Festival preview, reggae great and Afrozep

by Chris Aaland

Reggae artist Tarrus Riley plays the Animas City Theatre tonight.

For diehard music junkies, festival season usually means weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day. But Durango does things differently. For whatever reason, our festival season is late winter and springtime.

The ninth annual Durango Film Fest is the first out of the gate, starting Wed., Feb. 26 and running for five days through Sun., March 2. 

The Animas City Theatre and the Gaslight are main screening venues; the Durango Arts Center holds workshops and panels; the Sorrel Sky Gallery, Henry Strater Theatre, The Palace Restaurant, Irish Embassy Pub and Mutu’s host parties and receptions. Visit durangofilm.org to find a complete schedule, tickets and more information.

  You’ll then have less than a week to catch your breath in time for the second annual Durango Celtic Festival, which runs from Thursday through Sunday, March 6-9 at the Henry Strater Theatre and Irish Embassy Pub. This year’s headliners include Colcannon, Tramor and Willson & McKee. Visit durangocelticfestival.org for the goods.

Next, from April 11-13 is the 20th annual Durango Bluegrass Meltdown at a variety of local venues, with main stages at the Henry Strater Theatre, the Durango Arts Center and the Wild Horse Saloon. The top acts represent the type of talent you’d expect on a major anniversary: 

Blue Highway, Town Mountain, the Earl Brothers, the Ruined Nation Boys and Jeff Scroggins & Colorado.

I know we sometimes wait too long to get our tickets. I got shut out on Leftover Salmon and Keb’ Mo’ three times in a six-day span, so I know this firsthand. So here’s some free advance warning.

Tarrus Riley, hailed by critics as one of reggae’s most influential artists of the past 15 years, plays the Animas City Theatre tonight (Thurs., Feb. 20). His 2006 masterpiece, “She’s Royal,” was named the “Most Admired Song of the Past 15 Years” at the 2009 Jamaica CVM TV awards show. Among his other accolades include assorted Best Singer, Male Vocalist and Cultural Artiste from such entities as the Youth View Awards, the Star People’s Choice Awards, EME Awards and Reggae Academy Awards. Riley is called “one of the most promising of the second generation of Jamaica roots reggae singers” by critic Steve Leggett and is a former member of both the Uniques and the Techniques. 

Riley’s Love Situation Tour features Dean Fraser and the Blak Soil Band.

The Infamous Stringdusters aren’t coming to Durango this year. In fact, they won’t be at any of the Colorado festivals this summer, either. So if you want to catch their live show anywhere in the region, you’ll have to head up to the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride tonight and Friday. The Dusters have been busy boys since last playing Durango. First, they released “Road to Boulder,” a four-song EP featuring live cuts and a collaboration with Bruce Hornsby, to benefit flood relief efforts on Colorado’s Front Range. 

Then Travis Book, who honed his bluegrass chops in Durango last decade, released his solo debut, “Alice.” The entire band is now finalizing a full album for release this spring. The opening act is no slouch, either. The Deadly Gentlemen feature a bunch of acoustic music’s wunderkind and have reaped a lot of praise from critics and fans alike.

I hope you got Keb’ Mo’ tickets early, as his Wednesday show at the Community Concert Hall is sold out. Traditionalists love his reverence toward Delta blues and its godfather, Robert Johnson. The adult-contemporary, KBCO sect likes his collaborations with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and others. I like it all.

TAO, known as the rock stars of the traditional Japanese drumming of Taiko, stage their new production, “Phoenix Rising” at 7 p.m.  Sunday at the Community Concert Hall. Called “powerful, dynamic and unique,” TAO is said to bring “Cool Japan” to the world.

Africa meets Led Zeppelin? In Aztec? Why not? Afrozep spreads African music to wider audiences while paying tribute to the greatest heavy rock band of all time at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Crash Music in the historic Aztec Theatre. Some tunes are straight mash-ups of Fela Kuti and Zeppelin, while others are Zep tunes set to original grooves based on the music of Tinariwen, Thomas Mapfumo and Franco.

Durango is a trivia town. Tuesday’s Super Ted’s Super Trivia is a staple of Ska’s weekly lineup – my Schlitzkrieg gang has even won a few kegs and several cases of beer. Late night Wednesdays finds trivia at the Irish Embassy Pub. And Thursdays at the Durango Discovery Museum have become popular. Now Carver Brewing Co. is in the mix, albeit with a twist: Singles Trivia (at 6:30 p.m. on hump day, no less). Meet in the back pub. Teams will be assembled and consist of total strangers; then during each round, participants will be paired with a new team. At the end of five rounds, the top five players will compete for fabulous prizes.

Seasons will once again host the “Burning Down the House” fundraiser from 5:30-10 p.m. Saturday. The event benefits Durango’s emergency responders through the 100 Club. Chef David Stewart and sous chef Neil Drysdale have prepared a “smoky and spicy” menu.

And on Sunday, don’t forget the O’Neil Family fundraiser at Ska from 3 - 7 p.m. MaryKay, the longtime librarian at Park Elementary, is battling cancer for the second time while her husband, Paul, was recently diagnosed with ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s disease. There will be a silent auction, food and live music from Running Out of Road.

Elsewhere: Jack Tallmadge plays country music at the Diamond Belle Saloon at 1 p.m. Sunday; Jack Ellis gets busy at the Office Spiritorium at 7 p.m. Friday, the Seven Rivers Steakhouse at the Sky Ute Casino at 5 p.m. Saturday and the Derailed Pour House at 6 p.m. Wednesday; the Kirk James Blues Band entertains at Purgy’s from 2-5 p.m. Saturday; and the Black Velvet band works the Derailed at 8 p.m. Saturday while its duo does 6512 Restaurant & Lounge at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

This week’s Top Shelf list recalls my favorite blues shows in Durango the past 25 years:

• Hot Tuna, April 19, 1992, FLC Fine Arts Auditorium
• Koko Taylor, Smiley Auditorium, March 26, 1994.
• Keb’ Mo’, Sept. 19, 1996, Smiley Auditorium
• Marcia Ball, March 19, 1998, San Juan Room
• Long John Hunter, Dec. 12, 1998, San Juan Room
• Otis Taylor, Jan. 15, 1999, Henry Strater Theatre
• Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Feb. 5, 2000, Diamond Circle Theatre
• James Cotton, Feb. 7, 2003, Community Concert Hall
• Taj Mahal, March 25, 2005, Abbey Theatre
• Charlie Musselwhite, July 27, 2005, Durango Arts Center

Some joker got lucky? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.