Events Blog
Stephen Colbert just does not stop. He plays the role of arrogant, selfish, pseudo-journalist with such flair and commitment that I sometimes wonder where his line between satire and actual belief system is drawn. Seeing his lecture Saturday at the University of Rochester for the college's Meliora Weekend was like
Music Blog
Believe me, I've heard the hype. Hell, I've been listening to Frank De Blase talk about the band for months now. And after finally seeing Black August perform for the first time at Thursday's Party in the Park, I believe every bit of it. The band emitted this classical soul vibe
Music Blog
I'm pretty accustomed to the "in like a lion, out like a lamb" vibe. I can count on it just about every winter in Rochester, and just about anytime three or more bands perform back-to-back on one stage. But Thursday's "Party in the Park" must have forgotten to schedule the
Music Blog
Chris Beard played his first show in Rochester in nearly three years Thursday at the Riverside Festival Site (corner of Court Street and Exchange Boulevard) as part of the city's Party in the Park concert series. His homecoming (of sorts) was welcomed warmly, and Beard appeared humbled as he shuffled
Music Blog
What a long, strange trip it's been on this nine-day jazz binge. Anyone with a Club Pass has probably hit the wall of exhaustion, caught their second, third, and fourth winds, and seen some impressive acts at some of the most unexpected moments. What really sticks out for me (aside
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The Soul Rebels Brass Band opened its show at High Fidelity with a round robin of solos, where each of the players strutted his Big Easy vibe around the stage. The bass drum thumped out the low end with the help of the tuba (yes, a tuba) that played more
Music Blog
I used to hear hip musicians perform and wonder if it was something in the water that got their musical mojo working. But after seeing Devon Allman's Honeytribe play a set at Harro East Ballroom, I'm convinced it's in the genes (he's the son of the legendary Gregg Allman). The
Music Blog
DJABE pushed the boundaries between pop and jazz a little closer together with its show at the Big Tent Wednesday. The first tune had an electrified pop vibe to it, then suddenly broke down into a chanting call-and-response using what looked like short wooden pitchforks that were tuned to mimic
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The Yellowjackets show at Harro East Ballroom left me with no other option but to use an oxymoron of epic proportions: smooth jazz at its absolute finest. But it was smooth in the 1970's sense of the word, from before the term was hijacked by the folks who make elevator
Music Blog
Day 4 of the festival was swingin' hard, yin-yang style. First on the docket was the David Liebman Quartet. Before the first note rang out, the audience knew that Liebman was a serious player as he joked about beginning to play while the sun was still up. He honked and squealed
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I don't think the early-bird jazz fans were quite ready for Denis Parker and Scott Goudie, a couple of middle-aged, white, Canadian men wailing on a pair of acoustic guitars and beating out one 12-bar blues song after another. The quick applause after the introduction turned almost immediately into chatter and
Music Blog
The free organ concerts that the Memorial Art Gallery hosts every Sunday aren't your typical display of boogaloo grooves pumping out of a Hammond B-3 in some smoke-filled juke joint. Not even the instrument is the same. The organ in one of the rooms on the MAG's second floor is
Music Blog
I read that Esa Tapani, the Eastman School of Music's guest recitalist on Monday, February 25, is an award-winning horn player. He won the Nordic horn competition in 1989 and was nominated for Brass Player of the Year in 1990 by Lieksa Brass Week. I read that he is arguably
Music Blog
I grew up in a house where every Sunday morning my father would spin Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane albums, so I spent my adolescence shying away from classical music, which seemed too stiff and square for my tastes. The closest I ever came to orchestras and recital halls were
