By LIZ EMMETT-MATTOX

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For restauranteur and jazz-lover Howard Treppeda, food and music are a natural combination.

When local jazz musician Don Grusin performed at Treppeda’s Ristorante for the first time this March, he suggested to Treppeda that they do a jazz festival. Treppeda said, “That was all it took.”

Since then, Treppeda has been gathering support from the local business community and musicians to pull it off. “Everyone I’ve talked to about it loves the idea.”

Six months is not much time to organize an event of this size, but Treppeda didn’t want to put it off. “People asked me if I wanted to wait, but I really wanted to go through the motions of what it takes to get it done. I’m imagining this as a ‘soft opening’ of what will be a great festival.”

Treppeda is hoping that Niwot could become the jazz district of the area. “What Lyons has done with bluegrass and folk music, I’d like Niwot to be with jazz,” he said.

While this year’s festival promises a great lineup of music and food, Treppeda is already thinking bigger. “Next year I’d like to see it be a two-stage festival with bands here on Second Avenue, and another stage over in Cottonwood. Eventually, I’d like to see it be a two-day festival.”

The festival will be free and listeners will have a chance to sample a wide variety of jazz styles and sounds from solo performances to quartets to big bands playing everything from traditional New-Orleans style jazz, and big band jazz, to the perhaps less familiar Latin jazz and contemporary jazz.

Given that the organizer is a restaurant-owner, of course there will be food. Local participants include Treppeda’s, which will be featuring a raw oyster bar, Colterra/Salt with Cajun Creole cuisine, Niwot Tavern, Lefty’s Pizzaria, Chef Dale Lamb, and more. Shamane’s pastries will be providing the sweets.

But not all of the food vendors will be familiar faces. Treppeda has invited some of his friends from Spanish Harlem in New York to set up a booth.

For the schedule of events, see the ad on page 4.

Treppeda has set up a website at http://jazzon2ndave.weebly.com and Facebook page where people can find more information.