Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes–March, 5th

Jazz Notes 3-5-2015  By Norman Provizer

   The musical week begins and ends on a couple of high notes. Things get going on Thursday when drummer Kendrick Scott wraps up his two-night stand at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, with his Oracle Band. The Houston-born drummer went to Boston’s Berklee College of Music and graduated in 2002. Over the years, Scott has worked and recorded with a number of noted musicians including trumpeter Terence Blanchard as well as singer Gretchen Parlato. The Oracle band has John Ellis on saxophone, Joe Sanders on bass, Mike Moreno on guitar and Aaron Goldberg on piano (though, originally, Taylor Eigsti was listed as the pianist). The quintet hits at 7 and 9 p.m. (303-839-5100).

   At the end of the musical week ends on Wednesday, things again move into high gear when tenor saxophonist David Sánchez bringing his quartet to Mount Vernon Country Club, 24933 Clubhouse Circle in Golden. The Puerto Rican-born saxophonist was captivated by jazz after hearing discs by Miles Davis and Billie Holiday. He came to the mainland in 1988 and went to Rutgers where he studied with pianist Kenny Barron. During the early 1990s, Sanchez spent time with Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra and with Gillespie’s smaller groups until the trumpeter’s death in 1993. Since that time, Sanchez has continued to build a very strong reputation as an enormously potent saxophonist in both Latin jazz and post-bop contexts.

   His band at Mount Vernon on Wednesday features Cuban-pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Ricky Rodriguez and drummer Obed Calvaire.  Drummer Calvaire, like Sanchez, is also a member of the current edition of the SF Jazz Collective. Sanchez’s group roars. The quartet plays at 8 p.m. and, prior to the music, there is a buffet dinner starting at 6 p.m. You can do dinner and music as a package or fill up on the music alone (303-526-0616). 

   In between Scott and Sanchez, guitarist Nir Felder is also visiting town. Felder, who graduated from Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 2005, has worked and recorded with saxophonist Greg Osby, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and drummer Rudy Royston (with the Denver-raised drummer’s 303 band). In 2014, Felder released his first CD as a leader, Golden Age on Sony’s Okeh label, with a band made up of pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Nate Smith. The guitarist is at Dazzle on Saturday at 7 and 9 p.m.

   Also at Dazzle, you can find the Convergence sextet (Greg Gisbert, John Gunther, Mark Patterson, Eric Gunnison, Mark Simon and Paul Romaine) on stage on Friday at 7 and 9 p.m. On Sunday at 7 p.m., Dazzle has an evening of creative composers/musicians with the Probosci duo made up of guitarist Gyan Riley and violinist Timba Harris and a solo outing from guitarist Janet Feder. Also on Sunday, the “Jazz for Jazz Lovers” home concerts series sponsored by the Gift of Jazz continues at 4 p.m. with saxophonist Josh Quinlan and a quintet that includes Costa Rican flute player Tupac Amarulloa. 

On Monday, the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra continues its series with area high schools big bands at Dazzle at 7 p.m., followed on Tuesday by student ensembles from MSU Denver led by Ron Miles starting at 6 p.m. with no cover.  Then, on Wednesday, it’s the 16-piece H2 Big Band at Dazzle, co-led by trumpeter Al Hood and pianist Dave Hanson.

   On a final note, the new jazz club Nocturne is getting ready to open its doors at 1330 27^th St. in RiNo (Rivers North district). On the music front, the plan is to have a series of groups do a residency for three-month periods. The initial schedule announced for March/April/May has: guitarist Sean McGowan’s Trio paying tribute to Wes Montgomery on Mondays; saxophonist Josh Quinlan’s O’tet revisiting early John Coltrane on Tuesdays; the Big Swing Trio doing hard bop on Wednesdays; pianist Annie Booth’s Trio playing originals on Thursday; the Funky Fresh Trio hitting the funk on Fridays; and Manuel Lopez and Jeremy Wendelin playing modern, Afro-Cuban sounds on Saturdays. The music is at 8 p.m. (303-295-3333).

normanprovizer@aol.com