Summer evenings are almost perfectly embodied by concerts at the , which offer a chance to have a picnic dinner, bottle of wine and listen to some good music.
On Thursday night, patrons got a chance to hear two instrumental virtuosos, and . The show was essentially a co-headline bill, with each performer playing a 75-minute set. (Bush was filling in for Nanci Griffith, who couldn’t play due to illness).
While the Botanic Gardens shows have an intimacy to them that draws you closer to the performers, the noise ordinances in the area keep the music from being too much of a focus.
With both sets, it seemed that early on, the music was turned down a little, making it more of a background to people’s evening out than a concert. Over the course of their sets, whether it was because people stopped talking or the music was turned up, the music became more prominent.
Kottke’s performances mix his dry sense of humor with his often draw-dropping guitar playing. Kottke will play a song or two, often an instrumental, then diverge to tell a rambling story that always ends up eliciting a chuckle, and sometimes drops in subtle bon mots, such as his introducing a song as a “true story, depending on what your definition of reality is.” His account of meeting Steve Winwood in a rickety club perched on a cliff edge ended with Winwood taking his leave as Kottke’s set started, since as the audience moved, the club seemed to bounce up and down.
Much of Kottke’s set concentrated on instrumental pieces that showcased his dexterous fingerpicking on his six- and 12-string Taylor guitars. Kottke did do some his best vocal songs, such as “Pamela Brown” and “Rings.” Kottke’s deep bass voice, never his strength, seemed to have more of a growl to it. “Rings” didn’t flow the way it normally does, but his version of Bob Dylan’s “Corinna, Corinna” fit perfectly in the setting. Kottke closed with a brilliant version of the Allman Brothers’ classic “Little Martha.”
Bush, who is equally at home on fiddle and mandolin, kicked off his set with the bluegrass chestnut “Uncle Pen.” Backed by drummer Chris Brown, bassist Todd Parks, guitarist Stephen Mougin, and banjo player Scott Vestal, Bush mixed in old and new favorites.
Mougin stepped up with brilliant flatpicking on the New Grass Revival classic “Whisper My Name.” On “Circles Around Me,” the line “High in Telluride, up on Bridalveil,” seemed a sly acknowledgement of Bush’s moniker as “King of Telluride.” Bush plays Telluride Bluegrass every year, and says it’s one of his favorite places to play.
Like Kottke, Bush is a stronger player than singer, though his voice worked well on the ballad “Gold Heart Locket.” Bush ended his set with a long instrumental with him on fiddle. He used a delay pedal to create a hypnotic effect on the Irish tune “Morrison’s Jig” before transitioning into bluegrass.
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Candace Horgan is a Denver freelance writer/photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. When not writing and shooting, she plays guitar and violin in Denver band the defCATS.
is a Boulder-based photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
