Based in the Loveland/Fort Collins area, the Northern Colorado Traditional Jazz Society is a tax-exempt organization that promotes education, appreciation, inspiration and live participation and performance in traditional jazz for all ages.
Our Society was founded in 1995 along with the Poudre River Irregulars Jazz Band and has supported them ever since. Over the years we've brought a variety of musical events to northern Colorado – local favorites, up-and-coming newcomers, and regional groups. In addition, we actively support traditional jazz programs in our local and regional schools, and often help arrange appearances of their fledgling jazz bands at PRI gigs.
The Irregulars have a long-standing arrangement to play on the first Friday of every month at Avo's in Fort Collins. These informal concerts always draw a large crowd, and our Society members help manage the logistics and ticket-taking. We also help the band with publicity (including a newsletter, emails, and this website), logistics at a variety of their other gigs, and projects such as producing CDs.
We are now supporting an exciting new band, the Harmony Hotshots Jazz Band which started in 2022. They are currently playing on the fourth Sunday of each month at the old Elks Club building in Loveland. As a new band they are an example of our Jazz Society efforts to encourage more musicians to play traditional jazz.
Another of our projects is the establishment of a youth traditional jazz band. We will keep you posted as that come into fruition.
We'd love to have you as a member of the Northern Colorado Traditional Jazz Society. When you join, here's what you'll get:
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Our quarterly newsletter News Beat is sent to dues-paid members only. It provides information from our Board of Directors and broad coverage of traditional jazz happenings in Northern Colorado and interviews with leading musicians.
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We also send out frequent email notices called "Just In Time" alerting fans to upcoming performances and events in our area.
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The company of other jazz lovers. Jazz is great fun, and so is rubbing elbows with musicians who play it and other people who enjoy it. You can discuss and learn about the history of traditional jazz as well.
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An active role in preserving traditional jazz. We work to promote and preserve this kind of jazz in northern Colorado, and your membership helps us do just that.
The cost is modest: $30 a year for families, $20 for singles, $15 for students. The money is used
to sponsor and promote the kind of music we all enjoy. If you would like to join our Jazz Society, use this Membership and Dues Payment Form.
What is Traditional Jazz?
At the Northern Colorado Traditional Jazz Society, we are often asked what we mean by "traditional" jazz. Among jazz buffs, this term has a specific meaning. Traditional, or trad jazz as it's often called, is "hot" jazz, tracing its roots back to ragtime and the hot dance music of the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s (the "cool" strain of jazz began with bebop in the 1940s). Trad jazz includes forms like ragtime, blues, Dixieland, boogie-woogie, swing, and some big-band music (Duke Ellington and Count Basie, for instance).
This kind of music is far from dead. It's still widely played and is being taught to new, young jazz musicians. Some modern-day players of traditional jazz try to preserve the authentic sounds of the past, but most use it as a starting point to develop their own sounds. The result is a dynamic music scene that includes everything from honkytonk and ragtime to swing-dance revival. The common denominator is the dance beat – this is joyous music, intended for dancing and having a good time, and it continues to attract enthusiastic audiences. Come to a trad jazz concert and see!