Tonight started off with a sweet ka-boom as we followed the notes Tuscan beauty Roberta Gambarini squeezed out into oblivion. The queen of fade and control, Gambarini and her trio peppered the set with Argentinian, American, and Italian classics elegantly and effortlessly. Dressed like a leopard print mermaid, Gambarini affected the tones of saxophone and […]
Rochester International Jazz Festival
Posted inMusic
JAZZ FEST 2014: Meet City’s jazz bloggers
Ron Netsky XRIJF Music Director John Nugent’s slogan, “It’s not who you know, it’s who you don’t know,” rings true for me. Every year at the festival, I purposely seek out artists I don’t know and that usually means taking in acts from the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. So it’s a good bet you’ll find […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Jason Marsalis
With pianist Ellis Marsalis and his famous sons, Wynton (trumpet), Branford (saxophone), Delfeayo (trombone), and Jason (drums/vibes), the Marsalis family of New Orleans can stake a claim as the first family of jazz. But if that conjures up images of a father and his sons jamming in the living room, well… that’s just not how […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Cécile McLorin Salvant
If you go to hear Cécile McLorin Salvant at Kilbourn Hall, you might find yourself squirming in your seat. McLorin Salvant has no qualms about singing songs like “You Bring Out The Savage In Me,” a tune few have dared to touch since Valaida Snow sang it in the 1930’s. “I’ve had time to delve […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Vijay Iyer
If you visit the website of pianist-composer Vijay Iyer, you will be greeted with a blurred portrait of a man, vaguely recognizable as Iyer, dashing through an urban landscape. It’s a fitting visual metaphor for the frenetic musical journey Iyer has taken over the past two decades. “Transformation is the way of this music,” says […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes was just 19 and living on Detroit’s west side when his reputation caught up with him. Pianist Horace Silver, fresh out of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, had heard about the young drummer. Silver called up Hayes and asked him to move to New York and join his new band. Hayes packed his drums […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
George Thorogood
You wanna survive in showbiz? Wanna last in this rock ‘n’ roll racket? Just listen to blues rocker George Thorogood. Eat your greens. Get some Z’s. “I have never underestimated the value of a good night’s sleep,” Thorogood says. “I asked Chuck Berry once, I said, ‘Chuck, if there’s one thing that’s the bottom line […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Diane Schuur
Through the snap, crackle, and pop of a long distance phone call, and suffering from jet lag, Diane Schuur’s voice is still absolutely beautiful. She has just returned from an engagement in Osaka, Japan. Before that, it was dates in Italy with the big band. Tomorrow, it’s off to engagements in North Carolina and Florida. […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
I called up Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s trumpeter Glen “The Kid” Marhevka to discuss his band, its brand of swing, its longevity in the swing scene, its hepcat haberdashery, and its impact on swing. That’s right — swing, swing, and more swing. I was excited. I had my coffee and my questions ready. Then Marhevka […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Metro ink – 3.15.06
SPRING CLEANING Paul Noto knows all about big cleaning jobs. He’s the operations manager for the city’s environmental-services department. And this week, his department begins working on one of its more unusual assignments: cleaning the Genesee River. Each spring, environmental workers begin removing debris that collects in what the department calls “the river pool” — […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Metro Ink 11.16.05
Cool cars Cars may be one of the leading sources of greenhouse gases, but in a few years that will be a little less true of New York’s. Starting in 2009, the state will require all cars sold here to meet California’s tough new emission standards for gases that are linked to global warming — […]
