December Begins with Swingin’ Jazz & Seasonal Music | Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

“Come rain or come shine,” 83-year-old tenor saxophonist Houston Person still delivers a sound that covers the listener with warmth and soul. That’s the lesson contained in the saxophonist’s newest disc on HighNote Records appropriately titled Rain or Shine.

Often described in terms of its “Jug” like qualities (saluting the influence of Gene Ammons), Person’s tenor fills a room with notes that resonate on a very human level. For more than three decades that sound (which also fills the Prestige Records catalogue going back to the ‘60s) was associated with singer Etta Jones (who first connected with Person in organist Johnny Hammond’s group and worked with him until her death in 2001).

On Wednesday and December 7, you can hear Person’s soulful twist on a broad range of music for yourself when the saxophonist plays at Dazzle, 1512 Curtis, at 6 and 8:30 p.m. (303-839-5100). Person is no stranger to Denver and when you hear him and his bluesy, full-throated, lush-melodic sound you know why he returns here with some regularity. At Dazzle, he plays with area-based players Jeff Jenkins on piano, Ken Walker on bass and Paul Romaine on drums. And remember, Person is anything but a one-trick pony. Along with his soulful-jazz roots, he has recorded a series of duets with bassist Ron Carter and pianist Bill Charlap in addition to a mainstream outing with pianist Cedar Walton’s trio. Also keep in mind that Dazzle has changed its ticket outlet. It is no longer ticketfly and that can be confusing when you go on-line. Go to the club’s website for accurate information.

Person is one of the major visitors to town this during the musical week, the other is singer Kurt Elling, who is appearing at the Soiled Dove Underground, 7401 E. 1^st Ave., on Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m. (303-366-0007). Add Elling’s appearance to the recent visit to the Newman Center by singer Gregory Porter and you have two of the most outstanding male jazz vocalists in the music today singing a mile high. Born in Chicago, the Grammy Award-winning Elling began his recording career on Blue Note in the mid-1990s and in 2006 switched to the Concord label. He is at the ‘Dove with The Swingles (founded by Ward Swingle) and his trio of pianist Stu Mindman (who came aboard in 2016), bassist Clark Sommers and guitarist John McLean.           

Returning to Dazzle, the day before Person begins his two-night visit, the club on Tuesday moves into the holiday mood with the University of Colorado Thompson Jazz Ensemble directed by Paul McKee going Nutcrackers, doing the Duke Ellington-Billy Strayhorn revision of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite (that you can find on the Columbia CD Duke Ellington-Three Suites). The set on Tuesday is at 7 p.m. 

Also in the holiday mode, Dazzle has no-cover, Parade of Lights evenings on Friday and Saturday with Irie Still and Dave Devine (at 6 and 10:30 p.m. respectively on Friday) and Adam Bodine and Delta Sonics respectively at 5:30 and 8 p.m. on Saturday). And keep in mind that jazz fills the air at La Cour Art Bar (303-777-5000), Nocturne (303-295-3333) and Caffe Sole in Boulder (303-499-2985).

Lastly, congratulations are in order to the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, Chuck Morris and friends for the concert at the Paramount Theater that included performances by the East High School Jazz Combo, inductees Ron Miles and Bill Frisell (playing with trio mate Brain Blade), Dianne Reeves and her band, Philip Bailey and Larry Dunn (and Andrew Woolfolk in spirit) revisiting Earth, Wind and Fire. It was quite a night of music.

Comments and submissions: normanprovizer@aol.com