Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

This week, we wrap up July and move into the month of August that offers fans a number of musical treats. For example, on August 14, KUVO’s annual signature event, Live at the Vineyards, takes place at Balistreri Vineyards. The food/music/and drink event this year offers up the sounds of the H2 Big Band,  blues singer Erica Brown, saxophonist Rich Chiaraluce and trumpeter Hugh Ragin. While these are all area-based performers, remember that the superb trumpeter Ragin currently tours as part of the reconstituted Art Ensemble of Chicago. And closing out the evening is the Sam Mayfield Blues Revue featuring “Mr. Wonderful.”

August 13-14 also offers up the Telluride Jazz Festival. This year Telluride actually features a number of jazz connected artists that should be familiar to jazz fans. These include Galactic, Robert Glasper, Tito Puente, Jr. and the Latin Jazz Ensemble, pianist Christian Sands, singer Cat Russell and drummer Allison Miller’s strong band Boom Tic Boom. For details, check out telluridejazz.org.

If you aren’t making the trip to Telluride, you can get a taste of the music there when the New Haven-born pianist Christian Sands hits the Dazzle stage on August 14. Sands, whose core trio has Yasushi Nakamura on bass and Jerome Jennings on drums, is one of the newer, attention grabbing pianists on the scene. At Dazzle, his trio performs at 7 pm.

On August 4, it’s singer Kurt Elling who will hit town at the Soiled Dove Underground at 8 pm. Elling is clearly one of the main pillars of male singing in jazz in recent times. And near the end of August, the Gift of Jazz presents a Blind Tiger tribute to guitarist Herb Ellis at the Colorado Auto Dealers Association on Speer Blvd. at 3 pm with guitarist Dave Corbus. Ellis is too often overlooked. He shouldn’t be.

Moving back to this week, pianist Rob Mullins is at Dazzle on Thursday and Friday. Mullins, who moved to Denver with his family when he was 14, has released scores of albums of both the smooth jazz and the straight ahead kind. On Thursday Mullins is part of saxophonist Joe Anderies Quartet at Dazzle. Come Friday, the pianist is back at the club in the Baur’s building along with his Friends. The sounds begin at 7 p.m.

 

Jazz Notes – 7/29/2021
Norman Provizer

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