Cover Story
The year in … Rochester
Rochester is a changing city. It’s grown in a lot of ways in the last year, and it will continue to do so. In this year’s Annual Manual, we investigate what Rochester can expect in 2017
Film review: ‘Frantz’
A pleasantly old-fashioned melodrama, “Frantz” takes place in the immediate aftermath of World War I. The film centers around Anna (wonderful newcomer Paula Beer), a young German woman whose fiancé, Frantz, was killed in combat. She continues to live with Frantz’s parents, the Hoffmeisters, and they treat her as they would their own daughter. One…
New plans revealed for Cobbs Hill Village
Rochester Management has released new plans for Cobbs Hill Village, the senior affordable-housing complex on Norris Drive.
Blackfriars Theatre announces 2017-18 season
There’s always something interesting happening at Blackfriars Theatre. Artistic and Managing Director Danny Hoskins and Development Manager Mary Tiballi Hoffman, on Monday evening, announced the company’s 2017-18 season from folding chairs in the back of a red pickup truck — the leftover centerpiece from “Hands on a Hardbody” — previewing six main productions, a year-long…
Film review: ‘Land of Mine’
When German forces ended their occupation of Denmark in the immediate aftermath of World War II, they left behind millions of landmines — planted in preparation for an Allied invasion that never came — on beaches along the west coast of the country. The removal of those explosives became a task left to German POWs,…
Album review: ‘Voyage Home’
Chris Rogers “Voyage Home” Art of Life Records artofliferecords.com The first sign of something unusual about trumpeter and keyboard player Chris Rogers’s wonderful new album, “Voyage Home,” is the masterful saxophone sound of Michael Brecker, who died in 2007. With an overall funky, Afro-Cuban feel, this CD is as fresh as yesterday, but the credits…
Poetic musings
Rochester’s poetry groups are bringing together writers and performers to help hone their skills
Feedback 3/29
Send comments to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com or our Facebook page. 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. Best for Parcel 5: Visionary Square In the book “Happy…
Urban Action 3/29
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) An immigrant’s religious journey The American Association of University Women will present a talk by Sabeeha Rehman, author and Wall Street Journal contributor, from 9:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 1, at 494…
Revel in the details: John Kastner’s consumer hell
Rochester-based illustrator John Kastner’s work is rooted in a deep concern with the environment. He’s become known for the social criticism he injects into his chaotic cartoon realms in gouache on matte board. His newest work, “Filthy Animal’s Plasticrap,” incorporates plastic trash he’s picked up on walks to and from work. And leading up to…
New plan for Cobbs Hill?
Residents can learn next week about Rochester Management’s latest proposal for its Norris Drive property, which is surrounded by Cobbs Hill Park. The plan will be discussed at a public meeting at New Life Presbyterian Church, 243 Rosedale Street, at 7 p.m. Monday, April 3. The company wants to demolish the six, one-story brick buildings,…
Fast Forward expands into third year
Now in its third year, the Fast Forward Film Festival has expanded to include 17 entries among its official selections. The films, all created by locals, and each clocking in at five minutes or less, include a balanced mix of independent documentaries and animated shorts. The festival continues to focus on environmentally conscious films. However,…
Remembering Java Joe
There was a phrase heard again and again while interviewing those that knew Joe Palozzi, endearingly known as Java Joe: “That was just Java.” Whether people were describing how he golfed barefoot — something he picked up when he lived in Hawaii — or how when he would deliver coffee to restaurants that he loved,…
GAMING | SIMCON
Rochester is arguably one of the nerdiest cities in New York State. University of Rochester’s annual gaming convention, SIMCON — the longest-running tabletop gaming convention in New York — is a standing achievement of Rochester’s nerdom. SIMCON is specifically geared toward tabletop gaming: board gaming, war gaming, role-playing, collectible card gaming, and a whole lot…
A challenge on campuses: protecting speech we hate
Shortly after the 2016 election, a group unhappy with the presidential election results used Facebook to promote a “Not My America” protest on the University of Rochester campus. That led Ted Pawlicki, a UR professor, to post a derisive comment: he’d pay for the protesters’ bus fare to Canada as long as they promised not…
AMERICANA | Cory Branan
People tend to fancy Mississippi native Cory Branan an outsider; a dissident who doesn’t fit. Well, they’re wrong: he fits like an old pair of boots. He hides in the shadows and sings to them. He sings startlingly astute songs from the brim of your hat. His guitar playing is tremendous and jaw dropping as…
SPECIAL EVENT | Eastman Mobile Acousmonium
Brought to you by Eastman School Professor Oliver Schneller and E.A.R.S. — the Eastman Audio Research Studio — the Eastman Mobile Acousmonium is a multi-dimensional experiment in sound with a participatory twist. An installation full of tubes, resonators, tiny loudspeakers, and exciters that twist, swing, and turn will fill the Memorial Art Gallery’s ballroom, and…
Tour de Brew
Break out the 10-speed
DANCE | Nazareth College Spring Dance Concert
Nazareth College’s Theatre and Dance Department will present its annual Spring Dance Concert and MAD (Movement and Dance) Weekend from Friday, March 31, through Sunday, April 2, at the university (4245 East Avenue). The Spring Dance Concert, held on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., will feature works choreographed by five students — Olivia Bauso,…
SLUDGE METAL | Come To Grief
Boston’s sludge pioneers Grief had somewhat of a turbulent history. With a clutch of 7-inches and a few highly acclaimed records under its belt — including 1994’s absolutely essential “Come to Grief” — the band disbanded in 2001, citing a “hostile environment for doom metal bands.” Now, after several failed attempts to get the ball…
FILM | “Tough Guise 2” Screening and Talkback
Monroe Community College, on Wednesday, April 5, will host a screening of “Tough Guise 2: Violence, Manhood, and Pop Culture,” a documentary probing the relationship between our culture of violence and the skewed definitions of manhood perpetrated by the media and society at large. On hand for a discussion following the screening will be the…
JAZZ | Levin Brothers
Since graduating from the Eastman School of Music, bassist Tony Levin has worked with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, and many others legends. Over the years, his brother, Pete Levin, has lent his keyboard skills to Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Jaco Pastorius, and Paul Simon, to name a few. After recording hundreds…
KIDS | “Squirrel Stole My Underpants”
The quirky, award-winning show “Squirrel Stole My Underpants” follows lonely Sylvie on a quest after a mischievous, little squirrel plucks Sylvie’s favorite underwear off the laundry line. The pursuit continues down a path of magic and wonder as Sylvie meets new friends along the way. Using puppetry, dance, and music to bring the tale to…
CLASSICAL | Ying Quartet with Zuill Bailey
The always phenomenal (and consistently sold out) Ying Quartet will be joined on Sunday by Grammy Award-winning cellist Zuill Bailey for the final Eastman-Ranlet concert of the 2016-17 season. Bailey — the artistic director of the El Paso Pro Musica and the Sitka, Alaska, Summer Music Festival; a professor of cello at the University of…
PROG-ROCK | Stolas
The formidable shadows of The Mars Volta and Circa Survive loom large over Stolas. Still, while the Las Vegas-based band may wear its influences on its sleeve, the music never sounds overburdened by the inspiration each member brings to the table. Its latest, self-titled LP is lush with intricate guitar ambiance, soaring vocals, and balancing…
Building up
There’s a lot of construction happening downtown. Here’s what to expect to open
FOLK | Vance Gilbert
Vance Gilbert probably started out as a keen storyteller who didn’t know what to do with his hands, so he added guitar to the whole affair. The Boston-based musician mixes wit and wisdom while pulling off jazzy runs and fills that are equally as lighthearted as they are deft. Like a class clown let loose…
Work to be done
Leaders are optimistic about Rochester’s economy
CLASSICAL | Publick Musick with Brian Shaw
During the baroque era, the trumpet was at the top of the instrumental tree. It was a popular instrument on the battlefield, and after the development of a more refined style of playing in the 1600’s, it caught on in drawing rooms and concert halls. Contemporary trumpeters will attest that much of the trumpet writing…
Standing up in Rochester
Local activists have a packed agenda
Can’t shut Flogging Molly down
Beyond the tunes, success in the music industry often hinges on an excellent live show. And no band has toured as hard or has consistently poured its heart out onstage as Flogging Molly. What began in 1997 as a Los Angeles bar band has become an Irish-American cultural institution. Flogging Molly broke out with its…
‘House show’
More underground concert venues have started to pop up around Rochester, offering an intimate music experience
Album review: ‘Transitions’
David Gilmore “Transitions” Criss Cross Records davidgilmore.net He has served as a sideman with Wayne Shorter, Steve Coleman, Meshell Ndegeocello, and others, but on his fifth album, “Transitions,” guitarist David Gilmore amply displays his prowess as a leader. The record, a tribute to recently departed jazz giants, showcases Gilmore’s originality and intelligence in terms of…
Patrons as platform
Boost the scene, buy some art
Trumpcare’s dead, but its philosophy lives on
The hard-hearted hatred of Obamacare isn’t limited to members of the Freedom Caucus. Congress has become mean. Small.
Penfield buys more time on Shadow Pines
Penfield town officials will have another year to figure out what to do about the former Shadow Pines golf course. The Town Board approved a measure last week that extends a moratorium on the property’s development through March 2018; the board passed the first moratorium last spring, and it expires this month. Technically, the development…
