Aspen Historical Society Pictures
I have a very large music collection. Shuffle lets you hear everything from arias to zydeco. My diverse musical tastes are almost entirely related to Aspen.
My parents connected me to jazz and through local musicians. Freddie Fisher moved to Aspen when I was younger. During his big band days, Fischer appeared in his own band, Freddie Fischer and his Schnickel Fritz Orchestra, and appeared in nine films. he quit the band. He formed a commune and found that those who joined oozed from him, so he moved to Aspen.As a boy I marveled at his clarinet playing.
My parents’ favorites, Joe Marsala and Adele Girard, came to Aspen in the 1950s. Marsala has found success as a clarinetist, band leader, and song writer, including Frank Sinatra’s recordings. Girard was unusually a jazz harpist. They wanted to stay away from the tours and late-night bars filled with alcohol and smoke in big cities.
Aspen had live entertainment in many restaurants and clubs in the 1950s and ’60s. Cal Tjader spends most of the season here, and the annual jazz gathering attracts nationally known musicians. Even Billie Holiday was booked with Red Onion in the 1950s.
At the same time, Aspen was a favorite destination for folk musicians. Glenn Yarbrough was co-owner of Limelight and was performing with his favorite partner, Marilyn Child. As a kid, I could listen to them practice as I walked down the alleys behind Limelight. Limeliters was formed there. When the Smothers Brothers played straight his folk, Judy Collins, Burr he Ives, Bob his Gibson also tin his Aspen. In the 1960s, the Garveys (also known as Pat and Victoria) and the Irish Rovers spent a full season in Aspen.
Aspen’s nightclubs mostly transitioned to rock in the mid-’60s. Galena Street East opened on “Coke Night” for his local teens. “British Invasion” groups such as The Beatles and Stones did not come to Aspen, but this was the era of garage bands, who did not write their own songs and in some cases performed covers that surpassed the original artists. provided. Bands with wide audiences nationally like Black Pearl have played his Aspen.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Don Ellis Band, Stan Kenton, Pozo Secco Singers and Irish Rovers played jazz, rock and folk at 1960s and 70s clubs such as The Abbey, Aspen Inn Club and Snowmass’ Leather Jug. I was.
The Aspen Music Festival connected us all to classical music, even if we weren’t interested, because we could hear the students practicing as we walked down the downtown streets. Being a board member and entertaining musicians at his house as I passed by, I connected “real” people to music. After high school, I worked every summer at a festival where he spent nine weeks immersing himself in the best music the genre had to offer.
Sandy Monroe brought Aspen and bluegrass together by teaching bluegrass music classes at his music store and high school. People with similar interests organized an annual bluegrass festival in the 1970s that included fiddle and flatpicking guitar contests, bringing together the best in the country. There were also great bands like Hot Rize and New Grass Revival.
Coming full circle, Aspen has attracted famous musicians who wanted a place to relax between tours, or who were tired of the rigors of touring life but still wanted to entertain small crowds. John Denver, Jimmy Buffett, members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the Eagles are well known. In addition, tour backup musicians like Jon Summers, who toured with Denver, have landed in Aspen.
Aspen today offers the same access to the quality and diversity of music and musicians. Live performances and their personal connection take the musical experience far beyond tuning into Spotify. If you’re like me, and music is an integral part of your life and your daily enjoyment, then you’re out there in the deep, untracked powder and 14-passenger mountain peaks, where music makes Aspen’s great. You must agree to be one of the gifts.
The story of Tim Willoughby’s family is similar to that of Aspen. He began sharing folklore while teaching at Aspen Country Day School and Colorado where he taught at Mountain College. Now touring his hometown, he sees it from a historical perspective.contact him redmtn2@comcast.net.
The story of Tim Willoughby’s family is similar to that of Aspen. He began sharing folklore while teaching at Aspen Country Day School and Colorado where he taught at Mountain College. Now touring his hometown, he sees it from a historical perspective.contact him redmtn2@comcast.net.
