An alto saxophone touting sophomore of the University of Denver once reminded me that in jazz, cool cats can come from anywhere. And last weekend, not even near-constant rain and omnipresent mud could keep them away from the funk and fusion heavy vibe.
While some made the six-hour trek from Denver to Telluride, others rushed through the mud as gates opened Friday afternoon to stake their place in the mud of Telluride Town Park.
The rainy main stage in the park on the first day featured the likes of the Kevin McCarthy Trio, Sobredosis Del Sabor, Jeff Coffin and Mu’tet, the Nigel Hall Band and Ms. Lisa Fischer & Grand Baton.
Though some listeners lamented the lack of traditional jazz in the line up, complaints were forgotten and as quickly as cares of non-muddied clothes once the music and the dancing began.
Around the music, ticket holders took advantage some free liquor with a spirits tasting and food within the gates while some locals and other tourists posted up just outside the gates under trees to hear the music.
Come dusk, the crowds headed into the bars, restaurants and venues along Telluride’s main drag for the Jazz After Dark shows, shaking off ponchos and rain jackets near the door and getting warm by getting down.
Some first stopped at their tents in the nearby campground or hustled to one of the many tricked out camper vans along side streets for a change of clothes.
The first nightap schedule lined up headliner Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentleman at the historic Sheridan Opera House — a much more intimate venue than the main stage sporting his name for the weekend that he would take the next day — Nigel Hall at a underground bar down the street with the Telluride All Stars Jazz Ensemble sharing a venue with Sobredosis Del Sabor between the two.
Catching all the music took some strategic planning on the street side.
Some festivalgoers abandoned the other two stages and picked their favorite while others planned to catch two or three songs of each. One group, waiting in the line outside the opera house for Cleary, decided getting a chance to hear everyone was more important than remaining a group and split up, promising to debrief later.
Inside the Sheridan, Cleary and his band took the stage following an introduction that included neither the first nor the last joke about weed at a jazz festival.
The soaked crowd laughed and cheered for both.
Cleary chastised the audience for sitting down and led the band into their New Orleans inspired R&B and funk style repertoire as people took to the dance floor.
The parties carried on well into the night. When Cleary and the Gentlemen wrapped up, drummer A.J. Hall stopped into the Nigel Hall show down the road and kept rolling. Staff had to cut the show short of the 2 a.m. close time and push the crowds toward their lodging.
Saturday kicked off with student-group Stillwater Allstars and the Telluride Student All-Star Jazz Ensemble before Veronica Swift and the Eric Gunnison Trio took the main stage.
Following more free booze, Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band with Jeff Coffin took the stage. The performance featured the jaw dropping sax skills Coffin has become famous for and a chance for the student-filled Super Band to show of their own soloing skills alongside the jazz giant.
The Main Stage show wrapped up with John Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, who expertly staged up their New Orleans sound for the larger audience, and Marcus Miller.
That night, listeners again rushed to indoor venues, this time for Kermit Ruffins & the BBQ Swingers, Rebirth Brass Band and Jeff Coffin & the Mu’tet.
The Saturday evening lineup showcased the different avenues of modern jazz within the genre. While Kermit Ruffins entertained at the opera house — a show that a brimming man on the last gondola ride of the night would later describe as listening to a modern Louis Armstrong — crowds got rowdy with the Rebirth Brass Band’s fat New Orleans groove and listeners tried to nod and bob along to a decisively more avant-garde sound from Jeff Coffin’s group.
On the second day, sunny skies beamed over a traditional New Orleans-style second line parade through town. Rebirth Brass Band took the first line lead while additional musicians and fans flooded the streets for an enthusiastic second line to the park.
Festival goers, decked out in muddied clothes and Mardi Gras garb alike, passed slack liners and sand volleyball players on their way through the park to the final main stage shows.
The crowd enjoyed drier dancing conditions in the park until an afternoon storm interrupted the Rebirth Brass Band set. Soon, lightening and safety concerns caused an evacuation of the park for about an hour.
During the sudden storm, a mudslide closed the main road out of Telluride, extending the stay of many attendees in the valley.
Thankfully, festival goers could pass the time while road crews worked with a set from the John Scofield & Jon Cleary Duo, who apologized to Rebirth’s members for the weather cutting their set short.
As the sun set over the breathtakingly picturesque surroundings of Telluride and Galactic played out the festival with stellar horns over the echo of bass against the mountains, people turned to one another and agreed: There are definitely worse places to get stranded on a Sunday night.
