Happy 1st Anniversary Nocturne Jazz |Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

On Saturday, Nocturne, 1330 27^th St., celebrates its 1^st anniversary with a party that runs from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. with trumpeter Pete Olstad’s quartet. Since its opening a year ago, Nocturne has clearly carved out a significant niche for itself in the city’s jazz scene; and, everyone who supports the music, looks forward to many more anniversary celebrations to come (303-295-3333).

On Thursday, Nocturne puts an interesting group on the musical table when it offers the Chicago-based band quartet, Hanami.  The group that features guitarist Andrew Trim, alto saxophonist Mai Sugimoto, bass clarinetist Jason Stein and drummer Charles Rumback began to help raise funds in response to the devastating tsunami that struck Japan in 2011. Sugimoto, who grew up in Japan before coming to America, and Trim, who spent much of his childhood living in Japan, had close ties to that island nation. And instead of having a very brief life, the quartet has kept on going with its second CD, The Only Way to Float Free, is ready for release. Guitarist Trim, you might also recall went to CU Boulder and played and worked at Dazzle during his time in Colorado. The group is at Nocturne at 7 p.m.

Speaking of Dazzle, keyboardist Jeff Jenkins presents “Piano Africa” on Friday at 7 and 9 p.m. with a quintet that includes bassist Bijoux Barbosa, vibraphonist Greg Harris, drummer Mike Marlier and alto saxophonist Anisha Rush (303-839-5100). Then, on Sunday at 7 p.m., singer Terri Jo Jenkins celebrates the release of her new CD, From This Moment, at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, at 7 p.m. Terri Jo is joined by Jeff, along with Marlier, Ken Walker, John Gunther, Greg Gisbert and special guest Kevin Lee on guitar. And on Thursday at 10:30 p.m., Jeff does his organ-based Organization Trio at Dazzle. 

On Tuesday at Dazzle, the “Jazz for Kay” series presents the “Classical and Jazz Side of the Gershwins” at 7 p.m. The program has Adriana Theodoro-Pier doing solo versions of extended semi-classical pieces in addition to songs from Teresa Carroll with pianist Eric Gunnison, bassist Drew Morell and drummer Todd Reid. Before that on Sunday, the “Jazz for Kay” series does a home concert at 4 p.m. with Gunnison and vibraphonist Dave Atkinson doing “Ballads and Blues” (303-400-5288).

Also, on Saturday, the 2016 Athena Project presents “An Evening of Jazz” with the vocal ensemble Vox Libera, pianist Annie Booth (with Alejandro Castano and Patrick McDevitt) and singer SuCh. The celebration of women in the jazz arts is at 7 and 9 p.m. 

Dazzle also has the Cairn Project on Thursday starting at 7 p.m. and the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra with a high school band on Monday at 7 p.m. And it’s also worth noting that on Sunday two, very different top-shelf productions end their run at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. The play Fade at the Ricketson Theater is an absolutely first-rate, two-person production exploring being Hispanic in America, discussed by two very different characters occupying very different roles in the hierarchy of a television production studio. The final show is at 1:30 p.m. A different kind of ethnic expression is found in the 20^th anniversary world tour of Riverdance that wraps up its stay at the Buell Theater on Sunday with shows at 2 and 7:30 p.m. This blast of Celtic music and dance is hard to resist and it amply displays the talents of a quartet of musicians who spend the entire length of the show on stage (303-893-4100). Jazz fans know how stirring sounds transcend their ethnic origins and you don’t have to be Irish to kick up your heels to Riverdance.

Submission & Comments: Normanprovizer@aol.com