A night of pure jazz and pure rock and roll-Aspen What a lifestyle!

June 21st, 2008 at 02:09pm rochelle 35

Big Russ is known for saying "What a country"...here in Aspen it is "What a lifestyle"! Last night I met a friend at Brunelleschis in Aspen. I haven't been to the place since winter and this summer Brunelleschis has open aired the place by getting rid of the windows and offering patio seating. The place was packed last night with locals and tourists alike. It was a fun crowd and the staff was quite entertaining. After explaining to our waiter that I could not take a second glass of merlot as we had three concerts to attend last night he came back with an espresso martini and stated "If you don't like it I will drink it"...well for a non-martini drinker it was wonderful!! It tasted like chocolate milk and kept me awake till 2 a.m. After Brunelleschis my friend and I headed to Rio Grande Park to check out the Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Festival. As we entered the tent The Manahattan Transfer were on stage and had the crowd singing along thru out their set. I flashed back to my college days when I sung wth the jazz kids in the basement of Snyder Hall at UNC. During the show last night I watched the JAS Academy students dancing in the aisles...the only bummer was The Manhattan Transfer did not perform an encore. I was craving more and I will have to settle by digging out my old tapes and buying some CD's. After a lengthy intermission where I ran into friends from all over I went back to the tent to catch the energetic Anita Baker on stage-she told the crowd she will be playing all the oldies and she did...her voice has not aged-it still has that grammy award winning sound-after watching a few sets my friend and I hiked up a few blocks to see The Raconteurs at the Belly Up in Aspen. The show was sold-out, and the band ROCKED! From the moment the first lick of the guitar was given it was pure rock and roll. I ended up on the floor about 20 feet from Jack White and was banging my head with the best of them. The band reminded me of what I imagined The Rolling Stones were like in their twenties. From the artsy-backdrop to the cool clothes each musician identified themselves with...to the pure talent and obvious enjoyment each person had on stage-The Raconteurs rocked the Belly Up! "Aspen-What a lifestyle"! For more information on the Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Festival go to www.jazzaspen.org and for more information on the Belly Up in Aspen go to www.bellyupaspen.com

Entry Filed under: Music, Aspen, Colorado, Jazz, Women, The West, United Post