BY RON NETSKY While tapping guitar chords with his left hand and keeping up a steady beat on the bongos with his right, Raul Midon turned to the Kilbourn Hall audience Saturday and said, “I want you to notice there are no looping machines up here.” He didn’t need any. He picked, strummed, and slapped […]

BY FRANK DE BLASE I’m always ready to go toe to toe with hammerheads who bitch and moan about the Jazz Fest’s non-jazz content. But the fact that Jazz Fest kingpin John Nugent colors outside the lines and books a band like, let’s say, The Sadies — that is a jazz move. And in the […]

BY RON NETSKY I guess there’s something positive about being in your 80s and having someone call you immature. I’m sorry, but that was my impression of legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes at Kilbourn Hall Friday night. He joked around, tap danced twice, and seemed to be seriously trying to pick up a woman in […]

BY FRANK DE BLASE Started off entirely on the jazz tip tonight as I took in The Bridge Trio at Max of Eastman Place. The group was impressively tight and impeccably dressed as it ventured in and out of the riffs and shapes each musician created. It was righteously crisp and quite cool. Headed over […]

BY WILLIE CLARK Well, every night can’t be a face-melting, accordion-fueled dance party. After the zydeco chaos that was Thursday at the Jazz Fest, Friday night I operated on the more traditional and laid-back end of the jazz musical spectrum. First up was the Rochester Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra under the Big Tent. Another big band […]

BY FRANK DE BLASE It can be somewhat difficult to consider your parents as human beings, as individuals with hopes and dreams and desires of their own. Well, as uncomfortable as it may sound, I watched my mother fall in love with bass saxophonist Colin Stetson Thursday night. Stetson is one of those acts at […]

BY RON NETSKY The stage was set up in an unusual way for Daryl Hall and Keb’ Mo’s appearance Thursday night at Kodak Hall. Surrounding the back and side walls of the stage was a faux-wood recreation of the music room where Hall hosts “Live From Daryl’s House.” The webcast features a wide variety of […]

by Willie Clark You have certain expectations when a band has the word “hellraisers” in its title. So, Rochester, let me tell you a little story about Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers. The band came out on the Big Tent stage Thursday night jamming, but with accordionist and front man Dopsie nowhere to be […]

BY FRANK DE BLASE Perhaps it was his comedic timing and wit, or maybe it was his genuine charm. Or maybe it was his crisp blue suit. But wait…could it have been the bluegrass? Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers put on a simply amazing show full of humor and instrumental dexterity. And both […]