CoLab West is quickly turning into one of Durango’s top musical offerings. A collection of local musicians playing jazz, funk, experimental rock or whatever other sounds they wish to explore, Colab West began when local bass player Wade Campbell, who was a founder of the original CoLab jam that started in Dallas over 20 years ago, moved to Durango and wanted to form a similar jam for experienced musicians.
Described by guitar player Jacob Nalle as “jazz fusion for the working class,” CoLab West (short for Collaborative Laboratory) takes place every Wednesday night at the Black Heron Lounge.
If you go
WHAT: Jazz funk jam with members of Safety Meeting, Desert Child and more
WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesdays
WHERE: Black Heron Lounge, 736 Main Ave.
TICKETS: No cover
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.blackheronlounge.com
“It was something that was part of my diet for so long. And after I moved here it was something I was without for a while, and I didn’t have this opportunity to stretch out in the same way,” Campbell said. “I wanted a spot for the big dogs to run, you know, like really stretch out. Like you got a bunch of competitive cyclists or rock climbers together, you know, you push yourselves and encourage each other. I wanted a space to do that and, you know, for recognizing what I had, maybe that was not as common around here, like the musical environment that I came from.”
While Campbell describes the music having a “jazz attitude and jazz philosophies,” he refers to the music more as a “soup.” While it can have an exploratory nature, the band, who in addition to Campbell and Nalle are drummer Alec Mayes and a variety of horn and keyboard players, play rock, dark jazz-fusion, tripped-out takes on grunge or laying down beats to back a rapper. Forget any genre classification, the music is just all good and decisive ears should just leave it at that.
“There’s a list that we pull from, and some that we play more often. There was a Wednesday where two or three songs we played on the spur that we’d never even tried live,” Campbell said. “Music is our medium; it’s our clay, let’s see how we mold it.”
It takes regular performances like this, and regular support from the music-loving community to make a scene, and this is another event in the realm of Durango music that only makes the scene stronger. While CoLab West does have a group of dedicated musicians, some who may rotate in and out from week to week, those musicians, along with the growing number of music lovers who attend this weekly performance, are continuing to foster the ever-growing musical community.
“We’re at a point where we’ve connected over enough of these tunes and the melody and the harmony and the form, and the general idea of the tune is ingrained in us enough that we’re having real, what I like to call moments, and it’s not just a snapshot in time,” Nalle said. “It’s like a moment where you can feel the energy of the room is zoned in on one collective thing. Whether you’re an audience member or you’re a musician, you are so linked in that participation at that point because the sound waves and what we’re producing is like, everybody is into it. And that goes into what I have always wanted as a musician is, is to be able to release what I want to release emotionally, but it also invites everybody in to where they feel like a part of the process.
“We’re getting to a point in the band where not only are we tight, but we’re tight with our crowd because they come every week and also because they see different stuff every week, even on the same songs, but now we’re creating these moments where we are all a collective,” he said. “And that’s really cool.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
