Last Fair Deal complement to Jazz Celebration With a fresh festival intention, the Telluride Jazz Celebration inundates the region this weekend with a complete mix of jazz greats. Combined with our weekly nightclub entertainment. Telluride will peak with downtown music vitality, the most intense of any weekend all year. The Jazz Celebration hosts the American music form properly in a variety of locations throughout town and in the sprawling Mountain Village. Outdoor stages include the precedent-setting Sarah Vaughan Memorial Stage, blocking off the east end of main street for pedestrian traffic only, how good and pleasant it is. Also Telluride Mountain Village's showcase stage hosts its first outdoor music event as part of the celebration. In town, the Sheridan Opera House and the Nugget Theater will buzz and bop while the Last Dollar Saloon, the Bear Creek Restaurant and Saloon, the Athenian Senate, the New Sheridan Bar, the T-Ride Country Club and the La Marniotte Restaurantfeature festival jazz musicians throtuthout the weekend. See the Telluride Jazz Celebration Examiner for the complete schedule of events, venues, performers and times. Locals Brian Coulter and Bob Roune have high hopes for their performances this weekend. Coulter plays the Popcorn Wagon patio daily for lunch and in and around other venues that pay. Ronne plays the Roma Bar and Cafe patio every weekend afternoon, weather permitting. With the Jazz Celebration adja- cent to the Roma patio, Ronne will probably schedule his performances during the set breaks of the Sarah Vaughan stage. Take a classically trained violinist and chunk him into his idea of a blues band and see what you get. The Last Fair Deal is just that. Lionel Young is at the helm of the group, his use of the violin is unorthodox and as one critic says,"As a stylist, Young has no predecessors." The violin takes on the characteristics of a fiddle, becomes a lead instrument on heaven forbidden long improvisational blues lead breaks, and takes on the soul power George Clinton needs.     Along with bottom of the barrel, instinctive vocals, Last Fair Deal uses complex arrangements that depend on stellar musicianship. Denver has a unique product with Last Fair Deal. Playing in most all the nightclubs along the Front Range and in the surrounding states, Last Fair Deal has begun playing in Josephina 's and Jazzworks in Denver and the Jazz House in Lawrence, Kan. " It's really only been this year that we have been playing jazz venues," says Young.    "We always thought of our selves as being a rocking blues band but we improvise well and go off a lot. Everyone is very aware in this band and we can go off and see where it takes us. We thought we were too hard for jazz clubs but with our imiprovisation, people like it and they are responding. The im provisation is from a jazz base." "Jazz is part of our backgrounds." says bassist Rusty Logsdon. "I've played with a lot of local jazz bands and with the jazz department at C.U., but I've also played with hard-core bands. I try to experiment with every band I can, i gives me an open ear." Sound Advice rasta stevie Along with Logsdon and Young, Last Fair Deal is David Moore on guitar and vocals and Larry Ciancia on drums. They are definitely the right group for a dance club during this jazz weekend. Young agrees: "Jazz music is based on the blues, it's based on the roadhouse scene. Jazz is just more sophisticated but you should always be able to tap your foot. It always swings and it's dance music in its most basic form." What is Last Fair Deal and what do they play? The above would suggest they are a blues band that realizes the root base of jazz is the blues and therefore they appeal to both audiences. But more is in store. "We play a lot of funk too and a little hit of reggae," says Young. "There are two things I look for in the music, does it have a good groove and can it say something?" ''Musicians are taking the lead in leadership in the world direction of the populous of the people. [The populous] follow the lead of the musicians. We recognize our role today as musicians as far as being socially aware and active. "But, we don't hit you over the head with political slogans. It's good-time music but we are aware and take on that leadership role." " We believe that if everyone wants to live for our grandchildren, we have to plant green things. We want everyone to plant something green." As a group, Last Fair Deal has sought out and obtained better musicians that would make most any group green with envy. In the infancy stages, the lineup changed often. Incorrectly though, one journalist referred to Last Fair Deal as relying on a changing roster of the best local musicians. The musicians part was correct but relying on a changing roster? ..It depends on how good the musicians are and we are always upgrading the quality of the musicians. It makes it easier, interesting and challenging, but basically I'm a loyalist. " I think one must stay with a group of people for a time to see what works out. As Miles [Davis] said, 'You need good musicians for a base for the whole to become greater than the parts.' I see it as from the basic to the stellar movement." Following the stars across the ocean, Last Fair Deal has been working on touring the East for many years. The fruits of their labor may be manifested in September in Japan. Four groups were selected out of a regional competition, with the four groups sending tapes to Japan for the final decision. Lon Van Eaton and the Music for a Better World company are organizing the tour and have given Last Fair Deal positive reports for the band being the chosen one. If chosen, the band would work up to two months, touring the premier clubs in Japan. "It is not so good to be leaving where you're establishing a power base," says Young, "but Japan is very good exposure and we have a chance to do some recording in the same studio Herbie Hancock made some recordings. "We record every chance we get. This spring and early summer, we've been reèording at Sunrise Recording Studios in Evergreen and we did a recording project at C.I.A., the Colorado Institute of Art.'' Referring to the C.I.A. project, Logsdon says, "We got two very good songs done. They are recorded on D.A.T. and we will use them as our demo for shopping a major record deal and for radio play." "Everywhere we go we try to get radio play," says Young. "KOTO is working with us, playing the material and setting up an interview on Friday. We have found that radio reaches a certain amount of the audience we have and we see more people coming when the radio is part of our promotion.'' The group is ecstatic about returning to Telluride for club performances at the Fly Me To The Moon Saloon tonight through Sunday as part of the jazz weekend.