Cover Story
The writings on the wall
When WALL\THERAPY and related events started about four years ago, Rochester joined the ranks of cities who have officially embraced the street art movement. Generally, the more than 70 murals that have been created since the project began have received positive responses from the public, but there have been a couple of hiccups. Rochester’s walls…
Study: Universal health care would save billions annually
A study released today says that New York would save $45 billion annually by creating a statewide universal health plan. The study was conducted by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Economics Department, and focuses specifically on a bill proposed by state Assembly member Richard Gottfried. Assembly members Harry Bronson and David Gantt are local co-sponsors…
Power plant owners at odds over state subsidies
New York’s electricity marketplace is in transition. Some of the old coal plants have gone offline; more wind and solar power has come online; fuel prices and generation costs are fluctuating; and regulators, utilities, and power plant owners are all trying to figure out how to make the whole thing work. And right now, it’s…
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 7, Episode 2: Glamazonian Airways
Last night’s episode picked up right after Tempest DuJour’s elimination. Was Kandy Ho’ nervous during the lip-sync? “No, because I knew I was gonna beat her.” Ms. Ho’ sure has a lot of confidence for someone that was in the bottom two on the first episode and still hasn’t figured out how to get her…
I Scene It: JD McPherson at Downstairs Cabaret
Is they is or is they ain’t? Well, it’s gotta be JD McPherson’s songs: tough little retro-fitted rock ‘n’ roll gems that come from the music’s red, white, black and blue early days of Chess or Sun. The days when Ike Turner still had some say in what was cool. If not, it’s definitely the…
WEEK AHEAD: Meeting on East Main-Market project; Coffee and Conversation with Vargas
The first of two public meetings on the East Main Street Arts and Market Initiative is from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, at School of the Arts, 45 Prince Street. The City of Rochester is developing a plan for multi-modal circulation, access, parking improvements, land use, streetscape improvements, and other initiatives…
I Scene It: St. Vincent at Water Street Music Hall
I was stumped on the opening for this St. Vincent show review so I asked Frank for a little De Blase help. This is what he gave me: It was a night of ugly guitar and ethereal beauty…
Theater Review: “Mammoth” at MuCCC
With “Mammoth,” a new play at the Multi-use Cultural Community Center, writer-director Kate Royal provides further evidence that western New York has an emerging ecosystem for young, intrepid playwrights. The 2013 SUNY Geneseo graduate has already gained some recognition for her play, “The Nameless Days of Gumdrop Smith,” which debuted at the 2014 Rochester Fringe…
Forum tonight on Cuomo’s education vision
The Rochester Teachers Association will hold a community forum on education at 4:30 p.m. today. The forum is one of several that the RTA has organized in the Upstate region in opposition to Governor Cuomo’s education reform agenda, which stresses tougher teacher evaluations based on the results of student tests. Cuomo also wants to increase…
Vargas-school board feud blows up
The on-and-off tension between Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas and members of the school board has erupted in a most unsavory way. Vargas has taken the first steps to sue his bosses.
JAZZ | Mother Stump
In recent years guitarist Joel Harrison has branched out in myriad directions, ranging from chamber jazz to Indian music. One of the most vibrant of his many ensembles is Mother Stump, a trio fusing jazz, rock, and soul with Americana. The tunes cover a broad swath from Luther Vandross to Leonard Cohen as Harrison’s guitar…
Feedback 3/4
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BLUES | Cool Blues for the Homeless VIII
This weather gives everyone the blues, no foolin’. But imagine if your address was outdoors. The Son House Club of Rochester has gotten together with an all-day event to benefit The Open Door Mission and the Catholic Family Center of Rochester. There’ll be a slide guitar and harmonica clinic as well as sets from anyone…
Regulators to look at Ginna contract
Rochester Gas and Electric has agreed to support the financially struggling Ginna nuclear plant so that the plant can keep operating, at least temporarily. But the deal first needs the approval of the State Public Service Commission. The commission will hold a procedural conference on the contract — a formal hearing in front of an…
HARD ROCK | John 5
You’d think listing Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie as your bosses would be cool enough, but guitarist John 5 has maintained his identity working with the who’s who in metal and heavy music. John 5 has added plenty of ominous cinematic shred to these artists. But they haven’t colored him. The musician is an incredible…
Urban-Suburban: expansion and challenges
Adalis Santiago says that she’s happy to soon be graduating from West Irondequoit High School. But when the tall, poised teen first arrived at the school six years ago, she says it was a complete culture shock. “I was so scared,” Santiago says. “It was really hard at first.” Santiago, a Latina, came from a…
CLASSICAL | Piano Extravaganza
Two pianos, four pianists, eight hands, 40 flying fingers. The four pianists — Eunmi Ko, Rebecca Penneys, Omri Shimron, and Johnandrew Slominski — bring decades of esteem and skill to the ivories. They’re all music educators with multiple music degrees who are setting aside their modus operandi to have a little fun. This concert is…
Urban Action 3/4
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Plastics on film Bring Your Own Bag NY will show the film “Bag It” at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 9. The film follows Jeb Berrier as he examines the plastic in our…
R&B | K. Michelle
K. Michelle is a lot of big things: big stage personality, big colors, and big soul. She’s great radio rhythm and blues and nothing is understated. “Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?” (2014), her second full-length album, is 11 heavy-production tracks of break-up stories, make-up anthems, and the luxe life. It’s her second project under the…
DINING REVIEW: On a Roll
Let’s get something out of the way: Part of the appeal of Orbs Restaurant & Bar is that you can make a lot of testicle jokes. “Mmmm! I cannot wait to grab some balls!” Orbs is in on the fun. Meatball sandwiches are called “Balls and Buns,” a meatball sampler is “Bits and Pieces,” and…
ELECTRONIC | Steve Aoki
Prolific record label executive, producer, and electro-house musician Steve Aoki has an impressive C.V. He has collaborated with artists like will.i.am, AfroJack, Iggy Azalea, and Lil Jon, and has sampled and remixed a star-studded cast of musicians too long to list. He released the first part of his two-part album, “Neon Future,” in September on…
CLASSICAL | Hadelich plays Dvorak
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s March 5 and March 7 offerings will find an interesting grouping of works by two prominent 19th-century Czech composers with pieces by two 20th-century Americans. Guest conductor Daniel Hege will lead the RPO through the Three Dances from “The Bartered Bride” — Bedrich Smetana’s opera which features a Polka, Furiant, and…
LECTURE | “Breaking the Sound Barrier”
As part of its ongoing Identities at Eastman series, Eastman School of Music will host Aaron P. Dworkin, the founder of the Sphinx Organization. He will speak on the subjects of race, classical music, and his work with the non-profit organization. The Sphinx Organization works to provide access to music education and competitions to musicians…
ART | “The Heart’s Unrest”
“The Heart’s Unrest,” a new exhibit at the Oxford Gallery opening March 7, features the work of artists David Dorsey and Charles Houseman. Both artists are displaying works done in oil paints on canvas. Dorsey, a Rochester native, gravitates toward the portrayal of a few simple objects, arranged in domestic settings. His still-life work emphasizes…
THEATER | “Mammoth”
Kate Royal began the script for “Mammoth” while studying at SUNY Geneseo, and has since been workshoping and preparing “Mammoth” for its first staging. As is fitting, the playwright is now directing her script. The play traces the travails of three siblings who are faced with the task of selling their childhood home after years…
ART | “The Assembled Image” at Main Street Art
Humans, it seems, have a desire to give coherence to fragments, to put them together and make meaning. Collage reflects this tendency toward narrative, colliding clips and scraps to create physical — and metaphorical — coherence. Main Street Art’s upcoming exhibit “The Assembled Image” showcases the collages and collage-inspired work of Denton Crawford (mixed media,…
THEATER | “Live Drawing: A Portrait of the Mona Lisa”
Significant cultural artifacts often inspire their own creative and generative responses. This is certainly the case for Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” perhaps one of the most interest-generating and discussed paintings of all time. One such response produced by the Mona can be seen this weekend, as Jules Tasca’s “Live Drawing: A Portrait of the Mona…
Fast motions
Jessica Lang Dance, distinguished by Lang’s incorporation of striking visual elements into her pieces and her fusion of classical ballet vocabulary and contemporary dance, comes to Nazareth College Arts Center Saturday, March 7. The company debuted in the summer of 2012 at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the stomping grounds of highly-regarded dance. Within two years,…
Better red than dead
Once you get past the iron curtain shuck and jive, Igor and the Red Elvises will rock your world. Mixing everything from surf to polka and traditional Russian folk into its party-gone-out-of-bounds cocktail, the band goes way beyond your textbook kegger soundtrack. The band calls it Siberian surf rock or rokenrol. The Red Elvises Formed…
ROCK | Desert Noises
I’ve been a Desert Noises fan for a while now — the Provo, Utah-based rock band has made Rochester a regular tour stop during its East Coast swings. Desert Noises has been pigeonholed by music critics as an alt-folk harmony, guitar-jingle-jangle band, and while some of its songs reflect that style, let me tell…
ALBUM REVIEW: “The Left Side of the Moon”
Chantale Gagné “The Left Side of the Moon” Self-released chantalegagne.com Born in Quebec, Chantale Gagné studied jazz piano at McGill University and with Kenny Barron. With the release of her third album, “The Left Side of the Moon,” she stakes a claim as one of the top emerging pianists in North America. Her trio, featuring…
BLUES | Charlie Parr
Charlie Parr looks and sounds like he just walked out of a time machine or, at the very least, an early-20th-century freight car. Drawing deeply from the well of American music, Parr covers blues and roots in a manner reminiscent of Lead Belly, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Woody Guthrie. He’s equally adept at fingerpicking a 12-string…
ALBUM REVIEW: “OHS”
Sam Snyder “OHS” Self-released ohsmusic.squarespace.com I honestly think all the chin music and finger-pointing at guitarist Sam “Overhand Sam” Snyder’s unorthodox, over the top guitar attack gets in the way of his true talent as an insightful, gifted artist. I mean, you drop the needle into his four-song platter, “OHS,” and you don’t see what he’s doing.…
