Every year one of the treats that comes out of the Democrat & Chronicle's ever-growing coverage of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival is the series of photo essays by Will Yurman and the "Jazz Stories" videos. [Update: Will Yurman is no longer part of the project as he has left Rochester to begin a gig at Penn State). The first of those videos, by Annette Lein (who has taken on the "Jazz Stories" project), was just released (I think today), with a short profile of talented bassist-vocalist Katie Ernst, who just graduated from Eastman School of Music, will stop off for a gig at the XRIJF on June 16th before continuing on her journey (are you heading back to Chicago area, Katie?). I've had an opportunity to see Katie play (and sing) and those of you who go to her Max gig are in for a treat. Her enthusiasm for music is infectious.
These videos and all of the XRIJF-related articles in the Democrat & Chronicle can be found on their redesigned site.






Perhaps since the original deadline was getting close and there were only about 17 entries and to give bands and artists some more time to add their videos into the mix, the folks at the
Gerry Niewood—saxophonist and flutist, band leader and long-time sideman to Chuck Magione, died in the February 12, 2009, crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 near Buffalo. Niewood was also Rochester native, Eastman alumnus, and the original lead alto sax of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble under its first director, Chuck Mangione. If you haven't heard of it yet, Niewood's family, friends and admirers from Eastman have put together a great
My focus during the Rochester International Jazz Festival often turns away from Rochester to increase my exposure to jazz and other music from beyond our area, but that doesn't mean that I don't value the jazz that is to be found right here. Of course not, if I didn't think that Rochester wasn't an interesting and, in fact, unique location for hearing live jazz and other music why would I be doing this blog at all? It ain't making me rich, that's for sure.
Come out to join more than seventy Rochester area musicians when they come together for a nine-hour benefit concert to honor their friend, Rochester bassist Rafael "Ralph" Ortiz, who
Tom Kohn is relentless .... He is passionate about the music that inhabits the edges of our listening and he wants to share that passion with Rochester. He doesn't care that, from all evidence, there are few around town who share his feelings. Listening to music that challenges him fills him with joy and Tom simply is going to root out those who the music has a chance to reach and then try to share his joy with them. This desire in him has led him to spend more than 25 years running the
Gerry's son, Adam, left a
In posting the list of the jazz fallen of 2008 (which I did from a conference in NYC) on February 2nd, I was unaware that a bass player Rafael "Ralph" Ortiz, beloved by many in Rochester, had just passed away Monday after a short battle with cancer discovered only weeks ago. I had heard that Ortiz was in the hospital at the Exodus to Jazz gig on January 30th and was told at that time that his time was short, but hadn't heard about his death from anyone and have been traveling. Ralph was most recently associated with
Friends and musicians who wish to get together and share memories of Rochester jazz saxophonist Joe Romano, who died of cancer in late November, are invited to a memorial party taking place this Sunday, January 11th, at the
That is totally not true!! I’ve played with many guys who live in NYC and make a good living in jazz that can’t touch the guys I play with here every week.
Last night I got home from work and before I had moved completely into a post work week stupor, I got a call from my friend saxophone player 
My friend Tracy over at 







