A Great Week for Legends|Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

This week begins with a superb night of music when bassist Gary Peacock brings a trio to Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, on Thursday for sets at 7 and 9 p.m. (303-839-5100). After spending time in Germany and California, Peacock hit New York in 1962 and honed his avant-garde credentials with players such as Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Prince Lasha and Sonny Simmons. And on the piano front, he worked with Paul Bley (who just recently passed away), Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett. In fact, for the more than 30 years now, Peacock, Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette have worked together as the Standards Trio. Peacock is at Dazzle with the trio that appeared on the 2015 ECM disc Now This – a trio made up of the bassist with two top-shelf players, pianist Marc Copland and drummer Joey Baron. With that band, this should be one night of highly memorable sounds.

And things don’t let up when Peacock packs up his bass. Back in 2004, drummer DeJohnette was part of clarinetist Don Byron’s Ivey-Divey project that released a disc of that name on Blue Note that also featured Jason Moran on piano. On Friday and Saturday, Byron, who is now a professor in Metro State’s jazz program, revisits Ivey-Divey with a newer edition of the band that has Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums and Edward Simon on piano. Born in Venezuela, Simon hit the New York scene in 1989 and had long stints with saxophonist Bobby Watson and trumpeter Terence Blanchard before leading his own trio.

Byron is a true original who can cover more bases than you can find on a baseball field. Ivey-Divey pays tribute to the Lester Young/Nat “King” Cole/Buddy Rich trio but it does it entirely in its own way. On both Friday and Saturday, the sets are at 7 and 9 p.m.

The third major event that takes place during this musical week is also at Dazzle. That event occurs on Wednesday when pianist Aaron Goldberg brings a trio into the club at 6 and 8 p.m. The Boston-born Goldberg is clearly among the rising piano stars on the scene and has been connected to Joshua Redman (who, like Goldberg, went to Harvard), Wynton Marsalis and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. Over the years, the pianist’s primary rhythm mates have been bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland – and that’s the band on his current CD The Now. The night before Goldberg plays, Dazzle has the Gratitude Quintet with trumpeter Gabe Mervine doing the music of Horace Silver at 7 p.m. Gabriel has a new disc out called People that reinforces the idea that he has moved into the ranks of the city’s outstanding trumpeters.

Beyond the visitors to town, this week also offers Valentine’s Day. To celebrate that day, you can hear: singer Wendy Fopeano with pianist Eric Gunnison’s trio at Dazzle on Sunday at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.; singer Wellington Bullings with the Scott Martin Trio at Nocturne, 1330 27^th St. at 6 and 9 p.m. (303-295-3333); singer Teresa Carroll at the Golden Hotel, 800 11^th St. in Golden at 5 p.m. (303-279-0100); and crossover saxophonist Paul Taylor at the Soiled Dove Underground, 7401 E. 1^st Ave., at 6:30 and 10 p.m. (303-830-9214). Also, mezzo-soprano Erica Papillion-Posey does Valentine’s Day at the Caffe Sole, 637R S. Broadway in Boulder at 7 p.m. (303-499-2985). And there’s also a special early Valentine to saxophonist Freddy Rodriguez on Thursday. The tenor saxophonist, long a fixture at El Chapultepec, has, in terms of age, hit the mid-80s mark and will perform live at KUVO at 4 p.m. before heading back to the “stage” at the Pec at 9 p.m. Bravo Freddy.

Speaking of singers, to mark the 20^th anniversary of the release of Eva Cassidy’s Live at Blues Alley album, there’s a new double CD called Nightbird that captures all of the 32 tunes recorded at the noted Washington, DC jazz club in early January 1996, a number of which have never been released on disc. Cassidy, who died in 1996 at the age of 33, was not well known outside the DC area during her life. But her striking voice – that cuts across every genre of music – gained enormous popularity after her death. Nightbird, of course, offers Cassidy’s solo version of “Over the Rainbow” that ranks as one of the greatest versions of that song ever recorded. And it just happens that The Wizard of Oz that contains that tune by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg is at the Buell Theater in the Denver Performing Arts Complex through Saturday (303-893-4100). The play obviously appeals to folks of all ages, but it is not a particularly exciting outing. As ”wicked” as it sounds, it’s a classic tale done in less than inspired classic style.     

Comments and submissions: Normanprovizer@aol.com