Lifestyle | #BlackSpring - A Roux Black Production

The spring season in Colorado welcomes more than just bipolar weather patterns...Spring is a season of rebirth, growth and opportunity. The chaotic weeks of wind ripened noses and ruining our heels with salt stains are almost behind us as we look forward to sundresses and showing off our biceps. But, for the Roux Black team it means so much more than that, it’s the opportunity to showcase everything they’ve been working on throughout the winter hibernation and above all else, it’s a chance to come together as a community and appreciate the beauty of art in all its forms.

#BlackSpring gives some of Denver’s hottest independent artists a chance to showcase their talent. From the thought invoking stills of Glenn Ross to the heart breaking voice of Amanda Hawkins, these “May Babies” aren’t leaving anything left unsaid. Perhaps what makes this event so special is its curator and mastermind, Ru Johnson. Ru has an affinity for not only the color black, but for bringing together talent in unique and compelling ways. Her latest exhibit is one not to miss - grab your tickets here - they are moving fast. 

We had the opportunity to chat with a few of the artists performing/showcasing their work this Saturday and are blown away by their talent. One thing they all had in common was an appreciation for the Roux Black team and an overwhelming admiration for our pioneer in the arts, Ru Johnson. 

MEET THE ARTISTS

| Photographer, Glenn Ross | 

BIO: 

It all began when I started documenting the music scene that I was a part of. It was a phenomenal time and I covered a lot of ground - experimenting with video,  photography, and audio recording.

Then the lights went out.

Nearly a decade went by before I picked up a camera.

I was in Stockhom and the city was beautiful in the snow. Something called me to wander until I was lost. I walked ancient ground, saw things that  I'd never seen. It was with camera that I found my way and ever since that journey I've viewed the world thru a lens.

Q & A:

1. May is a month of rebirth and growth, how does the #BlackSpring exhibit reflect that theme to you personally?

With Spring comes life - our part of the world awakens and it's the perfect time to sew seeds for great things. The photographs in the exhibit  came from a special shoot with Ru. We'd only planned to do headshots, but the space was perfect and the mood was good. We talked life and how to make dreams real. Look closely and you'll see that come through the images - it's the vision and the hustle. It's  planting ideas and bringing the right people together to make it happen.  #BlackSpring is just the beginning -  a bud on the tree that's gonna reach the stars.

2. Hip hop is more of a cultural movement than it is a music genre, how has it shaped your work?

Well, Hip Hop is everywhere and plays a huge role in our consciousness. It's influenced all of us in some way, and for me, it's raised my awareness of a culture that I wasn't exposed to. The very first record I bought was 'Raising Hell' by Run DMC. That music took me into a world that wasn't my own, and in a way that changed my perspective on humanity. This was long before I ever made a photograph,  but the impact was profound and shows up in a lot of my work.

3. What are you most excited about for #BlackSpring? What do you hope comes out of the event?

I'm really looking forward to showcasing Ru in a way that the public hasn't really seen. We all know how motivated and sharp she is, and in the pictures out there of her we've seen a more raw view of her. While there's a bit of that in these images, they're a little more introspective and there's a honesty to them - mask off. I'm excited to see Ru shine more of her light on the world, and to connect with a whole new crew of good people to collaborate with.

Do your research:  www.glennrossphoto.com // @glennrossphoto

| Musician, Amanda Hawkins | 

BIO: 

"Soaring, whole-hearted vocals matched with beauty, wit and a heart of gold is Amanda Hawkins.” Amanda was born with the gift to bring audiences together and continues to do exactly that with her alluring talents. Largely recognized as an “R&B” singer by fans and industry professionals, the gifted singer/soul-songwriter recorded over 100 songs and performed well over 200 times before the age of 18. Following high school graduation, Amanda became a resident of Los Angeles, California. The Denver-born artist fit in seamlessly within the fast paced world of music entertainment and later found herself on the American Idol stage among the show’s top 50 performers.

Influenced by the likes of Luther Vandross, Pink, Aaliyah, Gwen Stefani, Lauryn Hill, Bonnie Raitt and Mary J. Blige Amanda’s heart is felt with every word written and every chord strummed. This honesty and effortless consistency has made Amanda Hawkins a household name in her home city of Denver, Colorado. Regularly returning to sing for; Denver Nuggets, Colorado Mammoth, Colorado Crush, Colorado Rapids and Colorado Avalanche home games as well as the Denver Martin Luther King Jr. Marade and benefits such as the Susan G. Koman Foundation at Denver’s Hard Rock Cafe.

Q & A: 

1. May is a month of rebirth and growth, how does the #BlackSpring exhibit reflect that theme to you personally?

Right now I'm starting a whole new chapter with my music.
I haven't released anything in the past couple years due to me being stuck in a record deal. I'm officially out of that situation and I've grown so much as person, that my music has a whole new vibe. I'm so ready to share it with the world now.
I definitely would call it a rebirth.

2. Hip hop is more of cultural movement than it is a music genre, how has it shaped your work?

I've always listened to hip hop. Growing up in the 80's, my brother would always have it playing.
I feel like the culture and sound has shaped my music in many ways. I'm not an MC but hip hop music has been a huge influence.
Hip hop as a culture is feeling it all in your soul. Whether it's music hitting you in the heart, Your passion for the fashion, or dancing your heart out. I try to always have that kind of passion in work.

3. What are you most excited about for #BlackSpring? What do you hope comes out of the event?

I'm so excited to be apart of #BlackSping. Every event Ru Johnson (Roux Black) puts on is epic.
She always holds a space for everyone here in Denver to show our art and thrive in it.
I'm looking forward to seeing the pre-show photo gallery, and the "May Babies" exhibit. I'm also excited to hear the rest of the artists performing.
t's my bday week, so I will be turnin up. haha
My hopes for the evening would be for all of us in the community to get together, share, laugh, dance and vibe with on another. 

Do Your Research: 

WEBSITE - Www.AmandaHawkins.com
FACEBOOK - facebook.com/AmandaHawkinsMusic
YOUTUBE -    www.youtube.com/AmandaHawkinsMusic  
SOUNDCLOUD-   https://soundcloud.com/amandahawkinsmusic

| Performer, Panama Soweto | 

BIO: 

Panama Soweto is a performance writer, emcee and educator. He is currently the Job Developer for the Denver Housing Authority’s Youth Employment Academy. His dedication to assisting youth in Denver as a mentor and educator has been demonstrated through his work over the course of the last 20 years. He is a National Poetry Slam Champion. He is also the co-founder of Slam Nuba, a Denver based competitive slam team. He tours as one of the county’s top spoken word acts at colleges and universities, and in 2015 was awarded Diversity Artist of the Year from The National Association of Campus Activities. Panama created the word Gnuck. It's definition, " A descriptive word, usually negative directed to anyone who's adopted an MTV lifestyle as a culture." The word was entered into the Urban Dictionary in 2009. In 2016 The Denver Urban Spectrum honored him with the distinguished African Americans Who Make a Difference Award. His work has been featured on Colorado Public Radio (CPR), The HuffingtonPost.com, the inspirational sharing site UpWorthy.com, and the 2016 PBS special The American Graduate. His poem "Scott" has over 100, 000 views and has been the number one search result in YouTube under BEST SLAM POEM EVER. It is taught in over 100  schools nationwide and over a dozen internationally. He has even shared his art during a very special TEDTALK at Colorado State University. 

He is the self published author of “Photomagnetic Explosions and Stuff,” an anthology of his written work, poems and prose. Panama was an invited performer for The Black Panther Party's 40th Anniversary in Harlem, NY. He has also performed with such notable artists as The Last Poets, Gil-Scott Heron, Pulitzer Prize winner Yusef Komunyakaa, Jack Kerouac composer David Amram, DJ Kool Herc (considered the father of Hip Hop), Zion I and The Grouch, Camp Lo, Hieroglyphics , Digable Planets, Blu, Kidz in The Hall, Dead Prez, Souls of Mischief, Chiddy Bang, Del the Funky Homosapian and The Pharcyde.

Lifestyle | A Restaurant Rooted in Seasonally Local Ingredients & Creative Cooking

Ultra5280’s visit to Root Down, Justin Cucci’s first Edible Beats Restaurant, wraps up our series we began late December. If you happened to miss the previous two, scroll down and start at the beginning with Linger, then Ophelia’s. And by the time you’ve finished reading this article you’ll see why we felt it was important you knew about this trendy trio and how their focus on flavor, quality, sustainability and creativity makes them a staple in the Denver food scene.

Devils on Horseback

Root Down opened back in December 2008 in a former mid-century gas station, and in pure Cucci fashion he incorporated many of the original elements into the new décor. A style that has rung true in each restaurant debut since. Root Down’s menu is focused on offering sustainable protein and vegetable based dishes using produce from their gardens, local growers and purveyors to create globally influenced seasonal cuisine.

We started with their most popular starter, Devils on Horesback, which we noticed is on the menu at Linger too. What’s cool though is each restaurant’s version is different to reflect their individual style. At Root Down the Devils are smoked almond-stuffed Peppadew Peppers, wrapped in tender belly bacon, and sauced in Gournay cheese fondue. Take my word that these little Devils rode us straight to taste bud heaven.

Next we had the Butternut Squash Risotto with the Root Down/local touch of purple quinoa from Southern Colorado. The dish itself was beautiful and the texture was dense and creamy even with the added the quinoa. The butternut squash flavor was rather subtle, but I could be a tough critic having just returned from ten days in Italy. My bad!!

The next dish was even more interesting, one because we didn’t order it, two because it was the nightly special thus not on the menu, and third because it required you to work for the meal and get a little messy. The dish consisted of two diver scallops atop prawns in a Thai based sauce with jam, baby carrots and Brussels Sprout garnish. The scallops were soft and buttery, but the prawns underneath took a fearless eater, some figuring out and extra napkins.   

The Longs Peak Rack of Lamb was a pleasant surprise after defiling a couple prawns in the previous course.  The dish consisted of two large bone-in lamb chops atop Farro with baby carrots, a layered sweet potato and apple tower with a melted cheese top, and Pear-Pepita Salsa. The creamy sweet carrots and potatoes were perfectly offset by the crisp tartness of the pears and apples and rounded off by the hearty herbed Farro base. The lamb was exceptionally tender and flavorful without tasting gamy and was the perfect dish to satisfy winter warmer cravings!

If you’re looking to surprise us with something, we’d tell you to follow suit of the Root Down staff and surprise us with a free dessert trio! The kind and gracious staff and Executive Chef Jeremy Kittelson prepared a sample of the first three desserts listed on the menu: Chocolate Bombe, Eggnog Bread Pudding and Banana Crème Brulee Pie. So this “Pie” … its texture was more like flan than a crème brulèe and was topped with whipped sour cream instead of the traditional caramelized sugar crust, the banana slices next to it had a brulèed crust though. The base of the pie was that amazing flavor combo of crunchy peanuts and creamy chocolate. The Eggnog bread pudding was fluffy and saturated with rich eggnog flavor, but our favorite part was the side of Bourbon ice cream! And for the chocolate aficionados there’s the almond brownie tucked inside a whipped chocolate ganache wrapped in a chocolate shell with vanilla cream, appropriately named the Chocolate Bombe. They’re right, it’s bomb.

Based off their names none of these desserts were what you would expect, but now that I’ve said that I realize nothing is really quite what you expect at Cucci’s restaurants. Everything they create has its own twist and incorporates unique local and seasonal ingredients, like the risotto that unexpectedly had little specks of purple quinoa!

We were happily surprised to see all three of Cucci’s restaurants participating in Denver Restaurant Week February 26 to March 6th which offers a three course menu for only $30 per person. If you’ve never treated yourself to any of these restaurants there’s no better time than snagging that special someone for a Valentine’s Day retreat!

Tiffany Candelaria

Lifestyle | Taco Fest Distress | June 27-28

Let's tacobout why this past weekend's taco fest was more of a distress than a fest. First of all, there was absolutely NO organization. The ticket takers and cops were both unsure of who was checking IDs at the door. Plus, there was a side entrance where a bunch of freeloaders were sneaking in. Pure taco filled chaos.

Secondly, no one was watching the band except two people and we didn't see the lucha libre wrestling or chihuahua races happening. Did anyone? Were we being punk'd?

A few food trucks were selling tacos ranging from $2-10 and others were selling pizza and hamburgers. All of which seemed like they had just woken up, decided to start a food truck, wrote a sign in Sharpee and happened to come across this fest. Sadly, the lines were too long to eat, so we have no idea if it was tasty or not. For all we know we could have missed out on a great meal, or maybe we just escaped salmonella poisoning... Some things are better left unsolved.

Moral of the story: Do not be tempted by the promise of milk and honey (read: tacos and beer), for all you know, it will end up being a chaotic vat of sweaty lost souls, lines, and a few food trucks. 

Lifestyle | Nocturne Denver | Jazz, Culture and Great Food

There's a certain timelessness to jazz music. It's one of the oldest forms of musical expression and yet it is still completely relevant decades later. When you come to a place like Nocturne it is likely because you hold an admiration and longing for the bygone era when jazz clubs reigned supreme and the people, places, and menu all centered around the music. The owners of Nocturne Jazz & Supper Club, Nicole and Scott Mattson surely connected with this sentiment while creating Nocturne. It's apparent in every aspect from the décor, the music and the specially crafted menu to their involvement in the community’s musical education and funding.

Our evening at Nocturne Jazz was simply beautiful. The decor and the ambiance were both inviting and reminiscent of a simpler time. With cushioned booths and sideways sweeping stairways the entire venue transports you to a smoky jazz club circa 1915.  Nicole and Scott are very passionate about their project and were more than happy to come chat with us about their new jazz club, “We’re having a real kick with it,” Scott says. Nocturne has started to gain popularity with weekends nearly at capacity throughout the night and musicians eager to play a ten to twelve week residency. “A residency allows the musicians to get comfortable in our space and really develop their craft. On the other hand, it also gives them an opportunity to experiment with different styles and test out new music on the audience,” our waitress Rachel explains. This means every show is different at Nocturne, even if you come and see the same band perform.

The food and beverages at Nocturne take a residency as well. In addition to a set of “Standards” on the menu, there is a rotating selection called “Renditions” that are directly inspired by iconic and historical jazz albums. We attended their Renditions Menu Launch event last Thursday night where they debuted their newest Renditions menu. During these evenings a live band plays an iconic album from which the menu is inspired and their Chef Dustin Beckner explains how he and his team came up with each dish and drink pairing to match each song on the album.

“Quiet Kenny” by renown horn player Kenny Dorham was the album selected for this menu Residency, with The Tom Gershwin Quartet performing their first show of their ten to twelve week Residency at Nocturne. Chef Beckner tells us there is tenderness to Dorham’s album and every dish he created for this has a subtle line of harmony and balance. Each of the five courses does indeed deliver a delicious combination of sweet and salty, warming and cooling, hearty and light, smoky and smooth, exotic and familiar. The drinks were equally enjoyable from refreshing yet complex cocktails to rare wines on heavy rotation. On any given night, the wait staff is happy to walk you through the menu and explain the inspiration and ingredients of each Rendition’s dish and drink. As owner Scott Mattson explained, “Great music and great food run through the core of our hearts and the pit of our bellies.”

There is a timelessness to Nocturne that we hope will carry them through the current decades here in Denver to become a classic standard in of itself. We're sure that 30-50 years from now Nocturne will be a historic and integral staple to Denver's culture.

Learn more about Nocturne Jazz & Supper club and their upcoming events here.

Lifestyle | Film On The Rocks Schedule Announced

Any Coloradan knows that it's not officially summer until Red Rocks announces their summer film schedule. There's nothing quite like un-boxing a bag of wine and relaxing against your friends to the tune of Breakfast Club. And this year's lineup does not disappoint... they've got everything from classics like Pretty In Pink to newer releases like Jurassic Park. Satisfying young and old hearts alike. Pro Tip: Buy your tickets ahead of time because, like anything at Red Rocks, it sells out.

SCHEDULE:

May 23: THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 with Strawberry Runners + Plume Varia

June 2: SUPER TROOPERS with Strange Americans + Bonnie and the Beard

June 9: THE SHINING with Munly & The Lupercalians + Stella Luce

June 15: THE PRINCESS BRIDE with Jux County + Clouds & Mountains

June 23: JURASSIC PARK with School of Rock

July 31: PRETTY WOMAN with SHEL + Moses

Aug 26 : THE BREAKFAST CLUB with Jen Korte & the Loss with The Dirty Femmes

Aug 31: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY with Kaleo + Bluebook

Sept 2: END OF SEASON SPECTACULAR to be announced at a later date

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., bands begin playing at 7 p.m. and movies start at dusk.

Tickets go on sale May 14 at noon. It's $12.00 for General Admission (higher on day of show at Red Rocks Box Office) & $42 and up for VIP Peak Experience packages.

So start planning Denver because the summer is just getting started.

Lifestyle | Cameron Esposito @ Comedy Works | May 14-16

We know you have a busy weekend ahead of you, full of lying around with your cats, eating CheezIts straight from the bag (no box) and reruns of How I Met Your Mother... but we have something way better planned for you. Cameron Esposito is gracing Denver with her beautiful half mullet and golden brown eyes this weekend at Comedy Works and we couldn't be happier. Castro even dusted off his denim wedding dress for the occasion.

According to non other than comedy legend, Jay Leno Cameron Esposito is the future of comedy and we totally agree. She has been on Chelsea Lately, The Late Show, The Late Late Show, CONAN, has a killer new album out and a bunch of viral vids on YouTube. (Yes we shortened that because why not. Get off our ass dad).

Side Note: We think Cameron Esposito may have Lena Dunham beat as the voice of our generation.  *gasp*

And guess what! She is performing this weekend at Comedy Works and we wanted to extend the invitation to you to come see her live. There's going to be a lot of denim and who knows, maybe we'll even bring our cat(s).

Buy tickets: http://www.comedyworks.com/comedians/807

Take a look at some of the stuff Cameron's been getting into:

Album track "Woman Who Doesn't Sleep With Men" viral video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSJGaVuJJn8

Cameron performs on CONAN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlUWrbY86Yk

Cameron performs on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mp4AzWjow0

Video for album track "Guacamole" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esFP8eO7Ojo

"Ask a Lesbian" video series:
1.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av2PU3wLGio
2.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_N36YpApQA

Cameron's "Who In The World is Cameron Esposito?" AV Club column http://avc.lu/1Bv3ey5

Kill Rock Stars press page:  http://killrockstars.com/samesexsymbol

Cameron's site:  http://cameronesposito.com/
@cameronesposito