Violinist will be rocking out with his New Year's big
band |
By Andy Stonehouse |
Daily Staff Writer |
One of the finest - and funkiest - figures in the classical Violin
field will be demonstrating his extremely adaptable musical skills
at one of the community's biggest New Year's Eve bashes.
Denver
musician Lionel Young appears with his band at a
massive party which will take over the entire third floor of the Eagle's
Nest, located on top of Vail Mountain.
Backed up by a seven-piece
hand,
Young will he celebrating the beginning of the last year of the century
with an audience-pleasing array of blues a d jazz music.
The party
will be held in both Vintner's Restaurant and the Marketplace, with
action kicking off at 8 p.m., and carrying through
until
the wee hours of Jan. 1. Free ides to the Free rides to the top on the Eagle
Bahn gondola will be offered from 2 p.m. this afternoon.
Young as a very extensive background in classical violin performance,
beginning his studies at the age of 6 at Rochester, N.Y.'s Eastman
School of Music.
Young's family Moved to Pittsburgh when he was
still in school and he
began to
study
violin with Herbert Greenburgh, former associate concert master
of the Pittsburgh Symphony and now leader of the Baltimore Symphony.
After winning a music scholarship to the University of Indiana. Young returned
to Pittsburgh for more studies it Carnegie-Mellon University.
The well-trained
performer then began his professional career as concertmaster at Carnegie-Mellon
and then moved to the Pittsburgh Opera-Ballet Orchestra.
Young's real strength has been his ability to mix work with the musical heavyweights
and show equal talents in more contemporary sounds.
Apparently Young had a
revelation about
the power
of the blues one day while hanging
out in Seattle, waiting to head over to Korea to play as part of the National
Repertory Orchestra. Young and his fellow performers were killing time in a
park, doing a bit of husking, when they discovered that their instrument cases
were filling up with money. Young said he realized lie had a new calling beyond
the symphony.
Young relocated to Denver and could he found playing roots blues with the Last
Fair Deal band in 1989. In 1992, he began playing with the Denver Chamber
Orchestra
but also
|
Special to the Daily: Denver violinist Lionel Young has explored
musical directions from blues jams to symphonic excellence. |
began to spend plenty of time delving into the blues with local musicians.
A typical week would see him sit ting in with tenor saxophonists like
Homer Brown, jetting over to play with the Zukes of Zydeco, recording
tracks with other local bands and still doing with the chamber orchestra.
For more than two years, Young and bassist Mark Diamond have been hosting
what Westword Magazine has labeled as Denver's best blues jam, every
Monday night in the Catacombs at the Hotel Boulderado in Boulder.
The
jam has become known for its length and its high quality, with Young
stressing the basic rule: "If you suck, do not come here and expect
to play."
Young's a bit more egalitarian when it comes to his
own work, he and his own band also picking up the award for best blues
hand in Denver.
The group's most recent album, " As the Sun Goes Down," was
cited as Denver's best local blues recording
last year. |
EVENT
The Lionel Young Band
TIME & DATE
8 p.m., tonight
VENUE
Vintner's and the Marketplace, Eagle's Nest, Vail Mountain
|
Tickets for tonight's semiformal
show are $150 for adults and $80 for under 21s (5 and under are
free), with prices including all taxes
and gratuities. Admission includes gourmet buffet, free wine and beer for
the adults and party favors for everyone Call (970) 479-4523 if you'd
like to make
a last-minute reservation. |
|
