Rochester was a music town long before the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival was created. These music legends may have been in different genres, but they were all part of the Flower City's musical legacy:
Jazz bandleader Cab Calloway was born in Rochester, living on Sycamore Street until he was 11 years old.
Cab was still singing by the time Lou Gramm had joined Foreigner in the 1970s, becoming one of the most recognized voices ever in rock and roll.
Classical composer Howard Hanson spent most of his life in Rochester as director of the Eastman School of Music. That institution has proven to be a fountain of talent, including Rochester natives The Mangione Brothers (Chuck & Gap) and Gerry Niewood. Gerry died in the Flight 3407 plane crash near Buffalo in 2009 - he was flying in to play with Chuck Mangione.
The Eastman School also brought bassist Tony Levin to town, on his way to becoming the most recorded bass player ever. There's also little doubt about Rochester native Steve Gadd, who has played on more recordings and major tours than anyone who ever picked up a pair of sticks.
Bat McGrath spent years in Rochester as a singer-songwriter, both as a solo act and with partner Don Potter. One of McGrath's biggest successes came as a songwriter, co-writing Wynonna Judd's 1997 hit "Come Some Rainy Day."
McGrath and Potter were also part of what many have considered to be Rochester's most memorable musical happening. Chuck Mangione's "Friends and Love" concert in 1971 also featured Niewood, Gadd, and the Rochester Philharmonic among others.
McGrath remembered what the stage manager said to him after that show ended.
"He came up to us afterward and said that applause was the longest, loudest applause at the Eastman Theatre," McGrath said. "Longer than when they announced the end of World War II."
A reunion of those musicians in 2007 sold out three nights at the Eastman Theatre.
