Photos: Colorado Symphony and Nathaniel Rateliff working on Beck's Song Reader

While you've already got well over a hundred compelling reasons to pick up your tickets for the nineteenth annual Westword Music Showcase, here's one more: Last night, in the basement of Boettcher Concert Hall, I got a sneak peek at the highly anticipated and ground-breaking collaboration between the Colorado Symphony...

By Dave Herrera

May 28, 2013

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While you've already got well over a hundred compelling reasons to pick up your tickets for the nineteenth annual Westword Music Showcase, here's one more: Last night, in the basement of Boettcher Concert Hall, I got a sneak peek at the highly anticipated and ground-breaking collaboration between the Colorado Symphony and Nathaniel Rateliff. All I can say is whoo, boy, are you in for a treat!

It was only the second formal rehearsal, the first time the string players had even seen the sheet music for the Beck Reader, which was graciously arranged by Jay Clifford of Jump, Little Children, but man, oh, man! Even in its unfinished state, the pieces I heard are absolutely stunning. My favorite was a glorious rendering of "Just Noise" that instantly recalls the songs from Painted From Memory, Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello's gorgeous album from 1998. Along with the set of three songs it's performing with Rateliff, the Colorado Symphony is slated to perform six more with Otis Taylor, as well as Julie Davis and Joseph Pope of the Seven Hats.

Continue reading for more photos.

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