The Bright and Morning Star Band

Rock royalty, Mambo Kings and Cosmopop
 
by Chris Aaland

KDUR station manager Bryant Liggett texted me Friday to come to the station immediately. An hour earlier, the station had its virgin broadcast from its incredible new control room in the newly-renovated Student Union. (It had broadcast from the production room of its new digs for about a month while new equipment was being installed.)

I’ve broadcast from five different KDUR studios since I first hit the airwaves in 1988. This Monday (July 11) marks my first broadcast in the new digs and the sixth KDUR studio I’ve done a show from. I guess that makes me an old-timer.

But that wasn’t the history that Liggett was prodding me to be part of last Friday. Jamie Oldaker, a certified member of American rock royalty, was sitting in the interview chair alongside up-and-coming singer/guitarist Garrett LeBeau. Never heard of Jamie? You’ve certainly heard him bang the drums. He toured and recorded with Eric Clapton for 17 years, including much of Slowhand’s seminal ‘70s output. He was part of Bob Seger’s Silver Bullet Band and Frehley’s Comet, fronted by former Kiss axeman Ace Frehley. He was a founding member of the Tractors, a country act that sprung out of Tulsa in the early ‘90s. The Who’s Who that the drummer has pounded out beats for includes Stephen Stills, Leon Russell, Peter Frampton, Freddie King, Asleep at the Wheel, the Bellamy Brothers and the Bee Gees. He’s currently wrapping up the long-awaited (as in 40 years) second album by Willis Alan Ramsey.

Oldaker, LeBeau and company would play the Derailed Saloon later that night. I once saw Oldaker from the second row of Red Rocks on Clapton’s Behind the Sun Tour in 1985, a show that saw them open with Cream’s “White Room.”

For those who complain that there’s no good live music in Durango, think again. You just never know when royalty will grace us.

The silver anniversary of Music in the Mountains is upon us, meaning weeks of classical music at a variety of venues across the Four Corners. The Mambo Kings, upstate New York’s foremost purveyors of Latin jazz, play the festival tent at Durango Mountain Resort at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The band’s repertoire includes a variety of originals, American songbook standards and jazz classics by the likes of Chick Corea and Miles Davis in addition to their Latin fare. The group’s five members have performed alongside Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Tito Puente, Chuck Mangione, the Temptations and others.

The 15th annual KOTO Doo-Dah presents Keller & the Keels and three other acts Saturday at Town Park in Telluride. Keller, of course, is Keller Williams, a guitarist who uses loops to become a one-man jam band. The Keels are the husband-and-wife duo of Larry and Jenny Keel. As a trio, they’ve recorded a pair of bluegrass albums. The intriguing lineup also includes the psychedelic hard rock of Rose Hill Drive, classic rock covers by

Tucson’s Five Way Street and Telluride’s own Funkdafari. Gates open at 3 p.m. with music to start at Sedona’s in the house! Gabriel of Uranthia/TaliasVan of Tora (yes, he has two stage names) and the Bright & Morning Star Band play the Community Concert Hall at 7 p.m. Friday. His musical career, which dates back to the ‘60s, includes more than 18 singles and five full-length albums. According to the group’s press kit, “Gabriel was the pioneer and innovator of the first New Age vocal album in 1985, and now he introduces CosmoPop® music. CosmoPop is higher-consciousness vocal music and … spiritually hip. CosmoPop is a fusion of styles including rock, jazz, Celtic, world, mantra, country, folk and more. The lyrics and messages of CosmoPop attract people from all religions and walks of life who come together under the banner of ‘One God, One Planetary Family.’”

Or, as John Hartford croaked on 1971’s “Aereo-Plain,” “Hey babe, you wanna boogie?”

Austin singer/songwriter Leo Rondeau returns to the Abbey at 8 p.m. Friday. With two albums of alt-country to his credit, Rondeau has drawn praise for his “half-drunk, tongue-in-cheek air.” D.L. Marble & His Amazing Hippies headline the show.

The Stone Foxes, a Bay Area rock band that draws from classic ‘60s and ‘70s influences like the Band, Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin, plays the free weekly Sunset Concert Series at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Sunset Plaza in Mountain Village near Telluride.

Telluride comes to Durango in the form of Joint Point, which plays the Summit on Friday. Joint Point’s sound incorporates smooth and driving melodies, intricate foundations and adventurous, organic jams.

This week’s Starlight lineup includes Freeplay doing FAC from 6-9 p.m. Friday, DJ music and dancing with Soultron at 9 p.m. Friday and live music from the Diabolical Sound Platoon at 9 p.m. Saturday. There’s also the regular weekly stuff like Salsa Night (8 p.m. tonight, Thurs., July 7), Musica del Mundo (9 p.m. Sunday), Dogs Gone Wild (bring your mutt and chill on the patio from 7-11 p.m. Monday) and open mic/karaoke (8 p.m. Tuesday).

Also of note: Hello Dollface rocks tonight’s Ska-B-Q from 5-7 p.m. at the World Headquarters in Bodo Park; High Altitude Blues lands at the Doubletree Hotel’s Animas River Café from 5-9 p.m. tonight; 11 lb. Lemon does acoustic originals and covers at Ska from 5-7 p.m. Friday; Freeplay plays the

Balcony Bar & Grill from 6-10 p.m. Saturday; and Black Velvet is back at the Balcony at 5 p.m. Sunday and at Rylee Mac’s at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

This week’s Top Shelf list features a half-dozen essential albums that Jamie Oldaker drummed on:
1. “461 Ocean Boulevard,” Eric Clapton, 1974. Oldaker played on most tracks, including “Motherless Children,” “I Shot the Sheriff” and “Willie and the Hand Jive.”
2. “Slowhand,” Clapton, 1977. EC’s finest hour.
3. “Stop All that Jazz,” Leon Russell, 1974. A forgotten gem.
4. “The Tractors,” self-titled, 1994. A bunch of legendary Oklahoma session musicians created alt-country magic.
5. “Back in ’72,” Bob Seger, 1973. An early classic that featured “Turn the Page” and Van Morrison’s “I’ve Been Working.”
6. “Mad Dogs & Okies,” various artists, 2011. Numerous Oklahoma-born artists and others often associated with Oldaker offered up new recordings, including Willie Nelson, Taj Mahal, J.J. Cale, Vince Gill, Bonnie Bramlett, Tony Joe White, Peter Frampton and Clapton.

Oklahoma’s got the Tulsa shuffle? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net