Enrich Your Jazz Appreciation Month| Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

You might think of the coming seven days as a musical lead-in to the 46^th annual UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival that runs April 21-23. In addition to the numerous school groups participating in the festivities, the University of Northern Colorado/Greeley affair has headliners: the New York Voices on April 21; the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and the Ellis Marsalis Trio on April 22; and Hammond B-3 man Joey DeFranceso and saxophonist Houston Person along with the UNC Jazz Lab Band on April 23. The evening concerts are at the Union Colony Civic Center and there are post-concert shows at the Moxi Theater (arts.unco.edu/music/jazz_festival).

Back to what’s on tap for this week, Friday finds the duo of pianist Kenny Werner and Brazilian singer Joyce Moreno at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, to celebrate their new CD Poesia on the Pirouet label. The Brooklyn-born Werner hit Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 1970. In the decades that have followed, Werner has performed with an imposing list of players and numerous discs to his credit. Not only is he a top-flight pianist, Werner also has long-standing connections to Brazil and its music. In fact, in the early 1990s, he appeared on two of Joyce’s discs. The duo is on stage at 7 and 9 p.m. (303-839-5100).

Moving from Latin America to Asia, Friday also offers Japanese pianist Keiko Matsui over at the Soiled Dove Underground, 7401 E. 1^st Ave. at 7 and 10 p.m. (303-830-9215). Matsui has been a fixture on the American jazz scene for quite some time following in the important footsteps initially left by Toshiko Akiyoshi. Also on Friday, pianist Larry Fuller, who was just recently at Nocturne with his trio, is performing live from KUVO from 1 until 2 p.m. And keep in mind that Nocturne has added trumpeter Jeremy Pelt to its schedule. The trumpeter is on stage there on May 31-June 1.

Then on Saturday, singer Lannie Garrett is inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame and marks the occasion performing on the bill with Glenn Miller Orchestra in the University of Colorado Boulder’s Glenn Miller Ballroom (axs.com). Saturday also has a version of the three tenors with John Gunther and two younger players Greg Wahl and Kenyon Brenner joining together as the Totally Tyrannical Tenors together with pianist Eric Gunnison, bassist Ken Walker and drummer Paul Romaine at Dazzle at 7 and 9 p.m.

Among the others at Dazzle this week, there’s saxophonist Rico Jones, from the Denver School for the Arts, together with trumpeter Brad Goode, pianist Vlad Girsevich, bassist Walker and drummer Romaine on Thursday at 7 and 9 p.m. On Sunday at Dazzle at 6 and 8 p.m., pianist Annie Booth takes the stage with her trio, while on Tuesday at Dazzle, two Afro Caribbean bands are part of the Festival de Tambor starting at 7 p.m. Additionally, the band from Cherry Creek High School joins the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra on Monday at Dazzle at 7 and the Regis Jesuit Advanced Jazz Ensemble is at Dazzle on Wednesday.

 Also looking a tad ahead, guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg is at Dazzle on April 21-22 with his quartet and guitarist Peter Bernstein is at Dazzle on April 23-24 with Larry Goldings and Bill Stewart. And on April, there’s a celebration of trumpeter Bob Montgomery’s 80^th birthday at Nocturne, 1330 27^th St. at 7 p.m. (303-295-3333).  And on the movie front, the Chet Baker film Born to Be Blue with Ethan Hawke opens at the Sie Center on Friday. The next week, Miles Ahead, directed by Don Cheadle who also plays Miles Davis in the film hits the Mayan Theater.

Submissions & comments: Normanprovizer@aol.com