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[click "Play" to hear Dianne Reeves' conversation with Susan]

Media02sm Double the pleasure. Double the fun.

This year, Telluride Jazz Celebration impresario/ Festival director Paul Machado welcomes two great female jazz vocalists to the Toshiko Akiyoshi Town Park Stage. Jackie Ryan performs Saturday night at the Nugget Theatre and again on Sunday in Town Park. And Dianne Reeves is the closing act on opening day, Friday, August 5: a good choice because Reeves has the star power and hardware (four Grammys, including the soundtrack for George Clooney's "Good Night and Good Luck") to deliver a very grand finale.

31 July, 2010 /
[click "Play" for Jen Wineman's interview with Susan]

Poster Telluride's SquidShow Theatre is the living end. This time we mean that literally. Saturday July 31 – Tuesday, August 3, the Squids present "Cataclysm!: "The end is closer than you think. So is the beginning." The happening takes place nightly at 7 p.m. at The Deep Creek Mine, just seven miles outside of town.

"Cataclysm" was conceived by SquidShow Theatre founder Sasha Cucciniello and her long-time collaborator, New York City-based playwright, Sarah Gancher.

After working with the Deep Creek Artisan Guild, Sasha became determined to create a show specifically for this rustic location. For years, the idea of a site-specific theatrical piece at Deep Creek percolated, eventually took shape in "Cataclysm." Sasha tapped Sarah to come to Telluride to co-write this theatrical extravaganza, created from scratch through the rehearsal process under the leadership of director Jen Wineman and designer Melissa Trn.
29 July, 2010 /

Poster Poster-1 Telluride's Nugget Theatre is screening two movies the week of Friday, July 30 to Thursday, August 5. "Knight and Day" is a holdover from last week. The action movie stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, and is rated PG13.

"Despicable Me" is an animated film with some great voices, an improbable super-villain, three orphan girls in search of a dad, and a plot to steal the moon. What could possibly go wrong? It is rated PG.

For movietimes, see below; for trailers and reviews, see the Nugget website.

28 July, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Larry Coryell's conversation with Susan]

Coryell Six years ago guitar legend Larry Coryell was honored at the 28th annual Telluride Jazz Celebration, where he performed with drummer Lenny White and bassist Mark Egan. Coryell returns to the 34th annual Telluride Jazz Celebration, August 5 – August 8, to time to honor a friend, former Telluride Jazz Celebration board member Chris Bou, who died in May 2009.


To tribute Bou, Coryell returns with Egan, changing the recipe on his aural elixir just a little bit with two special guests, Paul Wertico replacing White on drums, and saxophonist Karl Denson. The quartet is scheduled to perform Sunday, August 8, 3:40 – 4:50 p.m. on the Toshiko Akiyoshi Town Park Stage.

"Larry has style, awesome technique, a sharp wit and big charisma," said Telluride Jazz Celebration impresario Paul Machado of his friend and supporter.

27 July, 2010 /
[click "Play" for Langhorne Slim's interview with Susan]

Slim Langhorne Slim is appearing in concert on Friday, July 30, 8:30 p.m. at Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House. The buzz is you want to be there to shake your tail feathers – and say you knew him when.

It's a Dylan thing. Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman to a middle class family in Nowhere Special, Minnesota. Brooklyn-based Langhorne Slim was born Sean Scolnick in – and here's the punch line – Langhorne, Pennsylvania. But we all know the line from Shakespeare about a rose. Regardless of his name, the fame of this singer-songwriter-guitarist is being etched in stone. Rolling Stone. "Damn near perfect," said the magazine about Langhorne Slim's third album, Be Set Free, on Kemado Records.
27 July, 2010 /
[click "Play" for Susan's interview with Dan Hicks]

Panama_dan_sm Telluride Jazz Celebration impresario Paul Machado likes to push the jazz envelope, often inviting guests whose music, is not, strictly speaking "jazz." That is unless you define jazz as a labyrinth of styles, sounds and rhythms summed up in a one syllable word.

Check the schedule on the first full day of sounds, Friday, August 6. Machado features Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks in the 4 p.m. slot. The hodgepodge of genres Hicks melds into his own signature sound includes outlaw swing, folk, country, Django, blues, rock, and okay, jazz, a brew he himself has been known to describe as "folk jazz." Ok, the hipster is in by a nose.
25 July, 2010 /
[click "Play", Jackie talks to Susan]

[click "Play" to hear Jackie Ryan's "Doozy"]

JackieWhiteBlouse-Doozy2thm The sun will shine on the 34th annual Telluride Jazz Celebration – at least when vocalist Jackie Ryan steps onstage.

Jackie Ryan is widely regarded in inner circles of buffs and critics as one of the premier jazz singers out of North America, but one the general public is not well aware of. This despite reviews peppered with superlatives touting her "extravagant" range, both emotional and stylistic, her "sweeping vocal powers" laced with passion, her "savvy" vocalizing, her "magnetic" stage presence.
24 July, 2010 /

Ride the Divide Logo-3 Thetwilightsagaeclipse_smallposter If you missed "Toy Story 3" or "Knight and Day" at Telluride's Nugget Theatre last week, you have another chance. See last week's post.

New at the Nugget this week is "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse", rated PG13. Set in Seattle, this third film in a  series pits a 109-year-old vampire against a werewolf for the affections of a young woman. Lots of vampires around the past few seasons, and some werewolves to add a little heat to the chill of the undead probably is a good idea.

On Thursday, July 29,  Paragon/Bootdoctors presents "Ride the Divide", a feature length documentary about the longest mountain bike race.

See below for movietimes, and the Nugget website for trailers and reviews.

22 July, 2010 /