Irma Thomas in Telluride, Jon Faddis in Denver & all that jazz | Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

As the list of headliners indicates, the 42nd edition of the Telluride Jazz Festival that runs from Friday through Sunday is not overloaded with significant jazz players (telluridejazz.org). The big names at the event this year are pianist Bruce Hornsby (who did go to Boston’s Berklee College of Music) and the Noisemakers, New Orleans singer Irma Thomas and saxophonist Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. While all strong artists in their own ways, the days when the evening concerts at the event turned Telluride’s main drag into a modern-day version of New York’s 52nd Street at its heyday are long gone.

Still, Telluride is a magical location and the festival does have pianist Nachito Herrera, Sammy Miller and the Congregation, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band and Boulder bred pianist Lao Tizer. If you don’t make it to the mountains, keep in mind that on Tuesday Tizer’s quartet with Denver’s Nelson Rangell on saxophone will be at Dazzle, 1512 Curtis, at 7 p.m. (303-839-5100). It’s the same quartet that is at Telluride with the exception of Rangell who is holding down the sax chair in place of Steve Nieves. Hornsby and the Noisemakers will also be in Denver on Wednesday for a concert at the Denver Botanic Gardens (720-865-3500). Additionally, on Sunday at 6 p.m., Miller and the Congregation are at Dazzle on Sunday.

On Saturday, the H2O Big Band has a special guest for its visit starting at 7 p.m. That guest is trumpeter Jon Faddis. The high-flying trumpeter has been on the New York scene since the early 1990s and was a member of the great Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. Faddis, who can soar, also became the music director for the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra in 1993. Earlier on Saturday, the Trumpet Consortium offers its student showcase at Dazzle at 4 p.m. There is a lot of trumpet here organized by the consortium’s founder Al Hood.

Dazzle this week also has pianist Chuck Lamb, who has spent more than a dozen years as part of the Brubeck Brothers Quartet and was the co-founder of the early jazz-fusion band Dry Jack, plays with a quartet that has Joe Anderies on saxophone on stage on Friday at 7 p.m.  At 9:30 p.m. on Friday, guitarist Dave Devine, who can be found on drummer Brian Blades’ latest CD, is on the Dazzle stage. On Thursday, trumpeter Josh Reed and bassist Matt Smiley lead a group at Dazzle at 7 p.m. followed by the FreeBear (Patrick McDevitt and Alejandro Castano) jazz at 9 p.m. And on Wednesday, drummer Dave Hammond has a Four Canals CD release party at Dazzle at 6:30 p.m. followed by guitarist Liam Broderick Riverside Collective at 9 p.m.

On the crossover side of the music guitarist Peter White and saxophonist Euge Groove are at the Soiled Dove Underground, 7401 E. 1st Avenue, at 7 and 10 p.m. on Friday for shows with tickets that are going to be hard to come by. Also keep in mind that Nocturne, 1330 27th Street, has a full schedule of sounds every night except for Sunday and Monday. There is also music at La Cour, 1643 S. Broadway (303-777-5000) and Caffe Sole, 637R S. Broadway in Boulder (303-499-2985). For example, at Caffe Sole, guitarist Tim Wendel has a quintet on Friday at 7 p.m. and singer Marylynn Gillaspie is on stage on Saturday at 7 p.m.

On Thursday, the Vail Jazz Festival at Vail Square has Spanish trumpeter Andrea Motis with saxophonist Joel Frahm at 6 p.m. And last and certainly not least, on Wednesday, the Denver Performing Arts Complex starts its run of the musical On Your Feet! The play that continues until August 19 at the Buell Theater is the story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan – from Cuba to the Miami Sound Machine. Interestingly, the show’s music director is a Colorado native, Clay Ostwald, who has been part of the Estefan musical family for decades (303-893-4100).  In a similar vein, August 11 offers the Spanish Harlem Orchestra as part of KUVO’s Live at the Vineyards celebration.

Comments and submissions: normanprovizer@aol.com.