Colorful Musical Fireworks To Select From This Holiday Weekend | Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

In the midst of what has to be considered one of the strangest presidential elections in the nation’s history,  this week the U S A  celebrates its 240^th birthday. And, if you want to take some time off from blowing out all of those candles, there are some musical outings to consider.

On Thursday, over at Dazzle, saxophonist Mark Fox celebrates the release of his new CD, Three Octaves Above the Sun, with a quartet plus special guests at 7 and 9 p.m. The saxophonist, who also plays a Malian harp known as a kamal ngori, was in New York for a decade and a half, as well as in Massachusetts, and he spent time with number of folk including Archie Shepp. At Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, Fox has Stu MacAskie on piano, Troy Robbey on bass and Tom Tilton (who provided the title for the disc) on drums. Together with guest vocalist Yolanda Bush and guitarist Felix Ayodele, it’s a band that promises to push more than a few envelopes while on stage (303-839-5100).

Since Fox was inspired by players like Shepp and Pharoah Sanders, remember that both of those saxophonists are part of the 2016 class of Jazz Masters named by the National Endowment for the Arts, along with vibraphonist Gary Burton and the executive director of the Jazz Foundation of America, Wendy Oxenhorn. On that subject, the list of the 2017 Jazz Masters is made up of Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dave Holland, Dick Hyman, Dr. Lonnie Smith and writer Ira Gitler.

Back to the music around town, the new group of artists-in-residence at Nocturne, 1330 27^th St., is taking the stage this week and will be performing into August at 7 p.m. On Friday, it’s the Jeff Nathanson Quintet doing “The Dream of Jobim,” followed, on Saturday by guitarist Steve Kovalcheck’s group revisiting guitarist Grant Green, who was 43 when he died in 1979. Grant is a true unsung guitar hero and his recordings on Blue Note wear extremely well. On Tuesday, it’s saxophonist Peter Sommer and later this month it will be saxophonist Heath Walton on Thursdays and guitarist Dave Devine’s trio flying with Led Zeppelin on Wednesdays (303-295-3333).

On Sunday, City Park Jazz celebrates the day before the 4^th with Ritmo Jazz Latino at 6 p.m. Before that, on Friday at 7 p.m., Art Lande leads his Guitarmargeddon band at Boulder’s Caffe Sole, 637R S. Broadway With this group that has four guitarists and a bass player along with Lande on drums rather than piano (303-499-2985). And on Thursday, singer Hazel Miller is at the Soiled Dove Underground, 7401 E. 1^st Ave., at 8 p.m. (303-830-9214), while the Mile High Community Band’s jazz combo and big band is at Red Rocks Community College at 6:30 p.m. doing jazz classics and more.

On a final note, singer Gregory Porter just received the Ella Award at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. The award began in 1999; and in 2002, it went to Denver’s Dianne Reeves.

Normanprovizer@aol.com