Audience members walked away at the end with comments such as “brilliant,” “fabulous” and “unexpectedly fantastic.”
Nearly 200 people attended Montezuma-Cortez High School’s Ralph E. Vavak Memorial Auditorium for the concert, which was sponsored by SouthWest Colorado Concerts sponsored as part of their Celebrate! Local Musicians series. Funding was provided by the Golden Dreams Foundation Fund of Onward! A Legacy Foundation.
Sweetwater Station, a four-member band based in Mancos, kicked the night off with Judy Collins’ “Someday Soon.” The pitched harmonies of Marilyn Kroeker and Chris Rasmussen were strong and lovely from this first song to the end of their set. The auditorium’s modern acoustics showed off the talent of this band as their sound filled the auditorium.
Five of the 11 Sweetwater songs were written by Kroeker, who earned an artist-in-residence slot last Fall at Mesa Verde National Park for her songwriting. Favorites among the audience members included “She’s So Fine,” written about Kroeker’s daughter, and “Orbital Sander,” a tongue-in-cheek homage to the tool she used refinishing a table. One audience member raved that Kroeker’s songs “generate images in my mind – listening to her songs is like watching a movie.” The band also provided some great solo mandolin licks by member Paul Berkowitz. A standing ovation at the end of their set demonstrated the audience’s appreciation.
The second half of the concert brought a change in genre, rhythms and pace when Simone Sanchez and The Machine, an eight-member band based in Cortez, took the stage. Vocalist Sanchez belted out a rousing “Big Bad Handsome Man,” and her strong voice and dynamic stage presence kept the auditorium rocking through the big band sound of “Sing, Sing, Sing,” Latin favorite “Oye Como Va” and the ’60s hit “Angel Baby.” An added treat was the rhumba danced on stage by Cortez couple Cheryl and Chris Canedy to Sanchez’s sensuous version of “Besame Mucho.”
Keeping with the intent of SouthWest Colorado Concerts to use these locals’ concerts as a vehicle for students to gain stage time and work with professional musicians, 12-year-old drummer Forest Hicks joined the band to accompany his 11-year-old brother Falcon’s vocal debut, “I Wanna Be Like You,” from “The Jungle Book” soundtrack. Forest did his instructor Mike Bordeman, drummer for The Machine, proud. Falcon stayed in character, got the audience involved and also did his instructor, Simone Sanchez, proud.
The Machine closed its set with the rollicking “Zoot Suit Riot” and ever popular “Feeling Good.” Brass, percussion and guitar solos by The Machine’s excellent musicians rounded out the performance. The enthusiastic standing ovation expressed the audience’s delight at The Machine’s performance.
Audience support for the entire evening was expressed in comments that members left behind: “The level of each performance makes me feel as if we’re in the city and not in the wild West,” and “Loved the whole thing.”
To get notification of upcoming performances by Sweetwater Station, “like” them on Facebook. For schedule information for Simone Sanchez and The Machine or to inquire about her after-school music program, visit www.DreamMachineCortez.com.