Art Briggs – another side revealed
By Ron Kop © Copyright

Okay, we all know that Art Briggs the sidewalk sweeper was no astrophysicist – but could he really play the piano?

His work ethic was certainly to be admired, enough so that a mural was recently painted in his likeness. It’s located on front of the Delta House; that’s where Briggs lived for the past 22 years. According to Eddie Sanford, it was a fitting send off to Briggs. Sanford is a partner and manager of the respite home at 233 Main Street in Delta.

Artist Seth Weber, who has two other Delta murals to his credit, painted the life-sized image of Briggs. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a telling visual in its own right, but quite typical, as we see Briggs sitting on a bench with legs crossed, a cup of coffee within reach, and a hand resting on a knee with a smoldering cigarette between his fingers. For Sanders, however, the story about Briggs the jazz pianist is a complete surprise.

“We had a piano right here in the lobby (of the Delta House),” Sanford said shaking his head, “but Art never touched it. It’s hard to believe that he could play anything.”

Sanford told me a lot of things about Art Briggs that I never knew, some of which surprised me as well. Art was married once in 2003 for about a year. The woman he married had also moved into the resident home where she had her own room. But Sanford said she died about a year later. Art’s own room was very stark, and the only thing hanging on his wall was a newspaper clipping inside a frame. It was a news story about Briggs himself when he was selected Man of the Year by the Delta Area Chamber of Commerce.

I also learned that Briggs rode his bike to Montrose once a week on Sundays just so he could get a hamburger at Burger King. He also rode to Grand Junction once a month to see his mother who was in a nursing home. All of that ended about 12 or 13 years ago, said Sanford, when Art crashed his bike and broke his collarbone. After that he only pushed his bicycle, and never again took trips to Montrose or Grand Junction. His favorite possession, other than the bike, was a police radio scanner, which he kept on at all times. He also had a standard radio, which was generally tuned to a country music channel, and also left on most of the time. Art’s best friend Frank Wood offered that before he swept sidewalks for a living, Briggs worked as a cook at a Grand Junction restaurant in the 1970s or 80s.

All of the above is new information to me, but I also wondered how many people knew about Art the jazz pianist.

It was a story I heard from my old man, who was a musician himself. He played drums for several different bands over a span of 30 years before he passed away in 1992; sometimes he played with a large group of up to six or seven artists, but more often with a combo, trio or duo – like when he played with Art Briggs in some lonely honky-tonk in downtown Montrose during the late 1970s.

My dad freelanced between gigs, just like Art probably did, and their circle of musicians were available at the drop of a hat. Make a quick phone call, and most of them could put together a rag-tag band in a pinch.

I didn’t know Art Briggs, at least not in those days anyway, but my dad remembered. Whenever they played together, he said Art would dress the part, wearing shades and a loud shirt with a wide collar (leisure-suit style), a cigarette clenched between his teeth, and fingers wrapped around a strong drink.

It was years later, though, that I learned about Art Briggs the former musician. “See that ol’ guy there pushin’ the broom,” my dad asked me one day while driving through town together. “He used to play one hell of a jazz piano.”

So what happened, I asked.

“Oh, we worked together a few times, just the two of us. No big jobs – just playing a dance or two on short notice, ya know, filling in for a cancellation, stuff like that. All I heard was that he had an accident, and then couldn’t play anymore.”

My dad implied that Briggs got decked in a bar fight and struck his head. But that’s hearsay, of course, just like most of the stories about Art. The facts are minimal at best, and what little there is about Art has already been mentioned in his obituary.

Art’s good friend, Frank Wood, though, tells a different story altogether, which was that he got hit by a pickup truck while riding his bike in Montrose. That was about 25 years ago, and Wood said Art spent a long time in rehab at the former Delta Care Center recuperating from his injuries. Before he moved to the Delta House, Art lived at the Eldina Hotel on Palmer for a while. Wood said he and Art also attended the Delta-Montrose Voc-Tech Center (College) where he learned to read and write. If for no other reason, it was hoped that Briggs could eventually sign his own name.

Arthur Briggs, the well-known sidewalk sweeper and quiet recluse who kept to himself, remains an enigma to many Deltans today. But in a previous life, if one can call it that, the story about Briggs is that he played a pretty good jazz piano in the local pubs and lounges: an inspiration to some perhaps, and stretching the credulity of others.

So what’s the truth? Frank Wood told me Art Briggs was definitely a musician. “Oh yeah, he really loved music, especially country and blue grass.”

But did he play piano, I asked? And have you ever heard him play?

“No, I ain’t never heard him play. But Art told me he used to play the piano – and that he played jazz.”

I never got to know Art Briggs very well; so perhaps extending his legend might be classified as an unintended consequence. He was certainly part of the local landscape, like the clock in front of the jewelry store on Main. Anyway, Briggs died six months ago, and according to friends, probably succumbed to pneumonia.

Our conversations over the years – whenever we had them – were brief, usually occurring while on a walk on Main Street during a hot August night.

“How are you, Art,” I’d ask as I sat next to him on his outdoor bench. (Because of recent laws passed in Colorado, Art was no longer allowed to smoke indoors in the resident building.)

“Oh, I’m doin’ okay,” he’d respond in his customary loud and deep voice, his blue eyes lighting up because some stranger remembered his name.

We’d chitchat a bit, and I always asked if he still played the piano, or if he remembered a drummer named Tony.

“No, I don’t play no more,” he’d say. But sure enough, he’d remember the drummer. If I pressed for details or more information, Art would become quiet and look away while his eyes welled up. I liked Art Briggs. A lot of people in Delta did too.

I often wonder if he ever used his broom as an instrument and played it to the rhythm of the beat inside his head, like the syncopation in a jazz lick where the patterns of swishes and thumps mark the time. No, he couldn’t play the piano any more, but he certainly remained close to his music.

What we see of Briggs today is just so much pigment on the face of a brick wall. I think it’s a very good likeness, though, and it’s a great reminder of his days sweeping the sidewalks of Delta. But I’ll also remember Art Briggs the jazzman, a broken note at the end of that broom trying to keep time with the music.

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OBITUARY: Delta County Independent: June.20, 2009

Arthur Jason "Art" Briggs of Delta died as a result of a short illness on Sunday, June 14, 2009, at Delta County Memorial Hospital. He was 70.

Mr. Briggs was born Sept. 4, 1938, in Grand Junction, to Arthur and Grace (Davis) Briggs. He moved to Delta at a young age. He swept the sidewalks of numerous Delta businesses for many years. He was an avid fisherman and enjoyed helping others and making people smile. Mr. Briggs is survived by a large circle of friends in Delta County. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Richard and Walice. A fund to help with funeral expenses has been established at Wells Fargo in Delta, CO.