Previous month:
June 2009
Next month:
August 2009

Posts from July 2009

Before heading out to the Park Ave. Fest tomorrow ... why don't you Take Five?

TakeFiveFriday logoAnother weekend of festivals and summer (well, almost...) here in Rochester, but I have some more jazz links for you to check out:

  • In case you hadn't heard, local jazzman Fred Costello, who has played the organ during Amerks hockey games for 32 seasons, was recently told his services would no longer be needed. On the bright side for Costello, as he noted in the D&C article on his departure, Costello will “be able to play more with my jazz band in local clubs this winter”.
  • Back in June, NPR's weekly Take Five jazz sampler did a story on the evolution of the song Strange Fruit, a powerful protest against the lynchings of blacks and racism made famous by Billie Holiday who, with her pianist Sonny White, refashioned the poem and music of Abel Meeropol into Billie's deep cry of outrage that many of us know. Many have recorded this song. NPR's Take Five gives you five of them: Billie Holiday (of course), Nina Simone, Jeff Buckley, Rene Marie, and the Labor Camp Orchestra.
  • On Jazz.com's The Dozens, jazz writer Ted Panken explores twelve essential Gil Evans tracks selected by his assistant from 1985 to his death and multiple-Grammy winning composer in her own right, Maria Schneider.
  • There are a lot of good jazz blogs out there, so I'll keep pointing them out, especially those written by jazz writers with much more under their caps than the writer of this one—like Fred Kaplan's blog Jazz Messenger on the Stereophile site.
  • Earlier this year three videos of a 1956 TV performance by the Dave Brubeck Quartet materialized showing the group after Brubeck became famous after a TIME magazine cover story but before Joe Morello and Eugene Wright replaced Joe Dodge and Norman Bates on drums and bass. Doug Ramsey, who has more than a passing acquaintance with Brubeck through his exploration of the life and music of Paul Desmond, links to these three videos and provides some context in O Rare Dave Brubeck on Rifftides.

So take five and explore. Let me know what you think in the comments ....There will be five more next week.

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

Get an earful of live jazz in Rochester over the next seven days

To get an earful of live jazz, check out some of the jazz in clubs and restaurants around Rochester over the next seven days.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

  • Vince Ercolamento Quartet @ Coppergrass Bistro, 6:O0 pm
  • Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
  • Mambo Kings @ First Unitarian Church, 7:00 pm
  • Jimmie Highsmith Jr. & Friends @ Merchants Grill, 7:00 pm
  • Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Friday, July 31, 2009

  • Vince Ercolamento Quartet @ Wegmans in Canandaigua, 5:30 pm
  • Bobby Dibaudo Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
  • Tom Gravino & Maggie Mullen @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm
  • Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
  • Terese Genecco & Her Little Big Band @ Steamboat Landing Resort, 205 Lakeshore Dr, Canandaigua, 8:00 pm
  • Bill Dobbins Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
  • Don Mancuso & Regi Hendrix @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm

Saturday, August 1, 2009

  • Nancy Kelly with Dino Losito Organ Trio, Jeff Sawyer, & E.S.P. @ Central New York Wine & Jazz Fest, Wolcott, NY, 11:00 am to 8:00 pm
  • Janet Beamann @ @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
  • Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
  • Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:30 pm
  • Bob Sneider Trio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
  • Nick AKOS Show @ Tipsy McStaggers, 9:00 pm
  • Dubblestuff CD Release Party @ Lovin' Cup, 9:00 pm
  • Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, August 2, 2009

  • Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
  • Rochester Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra @ Center Stage @ Center Park, 1100 Ayrault Rd, Fairport, 6:00 pm
  • Jazz Night @ Lovin' Cup, 7:00 pm

Monday, August 3, 2009

  • Swing Dance and jazz with Quinn Lawrence & Anna Reguero @ Fat Iron Cafe, 9:00 pm

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

  • Gabe Condon Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00pm
  • Johnny Russo’s East Hill Classic Jazz Trio @ Geneva on the Lake, 6:30 pm
  • Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

  • Todd East @ Pub 511, 8:00 pm
  • Open Jazz Jam Session with Cinnamon Jones @ Clarissa's, 9:00 pm

Heads Up ... Look for these Jazz Gigs in the Future

  • The Vandermark 5 @ Bop Shop Atrium, August 6th, 8:00 pm
  • Peter Van Huffel/Sophie Tassignon (Bop Arts Presents) @ Bop Shop Atrium, September 16th, 8:00 pm
  • Coung Vu Trio (Bop Arts Presents) @ Bop Shop Atrium, October 9th, 8:00 pm
  • Eastman Salutes the Musical Legacy of Gerry Niewood with Chuck Mangione, Pat Labarbera, Lew Soloff and Adam Niewood and Eastman Jazz Ensembles, Harold Danko, Bill Dobbins and Bob Sneider @ Eastman Theatre, October 14, 8:00 pm
  • Branford Marsalis @ Benefit for Lifetime Assistance Foundation at Eastman Theatre, October 18th, 7:00 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

Bop Arts brings the innovative Vandermark 5 to Rochester on August 6th

vandermark 5 imageI had a chance to hear the Vandermark 5 play in Chicago shortly after fellow Chicagoan Ken Vandermark formed the group in 1996. If my prior experiences of Vandermark are any measure (including his recent appearance in the Bop Shop Atrium with the Ab Baars Trio), it will be a great show when Bop Arts brings them to town at Bop Shop Atrium on August 6th, starting at 8:00 pm. The V5 are an exciting live act that should fill that space and your ears with the same sort of intense improvisation you hear in this video of the V5 from one of my favorite places in the Chicago jazz scene—The Green Mill.

By the way, like Jazz@Rochester, Ken Vandermark is on Twitter where he writes short dispatches from the tours he is doing with his various projects.

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

Take Five Friday: Random jazz links

TakeFiveFriday logoWe're on a roll now; several weeks in a row! Just keep them jazz links coming....

  • Jazz promoter George Wein came out of "retirement" to provide funding to keep the legendary Newport Jazz Festival alive. Now called the CareFusion Jazz Festival 55, Newport is going to have a great lineup of jazz this summer in a couple of weeks, August 7-9. To download some free samples of some of the artists appearing there, check out the NPR Music at Newport Sampler.
  • I've heard a number of musicians around Rochester saying they spent the weekend in the "woodshed" or have been doing a lot of "woodshedding" recently. As Paul Klemperer explained in Woodshedding & the Jazz Tradition, "[w]oodshedding is the nuts-and-bolts part of jazz, the place where you work out the techniques that form the foundation of your improvisational ability." That explains it....
  • In many ways jazz itself came out of Africa as it has such a basic foundation in the music and culture of African-Americans. Well here's some jazz out of Africa brought to you by NPR's version of "Take Five".
  • 12VoltArts Jazz Practice Loops site provides practice loops for jazz musicians to use to practice their soloing.
  • Now this is just weird ... former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan was a jazz musician for awhile. But somehow the "Green Man," as he was known, put aside a fairly promising career in jazz (Mingus thought he was alright) eventually to end up as one of the most powerful men in the U.S. economy. Perhaps he just didn't have the heart following his humiliation after challenging Coltrane to an onstage showdown in 1949 (via HotHouse blog).

So take five and explore. Let me know what you think in the comments ....There will be five more next week.

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

Live jazz in and around Rochester? Sure there is ....

Check out the following live jazz gigs around Rochester through next Wednesday, if you can fit it in around the BBQs, vacations and other summer events.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

  • Vince Ercolamento & Andy Calabrese @ Coppergrass Bistro, 6:O0 pm
  • Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
  • Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
  • Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
  • Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
  • Nick AKOS Show @ German House Theatre-Downstairs, 8:30 pm

Friday, July 24, 2009

  • Vince Ercoloamento with the John Nyerges Quartet @ Wegmans in Canandaigua, 5:30 pm
  • Gabe Condon Trio (14 Fridays at the Village Gate) @ Village Gate, Rochester, 6:00 pm
  • Bobby Dibaudo @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
  • Sofrito @ Brio Wine Bar & Grill, 7:00 pm
  • Eric Nielsen Group @ Jazz on the Green at Jack's Place, 7:00 pm
  • Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
  • Bill Dobbins Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
  • Don Mancuso & Regi Hendrix @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
  • Mark Cassara Band @ Bistro 135, 9:00 pm
  • Bill Tiberio Band @ Boulder Coffee Co at Brooks Landing, 9:00 pm

Saturday, July 25, 2009

  • Fred Costello & Co @ Red Fedele's Brookhouse Restaurant, 3590 W Ridge Rd, 7:00 pm
  • Dave Mancini Trio @ Bistro 135, 7:30 pm
  • Bob Dibaudo @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
  • AKOS Show w/Mike Allen, Olivia Meyer, Gabe Condon @ Jasmine's Asian Fusion, 7:30 pm
  • Bob Sneider Trio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
  • The Bowties @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
  • Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, July 26, 2009

  • Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
  • Ann Mitchell (Tribute to Women Vocalists of the 40s/50s) @ Gates Summer Concert Series at Total Sports Experience, 880 Elmgrove Rd, RochesteSeries, 6:30 pm
  • Jazz Contingent @ Lovin' Cup, 7:00 pm

Monday, July 27, 2009

  • Annie Wells @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

  • Johnny Russo’s East Hill Classic Jazz Trio @ Geneva on the Lake, 6:30 pm
  • Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm
  • The Jim Doser Group @ Penfield Amphitheater, 7:00 pm

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

  • Jimmie Highsmith Jr Trio (Noontime Concert Series) @ Aqueduct Park, near Main St Bridge, 12:00 pm
  • Jim Nugent Trio @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
  • Rick Holland/Evan Dobbins Little Big Band @ Lovin Cup, 8:00 pm
  • Todd East @ Pub 511, 8:00 pm
  • Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camp Jam session @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:00 pm

Heads Up ... Look for these Jazz Gigs in the Future

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

Can't play a horn, so I'll just have toot Jazz@Rochester's ... One of the top 25 jazz blogs?

During the XRIJF, e-commerce firm Invesp Consulting sent me an email to let me know that Jazz@Rochester was in the top 25 blogs in the jazz category on their blogRank rankings. Right now as of this writing I'm at 20th out of 25; during XRIJF I was at No. 17 on the jazz blog hit parade.

BlogRank uses over twenty different factors to rank the blogs, including: RSS membership (in which Jazz@Rochester ranks third, that's right #3 at the time this was written), incoming links, Compete, Alexa,and Technorati rankings, and on social sites like Digg, Technorati. I let it sit a bit as I knew my traffic numbers are always skewed during the festival and, just as I thought, a week after the end of the jazz festival, Jazz@Rochester fell to #20 from #17 in their "Ultimate Rank" for jazz, which combines the factors. But it is staying there, so I finally felt it was time to let you all know. I'm pretty proud that my little thing here in Rochester has me in the company of some heavy hitters of the jazz blogosphere like JazzWax, Rifftides, and some other jazz blogs well known to me (and Wynton's site...geez). Cool.

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

Take Five jazz links ... randomly yours

TakeFiveFriday logoIt's Friday and I have five more jazz links to check out.

  • The jazz education and history site A Passion for Jazz has a set of 20 tips for jazz musicians, such as #1 "Everyone should play the same tune."
  • The primary function of JazzDiscography.com is to share jazz discographies created with the "Brian" application (which can be downloaded off the site, although it appears a bit of a Web 1.0 app, it probably does the trick).
  • JazzCares was born after 9/11 to provide a means for musicians to help other musicians while helping themselves. Musicians or creators of jazz related merchandise decide how much they want to allocate to the organizations the Jazz Foundation of America and keep the rest, except for a small credit card processing fee. The site then puts the merchandise on the site.
  • Edmar Casteneda plays a traditional Columbian harp but at a young age found jazz and has been mashing together the traditional music of his country with the jazz he came to love. NPR has an interview with Castaneda along with some of his music, including a link to a concert by the Edmar Castaneda Trio with Joe Locke at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. I was hoping I'd get a chance to listen to him live at RIJF this year, but I'll have to settle for these for now. Hat tip to Tom Marcello for learning about his project with Joe and getting me interested.
  • I was checking out The Gig, a blog by jazz writer Nate Chinen, and found this thoughtful post that by posing the question of a John Scofield edition of the popular game Guitar Hero, how it and other games like it are becoming yet another manner of distrbuting music, and then riffing on the implications on the state of jazz today.

So take five and explore. Let me know what you think in the comments ....There will be five more next week.

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

The jazz is out there somewhere in Rochester, now where did we put it.... ?

Lotta stuff happening so have been a bit lax in posting, but it's Wednesday and some of you might want to know where the jazz is over the next seven days. So with no further adoo, here are the jazz listings through next Wednesday.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

  • Summer Serenade Series with the BSCD Jazz Band @ Welcome Center by Canal, Brockport, 6:30 pm
  • Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
  • Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
  • Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Friday, July 17, 2009

  • Herb Smith Quartet @ River City Rhythms at Corn Hill Landing, Exchange Blvd & Plymouth Ave, 6:30 pm
  • Margaret Explosion, Nate Rawls Band, & Tin Can Set @ Genesee Center for the Arts, 713 Monroe Ave, Rochester, 6:30 pm
  • Deborah Magone @ Champp's, Eastview Mall, 7:00 pm
  • Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Cafe Vas, 546 Merchants Rd, Rochester, 7:00 pm
  • Tom Passamonte & Special Blend @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
  • The Westview Project @ Brio Wine Bar & Grill, 7:30 pm
  • Sofrito @ Bistro 135, 7:30 pm
  • Don Mancuso & Regi Hendrix @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm

Saturday, July 18, 2009

  • Madeline Forster @ Canandaigua Art and Music Festival, 3:15 pm Added image
  • The Westview Project @ Pane Vino, 7:00 pm
  • Tom Passamonte & Special Blend @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
  • Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ TC Hooligans, Webster, 7:30 pm
  • Nick Weiser Duo @ Jasmine's Asian Fusion, 8:00 pm
  • The Bowties @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
  • Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, July 19, 2009

  • Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
  • Music Makers Big Band @ Sodus Point Lighthouse, 7606 N. Ontario St., Sodus, 1:00 pm
  • Greece Jazz Band @ Gazebo Concert at Irondequoit Town Hall, 1280 Titus Ave., 2:30 pm
  • The Bill Tiberio Band @ Lovin' Cup, 7:00 pm

Monday, July 20, 2009

  • Joe Cavallaro's Dixieland Jazz Band @ Green Lantern Inn, One East Church St, Fairport, 6:30 pm
  • Annie Wells @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

  • Johnny Russo’s East Hill Classic Jazz Trio @ Geneva on the Lake, 6:30 pm
  • Paradigm Shift @ Penfield Amphitheater, 7:00 pm
  • Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

  • Footnote @ Firefly Concert Series at the Patio Stage, Williamson Free Public Library, 6380 Rt 21, Williamson, 7:00 pm
  • Jim Nugent Trio @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
  • Todd East @ Pub 511, 8:00 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

It's still Friday, so Take Five (jazz links that is...)

TakeFiveFriday logoThere is so much happening out on the "interwebs" about jazz and I try to cull out some random link for you each week on Friday. Here are five more:

  • I like jazz ... I like beer ... it's summer ... NPR's version of Take Five recently did a sampling pairing jazz cuts with summer beers. What could be better?
  • You can relive the epic Buddy Rich vs. Animal drum battle from Sesame Street on YouTube.
  • I love getting the back story on music and Marc Myers recently wrote a great piece in Jazz Wax providing the skinny on John Coltrane's Naima, a love song to his first wife Naima Grubb, recorded on the Giant Steps album in 1960.
  • The site doesn't do much for the eyes, but A Jazz Improvisation Almanac tries to "help the performer play jazz more effectively and ... the listener to better understand the performance of jazz. You be the judge ...
  • Up close and personal with Joe Lovano playing with Bob Sneider, Mike Melito, and Phil Flanigan at the after hours on the last night of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival. Had to miss that last night due to a bum knee, but can get a bit of a taste...

So take five and explore. Let me know what you think in the comments ....There will be five more next week.

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

Although cooler weatherwise, there's some hot jazz around in Rochester

While the weather is a bit cooler, there is a lot of hot jazz around Rochester for the next seven days. Here are your listings for Thursday through next Wednesday:

Thursday, July 9, 2009

  • Vince Ercolamento w/ Andy Calabrese @ Coppergrass Bistro, 6:00 pm
  • Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
  • Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
  • Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
  • Jam Session w/Russell Fielder Quintet @ Merchants Grill, 8:00 pm
  • Standard Jazz Quartet @ Starry Nites Cafe, 8:00 pm

Friday, July 10, 2009

  • Vince Ercolamento Quartet @ Wegman's Canandaigua, 5:30 pm
  • Madeline Forster (14 Fridays at the Village Gate) @ Village Gate, 6:00 pm
  • Bobby Dibaudo Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
  • Smugtown Stompers (River City Rhythms) @ Corn Hill Landing, Exchange Blvd & Plymouth Ave., 6:00 pm
  • Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Spot Coffee, 7:00 pm
  • Jazz on the Green @ Jack's Place, 7:00 pm
  • Nancy Kelly @ Green Pastures, Elmira NY, 7:00 pm
  • Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
  • Artisan Jazz @ Starry Nites Cafe, 8:00 pm

Saturday, July 11, 2009

  • The Westview Project @ Cornhill Arts Festival, Atkinson St. stage, 11:30
  • Paradigm Shift & Jimmie Highsmith Jr. Group (“Jazz for JOSANA” benefit for Flower City Habitat for Humanity) @ Charlie Brown's on the Green at Durand Eastman Golf Course, 2:00 pm
  • Co-Existence @ House of Guitars, 5:00 pm
  • Jim Nugent Trio @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
  • Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Pane Vino, 7:00 pm
  • Nancy Kelly & Rick Holland Little Big Band @ The Antique Airshow @ Geneseo Airport, 7:00 pm
  • Todd East @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
  • Gap Mangione Big Band @ Penfield Amphitheater, 7:00 pm
  • The Bowties @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
  • Gabe Condon Jazz Trio @ Jasmine's Asian Fusion, 8:00 pm
  • Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, July 12, 2009

  • Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
  • Kirk Whalum @ RIT Inn & Conference Center, 5:00 pm
  • Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Jazz Ensemble (RPO in the Neighborhoods) @ Park Avenue Green, Park Ave & Barrington Sts., 7:30 pm

Monday, July 13, 2009

  • Annie Wells @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

  • Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
  • Johnny Russo’s East Hill Classic Jazz Trio @ Geneva on the Lake, 6:30 pm
  • Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm
  • The Rod Blumenau Swingtet @ Penfield Amphitheater, 7:00 pm
  • Bobby Henrie & The Goners @ Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, 10:00 pm

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

  • Brad Batz Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
  • Jim Nugent Trio @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

Inspire the development of more "Chops" around Rochester

Chops documentary posterOne of the things that you discover during the Rochester International Jazz Festival is that many of the high school jazz ensembles around here have "chops" way beyond those that my high school group had back in the 70s. I'm always impressed by them both as groups and some of the individual players.

I was recently contacted about a new documentary film called Chops. The film is about one high school jazz band's experience at the Essentially Ellington high school jazz competition, following them from their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida to NYC to participate in the 11th annual competition at Lincoln Center. The film has been endorsed by Jazz at Lincoln Center where the competition and festival is held and was screened there, film festivals throughout the country. One cool aspect about this film is how its makers and distributors are promoting it (in addition to contacting jazz blogs, that is). As jazz festivals and publications are hurting in today's economy, the film's distributor has set Chops up to be a great fund raising tool for jazz-related organizations, distributing it through a screening approach that allows anyone who hosts a screening to keep 100% of the proceeds from a screening. You can view the trailer for Chops at its official website and check out their unique approach to the screenings. There is also a page on Facebook to get updates about the film.

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

The return of Take Five Friday ... Some jazz links for you

TakeFiveFriday logoGeez, I posted this first without an intro... We're back with Take Five Friday on Jazz@Rochester after another hiatus while we took in the Rochester International Jazz Festival and then had a bit of a rest. So, it's Friday and here are five more jazz-related links for you from around the interwebs:

  • Someone caught the whole June 16th performance of the Bill Tiberio Band at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival on video and you can catch the performance and a bunch of others from XRIJF 2009 on the RIJF's YouTube site.
  • There is this post on The Hope Chest blog that is built around a scan of a newspaper article on fitness that posits jazz as a drug, "just as intoxicating as morphine and cocaine; it is just as harmful....Jazz is killing some people; some are going insane; others are losing their religion." It's an interesting read along with the blogger's notes about the article and the intersection with race (the article from the black press in NY) (via Chris Van Hof of WXXI).
  • I've recently acquired more of a taste for the music of larger jazz ensembles (Maria Schneider and Dave Rivello's work comes to mind...). Another recent entry onto the larger ensemble scene is Darcy James Argue's Secret Society. I like Secret Society's mashing up of rock 'n roll and jazz and they have some major chops on their instruments. There are others as well and as Martin Johnson wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal, they're not your Grandpa's big band. The Secret Society even has a blog.
  • If you're a musician, you may want to check out the site AudioTuts (a tutorial site), there is a post with fourteen sites that will help you to practice music more effectively.
  • For those of us who missed it, like myself, there is a recording of the concert on the Internet Archive of Robert Randolph and the Family Band (with the Campbell Brothers) at the East Ave & Alexander St Stage, during the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Fest on June 19th. I'm not

So take five and explore. Let me know what you think in the comments ....There will be five more next week.

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

Come out for Jazz for JOSANA and Habitat for Humanity

On Saturday, July 11th, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm, come out and support Flower City Habitat for Humanity's work in rebuilding the JOSANA neighborhood (Jay-Orchard Street Area). You can do that in style and at "the Club" with an afternoon of jazz at Charlie Brown's on the Green at Durand Eastman Golf Club with funky sounds of Paradigm Shift and the Jimmie Highsmith Jr. Group. There also will be all-you-can-eat Southern BBQ buffet, cash bar, and drawings for prizes. Tickets: $20 in advance or $25 at the door, or at the The Bop Shop, Record Archive, Habitat ReStore (755 Culver Rd., Tues-Sat/9-5), by phone at 585.546.1470, x305, or online at Habitat's Paradigm Shift imagesite.Jimmie Highsmith Jr.
This post was originally published on JazzRochester.

We're back ... Here are your Rochester jazz listings for the next seven days

Seven days ... nothing... sorry about the silence. I'm still recharging from the XRIJF and catching up with some work. But the jazz around Rochester, NY, keeps marching on ... so here are the listings for the next seven days.  I have a feeling that there are some missing here, but everyone's on vacation this week so perhaps this is it.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

  • Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
  • Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
  • Trio East @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
  • Bob Sneider with Dino Losito and Mike Melito @ Kilbourn Hall, 7:30 pm

Friday, July 3, 2009

  • Holiday Smooth Jazz with Jimmie Highsmith Jr. @ Pazzo Cucina, 5:00 pm
  • Bobby Dibaudo Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
  • Jazz on the Green @ Jack's Place, 7:00 pm
  • Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 7:30 pm
  • Pat Bianchi Organ Trio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
  • The Bowties @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
  • Mark Cassara Band @ Bistro 135, 9:00 pm

Saturday, July 4, 2009

  • Gap Mangione Big Band @ Sodus Point Light House, 2:00 pm
  • Gap Mangione New Blues Band @ Woodcliff Hotel & Spa, 8:30 pm
  • Bob Sneider with Pat Bianchi & Mike Melito "Down by the Riverside" following the City of Rochester Fireworks with the RPO, 10:30 pm
  • Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, July 5, 2009

  • Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
  • Jim Nugent Trio @ Esperanza Mansion, 3456 Route 54A, Bluff Point, NY 14478, 4:00 pm
  • Smugtown Stompers (Vitale Park Summer Concert Series) @ Vitale Park, Big Tree Rd, Livonia, 6:00 pm
  • And All That Jazz @ Union St, Spencerport, 6:30 pm

Monday, July 6, 2009

  • Annie Wells @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
  • Quinn Lawrence Trio Swing Dance @ Flat Iron Cafe, 8:30 pm

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

  • Todd East @ Bistro 135, 6:30 pm
  • Johnny Russo’s East Hill Classic Jazz Trio @ Geneva on the Lake, 6:30 pm
  • Joe Santora & Emily Kirchoff @ PaRe Bar and Grill, 7:00 pm
  • Bob Sneider @ Penfield Amphitheater, 7:00 pm
  • Nostalgic Reunion Jazz Ensemble @ Darien Lake PAC, 7:00 pm

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

  • Gabe Condon Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
  • Jim Nugent Trio @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

We've compiled these listings from information obtained from the performing artists themselves and other sources. The aim is to give you a one stop place to find all your jazz in Rochester. Please forgive me for any discrepancies with reality and feel free to let me know what the problem is, and I'll get the corrections up on the site as soon as possible (click on the "Send an email to Jazz@Rochester" link). If you go out to hear a performance listed here, feel free to drop a comment to this post about how it went. I want to hear from you!

This post was originally published on JazzRochester.