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Arts

Actor and comedian Bill Murray took to Kleinhans Hall Wednesday night and read and performed classic pieces of American literature in "New Worlds," a literary and music show featuring a cellist and violinist. 
ARTS

Bill Murray enters new territory with 'New Worlds'

It's never “Groundhog Day” for actor and comedian Bill Murray. When the legendary 67-year-old actor wakes up every day, he’s always doing something different. He’s starred in films of different genres and worked with many types of creatives, so it was no surprise when he explored new territory at Kleinhans Music Hall Wednesday.


Ta Nehisi-Coates, author and writer for The Atlantic, released his latest book “We Were Eight Years In Power” last week. The book takes a look back at essays penned during the Obama administration and includes personally-inclined notes from the author.
ARTS

Coates’ 'We Were Eight Years in Power' examines Obama presidency, his own writing

Author Ta-Nehisi Coates draws parallels between the end of the Reconstruction era and the Obama administration right off the bat. “We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy” begins when Coates quotes South Carolina congressman Thomas Miller and his 1895 address to S.C.’s constitutional convention. “We were eight years in power. ... We had reconstructed the State and placed it upon the road to prosperity,” Miller said.


Electronic R&B singer Kelela released her debut project “Take Me Apart” on Friday. The album, the first full-length cut from the singer in four years, contains a variety of upbeat breakup songs and sultry love numbers.
ARTS

Kelela forms a sonic forestry of breakups, makeups on “Take Me Apart”

Forward-thinking dance music is a hard sound to achieve, especially for a 34-year-old singer who has yet to peak. Kelela’s debut full-length project, “Take Me Apart,” makes the task look effortless. The album pushes heavy futurism in the form of R&B. It’s the first big-time record since the singer’s mixtape “Cut 4 Me” in 2013. Four years later, she takes her past work’s basic elements and builds them up to skyscraper heights.


UB alumnus Marcus Yam talked to faculty, students and staff about changing his career from an engineer to an award-winning photographer.
ARTS

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Marcus Yam returns to UB

Yam presented his collections in the Student Union Theater on Friday. His collection featured photos of California wildfires, mass shootings in America and the battles between the Iraqi forces and Islamic state. His work led him to win numerous awards, including an Emmy and two Pulitzer Prize-winning articles for breaking news reporting.


El Museo, an art gallery in Buffalo’s Allentown neighborhood, is just one small space that students can check out in the Queen City. The gallery annually hosts its Day of The Dead celebration every fall, complete with ofrendas (altars) submitted by locals.
ARTS

Best small art galleries in Buffalo

The Buffalo art scene is no joke. Galleries like the Albright-Knox and Burchfield-Penney host some of the best international and national artists around. But there are smaller galleries in the city that are just as noteworthy as their large-scale counterparts.


This month’s theatrical releases offer a seasonal selection as varied as the fall weather.
ARTS

​October Movie Guide

The season has changed and so have the offerings at the box office. Unlike the summer weather, the season’s blockbusters don’t seem to be sticking around.


Gloria and Emilio Estefan discussed the themes of their musical, "On Your Feet!" At Shea’s Grand Ballroom on Thursday.
ARTS

“On Your Feet!” dazzles at Shea’s Performing Arts Center

The National Tour of “On Your Feet!” opened at Shea’s Performing Arts Center on Sept. 22 and will play through Sept. 30. The musical, which opened on Broadway in 2015, tells the story of Cuban-American musicians Gloria and Emilio Estefan and how they overcame adversity and achieved success.


Karen Smith, the curator of the Kazoo Museum and Kazoo Boutique Gift Shop, holds a classic gold & red submarine kazoo. The kazoo is one of many that the Original Kazoo Company creates alongside tractor-shaped and corn-shaped kazoos.
ARTS

If the kazoo fits

There’s a local buzz surrounding an American-made wind instrument. In nearby Eden, New York, that buzz is heard from a kazoo. The Original Kazoo Company, established over a century ago, is deeply engrained within history, and it shows through its museum, gift shop and currently operational factory.


On Thursday, Buffalo theatre-goers fell in love with the budding friendship of Lily Harrison (Loretta Swit) and Michael Minetti (David Engel). Their back & forth, complicated relationship dazzled in “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks” over the weekend at Shea’s 710 Theatre.
ARTS

“Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks” inspirits Buffalo

Over 300 attendees took to Shea’s 710 Theatre on Thursday for the opening performance of “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks.” The play, which completed its Buffalo run on Sunday, delighted audience members with the fluctuating, entertaining relationship of widow Lily Harrison (Loretta Swit) and dance instructor Michael Minetti (David Engel).


ARTS

Dennis Black on tape: a grand larceny inspired playlist

A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what is cool? Roughly $320,000 worth of funds stolen from university bank accounts and funneled through falsified tax forms and charitable donations, as former UB Vice President Dennis Black and former UB Campus Living Director Andrea Costantino admitted to last week.


Rima Yamazaki, a Japan-born and New York-based filmmaker, is an artist-in-residence this semester with the UB Creative Arts Initiative (CAI). Yamazaki, whose work has been featured around the world, will be filming architectural structures throughout the city of Buffalo for her upcoming project.
ARTS

Spectrum Q&A with UB artist-in-residence Rima Yamazaki

As part of UB’s Creative Arts Initiative, filmmaker Rima Yamazaki is residing at UB until Oct. 31. Yamazaki, a Japanese-born and New York-based filmmaker, has been featured all around the world, with screenings in Brazil’s Move Cine Arte Film Festival and Rome’s MAXXI festival just this year alone. The filmmaker, alongside professor Nicholas Bruscia, spoke at Hayes Hall on Wednesday after screening her film “Nakagin Capsule Tower: Japanese Metabolist Landmark on the Edge of Destruction.” Before the screening, Yamazaki spoke with The Spectrum about her work and the film she’s producing in Buffalo.


Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center is located in downtown Buffalo, providing artists with access to media equipment. Executive Director Maiko Tanaka took the position after working as an art curator in Toronto
ARTS

Squeaky Wheel keeps on turning

Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center was established in 1985 with the goal of innovation in media through three core concepts: exhibition, education and access to technology for all. Located at 617 Main St. in downtown Buffalo, Squeaky Wheel continues that legacy through their workshops, open equipment rental and multimedia art exhibitions.


Local artists Kurt Von Voetsch and Robert Harris tackle the inner mechanisms of their minds in their new exhibit Get Me Out of My Head. The exhibit opened at Allentown's El Museo on Friday as Harris discussed some of his paintings to an audience of over 30 people.
ARTS

"Get Me Out of My Head" reflects the mind's workings at El Museo

On Friday, over 30 people attended the opening and artist talk for “Get Me Out of My Head” at Allen Street’s El Museo. The reception made the already small venue a bit tighter as Harris, one of two featured artists in the exhibit, discussed his paintings. The exhibit also featured Von Voetsch, a UB alumnus, who tackled his battle with brain cancer in his work.


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