• 5/21/2008
  • web-based article
  • Vince Darcangelo
  • DailyCamera.com

Growing up in Long Island, N.Y., local guitarist/mandolinist Greg Schochet’s earliest memories involve listening to his dad’s Bob Dylan records.

Dylan turns 67 on May 24, and in honor of the folk legend’s big day Schochet — who has performed with such local favorites as Runaway Truck Ramp, the All Night Honky Tonk All Stars and Hit and Run Bluegrass, and currently plays with the Expedition Quartet and Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams — is hosting An All-Star Tribute to Bob Dylan at the Gold Hill Inn on Wednesday.

“It’s a musical tour of his career from start to the present,” Schochet says.

It’s the third such party Schochet has organized, including celebrations in 2005 and 2007. The event has brought together big-name local acts like Yonder Mountain String Band, Danny Shafer and Rose Hill Drive in the past. This year’s party includes Spring Creek Bluegrass, KC Groves, Flatfoot and others, as well as Schochet’s bands the Expedition Quartet and Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams.

“Bob Dylan’s music means a lot to me musically and historically,” Schochet says.

But the event means even more as its origin lies not in Dylan’s music but in Schochet’s Long Island roots. Growing up, Schochet’s best friend, and fellow Dylan fan, was Dan Roth, and a few years ago Roth was diagnosed with oral cancer. He came to Colorado to visit Schochet and the two spent a day just jamming on Dylan tunes and discussed the possibility of turning that into a show.

“That idea just grew in my mind that it could be a big event,” Schochet says.

The event is a benefit for the Oral Cancer Foundation, which raises awareness of the disease and provides support and advocacy for those with oral cancer. Schochet says the Gold Hill Inn has donated its space for the event, and all of the musicians have donated their time and won’t be paid for their performances.

“Musicians are historically and locally putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to doing a benefit,” he says.

Each band gets to pick three or four of its favorite Dylan songs to perform, the only rule being no repeats.

“Anything goes in terms of interpretation,” Schochet says, be it rock, bluegrass or his Expedition Quartet’s chamber-esque take on the 12-minute “Desolation Row.”

This year’s lineup will be arranged chronologically, so that the evening will cover everything from Dylan’s self-titled 1962 debut up to his 2006 release, Modern Times. And, time permitting, it will also feature a Bob Dylan sound-alike competition.

“If you feel you need to enter, all you need to know is about one verse,” Schochet says.

He is going to great lengths to ensure a fair decision.

“It’s audience response, of course,” Schochet says, then adds with a laugh, “We don’t want any corrupt ‘American Idol’-type judging going on.”

The best news, though, is that Roth has since beaten cancer, and is currently back in Long Island raising his son.

Whom he named Dylan, of course.