September 18-20 marked the 16th annual Telluride Blues and Brews Festival. With a majestic back drop that’s truly hard to believe until seen, Telluride sets the stage for some of the best classic and modern blues musicians. As Mother Nature brought its arsenal to this year’s event, Telluride matched it round for round with music; sunshine to rain, then hail, and back to sunshine again and Telluride rock’d it from the get-go.
Friday got started with the duo of Carolyn Wonderland and her lap-steel. Otis Taylor and his African Orchestra followed, bringing their own crowd to the stage with a sound that ranged from the blues to zydeco. Later that day Jackie Green graced the stage with his Dylan style throwing out several covers including a gritty version of the Grateful Dead’s “New Speedway Boogie” and his own “I Don’t Live In A Dream." As the rain began to roll back in, the legendary bluesman Joe Cocker hit the stage bringing classics like “With A Little Help From My Friends” to the crowd. While accompanied by his R&B singers, Joe let no-one get cold as Friday night came to a close.
Saturday always brings out the best as the crowd of 9,000 starts the day with a tasty beverage or ten at the Grand Tasting. Breweries from around the country made their way to Telluride for a great day of sampling. As the beer began to flow, the music kicked off with this year’s IBC winner JPSoars and the Redhots. While the breweries ranged in size from giants like Sierra Nevada to much smaller operations like Oak Creek Brewing Co. the flavors were nothing less than enormous. Potables bearing names like “Misty Mountain Hop” and “Imperial Nut Brown” sent your taste buds to a place about as magnificent as the surrounding San Juan Mountains.
Sensory overload might be the best way to describe the typical Saturday at Telluride Blues and Brews as throughout the day great musical acts continued to pour over the stage. Saint Jude led by the soulful yet rippin vocals of Lynne Jackaman kept heads turning throughout their set. Vieux Farke Toure followed, grabbing everyone’s attention as he and his band channeled some South African blues to the stage. Umphrey’s McGee rounded out the cornucopia of music throwing in some jam-style while helping everyone shake-off some of those heavier beers as the sun went down. Mr. Buddy Guy brought the blues back to the stage with the last show of the evening. A fiery set only to be topped off by inviting Otis Taylor to the stage finished out an incredible day of good brews, good people and great music.
As the crowd once more began to stir, Sunday started in fine fashion. Forget about the slow to rise and people moving at half speed, the music was anything but. With a day that could easily have been referenced as “ladies day” the all female band (the Fighting Cocks) backing Super Chikan brought it with a vengeance as he strutted around clucking and rock’n the stage. Ruthie Foster backed by her primarily female band really began to draw the crowd in with rippin blues guitar and her soulful voice setting the stage for the soon to follow headliners.
As early evening rolled in, the six piece Phantom Blues Band hit the stage with Taj Mahal holding nothing back. The horns blew and rumps began to shake as Taj belted out classics like “Leav’n Trunk,” “Paint my Mailbox Blue” and the newer “Diddy Wah Diddy.” By time Bonnie Raitt hit the stage there was no warm-up needed. The crowd was moving steady and the weather was too as a quick side-ways rain didn’t phase the crowd one bit. Even Raitt commented on how the crowd was virtually unaffected by the spattering as she rolled through her musical catalog of hits. All of which helped build up the final show of the night that brought both Bonnie and Taj back to one stage. The Bon-Taj Roulette duo was outstanding to say the least. As the two greats stood together each traded off guitar licks and sultry/sassy vocals to help bring to end a great weekend of music.
Let it be said that there are many festivals these days that one could attend, but few do it better. Great music, good people and great brews set in the majesty of the San Juan Mountains makes Telluride Blues and Brews Festival one of the truly premier destination festivals of the year.
