Meet Todd VanSelus | Co-founder of Atom Jazz Network, jazz bassist, believer in community.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Todd VanSelus and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Todd, how does your business help the community?
As lifelong jazz fans, we noticed emerging jazz musicians struggle to “make it” in the Northern Colorado music community. As amateur musicians ourselves, we know how uniquely difficult it is for venues to keep track of jazz musicians since the format is a living, constantly evolving entity vs. static bands with catchy names. By bringing together jazz artists, venues, and educators across Northern Colorado, we can make it easy for venues to access the wealth of local talent, bring additional listening opportunities to audiences, and support emerging artists and students in their music careers. The jazz art form is a critical part of our robust and diverse Colorado art community and will grow and pay dividends. The Atom Jazz Network provides gig opportunities, subsidized education, promotion, and booking services, all as a registered 501c3 nonprofit.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
First and foremost, as amateur musicians we’re proud of creating a nonprofit that is successfully boosting the careers of our local professional musicians, potentially enabling them to stay local. We’re also thrilled to bring the Atom Jazz Fest to fruition as a 3-day celebration of local jazz including musicians from high school through globally-touring professionals – and to make it a free event.

Organization of such a diverse and geographically spread network has been a huge challenge, as has organizing an inaugural festival as a free event, securing sponsors, media support, paid artists, and volunteers. The overwhelming take away for us is that the audience exists and is hungry for more local jazz, and our diverse network is only one step removed. There’s a tremendous local appetite for the spontaneous art that is jazz, and our Northern Colorado community is large enough to support our local artists.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are world-class jazz clubs in Denver like Dazzle and Nocturne who feature the best musicians in the world as well as our local legends, but in Northern Colorado there’s a surprising number of venues, restaurants, and bars who feature live jazz every week. The Atom Jazz Network “Jazz Map” calendar aims to include each of those events on a free resource for all.

I’d take that best friend to concert halls such as the Muse Performance Space in Lafayette, owned by two spectacular performers, to hotels such as the St Julien in Boulder with jazz every Thursday night, to breweries like Left Hand Brewing in Longmont who have built a large performance space for music of all kinds. Since my friends are often musicians themselves, I’d have to take them to the wealth of jazz jam sessions in the area, from the 120 Bar in Loveland, to the Siren or Jungle in Boulder, to Patrick’s in Greeley.

Honestly, there would be no better time to visit than the weekend of August 21st – 23rd for the Atom Jazz Fest at Left Hand Brewing in Longmont, CO. From the seasoned pros in the Ken Walker Tribute Sextet and Electric Giz, to emerging stars like Alex Loran and Bobby Wiens, to the pure energy of Guerrilla Fanfare and Space Force, the Atom Jazz Fest will be an incredible three days of community-focused live Jazz in Northern Colorado!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The Atom Jazz Network was launched thanks to two catalysts.

First, professional jazz composer and saxophonist, Alex Loran, who has recently released her first album of original music, “The Quest”. After graduating from CU Boulder, Alex was considering a move to more traditional jazz markets due to the fragmented and inconsistent local market. As amateurs who love playing with Alex, we have tremendous respect for her skills as a performer and composer, and her experience inspired us to create a vehicle to not only boost emerging artists but the jazz community in Northern Colorado as a whole.

Second, without the encouragement and support from Eric Wallace and Jake Spencer at Left Hand Brewing, the Atom Jazz Fest would not have been created. As a founder of Left Hand Brewing which remains employee-owned, Eric is a stalwart supporter of the Longmont community, sustainable economic growth, and the arts. It was Eric and Jake who planted the seed for the Jazz Festival both through their support of local and emerging musicians as well as their long-standing desire to create community.

Website: http://www.atomjazznetwork.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atomjazznetwork/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atomjazznetwork/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@atomcollectivejazz