Love live music? Dizzy Charlie's is bringing pop-up jazz and other great tunes to venues all around Colorado Springs. At the moment, locals can typically see a Dizzy Charlie's act at Bar 33 on Wednesdays, Mining Exchange on Thursdays and Summa on Saturdays (sometimes Fridays), as well as special events on other evenings.
Below is a Q&A with Dizzy Charlie's founder Sara Vaas:
Please tell us a bit more about your inspiration, your grandfather Dizzy Charlie.
My grandpa, David Charles (a.k.a. Dizzy Charlie), was a big band composer who visited the Broadmoor on tour with his jazz band in the ‘40s. My favorite childhood memory was swimming in the pool with my brother and sister as we listened to his big band play in the pavilion across the park.
Could you give us a brief timeline for Dizzy Charlie's?
For years, I had run a local nonprofit and attended local jazz shows. Listening took me back to my summers as a kid in the Midwest. During COVID, I had the opportunity to book my favorite jazz bands for outdoor shows at Bancroft Park in Old Colorado City. Two years later, back home at my high school reunion, my dad gifted my grandpa's original 16-piece big band arrangements to me for Springs Contemporary Jazz Big Band to perform. It was August 24, 2022, and the night that Big Band played my grandpa's original tunes in Bancroft Park, my heart overflowed with joy. ... For two years now, I’ve continued investing into building relationships with venues, musicians and my fellow listeners, all to give people a chance to feel their own version of what I felt that night in the park.
How many bands/acts are in your quiver at the moment?
As of right now, we’ve got 132 performers that we love matching with shows or the right venues to support the vibe and bring in customers.
Please talk about the idea of "Everybody is Welcome. Come as You Are." Why is this important to you?
It’s kinda funny because jazz isn’t the most accessible music for a lot of listeners, but the ethos is that everyone gets to play. The structure of jazz songs speaks to this. It begins with the melody, what people gather around… and the chords provide structure for that melody as a ‘familiar gathering space.’ Then the musicians embark away from the melody to take solos and express themselves over the chords. Everyone is welcome in the solo sections and every player has something to say though their instrument. Whether it’s melancholic or exuberant, they are all bringing what they have, just as they are.
Dizzy Charlie's started as an outlet for jazz—please talk about why it has expanded into other genres, as well as musical events such as open mic nights.
I absolutely love jazz, and I also realize even if we’re covering pop tunes of today, that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Underneath it all, I want people to connect with each other. It’s really about building connection, community and possibility for me. I’ve had widowers come to my shows, meet and spark later-in-life romance. I’ve had musicians meet and form bands. We’ve set the stage for amazing, romantic date nights for innumerable couples and we’ve helped a handful of restaurants stay solvent through tough times. I realize the market for connection is much greater than the market for jazz, and I want my expansion to reflect that all over the city.
What else would you like for our readers to know?
We bring people together for an amazing time regularly. We create a huge win for our venue partners, an amazing night of entertainment, and a captive audience for our marketing partners who want to reach folks while they’re out having an amazing time. We’re in the business of pulling of quadruple wins over here and always looking for more folks who are down to play.
Website: https://dizzycharlies.com/
Facebook + Instagram: @DizzyCharlies
We encourage musicians to take melodies that we know as a generation—Toxic by Brittany Spears, Come As You Are by Nirvana, Blackbird by The Beatles—and rework those songs where the melody becomes the familiar part that pulls us in. This was at the essence of jazz in the early 1900s, and I believe that it’s part of what will continue to keep it relevant 100 years later.