The latest installment of Rochester Indie Musician Spotlight starred critically acclaimed award winning saxophonist Jimmie Highsmith Jr. In this, the eight installment of season 5 of the series, Highsmith is interviewed by host Dan Gross before playing a selection of smooth jazz songs. On the stage, Highsmith is joined by Dave Labman on keyboard, Mark Terranova on bass, and Bruce Pitts on drums.
Rochester Indie Musician Spotlight hosts live events, which are free and open to the public. Episodes are recorded at Bop Shop Records at 1460 Monroe Avenue in Rochester from 7-9pm. Jon Lewis will finish out the fifth season and mark the series’ 50th episode on April 27.
Hailing from Buffalo NY, Intrepid Travelers combines elements of rock, funk, blues and jazz along with a powerhouse performance certain to make you move and groove. From their home studio in Buffalo, the band shares stories of influence, time on the road, and what exactly a “jam band” is anyway. Join host Andy Hogan for the second episode for Empire State Music Podcast.
One of the most integral people in planning this summer’s Curveball festival featuring Phish is the president of Watkins Glen International, Michael Printup, who took the time out of his busy schedule to give an interview to NYSMusic.
This will be the third festival the band has held at the track most famous for NASCAR racing. In 2011, there was Superball, followed by Magnaball in 2015. Like those two, Curveball is a three-day event taking place August 17 to 19 this year.
Printup shared some interesting tidbits about Curveball and about his history with the rock band born out of the mountains of Vermont. His first interaction was back in 1998 when he was the general manager of the Providence Civic Center while Phish was on, what has now become, the legendary Island Tour. It was the first time he saw the band live, but his biggest takeaway wasn’t the music.
“I mean, it was a small arena,” Printup said. “What I remember most was the fans. They’re just — they’re just so awesome. I noticed the respect and dedication of the fans, and I saw that the band respected the fans in a great way. It shows in what they do, all the planning they put into putting on these large-scale festivals. I’ve been in sports for my entire life — the NFL, Southern California, Miami, Boston — and you don’t see that kind of thing between the fans and what they’re coming to see like you do with Phish.”
That observation has directly led to the relationship that the Phish organization has with Watkins Glen. It was back in 2016 when the planning for Curveball began. Printup said that Richard Glasgow, a member of Phish’s management team, visited the site and began the discussion of a festival in 2018.
“Richard and I talk at least once a month,” Printup said. “I was in Las Vegas the same time Phish was there in 2016. They realized I was in town and they invited me to attend a soundcheck. So there I was, with like six other people in the empty arena, and they’re just up there jamming.”
That type of relationship bonding has made doing business with Phish a breeze, Printup said. At Magnaball, he recalled, when the band was walking off stage just before the weekend’s final encore, the band stopped by for a “quick hello” and then invited him stage side for the encore.
Printup, who is very professional and has a knack for teasing things without giving them away, touched on a variety of topics. For starters, he did confirm that the fan favorite event — in the past titled the Runaway Jim 5K road race — will happen again this year. He mentioned that the band had inquired about a parade, but would not give any more info on the subject.
One of the things fans have wondered about since Magnaball was the capacity of the venue and the ticketing situation. It was announced prior to the festival that all tickets had been sold and none would be sold at the gate. However, many ticketless fans who showed up were able to buy tickets from the venue at the gate. Printup explained that when the sellout announcement was made, the racetrack was only allowed by officials to cap the capacity at 50,000 people. A late inspection of the venue took into consideration the bathrooms and showers that are at the track year round, thus allowing an extra 10,000 to be added to the max capacity. Printup did not have the information as to whether or not all extra tickets were sold.
For Curveball, though, he insisted that fans don’t wait much longer to buy their tickets. While for a NASCAR event they’re prepared to handle 160,000 people, it’s not the same for a music festival.
“I have spoken to Red Light Management and Phish, and they highly recommend buying soon,” he said. “The max we can have is 60,000 per day, and Richard (Glasgow) has said sales are going very well.”
The discussion then flowed into how Phish puts on their well documented secret sets. At each festival since The Clifford Ball in 1996, the band has done an unannounced or special set. At Superball, they performed the Storage Jam at about 2 a.m. on Sunday morning in a storage shed they had on grounds. Magnaball featured the fan-favorite Drive-In Jam, which was a merging of visual art projected onto a large screen draped from the bleachers, while the band performed an all-improvised set behind the curtain.
When asked if he could give the fans a hint, or even speak off the record about what Phish has in store for this year, Printup was emphatic and filled with laughter. “No way!” he said.
Printup gave loads of credit to the local community for the help and support for the weekend.
“There is a big trust value between everyone,” he said. “There’s so much that comes along with something like this. Our local sheriff knows how to handle it all, the traffic and stuff like that. Our goal is not to inundate the community, but involve them.”
He said he’s only heard positive things from the locals, who genuinely enjoy when the Phish crowd comes to town. Printup said that he will sometimes check some of the band’s message boards in the week leading up to the festivals and everything has been positive.
It’s no secret that Phish fans like to party when they experience the band. Printup said that the crowd isn’t that different from other music crowds, but did warn that people trying to be nefarious might want to reconsider.
“Country fans, EDM fans, they like to have fun as well,” he noted. “But I know how many undercovers there will be out there. I wouldn’t take that kind of risk and possibly be arrested. Obviously booze isn’t going to get you arrested, so I just hope everyone is smart about having fun that weekend.”
But overall, Printup said that we are all in for a very special time, with a lot of new features to keep fans engaged.
“I’m most looking forward to the show, of course,” he said. “And I want to give the band a huge thank you, because they’ve just been awesome.”
Abilene Bar and Lounge has been a fixture in Rochester’s live music scene seemingly forever, but in reality, it’s been there just ten years. Ten years sitting on a quiet corner of Liberty Pole Way, in the shadow of the Harro East Ballroom across the street. Ten years bringing in quality live music nearly every night of the week. They showcase a healthy mix of both national and local talent, exploring every angle of American Roots music, occasionally venturing off into other genres. Owner Danny Deutsch has made a habit of bringing in relatively unknown talent and cultivating them for the sometimes finicky Rochester palate. He’s happy to book the same band and watch them grow locally and nationally until they’re too big for his intimate establishment. Ten years and it was time to celebrate, so for once Abilene would be casting the shadow on the Harro East. And appropriately, one of the talents that Deutsch has brought to town multiple times over the years and has since ridden a slow rising wave of success, JD McPherson, would be headlining the celebration.
McPherson has outgrown Abilene and then some, nearly selling out the Harro East on a Friday night jam-packed with live music options in and around town. It was the place to be and to be seen, everyone was in high spirits and ready to celebrate. When opener Woody Pines, another Abilene alum, broke from his usual dark-themed songs to switch it up with a song about love, he was surprised not to hear at least some of the usual boos ring out. But the crowd was in a loving, happy and ready to party mood. Friday the 13th be damned! Pines led his trio of upright bass and clarinet/sax on the steel guitar and harmonica, through songs centered around classic New Orleans swing and southern roots music they like to call “hillbilly boogie.”
Next up was Jake La Botz, who sat alone center stage with an acoustic guitar and microphone. That’s all he needed to captivate the filling hall. His low voice contained a ton of character, bringing depth to songs from his latest album, Sunnyside, like “The Hotel (Fix Me Now),” “Damsel in Distress” and a bit of humor with “Inflatable Duck.” The album was produced by JD McPherson bassist Jimmy Sutton and he premiered it right here in Rochester last year with a performance at Record Archive.
Speaking of Record Archive, co-owner Alayna Alderman took the stage next to bring out cake and lead the crowd in “Happy Birthday,” but not just for Abilene, it was also Webster-born drummer Jason Smay’s birthday and the day before was McPherson’s birthday as well.
Headliner JD McPherson finished off the night in style. The rock was big and the lights were bright. McPherson and band flew through blasts of their unique blend of honky-tonk, rockabilly and classic rock sounds. The beat was swinging and so was the crowd. It was comfortably crowded, allowing enough space for couples to dance if they so desired. Nary a head in the house wasn’t bobbing along. In an hour set, they mixed music from all three albums, making for a show that explored their full history with Rochester. Songs frequently drifted into each other with interstitial mellow rock grooves. There wasn’t a whole lot of stopping or silence at this celebration. They topped it all off with a near 30-minute encore that started with La Botz coming back out to lead them through Hank Williams’ “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It.” McPherson thanked the crowd for making Rochester like a second home for them before closing out the night with “Northside Gal.”
The party continued however, as across the street, back in the shadows, Abilene hosted local swing trio Bobby Henrie and the Goners back in their own joint, and the music and jubilation continued on into the wee hours.
Setlist: Bossy, Fire Bug, It Shook Me Up, Desperate Love, Crying’s Just a Thing That You Do, Under the Spell of City Lights, Head Over Heels, On the Lips, Hunting For Sugar, You Must Have Met Little Caroline?, Mother of Lies, Style (Is a Losing Game), Lucky Penny, Let the Good Times Roll
E: My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It*, Bloodhound Rock, Wolf Teeth, Northside Gal
*Hank Williams Sr. Cover, with Jake La Botz on guitar and vocals
The warnings were dire. The impending ice storm was set to shut down the city of Rochester. Many events were cancelled. But Aqueous was halfway through a two-nighter at their second home, Flour City Station. Both nights were sold out, and judging by the crowd Saturday night, few stayed home because of the weather.
If you wanted to see a shining sun in Rochester, this was the place. Aqueous began the weekend ironically with “Staring into the Sun,” and held it open through to the run’s final notes, closing the song out early Sunday morning. In between were the band’s first two full two-set shows of 2018.
Saturday night began a bit after 10pm, the band acclimating to the evening with bopping slide-guitar led groove. Guitarist Mike Gantzer primed the pump with quickly increasing intensity. The band and crowd together reached a frothing energy and were knee deep in opener “Don’t Do It” before long. The song mixes hard-edge rocking with blues and funk grooves, but of course dissolved into something completely different. They moved through multiple movements while LED bulbs strung above flashed in synchronicity. Gantzer’s guitar danced with Dave Loss’s keys, then bassist Evan McPhaden and drummer Rob Houk took the reins, before they finally all came together for a four-headed bit of improv that pushed the envelope of the band’s full power. 20 minutes into the show, only one song played, but most of the band’s muscle had been flexed. Maybe this article was right, band’s only need to play for 20 minutes? Nah!
For Aqueous, what is played isn’t quite as important as how it’s played. The journey outweighs the destination. So it mattered less that they busted out Steely-Dan-esque groover “Mice” for the first time in well over 200 shows, and more how the ensuing exploration, led by a ferocious battle of guitar and drums, wound around to beautiful melodic calm.
The musical quests were often directed by Gantzer calling commands into his mates’ earpieces. Though musical cues still conducted the chaos. Amid a spacey reggae groove in “Underlyer,” Houk tempted the beast with a subtly energizing beat. The beast bit, and the jam jumped into a new realm. Later during a long steady “wah” groove in “Mosquito Valley Part 1,” Loss’s spooky Moog swirls lit a fuse that eventually caught fire, setting off an explosive jam.
The explorations were long, at times meandering, but they always find pockets of brilliance. Perhaps none more brilliant than deep into “Skyway,” an electro-groove fit for a Nintendo soundtrack dove into a spooky underworld of dark funk and building tension. Gantzer’s guitar flooded the room with intricate sound waves that reached peaks upon peaks and just when it felt it might collapse, the raging crowd egged it on even higher. Before the night was through Metallica, Tool, Randy Newman and Pink Floyd entered into the folds of jams while a full on cover of The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” was debuted. It all finished with the aforementioned close-out of “Staring into the Sun.” But when the crowd departed, they were only staring at their cars caked in ice.
Setlist
I: Don’t Do It > Mice > Don’t Do It, Underlyer > Mosquito Valley Pt. 1 > Mosquito Valley Pt. 2
II: They’re Calling for Ya > Skyway, Uncle Phil’s Parachute, Second Sight > Pinball Wizard > Second Sight
E: Kitty Chaser (Explosions) > Staring into the Sun
Colorado-based The Magic Beans, currently on tour in support of their latest album Casino Cabaret , found themselves at Buffalo Iron Works on Saturday, April 7. While the calendar may indicate spring, the thermometer said otherwise, but The Magic Beans with support from Formula 5 wasted little time warming up the enthusiastic crowd.
The opener treated the audience to a 20+ minute version of original “Blue” and nearly as much time on a jammed out cover of Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry.” The Magic Beans put on one helluva show with the crowd dancing straight through until 1am. Highlights included “Mission” and “More” off Casino Cabaret plus a huge cover of Prince’s “I Wanna be your Lover” after “Lost and Found.” The Beans are the real deal when it comes to jams that make you dance, and Formula 5 is right there alongside them.
Check out The Magic Beans this Thursday at The Hollow in Albany with Let’s Be Leonard and, also on Thursday, check out Formula 5 with Goose, Animal Reporters and Bee the Band at DROM in NYC.
On Friday, April 13, Abilene Bar and Lounge will celebrate their 10th anniversary with a special concert featuring JD McPherson, plus Jake La Botz and Woody Pines.
Masters of dark synth pop Soviet Dolls strike again with their new EP Hunters. In a mere four tracks, the Rochester band flaunts their prowess at delivering decadently dark and sensual lyrics shrouded in seductive glittery electronica.
Soviet Dolls make no bones about their intentions to seduce the listener, starting from the first lines in the title track. “We are the hunters, we make sacrifices. We leave our mothers, cause we have appetites,” croons singer Alexandra Wendt in her deliciously sultry voice. Pulsating beats pound out beside undulating rhythms which swirl together to entice the listener into a mesmerizing hypnotic state.
In subsequent tracks, Soviet Dolls continue to marry supernatural reveries and pop electronica in a way that will delight fans of new wave acts like Echo and the Bunnymen, The The, and The Cure who are looking for something fresh and new. The gothic storylines also hearken back to classic themes of glorification of eternal life, the thrill of the hunt, and falling in love with a phantom. Hunters is the perfect pick to listen to on a night prowling the town, or indulging in the guilty pleasure of reading goth novels.
I met the lead singer of The Elementals about a year ago at the winter Battle of the Bands competition at Lovin’ Cup at RIT. I was there supporting my brother, before I even picked up a camera to shoot bands semi-professionally. While I wasn’t there for him, Dari Pryce of The Elementals put on a great show. Dari was in a different band at the time that is no longer together, but he has brought his talent and sound to The Elementals. Dari contacted me after my brother posted the pictures I took of his last show. Dari wanted me to come out and take pictures of his band and I accepted. buta pub
Dari introduced me not only to his new band, but also to Blake Pattengale; (a student at the Eastman School of Music) and the rest of his band; Red Beard Samurai. Blake and company were electric with a sound that was not only lively with fast spitting lyrics and great beats, but also with a funk sound coming from the trumpet and trombone. Red Beard Samurai has a unique sound and creative bars, but also sounds like some famous artists of whom you might have heard. When I listen to Red Beard, his lyrics remind me of rappers such as Little Dicky and some rappers of the ’90s. I also got a feeling that I was listening to the rapper Outasight who published a popular single called “Good Morning.”
Dari and The Elementals was energetic and the crowd was happy to the band. The vibe in the room was very lively as The Elementals rocked the house. Dari’s funky love songs were blasting through the speakers as the crowd enjoyed every minute of it. The amount of passion that was exhibited through Dari’s vocals was palpable. Watching those guys up close, you could tell how much fun they were having. Geraldo the trumpet player was laughing all throughout the set as he enjoyed playing with the band as a guest musician. Even though I knew Geraldo was not an original member of the group, he blended in perfectly with the rest of the guys. The lead guitarist (Zach Cullinton) was rocking through the whole show, eyes closed most of the time as he vibed to the room and the music. The bassist (Zach Cullinton) and drummer (Christos Dembeyiotis) brought veteran talent to the group of young kids and rounded out the band very well. After the group was done, they gathered for a group shot around the pool table. I can’t wait to work with both The Elementals and Red Beard Samurai again. Red Beard will be playing again at Buta Pub on April 20, and The Elementals will be playing at Three Heads Brewery April 19 and at Funk ‘n Waffles on May 12.
One of the best parts about living in Western New York is the guarantee that on any given weeknight you can catch mesmerizing performances by world class artists who dominate their niche. One night that might mean seeing the next up and coming jam band, and the next a jazz legend you never thought you’d see live. On Thursday, March 29, Buffalo was devoted to pure funk as Kung Fu turned Buffalo Iron Works into a contemporary groove factory.
Before Kung Fu took the stage and serenaded the crowd with their jams, Maryland-based funk/psychedelic band LITZ got things going early in the night with a unique sound of their own. The four-piece opener thoroughly engaged the audience by incorporating different wind instruments, deep funk grooves and an animated front man who sang like a combination of Steve Winwood and Greg Allman. The band clearly did their homework and it showed, as the crowd went wild for their rendition of “Shout” with a full “Let’s Go, Buffalo” call and response section. By the time Kung Fu took the stage, the crowd felt a collective euphoric buzz and was eager keep dancing.
Kung Fu got things going again with a grimy funk groove which picked up right where LITZ left off. Guitar player Tim Palmieri was quick to showcase his technical ability as he laid down a swirling, meditative solo which bounced sounds around the room like a ripple in a small pond. The murky green lights behind the band gave the impression that the crowd was being brought to Oz as the band made their way through the final verse.
Without missing a beat, the band quickly teleported the audience from Oz to 42nd street in 1977 with a gripping funk instrumental led by saxophone player Rob Somerville that can only be described as “street music.” Percussionist Adrian Tramontano held down the low end and hypnotized the crowd with exotic fills while the rest of the band took turns with individual takes on the song’s main theme.
As the set went deeper it was clear the band knew exactly what tricks to pull to have the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands. The veteran funk group seemed to do everything right as they strutted along as one cohesive entity, making impressive shifts in tempo, dynamics and key. They nailed composed sections to difficult newer songs as if they had been playing them for years, and could turn on their improvisational prowess on the turn of a dime. Bassist Chris DeAngelis was clearly responsible for many improvisational peaks of the night, as he dazzled everyone in attendance, both on and off stage, with his natural feel for the groove and prodigious knowledge of the instrument.
The band only got tighter as the night continued, with keyboard player Beau Sasser keeping the rest of his bandmates on their toes by changing keys and tempos mid jam. It was clear that the band was constantly challenging both themselves and the audience throughout the show, giving the feeling that anything could happen at any point. While most of the night was rooted heavily in funk, it was obvious that the band was influenced by a wide variety of music from around the globe, creating an incredibly personal, indistinguishable sound. At one point, it felt like the band was leading an exploration of an Egyptian pyramid, and then suddenly without a warning they were in the middle of a Coltrane-esqe avant guard cyclone.
By the time Kung Fu finished up their last song and said their goodbyes to the crowd at Buffalo Iron Works, no one in crowd was ready to leave. They received a cheering ovation and came out for one more high energy ‘victory lap’ song which sent attendants home smiling and wishing they were returning for one more night of funk.
Soviet Dolls make no bones about their intentions to seduce the listener, starting from the first lines in the title track. “We are the hunters, we make sacrifices. We leave our mothers, cause we have appetites,” croons singer Alexandra Wendt in her deliciously sultry voice. Pulsating beats pound out beside undulating rhythms which swirl together to entice the listener into a mesmerizing hypnotic state.