The “Made in the UK” series continued to captivate on Monday night with the American debut of Dinosaur, led by trumpeter and composer Laura Jurd. The band — which includes the members of the Elliot Galvin Trio — makes spacey jazz that sounds wonderfully imaginative and restless, yet always feels in control. The quartet can […]
Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 5: Ron reviews Eri Yamamoto, Steve Kuhn, and Dave O’Higgins
Eri Yamamoto was so charming at Hatch Hall Tuesday night that the audience was in love with her before she had played a note. Once she began to play her fantastic bluesy opener, “You Are Welcome,” we only fell deeper. She explained that it was the first tune she wrote when she moved from Japan […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 3: Daniel reviews Holophonor and Elliot Galvin Trio
Holophonor plays a brand of jazz loaded with understated swagger and suave cool. Mentored by jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, the band is rooted in the past while resolutely looking toward the future, as evidenced by its early set on Sunday evening at The Wilder Room. The powerhouse rhythm section — drummer Jonathan […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 3: Ron reviews Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan, Jochen Rueckert, and Adam Kolker Trio
When guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan picked up their instruments at Kilbourn Hall Sunday night, they eyed each other playfully. But when they began to play, almost the entire first tune was a sort of musical primordial soup. There were notes and chords and deep bass responses, but they were all in search […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 2: Ron reviews Billy Childs, Eivรธr, and Gabriel Algeria Afro-Peruvian Sextet
Billy Childs opened his Kilbourn Hall show in a gallop and hardly let up throughout the hour-long set. He played the piano with the sort of wild abandon that can only come after decades of painstaking practice and extensive experience. His quartet — with Dayna Stephens on saxophone; Ben Williams, bass; and Ari Hoenig, drums […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 2: Frank reviews The Quebe Sisters and Adam Wakefield
Other than the meteorological mind games the clouds played with our heads, it turned out to be a beautiful day as we traipsed the jazz fandango well into the night. Ron Netsky knows what I like and immediately insisted I check out Grace, Sophia, and Hulda, The Quebe Sisters. These three fiddle-wielding young women from […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 2: Daniel reviews Neil Cowley Trio and Durham County Poets
The Neil Cowley Trio doesn’t really play jazz. Yes, all the tell-tale instrumentation is there — piano, upright bass, and drums. But the music itself is more accurately post-jazz: spacious minimalism meets percussive pop piano and driving rock rhythms, resulting in a sound that is alternately introspective and punchy. The British trio delivered on that […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 3: Frank catches Bill Kirchen and reviews Jack Broadbent and John Paul White
< Master blaster of the Telecaster Bill Kirchen literally blew the roof off the joint at Abilene. Okay, it was a tent out back, but we did have liftoff. To show what a beautiful talent this man is: while the gusts of inclemency threatened to jettison the tent again, Kirchen held things down with his […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 1: Daniel reviews Jacob Collier and Gwilym Simcock
English phenomenon Jacob Collier may be the most immensely talented musician I have ever seen live. As hyperbolic as that may sound, the proof was in the first of his two performances at Anthology on Friday. The first thing I noticed about the live performance of the London-based multi-instrumentalist was his irrepressible energy. The 22-year-old […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 1: Ron reviews Roberta Picket, Yggdrasil, and Tierney Sutton
Roberta Piket began her set at Hatch Hall, Friday night, with a kind of call and response between her right hand and her left on the Steinway grand piano. The dialog ranged from sparse melodies answered by blunt chords to lush clusters answered by pounding bass. Eventually all of this morphed into “Monk’s Dream,” the […]
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Jazz Fest 2017, Day 1: Frank reviews Barbra Lica, Joss Stone, and St. Paul and the Broken Bones
Well, the 16th edition of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival took off its clothes and did a cannonball. The energy in the thick arid air was surprisingly electric; a vibe this strong at Jazz Fests past usually didn’t get this feverish so quickly. It must have been the battle for souls raging on two […]
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Jazz Fest 2017: Music around the fest
If the XRIJF’s more than 320 shows isn’t enough to quench your jazzy thirst, several other Rochester venues not affiliated with festival will host their own performances Friday, June 23, through Saturday, July 1. If you need a break from the Jazz Fest crowds, or want to catch one more show late night, keep an […]
