Although the summer is ending soon, the live music scene in Rochester is still as rockin’ as ever. Here are five eclectic picks to keep it going and close out your month in high style.
Providing modern arrangements of old, forgotten, perhaps nearly extinct Italian folk music, Alla Boara will likely sound like nothing you have heard before. Certainly it won’t be what you’re getting at the local Italian eateries! Put on by the good people at the Bop Shop, you know this show is going to be good.
This Chicago trio roll out some fuzzed up psychedelic rock with a minimalist aesthetic. Their new album was released back in the earliest days of 2023 and they’re blowing through town to give you chance to see those tunes live. Local boys Leus Zeus will give a rare and anticipated performance in the opening slot.
Tickets are $10/$15dos and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.
The Annual Fairport Music Festival takes place across six stages for two days smack dab in the middle of the village of Fairport, bringing together incredible local talent with some national acts. They also raise a ton of money for the Golisano’s Children’s Hospital. Highlights of this year’s lineup are Magnolia Boulevard, The Campbell Brothers, Miller and the Other Sinners, and the John Payton Project.
Tickets are $20/$25dos and the music gets started at 4 p.m. Friday and 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
What you need is some berserk groovy dance punk from Amsterdam. The Mauskovic’s in the Mauskovic Dance Band aren’t actually related, but this music is highly relatable, and highly infectious. Local rockers Triglactogon open the show at Bug Jar.
Tickets are $15/$18dos and music starts around 9 p.m.
Alumni of the Rochester International Jazz Fest, The Bad Plus reinvented what it means to be a piano trio, and now they’ve reinvented themselves for the second time. Gone is Ethan Iverson on piano, gone is his replacement Orrin Evans, and in are Ben Monder on guitar and Chris Speed on saxophone. The core of bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King remains as does the band’s ethos and songbook.
Harpist Mikaela Davis and her band Southern Star, released their first album as a unit this week. The album, simply called Mikaela Davis and Southern Star, is also her first release in five years and her first on label Kill Rock Stars.
The band however, is not new, and most of them have been playing together since before her last album, Delivery was released. Joining Davis’ harp is Alex Cote on drums, who has been friends with Davis, and been playing with her in some way or another, since they went to school together just outside Rochester, NY. From nearby Syracuse, Cian McCarthy plays guitar and his brother Shane picks up bass duties. Rounding out the quintet is Kurt Johnson on pedal steel and guitar, originally hailing from Rochester southern outskirts, he has been a fixture in the city’s music scene, along with Davis and Cote for many years.
Mikaela Davis and Southern Star, the band, is locally-grown, organically-formed, and grade-A quality. Mikaela Davis and Southern Star, the album, is a superb documentation of their unique and diverse sound that will equally satisfy the hunger of the most ardent fans and those that have yet to get a taste.
It is rare for a harp to front a rock band, rarer still for a harp to intermingle with a pedal steel. Add in a guitar and bass and Southern Star comes in with a whole lot of strings in tow. It works incredibly well, and provides the band with a lot of versatility.
The set eases into the listeners ears with the beautiful harp melody in opening track “Cinderella.” With Davis’ voice and Johnson’s moaning pedal steel work joining in shortly after, the unique magic embedded inside is immediately apparent. From there each track adds new and interesting elements into the fold until the palette is revealed in full. It explodes into an extended guitar-led workout on album-closing “Leave It Alone,” before petering into ambient spaciness. But the band isn’t quite ready to call it a day and the jam re-emerges for another couple minutes like a classic album hidden track.
In between, the album jumps through genres effortlessly. Country rock awash in early 70’s psychedelia moves to pop-tinged folk, languid grooves flip over to muscular choogle. Despite it’s diversity it all comes across as a coherent whole, a satisfying full album listen with a rich and timeless-sounding production that should keep this a regular on the turntable or streams for years to come.
Key tracks: Saturday Morning, Don’t Stop Now, Leave It Alone
Rochester Chamber Ensemble fivebyfive, known for its involvement in the community, experienced musicianship, and love for the genre will now receive a 2023 Creative Arts Support Grant from the Farash Charitable Foundation.
The Farash Charitable Foundation started in Rochester to support and boost creative arts groups in Monroe and Ontario counties, particularly ones that provide accessible, community-centered programs.
With that being said, 2023 now marks the sixth straight year fivebyfive has received a grant, as they have become a staple to the Rochester population, spreading their love for chamber music to people of all ages.
Forming in 2015, the ensemble began with the mission to engage audiences in the spirit and creativity of today’s chamber music, introducing to Rochester everything this style of music has to offer. In order to accomplish this, fivebyfive develops and performs the works of living artists, building off of some more of the genre’s masterpieces.
Made up of Marc Webster (executive director and audio/video engineer), Laura Lentz (flute), Marcy Bacon (clarinet), Ken Luk (electric guitar), Eric Polenik (bass), and Haeyeun Jeun (piano), the group will begin their 2023-2024 season in October.
In collaboration with Pegasus Early Music, the two groups will play Sephardic music, new pieces, and modern instrumentation usage from the two ensembles to kick off the season. Additionally, the Fall kickoff will feature new compositions from Grammy-Award nominated composer Clarice Assad and Eastman grad Keane Southard.
On top of an already jam-packed schedule and grant from the Frarash Foundation, fivebyfive also plans to release its third album Breath & Fire in mid-October, and will celebrate across the 2023-2024 season.
For more news and information surrounding fivebyfive’s upcoming season, visit here.
The critically acclaimed Dutch rock band Iguana Death Cult shared their highly anticipated LP Echo Palaceearlier this year. Introduced with four stellar singles, “I Just Want A House,” “Oh No,” “Pushermen,” and “Sensory Overload,” the record received praise from outlets such as DIY, Under the Radar, American Songwriter, Paste, and more.
To celebrate their new album, the band has recently announced a string of North American tour dates, with a handful of East Coast shows with Frankie and the Witch Fingers. The tour will make stops in New York State cities including New York City and Rochester.
This new tour follows Iguana Death Cult’s last 2023 US appearance at this year’s SXSW (Austin, TX), where they played a total of nine showcases. Following the festival, Paste Magazine noted that the band was one of the “20 Best Acts” they saw at the festival.
“I knew I had to see Iguana Death Cult as soon as I heard the band’s name. And they didn’t disappoint. From the word ‘go,’ the whole crowd was dancing and pushing to their garage and psych-rock extravaganza.”
The aftermath of the pandemic can best be described as a time of unease, the people of the world suddenly grew wary and suspicious of one another. During this time, Iguana Death Cult, one of Europe’s most exciting rock exports, became more than just a band to its members – it became therapy.
“I think for the first ten times we went to jam,” says guitarist/vocalist Tobias Opschoor, speaking about the process of making the new album Echo Palace, “we just drank wine and I talked about it, and just kept on talking for hours – and then were like, ‘OK, I have to go because I have to go to work tomorrow.”
Taking place at frontman Jeroen Reek’s apartment in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, these gatherings slowly shifted from talking about this surreal chapter of their lives — the days of quiet streets and cramped buildings — to making music about it. “I was living in a really crappy, leaky, ready-for-demolition apartment,” explains Reek, “with just one heat source—like a really old-school, gas stove kind of thing.” Working on cold nights, they had to gather around that heater together— a cozy approach that ultimately got their creative flow going, fast.
Armed with the talents of Justin Boer on bass and Arjen van Opstal on drums, and tapping the keys work Jimmy de Kok for the first time on album, the band took their trademark melodic garage-rock style and expanded it out to make it vibier and looser, with each member contributing ideas to develop the sound palette in full. “We all get into this sort of blender and then everybody gives a little bit of a flavor to it,” says Opschoor.
The sounds they started to make tapped into the band’s acerbic bite established on their first two LPs, 2017’s The First Stirrings of Hideous Insect Life and 2019’s Nude Casino — albums that sometimes felt like Parquet Courts colliding with Super Furry Animals.
Their explosive performances of these records turned them into a cult live act among psych fans, who have followed the band everywhere from Amsterdam to Austin. But working on this new album, huddled together as the world split apart, everything began to flutter like Remain in Light.
Echo Palace
Echo Palace may be the Iguana Death Cult music that’s most overtly about the strange cause and effect of groupthink, but the theme has been lurking there since the very beginning, when the band was first formed by childhood friends Reek and Opschoor over ten years ago.
The name of Iguana Death Cult is a partial nod to Reek’s fascination with cults in general — and the “Iguana” part is a nod to Iggy Pop, whose first band was the Iguanas. Watching the pandemic paranoia and conspiracy theories steeping across their country, Reek wrote lyrics reflecting the scene in front of him: “Purple, veiny soccer mommies,” he sings in a deep, foreboding voice on the song “Echo Palace,” “Sharpening their guillotines.” It’s a cut so infectious that it betrays the density of its lyrics, which were adapted from a poem Reek wrote about the repercussions of “shutting yourself off from everyone outside of your own ideology.”
When it came time to record the full set, the band headed to PAF Studio in Rotterdam, and then had the self-produced album subsequently mixed by Joo-Joo Ashworth at Studio 22 in Los Angeles and mastered by Dave Cooley. As the instruments swirl and trade solos on “I Just a Want House,” a funky millennial nihilist anthem, you can practically hear the growth of a group that’s been pushing itself further and further with every tour and every Belgian-stove fueled jam session.
The album is a big swing, stretching Iguana Death Cult beyond its garage rock origins and taking them to a new realm. It’s the type of project that warranted having legendary Dutch saxophonist Benjamin Herman stop by to add to the squall on tracks like “Oh No” and “Sensory Overload,” heady thrashers that morph into calculated freakouts; that warranted Reek and Opschoor knowing when screaming their guts out on tracks like “Pushermen,” and Boer and van Opstal knowing when to bring the rhythm section to a jazzy simmer on tracks like “Paper Straws.”
The end result of Echo Palace is an appropriately worldly album from a group breaking past the confines of its home country. That’s not to say that Iguana Death Cult aren’t proudly Dutch; the group takes from the trademark hard work ethic of their Rotterdam base and applies it to their approach with music. But it’s 2022, and we’re less defined by our borders than ever before. “When we play in other countries, for me that gives the same amount of pleasure — or even more — than when we play in the Netherlands,” says Opschoor.
Tour Dates
*With Frankie and the Witch Fingers. Tickets to each city are included in the links below.
Several recording studios in Western New York are at the disposal of aspiring musicians looking to make a name for themselves in the industry. Within the region, Buffalo and Rochester are the epicenter of music-making. with many studios established for decades, and others just starting out.
Counties of Western New York
Blackdog Recording Studios in Rochester, incorporated in 2005, is a full-service audio and video production company located in the heart of downtown Rochester’s East End district, right near the world-renowned Eastman School of Music. The studio offers a wide array of specialized services including recording, mixing, mastering, and a wide variety of aspects of audio, podcast, video production, musical scores, sync licensing, and educational programming.
The sound room in Blackdog Recording Studios.
Wicked Squid Studios in Rochester offers recording, mixing, mastering, editing services, and music lessons for artists. The facility has two studios, A and B, and a mobile recording studio, “The Truck.” The custom-built RV functions as a mobile control room, and can be used for location recording, broadcast, and mixdown.
The sound room in Studio A at Wicked Squid Studios.
GFI Music Productions in Wayne County, part of the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area, has welcomed a steady stream of talented artists of all styles from legendary multi-platinum artists such as Lou Gramm (Foreigner) and Russell Tompkins Jr. (Stylistics) to well-known genre artists like Greg Howe, Victor Wooten and Dennis Chambers. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a band just starting, GFI will assure that your recording experience is a great one. GFI offers several recording, production, and artist management services. GFI has two studios, A, and B, available for artists’ recording needs.
GFI’s Studio A is one of the best tracking and mixing rooms in Upstate New York. Studio A offers state-of-the-art digital recording, a 14’x23′ control room, a 25′x 27′ main room, a 6′x 7′ iso booth, and more. Studio B is equipped with a 14’x 22′ control room, a 14’x 26′ main room, and a 5’x 6′ iso booth, and offers HD recording and editing, among others.
A guitar set in Studio B of GFI Recording Studio.
Outer Limit Recording Studio opened in 1993 and is located in the Erie County city of Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo, and offers artists high-quality recording, professional mixing, professional mastering, music production, and more. The studio comes equipped with a control room, recording room, production suite, drum room, piano room, snack room, game room/lounge, and writing room. The control room is outfitted with top-quality outboard gear by Avalon, Focusrite, Universal Audio, Lexicon, PreSonus, Grace Design, Empirical Labs, and more. The recording room comes equipped with microphones from Neumann, AKG, Blue, Sennheiser, Oktava, GA Project, Shure, and a dozen others, allowing artists to have the best mic quality to achieve the best sound for their music. The production, the newest edition to the outer limit, is available to rent to produce beats with either Maschine and its controller and keyboard, or with Reason and the controller and/or keyboard.
Outer Limit provides musicians with four soundproof performance rooms, each offering its own unique sound, bringing a different depth and quality to your project. The 1945 Everett upright in the piano room, from the now-defunct Everett Piano Company, is always tuned and waiting, and the room has been specifically designed for great sound. The snack room is available anytime for artists to unwind or have a bite to build up their energy, and provides a microwave and a small refrigerator. While your songs are being mixed or if you just need a break from the studio, enjoy the Xbox One or PS4 in the game room. Lastly, the writing room is the perfect place to rework your music or put that last-minute sparkling touch on your project.
In business for nearly three decades as of 2023, Outer Limit Recording Studio is one of the top recording studios in New York State and one of the go-to studios in Buffalo. Owner and chief engineer Ken Rutkowski is determined to provide each client with the best recording possible and an inspiring and comfortable environment in which to create it. Big names in the music business like Smokepurpp, Eminem Raheem DeVaughn, and the music group D-12 have recorded at the Outer Limit, as have local recording artists based in Western New York and all throughout the East Coast.
Ken Rutkowski, chief engineer/owner of Outer Limit Recording Studio.
GCR Audio, located in the heart of downtown Buffalo, has worked with the Goo Goo Dolls on several of their albums. Buffalo natives, the Goo Goo Dolls recorded their self-titled debut album Goo Goo Dolls, as well as Jed, Hold Me Up, Superstar Car Wash, A Boy Named Goo, Jessie J, and Who You Are at GCR Audio. Opened in 1980 and originally known as Trackmaster Audio, the studio is housed in the former chapel of the historically protected, 150-year-old St. Margaret’s Girls School.
GCR Audio was designed by world-famous studio architect John Storyk (Electric Lady Studios, Jungle City, personal studios for Whitney Houston, Bob Marley, Jay Z, Aerosmith, Green Day, and Alicia Keys). Prior to the Goo Goo Dolls gaining international success in the mid-’90s, both guitarist/singer John Rzeznik and bassist/singer Robby Takac worked at the studio in various roles that ranged from reception to engineering and producing. Their first #1 song, “Name,” was recorded at GCR Audio while it was still known as Trackmaster.
The Fender Jaguar guitar is available for musicians to practice with at Select Sound Recording Studio.
Select Sound Recording Studios in Erie County Village of Kenmore, part of the Buffalo-Niagra Falls metropolitan area, has been in business in New York for nearly 50 years since 1974. Select Sound provides musical artists with two recording studios, A and B, and a comfort and convenience area with a reception, lounge, and coffee area. The main studio, A, has a control room, a Yamaha C-7 Grand Piano, a drum riser, and a live room. Studio B is equipped with a vocal booth for voice-overs, editing, and spot production. The studio was designed by Lakeside Associates, now theYanchar Design and Consulting Group, who designed the Los Angeles headquarters of Disney-ABC, Capitol Records, and both the Los Angeles and New York headquarters for CBS Records.
ProTools MIDI suite with a vocal booth in Studio B of Select Sound Recording Studio.
Additionally, Select Sound Recording Studios offers a wide variety of training programs for musicians. The Vocational Training Program is made up of six courses, First in Audio Recording, followed by Non-Linear Recording, Advanced Production Techniques, Midi and Sequencing for the Home and Pro Studio, Analog Recording and Mastering, and lastly, an Independent Study for Advanced Students. Furthermore, internships are available for students in the Vocational Training Program.
The Control Room in Studio A of Select Sound Recording Studios.
Recording Technologies 1: Audio Engineering is a comprehensive study of the history of recording, the recording chain, the physics of sound, production techniques, studio acoustics, signal processing equipment, various applications of microphones and direct lines, and the operation of the mixing console. Students participate in the production of a recording session. Recording Technologies 2: Non-Linear Recording teaches students what they need to know to complete a recording project, from initial setup to final mixdown. Recording Technologies 3: Advanced Production Technologies provides a more detailed look at Pro Tools and covers all the key concepts and skills needed to operate a Pro Tools LE system. Students will learn about external controllers, loop recording, advanced techniques, audio editing and file management techniques, automation enabling, playing, viewing, and editing automation data, mixing, using sends, returns, plug-ins, master faders, and groups.
The Yamaha C-7 Grand Piano in Studio A of Select Sound Recording Studio. Tuning and maintenance by BPO technician Robert Sowyrda.
The next class, Recording Studios 4: MIDI and Sequencing for the Home and Pro Studio teaches students the basics of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI,) event editing and its role in music creation. Students will learn how to create sequencer and drum patterns without needing any keyboard skills and be able to use them to enhance audio recordings, complete songs, or just create demos. The focus will also be on analog synthesis, sampling, and loop construction as it applies to the creation of much of today’s music using Propellerhead’s Reason software. In Recording Studios 5: Analog Recording and Mastering, students will learn analog recording and mixing, audio for multi-media, and 5.1 surround sound production. The final course, Recording Studios 6: Independent Study for Advanced Students concentrates on the student’s professional goals, and the student will receive a block of hours for instruction, pre-production, recording, mixing, and mastering.
Mammoth Recording Studio in Buffalo exhibits a laid-back, old-school feel akin to that of a ‘70s rec room or secret clubhouse, complete with a rotary dial telephone. Its décor radiates a colorful, comfortable vibe that reflects the studio’s philosophy, which is to provide creative, high-end production that helps to realize the musician’s initial ideas and facilitate their journey as artists. Mammoth is owned and operated by Justin John Smith and Mike Santillo. Smith, singer, and guitarist of Aircraft, has a degree in sound recording from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Santillo is the Keyboardist for Buffalo’s The Tins and has been recording his band’s music for the better part of a decade.
The inside of Mammoth Recording Studio.Musicians have access to the Korg MS-20 guitar center at Mammoth Recording Studio.
LBA Recording Studio in North Collins, a village in Erie County, was established in 2010 and offers music production, recording, analog mixing, mastering, and photography for musicians. LBA Studios is a 40-track professional recording studio focused on delivering high-quality audio with an inspiring analog sound. LBA is fully equipped with an extensive collection of vintage and modern pieces of professional recording equipment. When it comes time to record, there are multiple rooms with video communication and personal audio mixers for your headphones. It’s a comfy vibe just a short car ride from Buffalo.
Owner Mike Congliosi II has a long history and background in music making. Music producer, recording engineer, and sole proprietor at LBA, he has more than 20 years of experience in the business, first began recording music in 1998, and has an associate’s degree from Villa Maria College of Buffalo before obtaining his master’s in studio production from SUNY Purchase. Throughout his career, Congliosi has worked with hundreds of artists in many various genres from around the United States.
Mike Congliosi, owner of LBA Studios. A drumset at LBA Studios.
A wide array of recording studios are at artists’ disposal who are looking to make a name in the music business in Central New York. Some of these studios have been in business for decades, while others are just starting out. Buffalo and Rochester are the epicenters of music-making in Western New York, with several recording studios at artists’ disposal.
The annual Ganondagan Indigenous Music and Arts Festival returns on July 22 and 23. The event runs 10AM-5PM on both Saturday and Sunday at the Seneca Art & Culture Center in Victor, NY. The festival is free to the public, however donations will go toward funding future events.
Ganondagan is a historic site located on the original ground of a 17th century Seneca town. Taking up over 500 acres, the site honors the way in which the Seneca people have influenced everything from political philosophy to our concept of the natural environment. Since its construction in 2015, the Seneca Art and Culture Center has acted as a space to demonstrate Haudenosaunee contributions to art, culture, and society.
The Sinquah Family Dance Troupe
The Ganondagan Indigenous Music and Arts Festival looks to highlight Haudenosaunee and Indigenous culture through various ways. The festival will include dancing, storytelling, traditional crafts, a Native American arts market, food, live music and more.
Attendees will have the opportunity to tour the Wampum/OTGOÄ Exhibition in the Seneca Art & Culture Center. In addition to the tour, there will be on-demand t-shirt screen printing with artwork from artist Peter Jemison (Seneca). Organizers encourage visitors to bring their own 100% cotton shirt to have screen printed.
The artists performing at the festival represent several different cultures and groups. This year’s lineup of performers includes Native folk-rock band, December Wind (Mohawk). There will also be dancers from the Sinquah Family Dance Troupe (Hopi/Tewa/Choctaw) and the Haudenosaunee social dancers, Indigenous Spirit Dancers. In addition to music and dance, the festival will feature storytelling from Ronnie Reitter (Seneca) & Tonia Galban (Mohawk). Artists Samantha Jacobs (Seneca), Cliff Redeye (Seneca), and Marilyn Issacs (Tuscarora) are also all scheduled to host demonstrations.
December Wind- Facebook
December Wind is a Native folk-rock band led by two-time Native American Music Award-winning artist, Atsiaktonkie (Mohawk) accompanied by bass guitarist, Terry Terrance (Mohawk). Together, the group expertly fuses folk-rock with the sounds of Akwesasne/Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) culture. December Wind songs are filled with stories of love, hope, the struggles of native peoples and the beauty of their heritage.
Here for more details and information about the Ganondagan Indigenous Music and Arts Festival.
Songwriter, harpist, and Rochester born artist Mikaela Davis has recently shared a stunning music video to accompany her newest single “Cinderella.” The song is a selection from her upcoming album And Southern Star which will officially be released on Aug. 4 via Kill Rock Stars.
Since releasing her debut album Delivery five years ago, Mikaela Davis has traveled far away from her hometown of Rochester to fully immerse herself in her musical journey. The artist has joined the stage with musicians from all backgrounds of music and genres including founding members of the Grateful Dead Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, eight-time Grammy Award winner Christian McBride, and American indie folk band Bon Iver.
Although Davis earned her degree in harp performance at the Crane School of Music, she has grown and built off of that foundation into a multi-genre and multi-talented artist, molding her classical music training to create an original and genre-bending catalog that weaves together 60s pop-soaked melodies, psychedelia, and driving folk rock. This diverse mix of sounds is what fans should expect from her upcoming album along with the story of Davis’ ever-evolving relationships between her closest friends and bandmates. And Southern Star is a truly collaborative effort that ruminates on the choices we make, and the people we always come back to.
Fans can now use the single “Cinderella” to understand the direction Mikaela Davis is heading in this new decade of growth and storytelling. The song begins with the hauntingly beautiful picking of a solo harp quickly joined by Davis’ atmospheric and soul-stirring melodic voice. Davis can be seen playing the instrument in a gorgeous red dress, tearing the pieces, and running through fields of green throughout the video. As the song picks up, more instruments are built on to add support to a primarily fragile musical story surrounding the girl with countless choices to make with even more roadblocks in her way: Cinderella.
Davis will continue to give her fans all the content they desire as the artist is starting out on tour this summer and into the Fall. She will travel to stages all over the United States bringing her beautiful voice and classically trained harp skills to select audiences. Joining her in multiple locations is the alternative and indie band The Mountain Goats.
Mikaela Davis Tour Dates
AUG 3, THU Happy Valley, OR Pickathon FEST AUG 4, FRI Happy Valley, OR Pickathon FEST AUG 5, SAT Seattle Nectar AUG 8, TUE Redding, CA The Dip AUG 9, WED Fresno, CA Strummers AUG 11, FRI Phoenix, AZ Last Exit AUG 12, SAT Truth or Consequences, NM Artist Abbey AUG 13, SUN Santa Fe, NM Meow Wolf AUG 17 THU, Minneapolis, MN Turf Club AUG 20 SUN Evanston, IL SPACE OCT 2 MON @ 7:00 pm Solana Beach, CA Belly Up * OCT 3 TUE @ 7:00pm Los Angeles, CA The Belasco Theater * OCT 5 THU @ 7:00pm San Francisco, CA August Hall * OCT 6 FRI @ 7:00 pm San Francisco, CA August Hall * OCT 7 SAT @ 7:00 pm Sacramento, CA Ace Of Spades * OCT 9 MON @ 7:00 pm Spokane WA Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox * OCT 10 TUE @ 8:00 pm Boise, IDKnitting Factory Concert House * OCT 11 WED @ 7:00 pm Bozeman, MT The Elm * OCT 13 FRI @ 8:00 pm Boulder, CO Fox Theatre * OCT 14 SAT @ 8:00 pm Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre *
Alternative/Indie group Public Water Supply has announced an interactive music and fashion extravaganza, encouraging fans to participate in a red-carpet-style fashion show on July 22.
Taking place at the Dawn Lipson Canalside Stage at the Rochester JCC as a part of their Summer concert series, Public Water Supply wants to create Upstate New York’s version of the Met Gala, complete with a red carpet event, creative outfits, and some of their tunes.
The red-carpet event starts at 6:00 pm on Saturday, July 22, as paparazzi and media interviews will welcome guests into the fashion show experience. In addition to this, the band will also release limited edition merchandise for the show which is available for purchase throughout the event.
Lead singer Iggy Marino, and the rest of the band compiling Karis Gregory, Spencer Kornrich, Alex Brophy, and Tanner Kartes believe the fashion/music event will be a perfect opportunity for fans to express themselves while taking in some of their favorite PWS music.
This event is all about self-expression. Bust out the vintage or come-as-you-are. Just let your outfit speak for itself…when the energy is right, the band loves to throw on a costume. So, now we want to see what our fans can bring in fashion form.”
– Iggy Marino
A pop-up shop, Little Shop of Hoarders will also be on-site so concert-goers may purchase extra accessories if needed.
In between sets, judges will go around the venue to select the five best-dressed people. The judges will crown one individual “concert royalty” and the winner will have their photo taken for the cover of the band’s next single.
Expect PWS to perform much of their self-titled debut album, unreleased tracks, and some of their fan-favorite covers coming from Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, and many others.
Tickets are $15 and available online and at the door. When it comes to weather cancellations, the event will go on as planned unless extreme weather takes place. Cancellations or any other changes in the schedule will be posted on the JCC website.
Beer and wine will additionally be available for purchase.
Summer is in full swing and that means the slate of venues for music all around the state has just gotten exponentially larger. Typically the only theme with these posts is the very best shows to see no matter where. But this month we’re specifically highlighting some unique places to catch some tunes, and maybe some rays, in Rochester this July.
Described perfectly by fellow local musician Chaz Hearne, the Old World Warblers are a “bare bones acoustic trio that utilizes the percussive elements of the their instruments without wasting a single note.” What better way to enjoy then on a historic packet boat cruising down the Erie Canal? You can do just that when the Sam Patch hosts them this Friday evening.
The Big Takeover, from the Hudson Valley, take roots reggae and put their own unique spin on the classic sound, with Jamaican born singer-songwriter Nee Nee Rushie leading the way. And you can see them play their hearts out nestled in the gardens at the George Eastman Museum. What could be better?
Magic Beans are a four piece that are beginning to make big strides in the jam band world by combining elements from the full range of modern music and taking them for long exploratory rides, as jam bands are wont to do. Check out what their all about at the Rochester Public Market as a part of their annual Bands on the Bricks series. Litz will open the show.
More music on a boat! The newest boat in town is the Riverie, taking cruises down the Genesee River from the newly minted dock in Corn Hill. This night you can take in the river sights, the sunset, and the sweet sounds of local folk duo The Archive Ravens. Sounds like a great night.
Is there anything better than seeing superbly played old-time music played at a meticulously appointed old-time town? Take the opportunity to partake in such a fantasy scenario when area bluegrass barnburners Heatwave Bluegrass take the stage inside the Genesee County Museum. You can dress however you like but vintage-wear would probably be most appropriate
Tickets are $8 and the show starts at 5:30p.
These are just a few of the great shows you’ll find in Rochester this July! Stay tuned for our August picks in a few weeks!
The CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival finished out another marathon nine days, inviting well over 200,000 music fans into downtown Rochester to enjoy over 300 sets of exceptional music in 19 different venues and outdoor stages. It was, and always is, a glorious slog, tiring, but fruitful and exhilarating. NYS Music was there absorbing as much as we possibly could.
At just about the midway point of the long haul, Christian Sands sat down at the baby grand in the intimate, beautifully wood-paneled and acoustically near perfect Hatch Hall. Seated at the bench ready to launch into his hour set he first addressed the crowd, “What I love about solo piano is, the possibilities are endless.” But that could be said about jazz in general, and this festival certainly exhibited that. Sands would proceed to take that piano for a ride through originals like “My Mother” and deconstructed covers like The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” adding bits of electronics and recordings here and there for an enthralling hour.
The very next night he would sit at the piano in the larger but equally beautiful Kilbourn Hall, this time joined by Marvin Sewell on guitar, Ryan Sands on drums and Isaac Levien bass for a set as a quartet. Possibilities? Still endless, as they frayed the edges of the music, finding gorgeous spaces in the drifting in and out of pieces.
The Rochester International Jazz Festival has run on it’s aphorism, “It’s not who you know, it’s who you don’t know.” But after 20 years of introducing festival-goers to what’s what in the world of jazz and music, they “know” a thing or two these days. Perhaps it’s time to shift the thinking to, “It’s who you know, and how well you know them”? Sands himself was returning from his sets in 2018 and in both cases gave the opportunity to see him both solo and with his band. People, then, through the festival, are able to see artists grow and shift through the years. They can also get unique perspectives difficult to obtain elsewhere, such as seeing Sands play solo and as a quartet in consecutive days.
Appropriately, the 20th Anniversary lineup included some of the festival’s top returning artists. No one in Rochester needed to be introduced to Grammy-winning singer Catherine Russell when she took the Theater at Innovation Square stage in her eighth Rochester International Jazz Fest visit. Nor did anyone have any doubt who Trombone Shorty was when he wrapped up the festival with another packed show at Parcel 5 with his band Orleans Avenue. He was also making his eighth visit, after debuting at the Big Tent in 2010. At the same venue his cousin, Glen David Andrews, introduced himself to Rochester this year and wowed the crowd with a similar formula of nine parts leading a street party and one part blowing his trombone. Another fest favorite on the rise?
Scottish sax man Tommy Smith came back for his ninth festival, appearing through the years solo, in various duos and as a sideman. He returned with fellow Scot pianist Peter Johnstone for some sets of continuous improv at Hatch Hall. Smith’s searing horn weaving through Johnstone’s keys work for some magnificent and endlessly intriguing interplay. They worked the “Happy Birthday” theme into the improv, dedicated to the festival’s anniversary, a message that couldn’t have come from a more appropriate source.
But perhaps no artist has become more embedded in the fabric of the Rochester International Jazz Festival than guitarist Bill Frisell, returning for the tenth time this year. With Frisell, the more you know him, the more you love him. It’s a thrill to bear witness to each and every set, listening to his trio tease apart familiar themes in new and exciting ways each time, his distinctive tone ringing through your head. They fold melodies into an origami, creating dimension where there was none, different points coming together, wrapping atop each other in beautifully unsuspected ways. Their performance of “You Only Live Twice” that closed the early set, brought together all of these elements and then some, a highlight of this year’s visit.
Guitarist Charlie Hunter took a different path, premiering at the festival with his trio in 2006, returning last year as a sideman for vocalist Kurt Elling and again this year as a sideman fostering the young talent in Victoria Victoria, a project from soul singer Tori Elliott. Hunter was more than happy to give Elliott the spotlight though he did carve out some space to show off some of his signature guitar/bass chops.
Lionel Loueke made his third appearance at the festival, appearing with Gretchen Parlato at Kilbourn Hall, to perform material off their latest release, Lean In. They met 22 years ago, the same year the festival began, at their auditions for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. There they performed for a panel of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Terrance Blanchard. And for their festival set, they played their interpretation of Shorter’s “Juju,” an assignment way back when by Blanchard himself. The rest of the set was filled with the joyous, melodic and very rhythmic pieces from their album. Loueke’s unique guitar and rhythmic vocals, Parlato’s beautiful scatting and singing, coming together in a one-of-a-kind enchanting dance. Another special set inside the hallowed Kilbourn Hall for sure.
Bruce Hornsby returned to the Rochester International Jazz Festival after headlining in 2016, this year opening the Parcel 5 stage that Trombone Shorty would burn down four nights later. Even if it were his first festival, with longtime hits like “Mandolin Rain” and “The Way It Is,” and a stint with the Grateful Dead, this was a man who needed no introduction. Still, he tried to appease the “jazz” crowd with a jazz-aesthetic in songs like “Sneakin’ Up on Boo Radley” and “Spiderfingers.” Hornsby and his band The Noisemakers hit that aesthetic even more so in the way they handled the material, stretching it in new and interesting ways, adding riffs and themes making the familiar, like “End of the Innocence,” feel fresh and new. The “possibilities are endless.”
Drummer Mark Guiliana first made it to the festival in Rochester as a member of Avishai Cohen’s band 20 years ago, and has since returned in various groups. But this year he came for the first time as a leader. His quartet, featuring Jason Lindner on piano, Chris Morrissey on base and Jason Rigby on tenor sax, blasted through their set at a packed Christ Church. Each instrument took on a life of its own, telling its own story. Yet somehow, the sounds magically worked together to create a cogent cacophony, sometimes quietly, sometimes with ferocity. The crowd, generally fleeting at this festival, off to capture other overlapping sets, were glued to the pews, stunned and delighted. The church remained packed to the last notes.
Of course, in the ever burgeoning world of jazz, there is always room for discovery and there were plenty of newcomers to fill in the “it’s who you don’t know” bucket. Matthew Whitaker and his group took the familiar for some unfamiliar rides, adding his spins to everything from Brubeck’s “Take Five,” to Eddie Harris’s “Freedom Jazz Dance,” and Chick Corea’s “Spain.” Whitaker flipped his playing between piano, synthesizer and B3 organ effortlessly, bringing new energy and fresh perspectives to some well-worn material.
Oslo’s Oddgeir Berg Trio provided the yearly Nordic discovery at the festival. A melodic and very tight keys trio, they added elements of rock music to some at-times chaotic and schizophrenic pieces, making for a very intriguing and satisfying set. Guitarist and vocalist, Albino Mbie, from Mozambique, brought an absolute melting pot of a band, representing Brazil, Cuba, Panama and the U.S., single-handedly fulfilling the “International” portion of the festival’s name. Mbie led the band through his sunny African soul music with slick guitar work and excellent vocals, including a fully vocalized drum solo. Guitarist Olli Hirvonen, native of Finland but based in Brooklyn, brought a trio that was more instrumental rock than fitting into any preconceived jazz sect, falling into the “endless possibilities” category. Tough to categorize and tough to describe, their sound combined elements of Explosions in the Sky with Pat Martino, soaring and cinematic with splashes of mind-melting fusion.
South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini made his Rochester International Jazz Festival debut with Francisco Mela on drums and Zwelakhe Duma Bell La Pere on bass. Makhathini gave the piano a full-body workout, slamming his Nike high tops on the sustain pedal with gusto, filling Kilbourn Hall with notes echoing and reverberating long after their intended moment. The pieces found a groove in textures more than in melody, bass, drums and piano equally contributing to the resulting tapestries. Makhathini broke from the music for a couple short lessons on the importance of music in South African history and culture, and his philosophies behind his music, lending an extra layer of importance to an already highly elevated live experience. He doesn’t compose music, rather he “taps into sounds that already exist in the universe.” No wonder then that the “possibilities are endless.”
