I realize the monotony of one listings post after another is getting . . . well . . . monotonous. Just having a hard time getting online to update the blog the past few weeks. Happens sometimes.

By the way the time to add your video to the Rochester Jazz Star competition, brought to you by Xerox in conjunction with the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, is coming to an end. Hope they get some last minute entries as there are but a few in there now.  But they're worth a watch.  Lots of talent out there.  Start voting for your favorite on Xerox's Rochester Jazz Star search for the "new jazz sensation" on the RochesterJazzStar.com site on Monday. Jazz Appreciation Month is almost over, so you just have a few days to get out there and appreciate some!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

• Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 6:30 pm
• Dawn Thomson & Special Guests @ Max at Eastman Place, 7:00 pm
• Mike Allen & the Avatars @ Beale Street Cafe, 7:00 pm
• The Miche Fambro Show @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:00 pm
• Dave Rivello Ensemble @ Village Rock Cafe, 8:00 pm
• Debra Branch @ Lemoncello, 8:30 pm
• The Filthy Funk All-Star Jam @ Lovin' Cup, 9:30 pm

Friday, April 30, 2010

• Mark Cassara Band @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Rochester Music Hall of Fame Launch Party (including Paradigm Shift, John Akers, Crescent City Connection, The Cross Roads Project, Redline Zydeco, Small Town, Tinted Image, Spencerport High School Jazz Band, Atlas, Mambo Kings, Prime Time Funk, The Buddhahood, and more) @ German House/The Keg, Doors open 6:30, music at 7:00 pm (Facebook invite)
• Bill Dobbins Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
• Ryan T Carey & El Rojo Jazz Band @ Thali of India, 7:00 pm
• Jeff Tyzik with guest artists Clay Jenkins, Bob Sneider, Mark Kellogg, and Eastman Community School faculty member José Encarnacion at the 40th Annual Penfield Jazz Fund Raiser Concerts @ Penfield High School Auditorium, 7:30 pm
• Watkins & the Rapiers @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm

Saturday, May 1, 2010

• Hard Logic @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Jeff Tyzik with guest artists Clay Jenkins, Bob Sneider, Mark Kellogg, and Eastman Community School faculty member José Encarnacion at the 40th Annual Penfield Jazz Fund Raiser Concerts @ Penfield High School Auditorium, 7:30 pm
• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Jasmine's Asian Fusion, 7:30 pm
• Kris Jensen with Mike Melito Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Nancy Perry @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Roger Eckers Trio @ McArdle's Restaurant, 1355 Fairport Road (31F), Fairport, NY, 8:30 pm
• East End Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, May 2, 2010

• Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
• Bop Shop Spring 2010 Record Show (for the love of vinyl, check out the Dollar Store, too!) @ The Bop Shop at the Village Gate 274 N Goodman St., 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
• The Westview Project w Nick Brust and Mike Vanbebber @ Lovin' Cup, 7:00 pm

Monday, May 3, 2010

• The Bowties Brad Batz Group @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Quinn Lawrence & Anna Reguero (Swing dance, instruction & jazz) @ Flat Iron Cafe, 9:00 pm

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

• Michael Sinicropi Duo @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Quintopus @ Boulder Coffee Co (Brooks Landing), 955 Genesee Street, 7:00 pm

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

• Dave Mancini @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Rochester Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, Al Bruno Trio w/Tom Monte @ Roger Robach Community Center, 6:00 pm
• Margaret Explosion @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Paradigm Shift @ Pomodoro's Grill & Wine Bar, 7:00 pm
• Former Jazz90.1 host and The Jazz Session podcast guy Jason Crane reads from Unexpected Sunlight, his first collection of poetry (including some about jazz) @ Hughes Rotunda in the Wilson Education Building at St. John Fisher College, 7:30 pm
• Making American Music Series: Women of Jazz with the Ladies First Jazz Big Band @ Strong National Museum of Play, 7:30 pm

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

• Canandaigua Academy Jazz at the Academy "Night Club Night" with saxophonist Dean Keller guest artist, with the Canandaigua Middle School Jazz Band, New Jazz and Jazz Ensembles, May 7, 2010, 7:30 pm
• Exodus to Jazz presents Four80East @ Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside, Saturday, May 15, 2010, two shows 8:00 & 10:00 pm
• Art Loves Jazz 2010 to support Jazz 90.1 @ Artisan Works, May 20, 2010, 6:30-9:30 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!

Spent too much time setting up a new computer to get much else done this week, so you're seeing back-to-back jazz listings posts. A new entry on the scene, Lemoncello, just down the street from next door to Bistro 135 in East Rochester. I'm told that they plan on having jazz regularly (they're certainly starting out that way). I'll let you know as I hear more. Here's the jazz listings for the next seven days.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

• Dave Mancini @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Dawn Thomson & Special Guests @ Max at Eastman Place, 7:00 pm
• The Miche Fambro Show @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:00 pm
• Chris (piano) @ Lemoncello (East Rochester), 9:00 pm

Friday, April 23, 2010

• 7 Sense, Jim Lane @ Lemoncello, 5:00 pm
• Bobby Dibaudo @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Bill Dobbins Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
• The Westview Project @ Pane Vino, 7:00 pm
• Ryan T Carey & El Rojo Jazz Band @ Thali of India, 7:00 pm
• Mike Allen & the Avatars @ Pomodoro Grill & Wine Bar, 8:00 pm
• Watkins & the Rapiers @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Shades of Gray @ Bistro 135, 9:00 pm

Saturday, April 24, 2010

• Andy Stobie & the Greater Finger Lakes Jazz Orchestra @ All Things Art (Canandaigua), 7:00 pm
• Epilogue with special guest bassist Ryan "the Griff" Griffith @ Boulder Coffee Company (Alexander), 8:00 pm
• John Nugent with Bob Sneider Trio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Nancy Perry @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Whitney Marchelle Quartet @ Henry B's (East End), 8:30 pm
• Po Boys Brass Band @ Abilene, 9:00 pm
• East End Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, April 25, 2010

• Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
• Dave Rivello Ensemble @ First Presbyterian Church of Avon, 5605 E Avon-Lima Rd, 3:00 pm
• Dave Rivello Ensemble @ Lemoncello, 6:00 pm
• The Gerry Nasca Quartet @ Lovin' Cup, 7:00 pm

Monday, April 26, 2010

• Brad Batz Group @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

• Jim Nugent @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Quintopus @ Boulder Coffee Company (Brooks Landing), 7:00 pm
• Debra Branch @ Lemoncello, 7:00 pm

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

• Tedo D'Aurizio, Al Bruno Trio with Tom Monte @ Roger Robach Community Center, 6:00 pm
• Simone Fletcher Trio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Paradigm Shift @ Pomodoro's Grill & Wine Bar, 7:00 pm
• Margaret Explosion @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• The Wee Trio @ Monroe Community College 41st Annual Jazz Festival, 7:30 pm

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

• Rochester Music Hall of Fame Launch Party (including Paradigm Shift, John Akers, Crescent City Connection, The Cross Roads Project, Redline Zydeco, Small Town, Tinted Image, Spencerport High School Jazz Band, Atlas, Mambo Kings, Prime Time Funk, The Buddhahood, and more) @ German House/The Keg, April 30, 2010, Doors open 6:30, music at 7:00 pm (Facebook invite)
• Start voting for your favorite on Xerox's Rochester Jazz Star search for the new jazz sensation @ On the RochesterJazzStar.com site, May 3, 2010. Get your band's video in there by Apri l 30.
• Canandaigua Academy Jazz at the Academy "Night Club Night" with saxophonist Dean Keller guest artist, with the Canandaigua Middle School Jazz Band, New Jazz and Jazz Ensembles, May 7, 2010, 7:30 pm.
• Bop Arts presents The Britton Brothers @ Bop Shop Atrium in the Village Gate, May 15, 2010, 8:00 pm
• Exodus to Jazz presents Four80East @ Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside, Saturday, May 15, 2010, two shows 8:00 & 10:00 pm
• Art Loves Jazz 2010 to support Jazz 90.1 @ Artisan Works, May 20, 2010, 6:30-9:30 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!

As we go up and down in temperature, we have ups and downs in the amount of live jazz around town. Although not all jazz, get out Saturday to support Record Store Day and buy some CDs (or vinyl) at your local independent record emporium like The Bop Shop or the Record Archive. Both are scheduled to have live music: Bop Shop and Record Archive., although check with the Record Archive before going as I heard the expected bad weather this weekend was putting a damper on their plans. Get out and support these Rochester institutions and the unique music they support in town.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

• Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 6:30 pm
• Dawn Thomson & Special Guests @ Max at Eastman Place, 7:00 pm
• Mike Allen, AKOS and the Avatars @ Beale Street Cafe, 7:00 pm
• The Miche Fambro Show @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Nazareth College Jazz Ensemble @ Nazareth College-Wilmot Recital Hall, 7:30 pm
• Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:00 pm
• Dave Rivello Ensemble @ Village Rock Cafe, 8:00 pm

Friday, April 16, 2010

• Bobby Dibaudo @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Bill Tiberio Band @ Friday Jazz at Immanuel Baptist Church Series, 7:00 pm
• Bob Sneider Trio with Ulf Bandgren @ The Grill at Strathallan, 7:00 pm
• Ryan T Carey & El Rojo Jazz Band @ Thali of India, 7:00 pm
• Watkins & the Rapiers @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm

Saturday, April 17, 2010

• Miss Tess @ Record Store Day at Record Archive, 4:00 pm
• Sofrito @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Table Top Three @ Beale Street Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Jasmine's Asian Fusion, 7:30 pm
• Miss Tess @ Abilene, 8:30 pm
• Bob Sneider Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Nancy Perry @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• East End Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, April 18, 2010

• Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
• Moondance @ Jazz night at Lovin' Cup, 7:00 pm
• Annie Wells with Left on Red @ Abilene, 8:00 pm

Monday, April 19, 2010

• Flower City Jazz Society presents Dave Thomas' Lock 52 Jazz Band @ Green Lantern Inn, One East Church St, Fairport, 6:30 pm
• Brad Batz Group @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

• Smugtown Stompers @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

• Ted Nicolosi & Shared Genes @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Margaret Explosion @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Paradigm Shift @ Pomodoro's Grill & Wine Bar, 7:00 pm

Heads Up ... Look for these Jazz Gigs and other Events in the Future

• Rochester Music Hall of Fame Launch Party (including Paradigm Shift, John Akers, Crescent City Connection, The Cross Roads Project, Redline Zydeco, Small Town, Tinted Image, Spencerport High School Jazz Band, Atlas, Mambo Kings, Prime Time Funk, The Buddhahood, and more) @ German House/The Keg, Doors open 6:30, music at 7:00 pm (Facebook invite)
• Start voting for your favorite on Xerox's Rochester Jazz Star search for the new jazz sensation @ On the RochesterJazzStar.com site, May 3, 2010
• Exodus to Jazz presents Four80East @ Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside, Saturday, May 15, 2010, two shows 8:00 & 10:00 pm
• Art Loves Jazz 2010 to support Jazz 90.1 @ Artisan Works, May 20, 2010, 6:30-9:30 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!

I'm always finding new links to put out there for you, but sometimes I just don't get them into a post. You can also find occasional links on Twitter and the Jazz@Rochester Facebook page, some of which may be repeated here, but not all. So here are a few more... I'll look at my feeds and find some more soon.

• At the Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camps, adult "jazz players and singers learn and play in a friendly, non-threatening environment, supported by a faculty of caring, professional jazz musician/educators and surrounded by kindred spirits" at a summer camp. There's one in the Rochester area July 25-30 at Nazareth College ... Jazz at Naz.
• If you want to know what's up on the Latin jazz scene, check out Chip Boaz's Latin Jazz Corner blog.
• TwitJazz.net was created recently to help build community among the growing numbers of folks from the jazz world—jazz fans, musicians, presenters, writers, and promoters (including yours truly)—who have established a presence on Twitter. The blog is being managed by a recent entry from D.C. @MaryamLovesJazz and veteran Pacific Northwest trombonist and jazz tweeter David Marriott (@RedRaspus) to help folks find more Twitter love for jazz. You can track and add to the conversations by using the hashtag #twitjazznet.
• My friends in the local group Margaret Explosion have been recording their live shows for quite awhile and have made some of those recordings and cuts from some of their CDs available online for streaming and download. If you caught their gigs at The Little or elsewhere you know they are a great group of musicians making some unique sounds.
• As I noted before, if you were unaware of it April is Jazz Appreciation Month, brought to you by the Smithsonian Institution. One of my jazz friends on Twitter has been doing some great things with it on her new blog Elements of Jazz.

If you have a jazz link to share with the Rochester jazz community and beyond, send me an email by clicking on the Send an email to Jazz@Rochester link in the left panel.

Tomorrow Tom Kohn and Bop Arts was finally been able to bring one of the great European trios creating electronic/acoustic improvisational soundscapes to Rochester when Konk Pack, featuring Tim Hodgkinson, Thomas Lehn, and Roger Turner come to town for a performance at the Village Gate Atrium. Kohn has wanted to bring this band to share their unique music with you for quite awhile and finally got his chance this year. After their April 3rd show in Houston, Texas, a writer for Artshound.com described the trio thusly:

The British/German trio Konk Pack handles a gritty, writhing mass of electroacoustic sound/noise with the rare finesse and skill that one would expect from veterans of the European improv scene. Puckish and virtuosic, Konk Pack has created a music that is as detailed as it is massive. It is potent, thrilling, and completely unpredictable.

Tom notes that Konk Pack's "unique blend of acoustic and electronic instruments that should be a unique aural assault as it ricochets around the Atrium." While it will be challenging for some, it sounds like some fun and I'm always up a challenge (and diving for protection from those ricochets). Hope to see some of you there.

Bop Arts presents Konk Pack, Monday April 12, 2010 at 8:00 pm in the Bop Shop Atrium in the Village Gate, 274 N Goodman St, Rochester, NY. A $10 donation requested. For more on the group, check out the rest of the Houston writeup and the links in the Artshound post. There's also some video of a 2007 performance in Minneapolis available (warning, it is pretty lofi).

April is Jazz Appreciation Month, which was started by the Smithsonian Institution to highlight the history and future of jazz music. While we don't have any JAM events going on around Rochester (I'd organize something if I could find some spare time, but alas that is not to be...), a friend I've connected with on Twitter is doing some great things on her new blog Elements of Jazz related to JAM, so check it out there. Go out and celebrate JAM this year by hearing some live jazz in and around Rochester! Here are the listings for the next seven days:

Thursday, April 8, 2010

• Jazz90.1 Presents Guinness Cork Jazz Festival Performances (two special one hour performances from the 2009 Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, including performances by the Monty Alexander Trio in the first hour, and the Sun Ra Arkestra in the second hour) @ Jazz 90.1 radio, 6:00-8:00 pm
• Jazz Dawgs @ Bistro 135, 6:30 pm
• Dawn Thomson & Special Guests @ Max at Eastman Place, 7:00 pm
• The Miche Fambro Show @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Matt Valerio @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:00 pm
• Eastman Jazz Ensemble and New Jazz Ensemble @ Kilbourn Hall (Eastman School of Music), 8:00 pm

Friday, April 9, 2010

• Bobby Dibaudo @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Ryan T Carey & El Rojo Jazz Band @ Thali of India, 7:00 pm
• Babik @ SUNY Brockport-Seymour College Union, 7:30 pm
• Mike Allen & the Avatars @ Pomodoro Grill & Wine Bar, 8:00 pm
• Watkins & the Rapiers @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• Giacomo Gates Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Mark Cassara Band @ Bistro 135, 9:00 pm

Saturday, April 10, 2010

• Poetry and Jazz with Jimmie Highsmith Jr. @ Mood Makers Books, Village Gate, 4:00 pm
• Bowties @ Bagel Bin (Brighton), 7:00 pm
• The Westview Project with Nick Brust @ Bistro 135, 7:00 pm
• Giacomo Gates Quartet @ The Grill at Strathallan, 8:30 pm
• Nancy Perry @ Little Theatre Cafe, 8:30 pm
• East End Jazz Boys @ Havana Moes, 9:30 pm

Sunday, April 11, 2010

• Bill Slater @ The Lodge at Woodcliff, 11:30 am
• Michael Sinicropi Sextet @ Rochester Central Public Library, 2:00 pm
• Latin Jazz Jam @ Tango Cafe, 4:00 pm
• Nick Finzer Group @ Lovin' Cup, 7:00 pm
• An Evening with Gap Mangione & Cindy Miller @ Our Lady of Mercy Church, 36 Armstrong Rd., 7:00 pm

Monday, April 12, 2010

• Brad Batz Group @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Bop Arts presents Konk Pack (featuring Tim Hodgkinson, Thomas Lehn, & Roger Turner) @ Bop Shop Atrium, 274 N Goodman St. in the Village Gate, 8:00 pm

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

• Brad Batz Group @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

• Matt Valerio @ Bistro 135, 6:00 pm
• Margaret Explosion @ Little Theatre Cafe, 7:30 pm
• Paradigm Shift @ Pomodoro's Grill & Wine Bar, 7:30 pm

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

• Jimmie Highsmith Jr. & Friends @ Record Store Day at the Record Archive, April 17, 2010
• Christian McBride and Inside Straight @ Cornell Concert Series, Cornell University, Bailey Hall, April 23, 2010 at 8 pm
• Art Loves Jazz 2010 to support Jazz 90.1 @ Artisan Works, May 20, 2010, 6:30-9:30 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!

One of the interesting new things that came out at the recent press conference announcing the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival  that will run from June 11-19 was Xerox's announcement that it was building on the momentum of the festival to present a jazz music competition in the "American Idol" vein called Jazz Star: The Search for a New Sensation. The proceeds from the talent show will raise money for Biz Kid$ Rochester, a city youth program that includes a camp where kids, aged 10-18 build their own small businesses.

Xerox is looking for local jazz artists and groups upload an up to 50 second video of their performance of jazz on the RochesterJazzStar.com site.  Videos must be received by midnight April 30th. Once the video is up on the site people will be able to vote for their favorites. The top 10 artists/groups will be interviewed on CW-16, WHAM-DT.  Top five finalists will be selected by another round of voting and each of these five will perform at the Grand Finale performance on June 9th, two nights before the opening sax solos of the 2010 XRIJF. During this finale show in the Xerox Auditorium, the top 5 will be reduced to 3 and a winner will be selected before a live audience of 700. The winning artist/group will receive eight hours of professional studio time at a local professional recording studio to record a demo, a designed CD cover and the option for their song to be uploaded to Amazon.com and/or iTunes for one year. In addition to that, there's the $2,000 in cash to motivate the aspiring jazz artist/group.

While I'm not much for Idol or talent shows in general, this might be fun and interesting. Right now no videos are up yet, but the site notes that they are starting to receive submissions. So check back and vote early and vote often (I'm from Chicago, what do you expect? I guess you'll have to check the rules before you do that...).I'll keep you updated as things develop....

Singing a killing version of Keep My Love Alive (really, it's about killing lovers to keep the love alive). Like the last time I saw her (also at ETJ), she haves some fun up there....