by Tim Van Schmidt

photo credit: Tim Van Schmidt

When I saw the poster for last weekend's Celebration of Life Concert for Mark Van Ark, one of NOCO's longtime blues musicians who recently passed away, I was shocked. There, above all the names of the musicians that were participating, was a photo I took of Mark back in 2006.

I'm glad my photo has survived and found some meaning so many years later. I remember the night I took the photo. Mark called me up and invited me to his gig at JJ's Lounge, located in the southwestern edge of Fort Collins. I live nearby and it was an easy decision to make.

I arrived early and Mark and I shot the breeze before starting his first set. He seemed just a little reserved at the time. But once Mark got into his set, playing in a trio format, he caught fire and when we talked in between sets, he was animated and excited. I think that all had to do with the power of the music.

My relationship with Mark began many years before that 2006 gig- back to the late 1980s, when I first started writing about NOCO music for the local newspapers. That was when the coin of the realm for local musicians was cassettes. Mark was one of the first musicians in the area to make the jump from cassette to CDs- and with every step of the way, Mark kept me in the loop.

Over multiple interviews and articles over the years, I learned that Mark was a true road warrior- jumping on a train with his guitar to play gigs wherever he could. And he was a natural-born musician. He was dedicated to his art and not much could get in the way of that. And- as the long list of musicians playing at his Celebration of Life event testifies to- he was an essential player in the NOCO music scene.

The last time I photographed Mark was just an accident. It was 2014 and I was breezing through Old Town Square. And there was Mark, playing one of the free pianos in downtown. We talked for quite a while that afternoon and when it was time for me to move on, I took a few frames and Mark went back to playing for whoever would listen.

That's the true mark of a real musician- they just have to play no matter what. Mark was one of them.

Photo credit: Tim Van Schmidt

February is Black History Month, and what better time to talk about the origins of the blues than discussing where they came from. I expect every true blues fan to be celebrating this special month. 
Here are a couple of our favorite blues performers/historians talking about the Roots of the Blues” that we pulled off of Facebook from Mick Kolassa and Dan Treanor

“Although Blues music contains elements of Celtic and other musical forms and traditions, it was the African American Experience that created and refined the blues. To love blues is to understand where it came from, and blues must be true to its roots!” Memphis Blues Man - Mick Kolassa

The Blues has its origins in the Delta, not the Mississippi Delta, the Niger Delta. The 'Blues' was based on the tradition of 'African Ring Singing'. West African tribal culture had no written language. It's history, lore, praise singing and gossip was passed on in generational knowledge through words and music. Within most West African tribes there was a caste of 'praise singers', that came to be known as 'Griots'. It was their responsibility to create the story songs and share them with tribal royalty as well as the people of the tribe. They would do it by engaging in "ring singing”. They would gather the people around them in a large circle and position themselves in the center. They would begin to sing out the story song to the people. In turn, the people would repeat the phrases back to the 'Griot'. Call and response, the basis of all 'Blues'. Many times the 'Griot' would accompany himself on a "Khalam", N'goni or Uwakawaona - all various types of string instruments. Drums were not usually part of the 'Ring Singing' experience, although they did play an integral part in West African culture. The "Kora" - the African harp - was used strictly at tribal courts to praise royalty. Kora players were held in high esteem and they had to be born into a 'Kora caste family'. 'Jujumen' were musicians who played primarily for the common people. Their music evolved into the modern version of "Afro Juju Music", very popular in wide areas of Africa today. All of these traditions were brought to this country through the evil practice of slavery. The earliest form of American Blues can be found in 'Field Hollars' or 'Work Songs'. All of it based on story telling and 'call and response'. West African music was not based on a pentatonic scale. The 'Khalam' is traditionally tuned to a Major open chord - DADDAD. The influence of 'Celtic' music (based on a pentatonic scale), brought here by early immigrants from Western Europe made it's way into the hands and minds of these West African musicians. Coupled with their exposure to Western European instruments, the Blues as we know it was born. All popular forms of American Music has it's origins in the 'Blues'. The "Blues' did come from Africa.”  Bluesman/Historian/Educator  - Dan Treanor

Albert Collins 1992 Interview  by Tim Van Schmidt

Tim Van Schmidt is a longtime Colorado writer and photographer. Some of his history was as the co-founder of Scene magazine and a weekly column for North Forty News/New Scene Weekly. Tim’s YouTube channel is "Time Capsules by Tim Van Schmidt".  

This is an interview that Tim Van Schmidt back in 1992 on one of my favorite players, Albert Collins, The Ice Man. Albert was noted for his powerful playing and because of his long association with the Fender Telecaster gaining the title "The Master of the Telecaster". He is remembered for his informal and humorous audience-engaging style. Frequently he would leave the stage while still playing to mingle with the audience. He would use an extended guitar cord to go outside clubs to the sidewalk, one story says he left a club with the audience in tow to visit the store next door to buy a candy bar without once stopping his act. Albert has a pretty funny scene in the movie Adventures in Babysitting, playing himself in a Chicago nightclub. The Iceman received his well-deserved  induction into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1986.  

This is the link to Tim’s interview from 1992  
https://youtu.be/aXlvFi3GXa4

Story and all photos by Tim Van Schmidt

It all started in 1959, when producer Berry Gordy Jr. formed Tamala Records - the first major African American owned record label. In short order, it became Motown Record Corporation and so began a tsunami of irresistible hits that dominated the record charts for years afterwards.

Stop in the Name of Love -Front Line- Phil Donaldson, Carlton Pride, Peaches Embry and Audree Dillard

Flash forward to March 6, 2024 and the power of Motown would turn the Fort Collins Senior Center into a happy dance hall thanks to a super group of Colorado musicians calling themselves the FoCo Motown Revue. 

The event was a musical celebration as part of the extensive five-day Founded in FoCo conference focusing on local entrepreneurship. Honestly, I hadn't even heard of Founded in FoCo, but I saw a poster for the FoCo Motown Revue's show in a local coffee shop and I knew that this would be fun. Not just fun, VERY fun.  

John Magnie on the keys

"Shotgun," "Dancing in the Streets," "Tears of a Clown," "Superstition" and so many other great tunes just kept blasting from the stage at the Senior Center, with a little bit of history thrown in for good measure. And, well, I just couldn't keep my seat. Neither could the rest of the crowd, who were easily coerced into forming a "Soul Train line" and otherwise absorbed the upbeat vibes from the stage.

Laying the beat-Jeff Finlin on the drums and Ian Anderson on Bass while Craig Brunner is blowing some soul 

I recently saw an online article that wondered if the music of rock artists like Joni Mitchell and The Eagles would ever hold a place in the "American Songbook" like the standard tunes of previous generations. I don't know about those artists in particular, but the Motown hits the FoCo Motown Revue cranked out have and will stand the test of time.

The talent was endless-Craig Satterfield bending some string, Hugh Ragin and his horn

All you had to do is look around the room. If attendees weren't dancing, they were singing along as though the music was just a part of their DNA. That's proof positive that Motown music is not just a case of nostalgia, it remains a creative engine that makes the heart pump and the feet move. Thanks to the FoCo Motown Revue for that!

Editors note: Thanks, Tim, for sharing! The Motown Revue is something this group of talented players do extremely well. Last year I caught them at the Juneteenth Celebration in Fort Collins. I am hoping they repeat it this June. if they do be sure to catch it, you will be in for a treat!

by Leonard “Boots” Jaffee

Shaker Village was a summer camp in upstate New York were teens could learn Shaker history and crafts, and every once in a while , the owners; Jerry and Cybil Count had a lot of friends that were in the music business. Happy and Artie Traum, folkies and friends of the camp owners used to come up. One day we were having a big celebration in our large barn. and a woman by the name of Odetta, strikingly beautiful, black woman, folk singer who I had heard of and loved her music, showed up. She was visiting and she stayed for the festivities we were having at the end of the workday.

During the party we had a little jail. It was just a bunch of hay bales that were set up in a little box. And if you committed some kind of crime, and to this day I don't know what kind of crime I imposed on Odetta, but if you were accused of a crime you were sent to jail until you did restitution for your crime. So I had asked Odetta to sing "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" for me so she could find her way out of jail. She said she didn't know the song. I knew she had to know the song. Every folky knew that song. But she was just trying to get out of singing. But eventually she sang it. She sang it more beautifully than I had ever heard. And of course we let her out of jail and we became buddies and we hung out for the rest of the night.

At the end of the night, after we ended up talking, we realized she lived in New York, I lived in New York, and we should get together. So we made arrangements, switched phone numbers and addresses. I tried calling her at the end of the summer but Odetta was not very big on phones or mail. If you caught her, you caught her. If you didn't, you didn't. In any case, later on that year I called her and she met me and met my parents. My parents loved her. She loved my parents, she loved me, and a new relationship started. She took me under her wing and introduced me to people like Dave Van Ronk , Phil Ochs, Janice Ian, Eric Anderson, Carole King and she always introduced me to everyone as her son, which continued for the 45 years following that summer.

Boots Jaffee lives in the Poudre Canyon with his life partner, Mish Chris. He is a local legend, having ties to The Grateful Dead, Merle Saunders among others too numerous to list. And of course, Odetta.  Boots sits in on blues harp regularly with HPBS member band Cowboys Dead. Learn more about Boots here.

Boots Jaffee with his mom, Odetta, on the right and his Aunt Jimmi on the left.