Irish tenors, Afrozep and elk necks
by Chris Aaland
I’ll end the debate for the ages on whether or not Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time. With four Super Bowl wins and six appearances under his belt, he most certainly is. I might even learn to like him if he didn’t play for the Evil Empire. So deflate them balls and suck on that for a moment. Greatest of all time. Sorry, Johnny U, Super Joe and Duke of Denver. Argument over.
Durango Massive turns the Animas City Theatre into a hip, UK dance club at 9 p.m. Saturday when it welcomes the New Mastersounds, a band formed in Leeds in 1999. Through the years, they’ve worked with dance, funk and soul legends on both sides of the Atlantic, including members of the Neville Brothers, the Meters, the JB’s, Phish, Brand New Heavies and Portishead. The local electronic/funk/jam group, SkyPilot, opens.
The Henry Strater Theatre hosts Tommy & Saundra O’Sullivan direct from Ireland at 7 p.m. Sunday, with Patrick’s Crossing opening. Irish Music Magazine praises them for “a tenor voice that has all the ring of Waterford Crystal which has only ever served smoky whiskey.” The O’Sullivans will also host an informal workshop at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the Irish Embassy Pub’s Ambassador Lounge and will join the regular-scheduled 12:30 p.m. Celtic jam session upstairs in the Embassy. Additionally, the Mahogany Grille will have a special Irish dinner with local Celtic act Chuckely Howe playing traditional background music.
This week is a fun one in Telluride, with Brett Dennen playing a sold-out, solo, acoustic show at the Sheridan Opera House tonight (Thur., Feb. 5) and opener Willy Tea Taylo. Reggae legends the Wailers (yes, Bob Marley’s old backing band) boogie on at 9 p.m. Sunday. Together with Marley, the Wailers have sold more than 250 million albums and have played to an estimated 24 million people across the globe. Outside of their work with Marley, they’ve performed with Sting, the Fugees, Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana and a veritable Who’s Who of reggae, including Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Burning Spear.
 Direct from the Emerald Isle, Tommy and Saundra O'Sullivan play the Hank at 7 p.m. Sunday. |
Crash Music at the historic Aztec Theatre welcomes back AfroZep at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Originating in 2009, the group’s mission is to spread African music to wider audiences while paying tribute to the greatest heavy rock band of all time. Some tunes are straight mash-ups of Fela Kuti and Zeppelin; others are Zep songs set to original grooves based on the music of artists such as Tinariwen, Thomas Mapfuno and Franco.
Moe’s launches 1st Saturdays presented by Animas Herbal Wellness, with live music and dancing to DJs CK and Baby Bel from 8 ‘til close Saturday. Ladies receive free shots and there are great giveaways courtesy Animas Herbal Wellness. CK and Baby Bel also spin on Funked Up Friday at 8 p.m.
In drinking news, Steamworks’ yummy S’more Firkin gets tapped at the brewery at 3 p.m. Friday (its actual debut was at Purgy’s last Friday). Just like the gooey chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker campfire treat of your youth, the S’more Firkin uses milk sugar, pure vanilla extract, cinnamon, honey and molasses to represent the graham cracker component; cocoa powder for additional chocolate character; and a large quantity of marshmallow crème. It’s based in the award-winning Backside Stout.
Also, limited quantities of Ska’s Durango Film bombers are available in Durango and at the World Headquarters in Bodo Park. This blonde ale was brewed with champagne yeast and orange peels exclusively for the film festival’s tenth anniversary. I’ve yet to sample it, but the reviews I’ve received from beer geeks are rave ones.
As is tradition post-Super Bowl, this week’s Top Shelf list recounts the menu of my annual Wild Game Super Bowl:
1. Grand champion: Dirk Lang’s swamp sauce piquante. My Louisiana buddy stuck with his roots, making the traditional Cajun dish with alligator, crawdads, shrimp, catfish and andouille sausage and served over white rice.
2. Runner-up: Elwin Johnston’s elk neck stew. Elwin and his gal-pal, Lisa Marie Jacobs, flavored their stew with cardamom. For those who’ve never eaten the elk, it’s damn tender.
3. Bronze medal: Brian Stahlin’s cottontail rabbit roasted with pearl onions and potatoes. So simple. So tender. So delicious. These little bunnies were hopping around the sage near Dolores a week earlier.
Also in the hunt for a spot on the podium:
- Brian & Jenny Hirt’s smoked ribs with a simple rub. No sauce necessary. These ribs were tasty and tender, but what made the meal was the fact that Brian had to shovel snow off his back patio in order to find room for the smoker.
- Jerry McBride’s pheasant egg rolls. A former roommate of mine, Jerry and I have served up these for years. Roasted green chiles, cheese and pheasant meat deep fried in egg roll wrappers.
- My own smoked pheasant pot pie, done in a dark BREW Oscar gravy. I wrapped three pheasant breasts in bacon, then smoked for 14 hours over hickory in my Little Chief smoker. I then removed the smoky bacon, rendered it in a cast-iron skillet, and sautéed pearl onions and celery in the grease. The gravy was a roux of four pints of Oscar, with flour, cream, beef bouillon, garlic, salt & pepper and agave syrup added to thicken. Chunks of smoked pheasant and bacon, plus the sautéed onions and celery and boiled potatoes and carrots were added to the sauce and finished with a homemade pie crust courtesy of Jenny Hirt.
- My jalapeño poppers. One batch was made with giant, mellow jalapeños that I roasted, then stuffed with smoked quail and three kinds of cheese. Each popper was then wrapped in bacon and fried. The second batch was essentially the same, except for smaller, extremely spicy jalapeños and stuffed with roasted pheasant and the same cheese mix, wrapped in bacon and fried.
- Kynan Kelly brought his wife’s ginger snaps, which are always a hit.
- Steve Miller’s cake didn’t make it through halftime.
- Ryan Owens returned from Missouri to offer up queso dip, which I served alongside my guacamole.
- Erik & Lainie Maxson brought growlers of BREW Oscar and Gwendolyn barleywine, thus ensuring Monday hangovers.
- Durango Craft Spirits’ Soiled Doves vodka made for some damn tasty Bloody Marys and Moscow Mules.
You gotta be a football hero? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.