You can’t say there’s a lack of music in Durango.
The fifth annual Durango Ragtime & Early Jazz Festival will be held March 24-26 at the Strater Hotel, and there are some pretty cool things happening this year.
Michelle Martinez, general manager at the Strater, says the festival is a nod to the area’s history.
“Ragtime has been such a facet of our history because of our 130 years, and what it’s done in the Diamond Belle,” she says. “It’s so synonymous of the West in its own way, the Wild West.”
At the beginning, the Strater teamed up with local musician Adam Swanson and decided to bring in musicians from around the world.
Swanson will kick off the festival at 10 a.m. March 24 with a talk about the Golden Age of Hollywood’s fascination with ragtime. The weekend then continues with Pullman Sessions, which are short programs (15 to 30 minutes) that focus on a specific piece of music. The cool thing about these sessions is not only do you see the piece performed, the musician also gives you a little insight into the history of the piece..
The afternoons will feature “Ragtime Roots” performances, and the evenings are for “Dixieland in Durango” concerts. “There’s a lot of fun stuff, and it all has a different theme,” Martinez says.
Something different this year, Martinez says, is the event that will be held the morning of March 26. Silent black-and-white film comedies will be shown, accompanied by live piano music.
And in a town full of music, Martinez says this is one you don’t see every day.
“It’s something different for Durango. These are musicians you’re not going to see anywhere else in Durango – they come here just for us,” Martinez says. “The Strater has always been about craftsmanship, and these entertainers are at the top of their craft; they’re also craftsmen, they create an emotion and a memory and bring the past alive. And they’re also moving into the future and helping set the pace for future music genres.”
Along with music, history talks and symposiums, there will be dinner specials throughout the weekend and after-parties from 9:30 p.m. to 1:45 a.m. at the Diamond Belle, where the musicians will show up and jam.
“Everybody packs the bar and they stay up and they sing and they socialize and you get to meet the entertainers one-on-one and just become friends with them and it’s great,” Martinez says.
katie@durangoherald.com
Tickets
Durango Ragtime & Early Jazz Festival offers all-access, day, individual and student tickets.
To buy tickets, go to http://bit.ly/2g5ZLBt.
Festival Entertainment Schedule
Friday, March 24
Pullman Room
10-11 a.m.: Ragtime in Hollywood Symposium with Adam Swanson.
Pullman Sessions
11:15-11:45 a.m.: Adam Swanson (special set with slide show)
11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.: Brian Holland.
12:15-12:45 p.m.: Carl Sonny Leyland.
12:45-2:30 p.m.: Lunch break.
Henry Strater Theatre
2:30-4:30 p.m.: “Ragtime Roots” concert. Danny Coots, Brian Holland, Morten Gunnar Larsen, Carl Sonny Leyland, Adam Swanson.
4:30-7 p.m.: Dinner break.
Henry Strater Theatre
7-9 p.m.: “Dixieland in Durango” concert. Act I: Morten Gunnar Larsen, Carl Sonny Leyland and Adam Swanson. Act II: Holland/Coots Jazz Quintet.
9 p.m.–1:45 a.m.: After-Hours Party in the Diamond Belle Saloon.
Saturday, March 25
Pullman Room
10-11 a.m.: Memories of Eubie Blake. Symposium with Morten Gunnar Larsen. Morten was very fortunate in getting to meet and to study with the 90-year-old master when he came to Oslo to perform in 1977. Larsen was then a young student of classical piano.
Pullman Sessions
11:15-11:45 a.m.: Morten Gunnar Larsen.
11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.: Carl Sonny Leyland and Marc Caperone, trumpet.
12:15–12:45 p.m.: Brian Holland.
12:45-2:30 p.m.: Lunch break.
Henry Strater Theatre
2:30-4:30 p.m.: “American Standards” concert. Act I: Holland/Coots Jazz Quintet. Act II: Morten Gunnar Larsen and Adam Swanson. Concert showcases the American standards of the 1920s and ’30s that have become what is now called the “Great American Songbook.”
4:30- 7 p.m.: Dinner break:
Henry Strater Theatre
7-9 p.m.: “Rag-a-Jazz” concert. Act I: Morten Gunnar Larsen, Carl Sonny Leyland, and Adam Swanson. Act II: Holland/Coots Jazz Quintet. Concert with all the festival headliners.
9 p.m.–1:45 a.m.: After Hours Party in the Diamond Belle Saloon.
Sunday, March 26
Henry Strater Theatre
10-11:30 a.m.: Silent Film Comedies with Adam Swanson, piano.
“Out West” (Starring “Fatty” Arbuckle and Buster Keaton, 1918).
“His Wooden Wedding” (Starring Charley Chase, 1925).
“The Dome Doctor” (Starring Larry Semon, 1925).
Pullman Sessions
11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.: Brian Holland.
12:15-12:45 p.m.: Carl Sonny Leyland.
12:45-2:30 p.m.: Lunch break.
Henry Strater Theatre
2:30-4:30 p.m.: “Morten Gunnar Larsen in Concert.”
Because he is traveling all the way from Norway for our festival, we want to take advantage of Morten’s presence by devoting an entire concert to his talents. Morten is a pianist nonpareil and leader of the Ophelia Ragtime Orchestra, one of only two or three truly professional ragtime orchestras in the world. Morten’s specialties include Louis M. Gottschalk, classic ragtime, Eubie Blake, Jelly Roll Morton and more.
4:30-7 p.m.: Dinner break.
Henry Strater Theatre
7-9 p.m.: “Show Stoppers” concert.
Act I: Morten Gunnar Larsen, Carl Sonny Leyland and Adam Swanson. Act II: Holland/Coots Jazz Quintet. The grand festival finale once again includes all festival headliners. It is likely to include many duets and much collaboration among the musicians, in addition to real “show stopping” material. How many musicians can we fit in the Henry Strater Theatre? Come to the festival finale to find out!
9 p.m.–1:45 a.m.: After Hours Party in the Diamond Belle Saloon.
