Happy Chichester to Play Artisan Works
May 1, 2004
by Craig Curtice

Rochester, New York is a rather fickle family upstate town that’s seemingly in love with shopping malls, golfing, flower festivals, the Buffalo Bills, and a supermarket chain named Wegmans. After twenty years of steady urban decline, painful downsizing by large employers Kodak and Xerox, and a mass exodus by corporate types to outlying suburbs, the inner areas of the city are finally beginning to regenerate. Twenty and thirty-somethings are fixing up affordable city homes, neighborhoods are rejuvenating, entertainment districts are flourishing, and a swanky new fast ferry to Toronto (via Lake Ontario) has recently begun service.

While there are many interesting places to visit in Rochester, the city’s hidden gem is Artisan Works – a mysterious 40,000 sq. ft. maze of corridors, workshops, and gallery space bursting with incredible sculptures, paintings, and photographs. If that weren’t enough, tucked within this mammoth building are amenities like an authentic Japanese Tatami room, a two-story replica of a Frank Lloyd Wright study, and an outdoor rooftop-sitting garden. It can only be simply described as the Willy Wonka of art galleries. Open every day of the year, Artisan Works encourages its members to make the most of what this amazing complex has to offer.

So in an experimental pairing of art and music, Artisan Works is pleased to welcome Happy Chichester, a talented musician from Columbus, Ohio, for a solo acoustic show on Sunday, May 30th, 2004. Happy is scheduled to perform two full sets playing piano and guitar beginning at 4:00 PM.

A gifted singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Harold “Happy” Chichester is best known as the whirlwind genius behind Howlin’ Maggie and for his funky bass playing in Royal Crescent Mob, but it’s his expert collaborations with independent artists over the years that have made him a highly-sought after musician. His extensive musical resume includes recording and touring with the Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers, New Bomb Turks, Shawn Smith, and Omar Ben Hassen (of the Last Poets). Also impressive is his stint playing jazz drums for the Columbus Met, and he’s recently taped an appearance for the instructional PBS show Play Piano in a Flash hosted by piano guy Scott Houston.

This promises to be a very unique event, so come for the music, but stay for the art. Tickets are $10 each, available at the Artisan Works reception desk, and both Record Archive locations.

Artisan Works is located on 565 Blossom Road in Rochester, New York. For more information call (585) 288-7170.

(Craig Curtice is a volunteer staff writer for 2 Walls Webzine.)