Sun Valley Blog

Jazz & Blues Siren Kim Nalley

Kim Nalley-
Recently named one of the “Ten Most Influential African Americans in the Bay Area,” Kim Nalley has an international reputation as one of world’s best jazz & blues vocalists. Known for her ability to turn a chattering cocktail-sipping crowd into a rapt audience of lifelong fans in minutes with a beguiling combination sass, soul and smarts, no trip to San Francisco is complete without hearing Kim Nalley perform.

Café Americain-
Standing at a musical crossroad of the world, the acoustic string group Café Americain draws from the bohemian sounds of European café music, romantic gypsy jazz, elegant Brazilian Choros and Bossa Novas, and, of course, the always hip Great American Song Book.
Café Americain is the brain-child of internationally respected guitarist Ned Boynton. He is joined by renowned musicians Jason Vanderford – guitar, and Michael Zisman – mandolin.

Paul Tillotson-
What separates Tillotson from many jazz pianists today is his ability to write and create his own beautiful music. When he performs live, the audience experiences his pleasure of sharing his music with them. For Tequila Time, he wrote seven original tracks. “My writing style is simple – I wake up with an idea in my head and I sing it. Sometimes I’m walking down the street in Manhattan or skiing down a double diamond slope in Sun Valley and a melody will come to me . . . I sing it over and over then I sit down at the piano (Margaret, his 1928 Mason & Hamlin) and fill it out. When it’s done I present it to the guys and we create a masterpiece together.”

The Sun Valley Race Department put on another great season of racing for this year’s Town Series. Seven weeks of racing finished up yesterday, with a festive and green finale on Lower Cozy and a St. Patty’s Day after-party that any Irishman would be proud of. Teams came out in costumes, like SVSEF’s green maiden dresses, Team Lip Service’s one-piece ski suits and Mardi Gras boas, the Flat Out Ridiculous Team’s neon green wigs, the Blog Chicks’ matching socks, shorts, and shamrock headbands, and Wood River Masonry even lit rockets on the back of their skis.

Robin Sarchett was the overall winner yet again, beating second and third placed Carlo Rixon and Nate Schwing by seven tenths of a second. The top female was speedy Erika Hogan, who finished seventh overall, beating the second placed woman, Sarah Mazzola, by half a second. The rabbits this week were Chris Key (in one of his best finishes of the season) and Chris Campbell. The fifth placed male and female, and winners of a fifth of tequila, were Wes Powell and Toby Arnett.

The season’s top team, Scott USA, celebrated in style, breaking out the champagne on Apple’s sunny deck. Congrats to John Reagle, Toby Arnett, John Zuck, and Jeff Page. The four teams who rounded out the top five, and had their names in the drawing for three season-passes from Sun Valley Resort, were Casino Dancing Bears, Wood River Masonry, the Drunken Blumkens, and the Rainbow Warriors.The celebrating continued throughout the beautiful St. Patrick’s Day afternoon on Apple’s Bar and Grill’s packed patio with delicious corned beef and hash and tons of green beer.

Congrats to all the racers on another great season of World Cup Wednesdays! A big thanks goes out to Mike Wrobel and the rest of the Sun Valley Race Department. Another thanks goes out to the Valley bars and restaurants who sponsored the 2010 Town Series parties!

See some of the action below and check back later for the full results.

Lizzy Brown, Team Lip Service, sets up for a run.

Mollie Parker and Abby Seibert show how cool science really is!

Janet Appleton rocks the one-piece and the boa.

The blog.sunvalley.com Blog Chicks get ready to race.

Ash Higgins, Tine Cordeau, Pete Stevenson and other racers show their Irish spirit at the race start.

A dapper Billy Cook suits up for the after-party.

The crowd peers over the balcony at Apple's to check out all the Award's Ceremony action.

Drawing heavily from the sunny So-Cal sound of acts like Jack Johnson and G-Love, and the roots, rock sound of Tom Petty, Ben Harper and others, the Matt Lewis Band has a full, relaxed sound. Their self-titled 2004 debut is marked by the easy grooves and rhymes of tracks like “Killing Time” and “Gravity,” the punk-pop crossover of “Away From Myself,” and the dorm room sound of “In For a Ride” and “River.”

The Matt Lewis Band will play apres ski from 2-5pm at Warm Springs March 14-18 and apres ski at River Run March 19 & 20. You can also see them live in the Boiler Room on Friday & Saturday night, March 19 & 20. Doors open at 9pm after the comedy series. First 10 people at the door get in free. Comedy patrons stay for free. $10 cover charge.