No June Swoon for Jazz | Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

The two headliners coming to “town” during this musical week are alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett and tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman. Garrett is at Dazzle, 1512 Curtis, on Tuesday and Wednesday, while Redman performs at the Boulder Theater, 2032 14^th St. in Boulder, on Sunday. 

From the time he moved to New York at the start of the 1980s and released his first album in1984, the Detroit-native Garrett emerged as a top-seeded alto player on the scene, including a stint with Miles Davis. Garrett is a fluent improviser who can also create a mighty groove (“Sing a Song of Song” and “Happy People” to name two popular tunes). His recent discs have been on the Mack Avenue label. The most recent of those is Do Your Dance with the group that will also be Dazzle – Vernell Brown Jr. on piano, Corcoran Holt on bass,  two drummers-McClenty Hunter Jr and Ronald Bruner,  Jr.Rudy Bird on percussion and MC(rapper) Donald “Mista Enz” Brown Jr

Garrett is on stage on Tuesday and Wednesday at 6 and 8:30 p.m. (303-839-5100). I still remember that years ago Garrett played Vartan’s here in Denver for several nights and I went to every set – and came away saying that time definitely well spent.

Early in his career Garrett recorded for Warner Brothers the same label that released saxophonist Redman’s first disc as a leader in 1993. Redman’s story is well known: After graduating from Harvard with the highest honors, the son of tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman who grew up in California with his mother, was scheduled to attend Yale Law School. He deferred going to Yale for year, moving to Brooklyn and entering the Thelonious Monk saxophone competition that he won in 1991. He never did get to Yale.

Redman’s first quartet was a monster band (with Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride and Brian Blade) and his current aggregation has consisted of Aaron Goldberg on piano, Reuben Rogers on bass and Gregory Hutchinson on drums. He has also been a part of the group James Farm. That group, by the way, had Aaron Parks on piano and Parks recently displayed his knockout band Little Big at Dazzle.

At the start of 2016, Redman was also at Dazzle to debut his Still Dreaming quartet that recalls the group Old and New Dreams (which had his father Dewey on tenor saxophone). Still Dreaming has Denver’s Ron Miles on cornet, Scott Coley on bass and Brian Blade on drums and has recently released its first CD titled Still Dreaming on the Nonesuch label. Redman’s quartet plays at 8 p.m. (303-786-7030).

Additionally, this week offers Jazz Aspen Snowmass’ June activities in Aspen’s Benedict Tent. On Thursday, the lineup is singer Lizz Wright and singer Leslie Odom Jr. (of Hamilton fame). On Friday, it’s singer Lyle Lovett’s Large Band ((jazzaspensnowmass.org). During the summer, Jazz Aspen Snowmass has a JAS Café series. On Thursday, that series features alto saxophonist Grace Kelly at the Aspen Art Museum at 7 and 9:15 p.m. Kelly, who gained attention when she was part of the Vail Jazz Festival’s student program, is one of the up-and-coming alto players on the scene. On Friday, JAS has a free lawn party at the Benedict Tent at 6 p.m. with Paa-Kow, a drummer from Ghana, and his band. On Sunday, Paa-Kow is back in Denver at City Park Jazz (in, of course, City Park) a 6 p.m.  

Back at Dazzle, singer JoFoKe (Joslyn Ford-Keel) is on stage on Thursday at 7 p.m. (with Solomon Chapman on piano) and pianist Purnell Steen hangs out with his Le Jazz Machine on Saturday at 6:30 and 9 p.m. Saxophonist Carlos Chavez and singer Myra Warren are some of he pieces of that machine. On the blues side, Dazzle has the Ghost Town Blues Band (that’s played at the great Montreal Jazz Festival) and the Stacey Turpenoff Band on Sunday starting at 6 p.m.

Over at Nocturne Jazz and Supper Club, 1330 27^th St., RiNo, the week offers the Coracao Brazilian Quartet on Thursday, saxophonist Pete Lewis doing the Jazz Crusaders on Friday, guitarist Steve Kovalcheck on Saturday, Sean McGowan/Jeff Jenkins/Todd Reid organ trio n Tuesday and pianist Annie Booth on Wednesday. The music at Nocturne begins at 7 p.m. (303-295-3333).

Also, singer Bonnie Lowdermilk has a CD-release party (with Art Lande and Tom Gershwin) at Boulder’s Caffe Sole, 637R S. Broadway, on Friday at 7 p.m. (303-499-2985) and singer Teresa Carroll is at Golden’s Golden Hotel, 800 11^th St., on Thursday at 6 p.m. (303-279-0100). And La Cour Art Bar, 1643 S. Broadway, singer Linda Theus-Lee, is on stage at 7 p.m. (303-777-5000).

Comments and submissions: normanprovizer@aol.com