The veteran musician, who died on February 10, 2024, at the age of 56, played in many Colorado bands over the years. The biggest, though, was Judge Roughneck, the reggae-ska outfit that made a name for itself by being the de facto house band for Reggae on the Rocks every summer at Red Rocks. Dinsmore's position in the band's horn section helped bring it to brassy life. But in smaller venues such as Swallow Hill and the Mercury Cafe, you could also find Dinsmore in his role as lead singer — of the humbler but no less captivating Lost Dog Ensemble.
"David died on a Saturday, and I had just talked to him the Thursday before," remembers Colin Bricker, a multi-instrumentalist and founding member of Lost Dog Ensemble. "We had just recorded this album, and we were planning on doing a tour to support it right after we released it. When he died, it just came out of nowhere. He had been having back problems, and he chalked it up to when someone had hit him with a car years ago. But when he was found unresponsive on his living room floor, it turned out that he had died of heart failure. We had a session in the studio that Tuesday. We never got to finish it."
The album Bricker speaks of is titled Hour Work, and it's being released posthumously on vinyl this Saturday, January 11, at the Oriental Theater. It will be a veritable hootenanny of musicians that have been in Dinsmore's orbit for decades, including Judge Roughneck, the Tivoli Brass Band, Halden Wofford, Andy Monley and Toddy Ivy. To top it all off, Angelo Moore of Fishbone — a longtime friend and collaborator of Dinsmore's who sang lead on Judge Roughneck's 2016 cover of the English Beat's ska anthem "Mirror in the Bathroom" — will also be appearing.
Although Lost Dog Ensemble began life as a Tom Waits tribute band, Hour Work is a collection of original songs, all written or co-written by Dinsmore. The influence of Waits, however, is still deliciously present; the tracks seesaw between unhinged blues, surreal cabaret and Dinsmore's half-growled, half-crooned storytelling. It's a fitting testament to his vast talents, skewed wit and deep soul.
"After David's passing, we all were like, okay, we need to gather this stuff together and and release it as such," Bricker says. The album was recorded by Bricker under the umbrella of his company, Mighty Fine Productions, through which he's produced music by an A-list roster of Colorado acts, including DeVotchKa, Leftover Salmon and the late Ron Miles.
"All of David's vocals were done in the couple weeks before he passed," Bricker adds. "There were just a couple tunes we had to finish mixing. But we knew we wanted to put it out on vinyl, and now it's ready to go."
In addition to being a celebration of Dinsmore's life and music, Saturday's concert will be a benefit to raise funds for his family. To Bricker, it's just one way of honoring a debt.
"David was such a cheerleader for every person that he played with in a group. He was always your biggest fan," he says. "You would just see him everywhere. He was such a Denver scene cheerleader. He would always be in the crowd and give you a big hug and take a selfie with you. He was the spirit of Denver music, a champion."
