High Points: Summer sounds in town

Thursday afternoon, shortly after the noon whistle blew at the fire station, summer slipped into Aspen. At 2:50 p.m. mountain time, the earth completed its annual northerly tilt of 23.44° toward the sun and is now in the process of reversing itself. For the next 94 days, until the autumnal equinox on Sept. 22, we will be officially in the season of the sun.

Summer in Aspen, as we all know, is magical. It is a time to run, ride, swim, paddle, fish, plant, party, and dance into the late night as the sounds of summer surround us. The first opportunity to do so was Thursday night as JAS Aspen, taking its cue from the sun, kicking off three nights (and a Sunday morning of music) of celebration with the JAS Aspen June Experience. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy did their thing at Belly Up, and the JAS Academy Big Band, arranged and conducted by Christian McBride, paid tribute to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, by featuring  Ms. Lisa Fischer, a longtime backup singer for The Rolling Stones at the Rio Grande VIP Tent. Royalty indeed.

Friday and Saturday will see more music each evening than most mountain towns get in a month, as twelve different venues — ranging from larger spaces like the aforementioned Belly Up and the Wheeler Opera House to more cozy confines like the Felix Roasting Company in the corner of Hotel Jerome and Unravel Coffee + Bar — host concerts. Ticket holders will be able to wander their way around town to see different performances as they have staggered start times beginning around 5 p.m. and go on late into the night. Don’t like the funk? Then just walk from one venue to the next to change the vibe in this special collection of sounds from across musical spectrums.

Bands on Friday include The New Mastersounds 25th Anniversary, Tommy Emmanuel, and Bobby Rush (still singing at age 90!) Cedric Burnside Trio, Katie Thiroux, JAS Academy Big Band with Ms. Lisa Fischer & Christian McBride, Ben Paterson Trio, The Rumble, Stephane Wrembel Gypsy Jazz, Acute Inflections, Mokoomba.

Saturday will see performances by The Headhunters 50th Anniversary, Jon Cleary & The Absolute Gentlemen with special guest Nigel Hall, Cory Henry, Orquesta Akokán (direct from Havana!), a tribute to the late great jazz bassist Ray Brown with Christian McBride, Benny Green & Gregory Hutchinson, in addition to other performers.

A stellar selection of great acts.

I can’t help but think that a musical gathering of the tribes that begins on the summer solstice is almost primal. For thousands of years, humans have welcomed the change of season with music dance and celebration. From the medieval get-togethers at Stonehenge in England to the Midnight Sun Festival in Reykjavik in Iceland to the honoring of Ra the sun god, people of the north have welcomed the change of season to the good old summertime. I suspect that in this very valley when the Utes ran the land, they, too, embraced the solstice with song. The only difference is that we do it with jazz.

Today in Aspen there will be 14:55:39 between the sunrise at 5:41 a.m. and the sunset at 8:37 p.m. Astronomical twilight will last until 10:37 p.m. It is a good day — and night — to celebrate the beginning of the season with song.

Enjoy!