Lizz Wright had the sold-out Harro East Ballroom crowd in the palm of her hand Monday night. Maybe it was because, with the room’s large windows, there is no way to turn the house lights off while it’s still light outside. She could see the audience, so Wright engaged with it throughout her show. She […]
Rochester International Jazz Festival
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 2: Ron reviews Makoto Ozone and Tommy Smith, Jon Ballantyne, and Phil Robson Trio
About three-quarters of the way through their energetic set at Kilbourn Hall, Tommy Smith aimed his tenor saxophone right into the open lid of Makoto Ozone’s grand piano. The sounds that came out for the next several minutes were magical. Smith, who had a gorgeous tone and a voluminous dynamic range, played clusters of notes […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 2: Frank reviews Kandace Springs, misses Erykah Badu, and makes it to Junior Brown
I said it was all about Junior Brown, and that’s precisely how things rolled out for day two of the Jazz Fest. Weather-wise it was the kind of conditions that weathermen take credit for. And inside, it threatened to get hot since the buzz was buzzin’ for Nashville’s super-afroed lady at the keys, Kandace Springs. […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 1: Frank reviews Grace Potter, Fitz and The Tantrums, and Davina and The Vagabonds
It was crazy, I tell ya. People were everywhere in the beautifully controlled chaos. Opening day: Jazz Fest 2016. Be still my beating heart as it keeps time with the rat-a-tat-tat of my rickety keyboard as I type away this report from the frontline. John Mooney and Bluesiana kicked off my musical intake on the […]
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Jazz Fest 2016, Day 1: Ron reviews Scofield-Lovano Quartet, Mikkel Ploug’s Equilibrium, and Paul Hofmann
The Scofield-Lovano Quartet got right down to business at Xerox Auditorium Friday night. The two stars — guitarist John Scofield and saxophonist Joe Lovano — walked onto the stage, along with the excellent rhythm section of Ben Street (bass) and Bill Stewart (drums), and launched into Lovano’s “Symbolism.” Scofield played gorgeously, even slipping into some […]
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Jazz Fest 2016: Other music happening downtown
Throughout the nine days of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, several other Rochester venues will take advantage of the wandering crowds still looking for more music, and will host their own mini-festivals. While they are not affiliated in any way with the XRIJF, Abilene Bar and Lounge (153 Liberty Pole Way), Bernunzio Uptown Music […]
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Jazz Fest 2016: What’s FREE at the fest
The Xerox Rochester International JazzFestivalis already great because of the musicians that will be there, but it’s even better when some of those shows are free. Although tickets are required for admission into the Club Pass shows and Kodak Hall, there are seven venues and 100 shows open to the public at no cost — […]
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Jazz Fest 2016: City’s Daily Jazz Blogs
The 2016 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival runs Friday, June 24, through Saturday, July 2, and City Newspaper will be out every night of the festival, covering multiple shows.
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Jazz Fest 2016: Meet City’s jazz bloggers
Ron Netsky [IMAGE-1] My real job is chairman of the art department at Nazareth College, but I’ve been writing about jazz for City since the late-1990’s. My love of music can be traced to the people I grew up with: my uncle was a Broadway composer; my twin brother, Steve, is a songwriter; and my […]
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Jazz 101
Now in its 15th year, the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival has become the most highly anticipated yearly musical orgy in Upstate New York. We have nine days to indulge in every kind of music, from free street concerts by national acts to $100-plus seats at the ritzy Kodak Hall. During the course of the […]
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Davina and The Vagabonds
Proving that rock ‘n’ roll can still thoroughly thrive without the guitar, Davina and The Vagabonds lay it down with a vintage instrumentation — piano, horns, bass, and drums —and hi-tone retro ambition.
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Junior Brown
Junior Brown’s playing is a hybrid blur of chicken pickin’ prestidigitation and salaciously slick slide. It’s as if he was channeling Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West simultaneously and couldn’t decide which one to pick. Flummoxed by the dilemma, Brown came up with an instrument that can do both — an instrument that can be played […]
