jazzperts, I dove right in to Max of Eastman Place once again. This time it was to see Vanessa Rubin. What an absolute joy she was as she sang with…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 5: Daniel reviews Mario Rom’s Interzone and Ole Mathisen’s Floating Points
At The Little Theatre on Tuesday night, the Austrian jazz trio Mario Rom’s Interzonepicked up right where it left off two years ago during its last appearance at XRIJF. Interzone is almost too much fun, if that’s even possible: Lukas Kranzelbinder continues to be one of the most riveting double bassists I’ve seen, and Herbert…
Inching toward a regional school
[UPDATED AND REVISED 6/28/17] The Rochester school board has taken the first step in exploring the feasibility of a regional school designed to attract a diverse student body. Board members voted 5-to-0 at a special meeting Tuesday, June 27, to include the measure in a study of the district’s school choice policy already in the…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 4: Ron reviews Miguel Zenon, Ikonostasis, and Red Hook Soul
Miguel Zenon let the music do the talking at Kilbourn Hall Monday night as his excellent quartet burned through selections from his latest album, “Tipico.” Zenon was front and center with his saxophone, but the band also boasts one of today’s greatest pianists, Luis Perdomo, and a superb rhythm section with Hans Glawischnig on bass…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 4: Frank reviews Marquis Hill Blacktet and New Breed Brass Band
The Marquis Hill Blacktet got my motor running right tonight with an outasight dose of the bop during the matinee set at Max of Eastman Place. His trumpet zipped and ping-ponged off the walls into a shimmery cascade that was straight from the fridge, dad. Hill traded off liberally to his alto sax man while…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 4: Daniel reviews Dinosaur and Lera Lynn
The “Made in the UK” series continued to captivate on Monday night with the American debut of Dinosaur, led by trumpeter and composer Laura Jurd. The band — which includes the members of the Elliot Galvin Trio — makes spacey jazz that sounds wonderfully imaginative and restless, yet always feels in control. The quartet can…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 5: Ron reviews Eri Yamamoto, Steve Kuhn, and Dave O’Higgins
Eri Yamamoto was so charming at Hatch Hall Tuesday night that the audience was in love with her before she had played a note. Once she began to play her fantastic bluesy opener, “You Are Welcome,” we only fell deeper. She explained that it was the first tune she wrote when she moved from Japan…
Trump gets the Ax treatment in Rochester street art
If you were out and about last weekend, you might have noticed Donald Trump on his knees, wearing bondage gear and a ball-gag, leaning against various city street signs. The risqué image is a project by Rochester-based street artist Ax, who is known for adorning walls with stenciled political and social commentary. The project included…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 3: Daniel reviews Holophonor and Elliot Galvin Trio
Holophonor plays a brand of jazz loaded with understated swagger and suave cool. Mentored by jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, the band is rooted in the past while resolutely looking toward the future, as evidenced by its early set on Sunday evening at The Wilder Room. The powerhouse rhythm section — drummer Jonathan…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 3: Ron reviews Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan, Jochen Rueckert, and Adam Kolker Trio
When guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan picked up their instruments at Kilbourn Hall Sunday night, they eyed each other playfully. But when they began to play, almost the entire first tune was a sort of musical primordial soup. There were notes and chords and deep bass responses, but they were all in search…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 2: Ron reviews Billy Childs, Eivør, and Gabriel Algeria Afro-Peruvian Sextet
Billy Childs opened his Kilbourn Hall show in a gallop and hardly let up throughout the hour-long set. He played the piano with the sort of wild abandon that can only come after decades of painstaking practice and extensive experience. His quartet — with Dayna Stephens on saxophone; Ben Williams, bass; and Ari Hoenig, drums…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 2: Frank reviews The Quebe Sisters and Adam Wakefield
Other than the meteorological mind games the clouds played with our heads, it turned out to be a beautiful day as we traipsed the jazz fandango well into the night. Ron Netsky knows what I like and immediately insisted I check out Grace, Sophia, and Hulda, The Quebe Sisters. These three fiddle-wielding young women from…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 2: Daniel reviews Neil Cowley Trio and Durham County Poets
The Neil Cowley Trio doesn’t really play jazz. Yes, all the tell-tale instrumentation is there — piano, upright bass, and drums. But the music itself is more accurately post-jazz: spacious minimalism meets percussive pop piano and driving rock rhythms, resulting in a sound that is alternately introspective and punchy. The British trio delivered on that…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 3: Frank catches Bill Kirchen and reviews Jack Broadbent and John Paul White
< Master blaster of the Telecaster Bill Kirchen literally blew the roof off the joint at Abilene. Okay, it was a tent out back, but we did have liftoff. To show what a beautiful talent this man is: while the gusts of inclemency threatened to jettison the tent again, Kirchen held things down with his…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 1: Ron reviews Roberta Picket, Yggdrasil, and Tierney Sutton
Roberta Piket began her set at Hatch Hall, Friday night, with a kind of call and response between her right hand and her left on the Steinway grand piano. The dialog ranged from sparse melodies answered by blunt chords to lush clusters answered by pounding bass. Eventually all of this morphed into “Monk’s Dream,” the…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 1: Frank reviews Barbra Lica, Joss Stone, and St. Paul and the Broken Bones
Well, the 16th edition of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival took off its clothes and did a cannonball. The energy in the thick arid air was surprisingly electric; a vibe this strong at Jazz Fests past usually didn’t get this feverish so quickly. It must have been the battle for souls raging on two…
Jazz Fest 2017, Day 1: Daniel reviews Jacob Collier and Gwilym Simcock
English phenomenon Jacob Collier may be the most immensely talented musician I have ever seen live. As hyperbolic as that may sound, the proof was in the first of his two performances at Anthology on Friday. The first thing I noticed about the live performance of the London-based multi-instrumentalist was his irrepressible energy. The 22-year-old…
Jazz Fest 2017: Music around the fest
If the XRIJF’s more than 320 shows isn’t enough to quench your jazzy thirst, several other Rochester venues not affiliated with festival will host their own performances Friday, June 23, through Saturday, July 1. If you need a break from the Jazz Fest crowds, or want to catch one more show late night, keep an…
Jazz Fest 2017: Favorite Jazz Fest moments
Vagabonds invade Max One of my favorite Jazz Festival experiences was entirely unexpected. Between shows in 2008, I was walking down Gibbs Street when I ran into Frank De Blase. He told me I had to see this group at Max. I hadn’t planned to see them but Frank was adamant. On the stage I…
Film review: ‘The Exception’
Set in the early years of World War II, “The Exception” is a glossy, romantic melodrama loosely inspired by Alan Judd’s novel, “The Kaiser’s Last Kiss.”
Jazz Fest 2017: What’s FREE at the fest
If you want to see live jazz but don’t want to shell out the extra cash for a Club Pass, the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Fest will feature around 100 shows across the nine-day event that are free of charge. Everyone likes free stuff, though, so be sure to get there early — good vibes…
Jazz Fest 2017: Meet the writers covering the XRIJF
Ron Netsky My real job is Chairman of the Art Department at Nazareth College and my main work is in the field of printmaking, but I love music and I’ve been writing about jazz for CITY since the 1990’s. Late-June is one of my favorite times of the year, a chance to indulge in great…
ART | “So Called Ladies”
Rochester-based artists Saundra Ehman and Beth Bloom are the creative minds behind Gallery Q’s latest exhibit “So Called Ladies,” curated by Jamie and Alice Carver-Kubik. Most of Ehman’s works are detailed pen and ink drawings with paisley patterns and bright colors, reminiscent of adult coloring books. On the back wall is a fiber and mixed-media…
SPECIAL EVENT | Record Store Crawl
Record Store Crawl is a four-month long nationwide event that combines record stores, live music, and bar crawls presented in different cities by Pabst Blue Ribbon, and is coming to Rochester this weekend. Kick off the first weekend of the summer with a day full of booze, tunes, and freebies. The crawl begins on a…
ART | “A Little Death: A Solo Exhibition”
What happens when Death’s son is a little nicer than Death himself, and has a hard time continuing the work of his father? Local artist Nicholas Gurewitch has the answer in his newest project, an art book called “Notes on a Case of Melancholia, or: A Little Death.” Gurewitch illustrated the entire, self-described “mostly silent…
Feedback 6/21
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 selections for clarity, and we don’t publish comments sent to other media. The UR and East High While I enjoyed Mary…
ROCK | Living Colour
Living Colour added some pop (“Glamour Boys”) to its heavy sizzle (“Cult of Personality”) and ultimately forged an identity by making hard rock more inclusive and less gothic. The quartet emulated the eclecticism of Led Zeppelin and even had its own theme song (“What’s Your Favorite Color?”). For anyone who remembers Living Colour during its…
Trump camp takes aim at the arts, again
In times of political fever pitch, there’s typically a witch hunt directed at the arts. It begins with defunding the arts as a whole, as though they were a mere frill — but the real goal is to snuff out important, critical art. The public is encouraged to join in the roaring condemnation of anything…
ROCK | Jared and The Mill
On Phoenix-based rock band Jared and The Mill’s latest album, “Orme Dugas,” front man Jared Kolesar and company balance pop hooks with country vibes and smatterings of folk and indie stylings. Having opened for major artists such as The Killers, Zac Brown Band, and The War on Drugs, Jared and The Mill are as radio-ready…
Landmark status for divinity school?
Months after officials at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School announced plans to sell the picturesque 24-acre campus to Top Capital of New York, there’s a push to turn the site a city landmark. The matter is expected to go before a joint hearing of the city’s Preservation and Planning boards on Wednesday, July 19, at…
WORLD MUSIC | “Azafea”
This Monday, Temple B’rith Kodesh will provide the elegant setting for a transporting musical experience that melds Spanish and Jewish musical traditions. Presented by the Rochester Synagogue Council, “Azafea, a Spanish Odyssey: Music From the Sephardic Diaspora” features the mesmerizing Lev-Yulzari Duo. Guitarist Nadav Lev and bassist Remy Yulzari play a beautiful synthesis of…
Brighton schools go deep on garbage
The Brighton school district now has a policy on its books about cutting waste, but it’s not referring to the kind of government waste many people fixate on. The policy is referring to refuse. The Brighton school board recently adopted a district-wide policy to divert 80 percent of its waste from landfills. That will require…
SURF/ROCK | Marshall Crenshaw y Los Straitjackets
The last time Marshall Crenshaw blew into town, he was backed up by incendiary Midwest rockers, The Bottle Rockets. Crenshaw worked his way through his catalog with the Bottle Rockets giving it a little added volume and heat, so I wonder what surf instrumental darlings Los Straitjackets (featuring Rochester’s Greg Townson on one of the…
Teen mentorship at the core of New City Café
New City Café on Parsells Avenue serves a range of espresso-based drinks, filter coffee, and locally-made pastries — but the real purpose of New City is behind the scenes. The café, which opened on June 9, currently employs three teenagers as part of its mission to mentor local youth, and Executive Director John Lee hopes…
STONER METAL | Black Wizard
It’s been 47 years since Black Sabbath unwittingly created stoner metal (and heavy metal as a whole), and you would expect that nothing new could possibly be said about ripping bongs, cosmic entities, and following the smoke toward the riff-filled land. Leave it to Vancouver’s Black Wizard to take the tried-and-true, riff-worship formula and twist…
INDIE ROCK | The Ok-Ok’s
York, Pennsylvania-based indie rock band The Ok-Ok’s may be young but it brings the talent that most musicians work their entire lives for. On the group’s new full-length album, “22/17” — simply named because three of the members were 22 and one was 17 when it was recorded — singer Sadie Swartz belts soulful, wailing…
Jazz Fest 2017: CITY’s Daily Jazz Blogs
The 2017 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival runs Friday, June 23, through Saturday, July 1, and CITY Newspaper will be out every night of the festival, covering multiple shows.
ROCK | The Wild
Somebody’s gonna get hurt; it’s just a matter of time. Canadian quartet The Wild is what you get if you mix Motley Crue with a bunch of pyromaniac, axe-wielding, beer-swillin’ gearheads with a penchant for blowing shit up and loud, fast rock ‘n’ roll. The band defies convention and gravity and comes off as one…
Broken bones, fractured soul
Singer Paul Janeway’s unassuming mug belies the soul monster behind it. He sings like he’s having a borderline fit, a Pentecostal tantrum. He moves about the bandstand like he’s got ants in his pants — fire ants. His band, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, is a powerhouse that hails from Birmingham, Alabama, and rocks…
Album review: ‘Little Steps’
Berta Moreno “Little Steps” Self-released bertamoreno.com She was born and raised in Spain, but Berta Moreno fell in love with American jazz and wanted to be part of it. Suffice it to say, her wish came true. Moreno’s debut album, “Little Steps,” not only showcases her prowess as an improviser on the saxophone, it also…
Album review: ‘Uncharted Waters’
Michael Rabinowitz “Uncharted Waters” Cats Paw Records jazzbassoonist.com Michael Rabinowitz’s improvisations are bold; he glides effortlessly over, in, and around the changes on tunes like Duke Ellington’s “Caravan,” Wes Montgomery’s “So Do It,” Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “How Insensitive,” and several fine originals. But Rabinowitz isn’t soaring on saxophone, flute, or trumpet. He plays the bassoon,…
ART | “Working in Public”
Rochester photographer and videographer Alex Weiser, who brands his work as “Between Your Ears,” wants to encourage playfulness in his new interactive photo presentation, “Working in Public.” The experimental display showcases Weiser’s photographs — all of them taken this June — alongside short sentences, words, and ideas which can be arranged and rearranged along five…
SPECIAL EVENT | “Dancing with the Stars Live”
The television show “Dancing with the Stars” occasionally goes on tour across the country, performing dances from the show’s most recent season. “Dancing with the Stars Live” will make a stop in Rochester at the Auditorium Theatre this week for its “Hot Summer Nights” tour. NFL running back and season 24 “Dancing with the Stars”…
Film review: ‘Rough Night’
A bachelorette weekend descends into debauchery, drug-fueled benders, and some inadvertent manslaughter in “Rough Night,” a gleefully R-rated comedy that marks the feature debut of “Broad City’s” Lucia Aniello. The rarity of raunchy, R-rated comedies helmed by female directors is reason enough to root for the film, but while there’s plenty of laughs to be…
Film review: ‘Paris Can Wait’
The first narrative feature from Eleanor Coppola (wife of Francis, and mother of Sophia), “Paris Can Wait” is a pleasant, airy travelogue about a woman rediscovering the simple pleasures of life. Diane Lane stars as Anne, the wife of a workaholic film producer, Michael (Alec Baldwin). The couple are set to depart the Cannes Film…
Theater review: ‘The Belle of Amherst’ at Cobblestone
A reunion for the cast and creative team, Emily Dickinson is brought to life in “The Belle of Amherst”
