Valley digging groovy bop on Jazz Day

By Will Buzzerd Sopris Sun Correspondent

International Jazz Day is Sunday, April 30, and TACAW, Jazz Aspen Snowmass (JAS) and the Glenwood Springs Arts Council (GSAC) will provide live music for all the Valley hepcats. TACAW and JAS will together host a full day of food and music at Willits, while GSAC plans a celebration at Bethel Plaza under the Grand Avenue Bridge in the afternoon.

In 2011, International Jazz Day was designated by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) “to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe.” Jazz Day is chaired in-part by legendary jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock and seeks to unite communities around the globe through the power of music — and, true to the spirit of the genre, performing simultaneously. Last year, Jazz

Day events took place in over 180 countries across the globe, and in 2023 the Roaring Fork Valley will be getting in on the festivities.

“Being able to present something downvalley with TACAW is a great opportunity and hopefully will allow us to reach a larger audience,” said JAS Senior Vice President Andrea Beard.

The events at TACAW represent JAS’s first International Jazz Day celebration and will be a mix of free and ticketed concerts throughout the day, starting with a ticketed Jazz Brunch 10am to 1pm. The brunch will feature a mix of live music and streamed performances, catered by Aspen-based company Epicure Catering.

After a brief break, some of the best young jazz performers in our corner of Colorado will play for the JAS Student Showcase. At 2pm, bands from Aspen, Roaring Fork, Glenwood Springs,

Rifle and Coal Ridge high schools will take to TACAW’s main stage for a free-to-thepublic performance. JAS has traditionally held the Student Showcase in the spring, but this time will include its talented young musicians in the main festivities.

To round out the evening, Sammy Miller and the Congregation, a New York City-based seven-piece band, will take the stage at 8pm for a seated set of soulful and upbeat music. Called “joyful jazz with lots of laughs and

Carbondale residents mark their historic homes

By James Steindler Contributing Editor

Perhaps you recall a Sopris Sun article that was printed at precisely this time last year, which is appropriate as this is a story of historical nature. The article, “Taking pride in history,” explained that, at the time, there was but one Carbondale resident who had a sign posted expounding upon the historical significance of her home.

As of now, nine others in Carbondale have joined her rank.

A year ago, CHPC began promoting the option for owners of historical structures of merit in

Perhaps wait a week to give the installers time, then take a stroll through Carbondale and you’ll spy signs at these historic homes:

Carbondale to have a sign installed in front of their home.

John Williams, a devout member of the Carbondale Historic Preservation Commission (CHPC), told The Sopris Sun that there’s been a positive response and that more people would like to have their homes marked. The good news for them is that it’s never too late.

Williams conceded that nearly every step the sign-committee took during this initial go-round was met with complication, but those speedbumps have been ironed out. For instance, it took a bit of back and forth to pin down a sign maker, but they got the cost down from nearly $100 to $45 per sign.

CHPC member Eric Doud is one of the nine people who recently obtained a sign. Doud lives at the “Old Red'' house, 710 Euclid Avenue, the legendary Mary Ferguson’s childhood home. Some may recognize Ferguson’s name because of the show she had on KDNK Community Access Radio, “This I Remember,” clips of which have been revived on the radio station’s airwaves as of late. The original archives are preserved by the Carbondale Historical Society, the successor of the Mt. Sopris Historical Society which was founded by Ferguson.

Doud has a sincere interest in Carbondale’s history, as is expected being a CHPC member, and has an interesting relationship with the Town himself. He began his life in Carbondale, but in the ‘50s his family was “starved out” because there was no work at the time for his dad, who had been a wrangler. Carbondale was always calling Doud back, however, so he returned for theatricality” by the Los Angeles Times, and “brassy stomp your feet dance music” by the San Francisco Times, the Congregation has played with friends like Wynton Marsalis and OneRepublic, and performed everywhere from Newport Jazz Festival to the White House. They promise a high-energy, high-fun show designed, in their own words, “to put the generosity back into jazz and bring art back to the people.” While The Congregation’s performance is ticketed, TACAW will live-stream International Jazz Day celebration shows from throughout the world for free. Weather permitting (if winter ever relinquishes the spotlight), live jazz will also be performed on TACAW’s outdoor stage. “With both free and ticketed events continued on page 10 good less than a decade ago.

Doud added that the home was the first house on the block and was built so the daughters of the original owners, August and Anna Sumnicht, could be in town and closer to school. It started out as a two-room log cabin.

Later, the building was known as “the cat house,” Doud shared, as there were about 20 cats living there for a 20 year period. Ferguson’s son, Marvin, more widely known as “Fergie,” fed and cared for the cats during that time.

Doud happens to be an architect, and it’s clear as day that he cares about the historical integrity of the home. While he began a remodel a few years ago, the inside of the home still holds true to its roots. Upon walking in the front door, one faces the original log wall.

“The old bones have real merit, and they can’t be replaced with modern construction. It wouldn’t have the same feel,” Doud said. “The people who lived here left an impression.”

Williams and Doud will personally install the nine signs at the homes, either on an existing wall or fence, or plant a continued on page 22