In a music industry that insists on categorization, Medeski Martin & Wood have successfully refused to be pigeonholed. With very little radio airplay, they have built a following across the country and around the world. Perhaps most surprisingly, they have managed to combine borderline avant-garde jazz with catchy grooves, drawing fans from all over the […]
Rochester International Jazz Festival
Posted inSpecial Sections
Pacin’ the Trane
When Rashied Ali was growing up in North Philadelphia in the 1940s and 1950s, he may have occupied the most fertile ground for the development of jazz talent anywhere on earth. His second cousins, Charlie and Bernard Rice, were both drummers playing gigs with an up-and-coming local saxophonist. “I grew up on his music […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Arranging to soar
Maria Schneider has to admit it; she was not quite the average child when it came to music. It may have been normal to dance around the room when her mother put on a Duke Ellington or Artie Shaw record. But then there was that time when she was 7… “My mom had […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Who are these guys?
Read on for City Newspaper’s profiles of the acts in this year’s Rochester International Jazz Festival. Friday, June 6 George Benson George Benson had firmly established his career as a jazz guitarist when he began to highlight a unique method of scat-singing along with his solos. Before long, his voice took center stage. In the […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
News briefs 4.2.03
Staying human Despite mounting tensions between peaceniks and police officials concerned about the cost of containing anti-war protests, the March 28 peace rally at the Liberty Pole downtown (and subsequent march to the former Genesee Hospital) was a largely non-confrontational affair. A few passing motorists gave protesters the one-fingered salute; the protesters responded with two-fingered […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Reader feedback 8.21.02
It’s what we want; Where’s the outcry?; Is the money there?; Dems in disarray; Shut out; Moms in playland
Posted inNews & Opinion
Can Rochester handle success?
The buzz had hardly died down from June’s Rochester International Jazz Festival, but festival promoter John Nugent was back in town last week attempting to garner support from business and government leaders for next year’s festival. Over the next few weeks we’ll find out if Rochester’s got what it takes to build a new […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Reader feedback 6.26.02
Community voices Thanks and congratulations to City and Ron Netsky for the splendid interviews in “Jump Jim Crow” (June 4, June 11). Both the historical and personal dimensions of these reminiscences are indispensable to our community memory. Voices that I have known over the years came through clearly, which was for me a wonderful bonus. […]
