the Dirty Boogaloo

“the Dirty Boogaloo are a band with a mission: To dust off and dress up the long-lost hits of organ jazz....organist Jarad “Daddy Snuggs” Astin wants
to give back rather than loot this booty of urban music.”
- by PAUL TOLME: Freelance writer , A/P, (Newsweek, Ski, Mountain Gazette, etc...) Sept, 2007

The group here really knows their chops -- and organ player Daddy Snuggs wails away in a style that's steeped in Patton's sound, with touches of Trudy Pitts and Freddie Roach as well. - Dusty Groove America

The Dirty Boogaloo, a concept crew coming out of the CueZone Records artist collective, is a powerhouse of soul-jazz and boogaloo. This octet comes at you with solid vocals, a great horn section, and a vibe powered by Hammond organ artist Jarad “Daddy Snuggs” Astin - ©Courier-Life Publications 2007

It’s a safe bet to say that the Front Range has as many, if not more, musicians per capita as any big city. Between Boulder and Denver, there is an abundance of traditional music venues featuring live music the better part of the week, and countless nontraditional venues (churches, coffee shops, restaurants, brewpubs) will squeeze singer/songwriters into corners and orchestras into church naves. Boulder is an orgy of open mic nights, and you’ll find more talent at these closet rock star showcases than you will on many cities’ main stage. And you don’t even have to frequent an established business to enjoy live music. An afternoon stroll down Pearl Street is like an anarchist’s world music and folk festival.
But despite all these musicians, there is no strongly discernable music community. This will change soon if Jarad Astin has his way.
Astin is the co-founder of CuZone Records in Nederland, a member of United Dope Front, leader of the Dirty Boogaloo, and most recently he has helped organize the first Pulling Resources Together for a Tighter Music Industry (PRTTI) event at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom–a free industry get-together for local music folk.
"It’s a booze and schmooze," says Astin. "The whole point is to get as well-rounded a version of the industry into one room and get them to talk and hang out."
The PRTTI event will feature live music by the Ethereal Plane, Chronophonic, the Wayfarers and the Dirty Boogaloo, and music-industry professionals of any capacity are invited.
"If people work together, what we’re going to end up with is a much stronger backbone in the industry," says Astin. He says that laying a strong foundation now is important in weathering, and perhaps thriving in, future industry changes. The recent struggles of the major record labels are evidence that imminent change may be on the horizon.
"[Major record labels] are all kind of hurting," says Astin. "The independent network of artists and musicians and everyone else in the big picture need to really be tight and have some kind of network together… You’ve got to have that in place at that moment that the opportunity is there and the connections are there."
The idea of bringing the local music community together took form when Astin was promoting the formation of CuZone Records last year. Like many great ideas, it snowballed into what he hopes to be a landmark event. The event also showcases the release of the PRTTI sampler CD.
"It pretty much came together just by really wanting to find a way to get the word out to as many local businesses as we could that we had started a record label," says Astin. "It spun off pretty quickly. I threw out a few e-mails about the event and that we wanted to do a sampler disc for the event, and any artists who are interested in the sampler disc give me a buzz. I got 20 e-mails back off of four [e-mails] from the first send. The list has grown quite considerably."
PRTTI is an opportunity for industry insiders to network, which Astin says is one of the most important components of being a professional musician.
"Artists have to create their own market," he says. "It takes a lot of effort outside of just being a musician–a lot of phone calls, a lot of schmoozing–just making sure you’ve got your shit together so that when you get a show you get enough people through the door that you get another show."
The first-ever PRTTI event is an opportunity for local music veterans and newcomers to mingle, established businesses to talk shop with innovative upstarts. And if all goes as planned, this will only be the beginning of something big.
"This is just one event," says Astin. "But who knows what it might turn into."
PRTTI featuring the Ethereal Plane, Chronophonic, the Wayfarers and the Dirty Boogaloo starts at 8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 22, at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton St., Denver, 303-297-1772.
- Boulder Weekly/ Vince Darcangelo