Arts & Life

The producers of the CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival announced Thursday afternoon that the event’s June dates are being canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but they left open the door for a rescheduling in the fall of this year.

"In the past two weeks since we announced our 2020 festival lineup, our world has been turned upside down,” co-producers John Nugent and Marc Iacona said in a press release. “The health crisis we are experiencing has resulted in significant loss of life and illness, growing fear, and unprecedented disruption in all aspects of our lives.”

Idle hands are the devil's tools. Unless we place a musical instrument in those hands.

The coronavirus pandemic has put virtually every musician in the country out of work. But many have responded by retreating to their basements. Recording a song. Then letting it run loose on the internet, where an innocent browser will uncover something beautiful. Such as the Rochester band Violet Mary, and its stunning version of Led Zeppelin's "The Rain Song."

Muddle together two lemon wedges, a few shards of mint and a half-ounce of simple syrup. Add crushed ice, followed by two ounces of Flower City gin. Mix. Top off the glass with more crushed ice and a mint garnish.

And please tip your bartender.

That’s Stephanie Rebensky’s Southside Old Fashion. The recipe is posted on smokeoutcovid19.com, a website where bartenders and related industry people can show off their work even as the coronavirus pandemic dries up their workplaces.