No Swoon In June for Jazz on Stage | Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

In Estes Park this weekend, the Colorado jazz fest season gets going with the 27^th edition of the two-day Estes Park Jazz Festival and Art Walk. The event runs on Saturday and Sunday from noon until 5 p.m. and features a number of area-based artists plus the noted trumpet man Jeremy Pelt and his quintet. Saturday’s lineup has the Estes Park Big Band kicking things off at noon, followed by the Max Wagner Quartet, the Gabriel Mervine Quartet and the Chipman-Hancock Collective. There are also post-festival sounds on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Mama Rose’s Italian Restaurant, 338 E. Elkhorn with saxophonist/singer Max Wagner (970-586-3330).

On Sunday, it’s the vocal group the Quirktet at noon with Pelt’s quintet at 1:40 p.m. and the Lionel Young Band at 3:40 p.m. The music is in Performance Park on W. Elkhorn just outside of downtown.  As for Pelt, the trumpeter has a long list of discs on the HighNote label, including the recent Noir en Rouge: Live in Paris. He also has a new tribute to “Cannonball” Adderley out with saxophonist Jim Snidero on the Savant label.

Among the folks that Pelt has worked with is saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. And on Wednesday, the second son of John and Alice Coltrane is also playing in these parts. Along with a quartet that has Glenn Zaleski on piano,  Noah Garabedian on bass, and Kush Abadey at the drums.  Zaleski has been at Dazzle, 1512 Curtis, as part of Coltrane’s group in the past, as well as with a trio that includes Denver’s Colin Stranahan on drums. The drummer is . Coltrane’s latest CD (his first as a leader was in 1998) is In Movement with Jack DeJohnette and Matthew Garrison on ECM. His most recent on Blue Note is Spirit Fiction. The sets with Ravi are at Dazzle on Wednesday and Thursday, June 7 at 6 and 8:30 p.m. (303-839-5100).

Also at Dazzle, trombonist Mark Patterson brings his “Group Stories” to the stage on Thursday at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Patterson has gathered an impressive lineup of players with Ron Miles on trumpet, Dale Bruning on guitar, Kent McLagan on bass and Paul Romaine on drums. On Friday, Dazzle has some guitar madness with Dave Corbus doing Jimi Hendrix at 6:30 p.m. and Dave Devine doing Jimmy Page at 9 p.m. And on Saturday, Lost Dog does a tribute to Tom Waits at 6:30 and 9 p.m. On the subject of rock guitarists, the musical School of Rock, based on the film with Jack Black, is at the Buell Theater in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts through June 10 (303-893-4100). Though the songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber are less than memorable, they can stick (think, Stick It to the Man). With a dozen youngsters actually performing, School of Rock is an exhilarating outing hat will automatically bring you to your feet.

Earlier on Saturday, at 3p.m., Dazzle has a MAS Eclectic concert with Opera singer Megan Marino with pianist Sara Parkinson. Additionally, the club has singer Logan Smith out of Miami on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

There’s also a group in town that might slip under your radar – and it shouldn’t. The band is the NOLATET with magical New Orleans players James Singleton on bass and Johnny Vidacovich on drums along with pianist Brian Haas and vibraphonist Mike Dillon. Haas has been to town on a number of occasions with the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and is from Tulsa, while Dillon, out of Texas, is frequently a part of groove bands that play here. Singleton and Vidacovich, of course, are just an essential part of the New Orleans jazz sound, including the band Astral Project. I’ve been listening to the group’s vinyl disc Dogs – and the music is definitely worth hearing. The quartet is at Cervantes’ Other Side, 2637 Welton, on Monday at 8 p.m. with an opening act (303-297-1772).  

At Nocturne, 1330 27^th St., guitarist Steve Kovalcheck is on tap on Saturdays at 7 and 9:30 p.m. for the month of June (303-295-3333). Also through June, the organ trio of Sean McGowan, Jeff Jenkins and Todd Reid does the organ tradition at Nocturne on Tuesdays starting at 7 p.m. As part of the sounds at La Cour, 1643 S. Broadway, Rekha Ohal and clarinetist Dexter Payne do a duo on Sunday at 7 p.m. (303-777-5000). And as part of the sounds delivered by Caffe Sole in Boulder, 637R S. Broadway, pianist Art Lande and Flex perform on Friday at 7 p.m. (303-499-2985). 

On a final note: Remember that City Park Jazz gets going on Sunday at 6 p.m. in City Park with the large eclectic band Jyemo Club and that Central Jazz in Central City (with its New Orleans flair) takes place on June 9. More details will be in next week’s column.

Comments and submissions: normanprovizer@aol.com