Dreamland Faces and Margaret Explosion play for the opening party of the "Extreme Materials" show at the Memorial Art Gallery. Photo is Dreamland Faces at Lux.

We have rounded up our favorite Rochester Bands and added them to the Refrigerator Playlist.

Download FREE MP3s from Rochester bands!

The fifth Rochester International Jazz Fest attracted about 100,000 people downtown. This thing was a huge success and has put Rochester on the musical map. Buy the Club Pass early and don't miss out next year. We posted photos and reviews of our favorite acts here.

Former Rochesterian, Stephen Black shot a video for Pete LaBonne 's "Trophy Bowler". We offer the complete line of Earring Records product here. Pete LaBonne has a cd on Earring. And we have been working on an exclusive deal to distribute the complete Pete LaBonne catalog (Gigunda) as digital downloads.

Goodbye Colorblind. Read postings from fans and friends that Colorblind James touched before Chuck's untimely death.

We dug up a few old Personal Effects Videos.

.

White Stripes headlined the Bug Jar Fest in Highland Bowl in 2001. Click here for some blurry live photos

One of the bands at the Bug Jar Highland Bowl Fest a few years ago had a go go dancer instead of a singer. I forget the name of the band. Click on the image at right for Go Go Action.

Blood & Bone Orchestra at Bop Shop Atrium in Village Gate. This is fabulous place to hear adventurous bands.

Don't miss Abba Gold if they come through town again. I would love to see an Abba Cover Band Battle of the Bands.

Rochester Poet has a Top 40 hit with with Alley Oop.

Ossia has to be the coolest musical experience in town. New and modern music performed by Eastman students and faculty. The events are usually free and most often take place in Kilbourn Hall in the Eastman Theatre. Past outstanding performances included La Monte Young Trio for Strings - Octet Version at the Episcopal Church on East Avenue and The Music of Steve Reich and John Cage at Kilbourn. And most recently we saw Marco Alunno - Concerto for Piano and Ensemble which featured a drummer on the far right with three strings and a drummer on the far left with three horn players. These two ensembles were centered by a piano. This piece was exceptionally beautiful. We were sitting up close and the stereo sound was thrilling. The composer was there and took a few well deserved bows. Check out the Ossia website for upcoming performances. 

Who the heck is the Marshing Band?

Local DJ Uncle Roger was shot in an attempted robbery on Rochester's west side. As someone said at his funeral, "you could run into Rog after not seeing him for many years and he would smile and pick up like yesterday." He was so much fun to be around and he really worked hard to promote the local music. Read article.

"But you have to see him live." That's what any Bruce Springsteen fan will tell you. So someone gave us tickets and we did it. Read More

We finally saw George Jones live at the casino near Syracuse. Well he was still kickin' anyway. This was a sub-culture trip and a half! Read More

Captain Beefheart played Rochester a few times and left his mark on our fair city. Read More

In 1970 Sunday's Democrat & Chronicle had Moondog on the cover of the Upstate Magazine section. I hung onto the magazine and republished the article here. Read More

Remember Mickey Evans, "You're No Good" on the Fine Recording label? Neither do I. Fine Recording Studio recorded the music of Rochester bands from the late forties until the untimely death of the studio owner in 1977. Vincent Giancursio, aka Vince Jan, jazz big band leader died at 58 and left a basement full of recordings that eventually found their way to Australia. Check out the streaming audio of early Rochester garage band classics. There are some pretty cool early Invictas tracks on this site as well.
Click on the 45 to your right for an enlargement.

I'm on my bike on a cloudy, cool day and I'm following this bus with a guy in a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses thinking. "I hear more interesting music on NPR."