A King can still count on his court, B.B. shows

When they gingerly walked B.B. King out on the stage to join his big orchestra who’d been entertaining the five-figure crowd for the closing set Saturday night at the 32nd M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest for a good while, everybody stood and applauded as the American music legend took a seat. The 88-year-old King worked hard…

Funk Trombone, Good Voodoo, Guitar Noir, New Voice

The first day of the 32nd edition of the M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest was all that in the headline above plus a shining sun, silvery moon, cheering thousands and a damned good beef quesadilla. From night to day: Headliner Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue drew the big free-admission crowd forward and into the aisles and…

Back to work on Monday, it’s only been 17 1/2 months

Monday morning, I’ll walk into an office and sit behind a desk. I’ll move fingers across my keyboard and work as hard as I can to reduce the pile my bosses put in front of me. I’ll keep all of the emotions inside. The touch of anxiety. The hint of Happy Dance. The inclination to…

I’m here to gasp about a really long trailer

My Movie News blog over at the Syracuse New Times site this week takes a minute or two to discuss a topic that’s without a doubt a sore point. The long movie trailer. Too much. Much much too much. I found two stories about a trailer that runs 72 minutes. It’s for a movie titled…

A big gap on my first day of college

Eight years. Ten years. When I’m 56, who cares, you know? Despite their protestations, my sisters Frannie and Dory are indeed catching up to me, in my mind’s eye, at least. But, oh, how the sibling age gap hit me when I saw this picture Fran has posted on her Facebook page, keeper of the…

Two days of music, capped by Mr. B.B. King

I recall being pretty excited placing the call to a certain Riley King. Goes by the initials B.B. Stands for Blues Boy. And B.B. King comes on the phone, starts talking, and I knew why I liked that job writing about music for the big daily so damn much. In fact, the American blues legend…

A quiet cry for help from one of our own

I woke up early today, flopping around on my own bed to the sight of the rising summer sun and the sound of the clanking Syracuse garbage collectors. Somewhere around the world, you repeated some version of that scene, hot, cold, northern, southern, under the sheets or the over the blanket. Kim Hood, one of…

Yes, Melissa McCarthy can go way over the top

At the end of ‘Tammy’ the title character suggests that she’s figured the best route to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Who here things that Melissa McCarthy would turn down a role that would offer a chance at that? And tell the stunt woman to take a hike? It would look hilarious, no?…