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Festivals

[click "Play" to hear WPA interview]

Wpa Flashback: Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2000. Sugar Hill Records had several oldies but goodies in the lineup. John Cowan was appearing with his new group, Lonesome River Band. Also on the scene were Seldom Scene, Jesse Winchester and Sam Bush. With Nickel Creek, the label also featured strong Gen Zeta talent.

Nickel Creek proved that the youth brigade was not all about skin-flashing and razzmatazz.  Two of the musical whiz kids in the new group were a  brother and sister act, Sean Watkins (2/18/77), guitar, mandolin, and vocals, and Sara Watkins (6/8/81), fiddle and vocals. Sean and Sara are back in town 10 years later for their encore at the 36th annual Bluegrass Festival, June 18 – June 21.  (Star fiddler Luke Bulla was also in town that year with Ricky Skaggs, another-wet-behind- the-ears superstar in the making.)

12 June, 2009 /
[click "Play" for Todd Snider interview]

Telluride Bluegrass, June 18-21

Pressphoto2 Telluride favorite, singer-songwriter Todd Snider, is returning to town for an encore after his sold-out show at the historic Sheridan Opera House, where the troubadour charmed the crowd with his barefoot brand of social satire and the way he managed to blow raspberries at our foibles without giving offense.This round, Todd is appearing on the Fred Shellman Stage at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

Turns out folk hero Woody Guthrie came from an extremely prosperous upper middle-class family: dad speculated in real estate and mom owned about 30 rental properties. Robert Allen Zimmerman was born in the Midwest in Hibbing, Minneapolis, and also had solid middle class underpinnings. His father Abe, ran a sort of successful electric-appliance shop. All the stories about the young Robert being orphaned, running away from home annually starting at age 10, performing in a carnival were attempts by Bob Dylan to become Dylan.

10 June, 2009 /

The weather in Telluride has not exactly favored this weekend's festivals. Telluride Jazz Celebration has had rain, lightning, wind. Those elements have caused program changes for the Telluride Balloon Festival as well. But people seemed to be enjoying the Jazz over the weekend, and some...

07 June, 2009 /

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's interview with Bill Frisell]

2009 Telluride Jazz Celebration, June 5-7

Frisell08_hires1 No doubt about it. Telluride Jazz Celebration impresario Paul Machado is really good at his job. His choice of Bill Frisell as the 2009 Guest of Honor was inspired, perfect for a time when the chips are down, when substance trumps style every day.

Soft spoken – literally, I had to ask him to speak up more than once in our interview –  and self-effacing and shy, Frisell is a man you might miss at a party; that is until he straps on his ax. Ax in hand, this "Clark Kent" quickly morphs into a Superman, arguably, quietly, the most brilliant and distinct voice to come down the pike in jazz guitar since Wes Montgomery, not coincidently one of Bill's idols. Ax in hand, the man is on fire. Bill claims performance is his drug of choice. It transforms him, allowing him to do things he would not do in real life. Performance brings out his inner Woody Allen. 

05 June, 2009 /

[click "Play" button to hear Susan talk with Lizz Wright]

C98c6988-06ac-47ae-bcb1-dfc65967b87e Chanteuse/songwriter Lizz Wright was only 25 when she first visited town, a guest of the 29th annual Telluride Jazz Celebration. At the time, the soulful young charmer was already brushing shoulders with song stylists such as Cassandra Wilson and Anita Baker, Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln. The buzz among critics was that stars such as Norah Jones and Diana Krall had better get a firm grip on their crowns: Lizz was waiting in the wings.

The sheer beauty and quiet serenity of the lady, the full-bodied texture and musky warmth of her gospel-trained contralto, the conversational way she phrased her lyrics, had the crowd eating out of her hand. This was no aural window dressing. Lizz was – and is –  the real deal.

05 June, 2009 /

[click "Play" button to hear Eileen Burns' conversation with Balloonmeister, Peter Procopio]

by Eileen Burns

photo credit: Steve Cieciuch

BalloonFest_0652 BalloonFest_0657 Up, up and away:  The 26th annual Telluride Balloon Festival flies this weekend, June 6th and 7th, with daily launches from Telluride's Town Park.  Balloonmeister Peter Procopio and 15 of his colleagues will begin inflating their multi-colored hot air balloons at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.  Weather permitting, balloon pilots will launch around 7 a.m. and fly towards the Valley Floor, or wherever the wind may take them. “We’ve all had dreams of drifting along with the breeze,” stated Procopio.  Although staying within the valley and keeping below 12,000 feet is challenging for the crew, Procopio admits that flying in Telluride is worth the effort.  “The people are so inviting and the town is so beautiful, we look forward to coming back each year,” he explained.
 
A highlight of the festival is the main street Telluride Balloon Glo.  To get a closer look at the beautiful designs of the participating balloons, you’ll want to gather with the locals on Colorado Avenue, Saturday evening, around 8:45 p.m.  When the burners are lit, not only do the balloons light up the street, they also light up the beautiful historic buildings.  It’s a sight to remember.

04 June, 2009 /

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's conversation with Paul Machado]

Paul, Flora and Airto Paul Machado took over the helm of the Telluride Jazz Celebration in 1991 reconfiguring the event with aplomb and extending the venue to include local clubs and the Mountain Village. The depth and breadth of his stellar programming and the mountain setting add up to a musical weekend second to none in the world.

For Paul, "jazz" is not just any four letter word, nor does the handle refer to any one specific thing. If Lawrence Welk plays a song John Coltrane wrote, that's not jazz. If John Coltrane plays Lawrence Welk, it is. Jazz for Paul is contextual. For him, the label refers to a certain kind of spontaneous interaction on stage and off. It is an opportunity to enjoy internationally in a unique setting. At its center, Paul believes his Jazz Celebration is an aural elixir that makes a person's ears smile.

04 June, 2009 /

[click "Play" button to hear Ozomatli's Ulises Bella]

OZObyJonCoulthard268 Telluride Jazz Celebration's impresario Paul Machado programs for cultural diversity, including everything from mainstream to mariachi. This year, booking one act alone, he could have covered all his bases.

Ozomatli plays a notorious mash of hip hop and salsa, dancehall and cumbia, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, East L.A. r&b and New Orleans second line, Jamaican reggae, Indian raga and rock.

Ozomatli. The name comes from the Nahuatl word for the Aztec astrological symbol of the monkey, also a god of dance, fire, the new harvest – and music.

03 June, 2009 /

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's interview with Christian Scott]

996418782_l At the 33rd annual Telluride Jazz Celebration, audiences get to come face to face with the future of the genre: young trumpeter Christian Scott. The past is a given.

At the turn of the 20th century, jazz  – or "jass" – referred to the kind of music created by obscure black musicians and played in brothels. The word itself was slang for making love.

At early light, jazz was simply a synthesis of Western harmonic language and forms combined with the rhythms and melodic inflections of Africa. In the 60s, the genre waxed emotional, screaming, moaning and piercing the ear with atonality. The 70s was schizophrenic: The decade witnessed a revival, a return to traditional concepts like Big Band. Newness came from a fusion with rock and the modal themes and drone effects of Eastern religion. In the 80s, the jazz train gained speed with a stronger emphasis on Afro-Latino sounds, especially Brazilian. And so on..

02 June, 2009 /