Make Music Denver Hits All the Right Notes

As part of the planet-spanning World Music Day, Make Music Denver is the sequel to last year's inaugural event. The day celebrates the power of music with public performances at numerous downtown locations all day long on Fri. June 21.

 

World Music Day got its start as a local festival in 1982 in Paris, where the summer solstice became a day for music in the streets. The tradition spread across Europe and then other continents. Worldwide, 520 cities in 106 countries are participating in 2013.

 

In Denver, there will be over 100 musical acts taking to the impromptu stages in places along the 16th Street Mall, museums and other unlikely music venues. Public jam sessions will go down in Skyline Park -- where a beer garden starts pouring at 4 p.m. The schedule stretches from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with performers spanning every genre from electronic to opera.

 

The 2012 edition of Make Music Denver was a memorable event for many of the performers who are returning for 2013. P.J. Zahn kicked off the 2012 event at 8 a.m. with its signature "funky soul rock and roll," says Mike Reid, who plays bass in the band. "It was cool watching people dance as they went into work."P.J. Zahn performing at Denver Pavilions in 2012.

 

This year Reid and company are plating from 1:45 p.m. at the Denver Pavilions. "Maybe we'll make enough noise to get people to come down out of their offices," he says. "It's fun because it's so eclectic."

 

Erickson says part of the magic comes from the unstructured settings -- public spaces where performer and patron are on the same level. "People were very appreciative," she says.

 

"It brings an opportunity for people to mingle around and see all kinds of music performed live," says Linda Erickson of folk outfit The Chorlalary. 

 

The Choralary is playing at noon at the Denver Firefighters Museum for this year's event.

 

"The crowd came and left and evolved," says Lynn DeJohn, who plays banjo with Goosefoot Revival, an acoustic string band whose members met at Swallow Hill.  "It was music, music everywhere and the interaction was fabulous. There were kids and young people and everyone in between."

 

The band is playing at Writers Square at 3 p.m., the same spot it played in 2012. "It was so much fun," says DeJohn. "There wasn't an unhappy one in the bunch."

 

"I literally took the day off of work," she adds. "The energy's so good, it's really a cool thing to be around all day -- the joy of it. Who could say no to that?"