Saturday Jazz Movies Complimentary Matinee Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

While the large-scale Jazz at the Vineyards event celebrating KUVO’s 30 years on the air is over, the birthday party continues. At the Blair-Caldwell Library, 2401 Welton, for example, an exhibit marking KUVO’s three decades of bringing jazz to the community is on display through September 9. Also at the Blair-Caldwell Library, KUVO’s jazz film series is back on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. a free event. The feature this time around is Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense. The original documentary ran in four parts, this is a version that runs for a little over an hour and a half, in true Saturday matinee tradition, the feature will be preceded by 2 vintage jazz cartoons and 3 short performance clips.  KUVO-jazz89 will  also be serving complimentary lemonade and authentic theater style popcorn. Full line up information here. 

Also this week, Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, launches its recognition of KUVO’s 30^th birthday. KUVO week begins on Monday and runs through August 30. On Monday at 7 p.m., it’s saxophonist/arranger/composer Wil Swindler and his Elevenet pumping out the original sounds from the “KUVO” stage at Dazzle, followed on Tuesday at 7 p.m. by the Neil Bridge-Steve Denny Quartet with guest singer Karen Lee and guitarist Kevin Lee (303-839-5100). Pianist Bridge is a longtime and key player on the area scene while Denny is a young pianist who was part of the string of talented music directors who have turned Dazzle into a world-class jazz club. In addition to his “Counterpointe” outing with Bridge at Dazzle, Denny, who is in from New York, is also appearing with a quartet at the “Jazz for Jazz Lovers” house-concert series on Sunday at 4 p.m. (303-400-5288).

Then, on Wednesday, pianist Cyrus Chestnut takes over the “KUVO” stage at Dazzle with his trio for the first of a two-night stand at the club. A native of Baltimore, Chestnut is a potent player with solid gospel roots. After graduating from Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 1985, Chestnut worked with singer Jon Hendricks, the Terence Blanchard-Donald Harrison Quintet, Wynton Marsalis and singer Betty Carter. He is an explosive player who has sets at 7 and 9 p.m.

Before the start of KUVO week at Dazzle, the club on Lincoln has a “Group Stories” adventure on Thursday at 7 p.m. Trombonist Mark Patterson, saxophonist Peter Sommer, guitarist Dale Bruning, bassist Kent McLagan and drummer Paul Romaine are the players weaving the tales.

After that, singers lay claim to Dazzle for three nights in a row.  It starts on Friday with Michelle Lordi at 7 and 9 p.m. The Philly-based vocalist has been musically connected with pianist Orrin Evans; and at Dazzle, she has Eric Gunnison on keyboards, Ken Walker on bass and Romaine on drums. Vocal things continue on Saturday with Mandy Harvey who also has Gunnison on piano along with bassist Erik Applegate, saxophonist Andrew Vogt and drummer Mark Raynes. Then on Sunday, singer Kellye Gray, who is out of Texas, is at Dazzle at 7 p.m. with pianist Art Lande, bassist Walker and drummer Dru Heller. Gray recorded for the Justice label back in the early 1990s and her current disc is And They Call Us Cowboys. 

Up in Vail, things are moving toward the Labor Day Jazz Party. On Thursday, the Jazz at Vail Square series has trumpeter and singer Bria Skonberg and her quartet at 6 p.m. The Canadian Skonberg, who moved to New York in 2010, can both play and sing and has gathered a good deal of attention from critics.

Comments and submissions: Normanprovizer@aol.com