{"id":23397,"date":"2025-02-22T01:02:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T08:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-native-american-jazz-funk-fusion-group-is-coming-to-the-mancos-opera-house\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:35:13","slug":"a-native-american-jazz-funk-fusion-group-is-coming-to-the-mancos-opera-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-native-american-jazz-funk-fusion-group-is-coming-to-the-mancos-opera-house\/","title":{"rendered":"A Native American jazz funk fusion group is coming to the Mancos Opera House"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Delbert
Delbert Anderson was hooked on music when he heard improvisational trombone. (Photo courtesy Delbert Anderson)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Native American trumpet artist Delbert Anderson and his quartet will perform at the Mancos Opera House on Friday, Feb. 28. The show starts at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first time I\u2019m playing in Mancos,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI just can\u2019t wait to be there and connect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Anderson reached out to the Mancos Creative District to see if the Delbert Anderson Quartet could perform somewhere in town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew there was an art scene in Mancos,\u201d Anderson said. Plus, it\u2019s close to where they\u2019re staying and the group is all in the same place, which doesn\u2019t always happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI figured, why don\u2019t we play somewhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Chelsea Lunders, the executive director of the Mancos Creative District, said she\u2019s really excited for their \u201cbeautiful blend of music from different cultures, which fits with our vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The Delbert Anderson Quartet.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

With the help of the Mancos Public Library, a Colorado Creative Industries\u2019 Folk and Traditional Arts grant, and the Sullivan Foundation, they were able to pool funds and pull it off on short notice.<\/p>\n

To help the aforementioned groups \u2013 plus the creative district \u2013 at least break even, there\u2019s a suggested $15 donation at the door.<\/p>\n

For years now, the creative district has worked with artists to give them platforms to share their art, especially if they\u2019re Indigenous, LGBTQ+ or otherwise marginalized, said Tess Lynston, a liaison and board member at the Mancos Creative District.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have this sort of talent in our community is not an everyday event,\u201d Lynston said. \u201cUsually you\u2019d have to go to the city for this caliber of talent. Plus, it\u2019s cultural and ties into the culture of our region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson<\/a> is Din\u00e9, and he said that culture informs all of his projects- music included.<\/p>\n

He weaves Din\u00e9 \u201cspinning songs,\u201d which teach a lesson or manner, into the music the group plays.<\/p>\n

But before they play, Lynston said that at 6 p.m., they\u2019ll kick off the event with an interview.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s conducting it, and said that she intends to ask Anderson more about his music, culture and improvisation, in addition to a few fun, random questions.<\/p>\n

Earlier still, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. that afternoon, there\u2019s a free workshop at the opera house. It\u2019s open to all ages but geared toward high school students, said Lunders.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Delbert Anderson Quartet will host a free workshop will be held at the Mancos Opera House on Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. All ages are welcome.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cAll ages are welcome to come and will learn something,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just for musicians, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll talk about improv,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cWe\u2019ll also talk about how we\u2019re in control of the choices we have to make in life. It\u2019ll be therapeutic, hopefully, from a musician\u2019s point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson said that \u201cto this day,\u201d improv, or \u201cthe idea of playing something from the top of my head, is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he was first exposed to it in the fourth grade, when a jazz trio came to his school and performed.<\/p>\n

On the last song, he remembers how they turned the music stand around and jammed. Afterward, they gave a name to what they had done: Improvisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember he said that music is not from the page, it comes from inside us,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI thought that was so cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

It inspired him to pick up the trombone, unsuccessfully. So he pivoted and picked up the trumpet instead, and \u201ctwo little squeaks came out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hooked,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n

Middle school was his first real opportunity to play jazz and explore improvisation. Ever since, it\u2019s been \u201cclose to who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just as Anderson brings jazz and improv to the stage, the three other musicians in the quartet bring with them \u201ctheir individual likings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson called the bass player \u201cfunky,\u201d the drummer contemporary and reggae-inspired, and said the pianist likes old school hip-hop.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll together, our sound is unique,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s based on Indigenous songs and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mancos is the first stop in a series of shows they are performing. On Saturday, they perform in Kayenta, Utah, and then they\u2019re headed to Las Vegas to perform for three nights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feb. 28, the Delbert Anderson Quartet is hosting a free afternoon workshop and will perform later that evening <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,83,559,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-mancos","tag-music","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78100,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23397\/revisions\/78100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23397"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}