Evergreen Jazz Festival founder Sterling Nelson dies

Sterling Nelson, founder of what one national columnist hailed as “the best jazz festival anywhere!”, died February 22, just two days short of his ninety-first birthday. It was Sterling’s seventieth birthday that gave rise to the Evergreen Jazz Festival. He gathered a group of top Rocky Mountain musicians to perform at the party, and with swingin’ sounds filling the room, one of the attendees enthused, “We ought to do this every year!” Sterling thought that was an excellent idea, and with a small committee of volunteers, he led the production of the first Evergreen Jazz Festival in 2001. That festival demonstrated his knowledge of the music and commitment to quality, with a lineup that included Hal Smith’s Roadrunners with Rebecca Kilgore, James Dapogny’s Chicago Jazz Band, the Golden Gate Rhythm Machine, Andy Stein and several others. Sterling served as the festival music director for ten years before retiring to the front row in the audience. His love affair with jazz began in March of 1958 when he first heard the Queen City Jazz Band perform at Mon-Vue Village, a smoky roadhouse in Lakewood, just outside of Denver. The band had only recently formed, and Sterling quickly became a regular at their gigs and good friends with the musicians. In fact, the Evergreen mountaintop house he built with wife Shirley was designed by QCJB leader/trombonist Alan Frederickson.