[JPL] Telluride: 'OZ, Blaise, Mitchell, Hargrove, Sco', Turre, broadcasting, rain etc

[Arturo]

The 31st edition of the Telluride Jazz Celebration was perhaps the best
ever. It was great to see our own Blaise Lantana, her assitant Cari and
Mitchell Feldman present and accounted for. One thing I noticed last year
and was amazed again this year is the determination of the jazz faithful
attending Telluride, it is held during the monsoon season so those going to
hear music do so ready for any amount of rain on the open field, they have
the appropriate rain gear, many also take mini-tents and they camp out
enjoying the music with smiles and enthusiasm during the frequent rain-heavy
at times as well as during the sunshine. No fan runs for covers or leaves
the grounds due to the inclement weather, they stay put, many walk right up
to the front of the John Scofield  main stage and dance to the music. The
after festival day hours in the clubs were also jammed packed with
appreciative fans of all ages.

John Scofield was the Honored Guest as he played several times with varying
sidemen. Steve Turre Quintet was a highlight for me as was Roberta Gambarini
with Denver's Eric Gunnison Trio, Trio Beyond and Sharon Jones & the Dap
Kings were also high on my list. Then there was Mister Hardgroove, Roy
Hargrove who from his arrival Thursday to his departure Monday sat in and
jammed with every student group and just about every group at night in the
clubs, absolutely incredible. I was also most impressed with Roy's drummer
Montez Coleman who brought unrivaled enthusiasm to all the sit ins he
participated in with and without Roy. Stephen Scott and Gerald Clayton also
sat in many times around town. Telluride is a very intimate setting and one
gets to hang with the musicians and other participants all the time, no one
goes anywhere, well there is no where else to go :>)

Several of us KUVO-ers convinced Roy to accompany us on the free gondola
ride to Mountain Village on the top of the mountain surrounding Telluriode
box canyon, this is the publci transportation used by those traveling
between Mountain Village and Telluride so at 11:30pm on Sunday 7 of us
jumped on the gondola with Roy and it was an awesome 1/2 hr round trip
seeing another side of the multi-talented Hargrove who not only played
flugel and trumpet but sat in on piano and scatted at one particular after
hours jam session.

Many of the artist would stop by the side by side booths of WWOZ and KUVO
for interviews after their performances. WWOZ has a state-of-the-art studio
on wheels and are planning to do several more festivals over the next
motnhs, next stop for them is Detroit-Montreux Jazz during Labor Day
weekend. They invited jazz89KUVO to broadcast from the Jazz & Heritage
festival next year, we'll be there. We rented several condos and instead of
eating out, every evening we would prepare meals and have about 15 or 20
persons over for gumbo, shrimp creole, cornish hens, wild rice, Cuban red
beans with picadillo(ground beef), beef stroganoff, salmon and a great
assortment of veggies, side dishes and desserts. There was also a wide array
of wines, beers, sparkling waters and other beverages to choose from.

Now that you know how we do it, perhaps you may want to join us next year
for what promises to be an even better festival......

Arturo