Great Spring Concerts Are Flowering | Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

Not too long ago, Nocturne celebrated its third anniversary, marking a significant landmark for the project created by team Mattson. The club, located at 1330 27^th St., in the RiNo Arts District provides jazz Tuesday through Saturday on a regular basis in a very attractive environment – and for that a celebration is certainly in order. Along with an emphasis on food, Nocturne established the idea of extended residencies at the club for area-based musicians, providing a little different twist to the presentation of jazz in town.

For example, this weeks lineup has: guitarist Dave Corbus, saxophonist Keith Oxman, bassist Ken Walker and drummer Todd Reid paying tribute to “the freedom dance man” Eddie Harris on Tuesday; saxophonist Brian Horton (who has worked with drummer Winard Harper) on Friday; trumpeter Derek Banach on Saturday; the Democracy quintet (with trombonist Adam Bartczak) on Tuesday; and the Open Source Ensemble on Wednesday. All the music kicks off at 7 p.m.

On Fridays and Saturdays, there is added music at 11 p.m. On this Saturday, that comes from the duo of singer Ed Battle (a classic voice on the Denver scene) and Jeff Jenkins. On Friday, the late-night sounds come from the Taylor Clay Trio. While Nocturne focuses on area-based talents, it does periodically present national names in the music. For example, on April 10, drummer Adam Nussbaum will be there with a quartet of area-based musicians.

Of course, the club that does supply a regular flow of national names in the music is Dazzle, 1512 Curtis. This past week, to use but one example, Dazzle hosted the new edition of the Bad Plus (with Orrin Evans on piano) and the sold-out set that I caught was something special. To hear the monstrously big sound the trio generates (with Evans blending in on his own Philly terms) is a treat. This week Dazzle has singer Jane Monheit who broke out on the scene at the start of the 2000s. Monheit has been at Dazzle before and her current CD is a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.

In 1998, a young Monheit took second place in the Thelonious Monk Institute’s international vocal competition. The winner that year was Terri Thornton who was born in 1934 and was making a musical comeback. (Ill, Thornton, unfortunately, passed away two years after her top-spot finish in the Monk competition). The third spot in that competition, by the way, went to Roberta Gambarini. Monheit is on stage on Wednesday (and March 29) at 6 and 8:30 p.m.  

Speaking of singers. Mary Louise Lee continues playing Billie Holiday in the play Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (a real life club in Philly where Holiday performed just months before her death in 1959). The performances are at the Galleria Theater in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and they run through April 23 (800-641-1222).

There’s also a tribute to drummer Buddy Rich from the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra on tap on Saturday at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth in Arvada, at 7:30 p.m. (720-898-7200). Robert Johnson will do the vocals and Mike Marlier plays Rich’s role on drums. And on Sunday, the What’s Cookin’ small-big band is at Jazz at Jack’s, 500 16^th St. in the Denver Pavilions, at 6 p.m.

Going back to Dazzle, bluesman Kent Burnside and the Flood Brothers play at 7 p.m. on Thursday and at 6 and 8:30 p.m. on Friday (with some free offers for kids under 16) and Brazilian singer Michele Castro sings at 6 p.m. on Saturday, followed by Joe Smith and the Spicy Pickles at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Singer Lenny Kaye is at the club on Sunday at 5:30 p.m., while the trio of Art Lande, Susan Cahill and Andrew Dahlke is there on Sunday at 8:30. 

Last and certainly not least, trumpeter Arturo Sandoval is at Fort Collins’ Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia, on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (970-221-6730). 

Comments and submissions: normanprovizer@aol.com