Jazz on 2nd Ave. in Niwot: food, wine, music = community

interview with Howard Treppeda

Among the top outdoor jazz hangouts of the summer is “Jazz on 2nd Avenue,” in the tiny, tucked-away town of Niwot, Colorado, halfway between Boulder and Longmont along Highway 119.  Local restaurateur and jazz enthusiast Howard Treppeda visited “First Take with Lando and Chavis” to introduce us to Niwot and the top jazz talent he’s attracted.

“It brings the community together,” said Treppeda, who’s produced the event for four years.   “You have food and wine, and when you bring music into play, that really equals community.”

Treppeda (along with trumpeter and jazz educator Brad Goode, Gene Malowany, and vocalist Julie Steinhauer) have spawned a new non-profit organization, the Colorado Jazz Group, which promotes youth and community jazz education and performances in towns across Colorado.  

A Friday night (8/15) session of the “Colorado Jazz Group Lions” performs in concert with a Q and A session on “The Feeling of Jazz.”   “Some of the visiting artists and our local stars will gove the inside scoop on what jazz is, and take questions from the audience.”  According to its brochure, the Colorado Jazz Group wants to “cultivate a new crop of musicians, and help improve their academic status – in an era of arts-and-music funding cuts.”

www.jazzon2ndave.com

This feature closes with Ron Miles, “King Porter Stomp” from his 2002 release Heaven.