“The getaway, worthy of film noir, was timed to the minute,” writes Jeff Spevak in Friday’s (8/25) Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.). “The girlfriend waits outside in the car.… The guy with the black case dashes out onto the sidewalk and jumps in. From Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre to Three Heads Brewing in minutes flat, where the local band The Majestics is playing … Herb Smith, still wearing his tuxedo from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra gig, takes his trumpet from its case as the band waves him onstage … Smith says, ‘Thirty minutes ago I was onstage playing Mahler. Now I’m onstage playing reggae with a beer in my hand.’ … He sometimes plays the ancient wind instrument of indigenous Australians, the didgeridoo… ‘I recognized early on that he’s an amazing classical player, and a great jazz player,’ RPO Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik says…. Smith is also part of the Genesee Community Charter School’s Wednesday ‘Community Circle,’ playing guitar for kids ages kindergarten through sixth grade.… Smith has found a few places in the community, in classical and in jazz, where creating music makes kids feel good, and comforts adults mourning the loss of a loved one.”
Posted August 29, 2017
