Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
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After a stellar summer season featuring major pop and rock acts, Jazz Aspen Snowmass gets back to its roots this winter with its JAS Café Downstairs @ The Nell. The dimly lit, intimate venue on the lower level of fi ve-star The Little Nell hotel offers a nod to early 20th-century jazz lounges. This season, performances include: jazz vocalist and guitarist Allan Harris (December 18–19); gospel a cappella sextet and winner of multiple Grammy Awards, Take 6 (January 2–3); Grammy Award-winning jazz fusion quartet the Yellowjackets (February 11–12); and jazz vocalist René Marie with the James Horowitz Trio (March 31–April 1). Shows are at 7 and 9:15 PM each night. The Little Nell, 675 E. Durant Ave., 866-527-8499; jazzaspensnowmass.org // key notes// ALL THAT JAZZ Aspen Words ups its literary ante this year with the nonprofit's annual Winter Words festival of author talks and readings. The season will open on January 12 with Juan Felipe Herrera, the current US Poet Laureate and the first Mexican-American to hold the position. Then, on March 15, Pulitzer Prize-winner and New York Times bestselling author Geraldine Brooks—writer of March, Caleb's Crossing, and People of the Book—will be joined on stage by her husband Tony Horwitz, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting with the Wall Street Journal. Sandra Cisneros, the first female Mexican- American writer to be published by a mainstream publisher and writer of National Book Award-winning The House on Mango Street, will close out the fest on April 6. Paepcke Auditorium, 1000 N. Third St., 970-925-3122; aspenwords.org BETTER OFF READ ON THE UP! VALLEY GAL GENNA MOE UPS ASPEN'S ART ANTE IN HER NEW ROLE AT THE ART BASE. With a dual degree in art history and visual arts from the University of Washington, newly appointed executive director Genna Moe has big plans for The Art Base (99 Midland Spur, Basalt, 970-927- 4 123; theartbase.org), formerly the Wyly Art Center. Before joining the nonprofi t, Moe developed educational outreach programs at the Aspen Art Museum and was part of the management team at the Wheeler Opera House. Here, the 29-year-old—who is president of the Aspen Young Professionals Association—explains her plans. What is your vision for The Art Base? The Art Base is an exhibition space and a classroom—I plan to grow both aspects, while celebrating and supporting emerging artists. Which events are you most excited about for this winter? In addition to our physical expansion, we will begin implementing three new programs: Art Share, a rental gallery full of regional works of various sizes, mediums, and styles; The Art Commons, an affordable open community studio space for rent by the hour; and Art as Healing, where we'll work with valley partners to explore the relationship between art, health, and recovery. AP beyond books Golden touch: Professional wunderkind Genna Moe (INSET) is guiding The Art Base, in Basalt, to gilded heights. Husky baritone Allan Harris returns to jazzy JAS Café this December. Academy Screenings brings all the Oscars contenders before Aspen's eyes. PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUCAS ZIELASKO (ASPEN FILM); STEVE MUNDINGER/ASPEN SNOWMASS (HARRIS); SHAYLA GROVES (THE ART BASE); HINTON HARRISON II (MOE); COURTESY OF VIKING (THE SECRET CHORD); KNOPF (A HOUSE OF MY OWN); CITY LIGHTS BOOKS (NOTES ON THE ASSEMBLAGE); PICADOR (MIDNIGHT RISING) 88 ASPENPEAK-MAGAZINE.COM CULTURE Spotlight THE BIGGEST SCREEN IN TOWN Before Aspen Film hosts its James Bond- themed Casino Royale party on Saturday, February 20, at the Hotel Jerome—featur- ing a red carpet welcome, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, gam- bling, and more—film fans can catch up on the likely Oscar con- tenders during the nonprofit's Academy Screenings, running December 22 through January 2. The 12-day festival features the most buzzworthy films of the year, along with a few under-the-radar favorites the AF team thinks Aspen audiences can't miss. Wheeler Opera House, 320 E. Hyman Ave., 970-920- 5770; aspenfilm.org AT THE MOVIES