Hello from Rochester, NY:

Musical Notes and Sports Items:


The 11th edition of the Rochester International Jazz Festival will be held June 22-30th and while the lineup of performers will be released next month, it was announced that four of the headliners will include Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Steve Martin and Dweezil Zappa.

My son Chris, who left the Tampa Bay Rays front office after 12 years, was recently hired as publicist for the UFC. (Ultimate Fighting Championship) They are based out of Las Vegas and have become as popular as boxing was in its heyday of the 40's, 50's and 60's. Except for a few fighters, boxing has become boring with all its so-called champions and made-up title bouts. I was a big boxing fan and today I couldn't even name all the division champions primarily because each division has about three different champs.

I read a great quote by John Lennon during one of his last interviews. He was asked if Ringo Starr was the best drummer in the world. Lennon replied; "The best drummer in the world? Ringo wasn't
even the best drummer in the Beatles!"

A couple of my musician friends and myself were reminiscing at the club where I was playing last weekend and the subject of the number of fine jazz musicians coming out of the upstate area came up. Some of the names mentioned were Sal Nistico, Joe Romano, Chuck & Gap Mangione, Tony Riposo, Gerry Neiwood, Mark Murphy, Doug Duke, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Steve Gadd, Will Alger, Roy McCurdy, Joe Locke, Pee Wee Ellis, Don Menza, Chris Powell, Frank Strazzeri, Jimmy Cavallo. Bobby Militello, Jim Hall, Mel Lewis and Nancy Kelly. Pretty impressive and apologies to those great players who's names escape me at this time.

Artists who will be appearing in our upstate area this month include; Rita Coolidge, Larry Carlton, Righteous Brothers, Houston Person & Toby Keith.

Quote Of The Month: "Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar."-- Drew Carey

Bye for now…
Fred

CALENDAR

Every Thursday -                 Fred Costello & Roger Eckers Duo
                                           Porto Bello Restaurant –
                                           1369 Pittsford-Mendon Rd
                                           7:30-10pm

Every Friday & Saturday –  Fred Costello & Roger Eckers Duo
                                           Charley Brown's Restaurant –
                                           1675 Penfield Rd.
                                           7:30-10pm

This page was last updated on 2/1/12.

NOW AVAILABLE

FRED’S “LIVE” JAZZ CD – “BLUES BACKSTAGE”

FRED’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY - “A LIFETIME OF NIGHTCLUBS & BALLPARKS”

TO ORDER FRED’S CD or BOOK BY MAIL:                    Mail to: Music Associates P.O. Box 25176 Rochester, NY 14625
“Blues Backstage” CD: $15.00 (includes shipping)	“A Lifetime Of Nightclubs & Ballparks” Book: $ 20.00 (includes shipping)

FOR BOOKING & INFORMATION CONTACT:

Contact: 585-381-2144 or fredcostello@rochester.rr.com