Jeff Spevak
WXXI Arts & Life editorJeff Spevak has been a Rochester arts reporter for nearly three decades, with seven first-place finishes in the Associated Press New York State Features Writing Awards while working for the Democrat and Chronicle.
He has also been published in Musician and High Times magazines, contributed to WXXI, CITY newspaper and Post magazine, and occasionally performs spoken-word pieces around town. Some of his haikus written during the Rochester jazz festival were self-published in a book of sketches done by Scott Regan, the host of WRUR’s Open Tunings show.
Spevak founded an award-winning barbecue team, The Smokin’ Dopes, and believes Bigfoot is real. His book on the life of a Lake Ontario sailor who survived the sinking of his ship during World War II was published in April 2019 by Lyons Press.
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Also: Kurt Elling and the end of the world, and the best of the fest. -
Plus: A spiritual Joe Locke homecoming, and a haiku!
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The big CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival shows at downtown’s Parcel 5 have been tough to miss, but you also have to crack open the clubs to find some treats.
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Wednesday was a day for the jazz fest women.
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When The Bacon Brothers hit the stage at 9 p.m. Friday at the CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival, at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, it’s purely a songwriter-driven evening.
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Arts and Life Editor Jeff Spevak says Jeremy Pelt’s sound was like what you’d hear hanging out in a hot jazz club, while Oskar Stenmark’s sound was like walking in the woods, communing with nature.
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Plus: From jump shot to jazz trumpet with Nabaté Isles.
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Plus: The intensity of Kurtz and Frisell, and Cottone comes home.
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Also: Chilling with the NYChillharmonic, looking ahead to Gullah music, and Jeff’s picks for Sunday.
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Plus a hot meal from The Cookers, looking ahead to NYChillharmonic, and a jazz haiku.
