Colorado Music Hall of Fame 2024 Honrees

Colorado Music Hall of Fame announced its second class of inductees for 2024.

Members of this class are El Chapultepec and Jerry Krantz, Greg Gisbert, Eric Gunnison, KUVO JAZZ and Carlos Lando, Ellyn Rucker, and Ken Walker; they will be honored at an October 29 induction ceremony at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom.

“To be honored as an inductee to the Colorado Music Hall of Fame is a great honor that I was not expecting. To be recognized for putting music at the forefront of people’s lives means so much to me.

For KUVO to be recognized and inducted into the hall, validates what many people have been saying for years. KUVO is an amazing radio station. We have an open palette presenting all kinds of music that expands beyond Jazz… It’s not just about where Jazz has been but where it’s at today. We have not only outlived some of the vast changes in radio and media, but we have also thrived due to the diversity and unwavering support of our dedicated community of listeners and members.” —Carlos Lando

El Chapultepec opened in 1933 as a restaurant and bar, but after Krantz took it over in 1958, he turned it into a jazz spot that was soon known around the world, one that never charged admission but attracted international musicians. “It was not fancy; it was not pretentious,” says Andrew Hudson, local bassist and entrepreneur. “The cops and the crooks were mixing with the millionaires and the homeless.”

Everyone from Mick Jagger to the Police reportedly spent time at the Pec. According to legend, Krantz even turned away members of U2, as some of their guests did not have their IDs. “He didn’t know a thing about pop culture, and quite frankly didn’t care,” says Hudson.

What Krantz did care about was local jazz musicians. Nearly all of the Hall inductees in this class played at El Chapultepec, including Ken Walker.

He remembers playing at the Pec seven nights a week in the ’80s, alongside greats like Charles Thomas and the late Freddy Rodriguez Sr. Those nights were formidable in his growth as a bassist, Walker says.

After many years of filling in with various acts, Walker created his band, the Ken Walker Sextet, in the late ’80s. Aside from a few sets here and there, the band’s lineup has remained the same, touring Australia, Canada, and Italy and playing at the Telluride Jazz Festival and Jazz Aspen Snowmass.

Walker’s recording debut as a bandleader, Terra Firma, was on the Jazz Week Radio charts for seventeen weeks, reaching No. 13 at its highest, and was No. 6 on the CMJ Radio Music Charts.

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Pictures: top-Carlos Lando; El Chapultepec; Collage top to bottom/left to right: Eric Gunnison, Carlos Lando, Greg Gisbert, Ellen Rucker, Ken Walker, Jerry Krantz, El Chapultepec