Telluride Jazz Celebration @ Wilkinson Public Library, 1/6/2011

04 Jan Telluride Jazz Celebration @ Wilkinson Public Library, 1/6/2011

[click “Play”, Todd Altshuler talks about Telluride Jazz and “Icons Among Us”]

Telluride Inside… and Out has talked about the many and different ways the town’s five-star Wilkinson Public Library is definitely not your mother’s library. Conventional descriptors like “staid” and “quiet” just don’t apply. Dedicated programs for small people and teens are wide-ranging and robust. And on the theory the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, program coordinator Scott Doser is constantly forging alliances with other non-profits to fill the Program Room.

One shining example of a successful joint venture is the Telluride Film Festival’s ongoing Cinematheque series at the Library, which launched for the winter season on Monday, January 3, with “Films of the Great Depression.” (Stay tuned for ongoing coverage.)

Coming soon to your local Library is yet another film series, this one orchestrated by Telluride Jazz Celebration’s new marketing director, Todd Altschuler. The initiative kicks off Thursday, January 6, 6 p.m., with “Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense.”

“Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense” is so new it is still featured in theaters across the country. Filmed over the past seven years, “Icons” proves jazz is here to stay, although the genre is constantly evolving and changing. In addition to interviews with jazz musicians who have influenced the new generation (Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock), “Icons” includes performances and interviews with some of today’s top jazz talents: Medeski, Martin Wood, Soulive, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, John Scofield, Skerik, Tea Leaf Green’s Reed Mathis and Charlie Hunter, (who plays two shows at The Llama on March 4 and 5).

As a special benefit to those at Thursday’s screening of “Icons,” the Telluride Jazz Celebration is giving away two tickets to one of Charlie Hunter’s shows at The Llama.

Since 1977, the Telluride Jazz Celebration, Telluride’s most intimate festival, has consistently earned national and international attention for featuring the best in classic/mainstream, blues and international jazz. It spotlights some of the finest internationally accomplished artists, along with exciting new talent, in a remarkable setting that brings jazz lovers to Telluride from all over the world. Learn more at www.telluridejazz.org

To learn more about jazz films at the Library, click the “play” button and listen to Todd Altschuler’s rap.