Swingin’ Jazz Continues to March onto Various Stages | Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

It’s another busy jazz week in Denver that starts on Thursday with trumpeter Tom Harrell taking the stage for the second night of his two-night stay at Dazzle, 1512 Curtis Street. The week in live music then wraps up on Tuesday and Wednesday with Detroit saxophonist Dave McMurray at Dazzle kicking off seven nights of sounds from Detroit. And in between, on Sunday and Monday, there’s the amazing trio of pianist and National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master Carla Bley, saxophonist Andy Sheppard and bassist Steve Swallow bringing stunning, chamber-music-like notes to Dazzle.

Harrell, of course, is a very top-shelf player on trumpet and flugelhorn whose musical sensibilities, captured on HighNote records, range widely. Harrell has an outstanding quartet in tow with Danny Grissett on piano, Ugonna Okegwo on bass and Jonathan Blake on drums that takes the stage on Thursday at 6:30 and 9 p.m. (303-839-5100).

Moving to Sunday and Monday, the Bley/Sheppard/Swallow trio shifts things in a way to highlight Jazz Master Bley’s engaging music, providing listeners here with a special and very tasty treat. The trio is at Dazzle at 5:30 and 8 p.m. on Sunday and 6:30 and 9 p.m. on Monday.

After Bley and company, the music at Dazzle moves in a different direction to Detroit and the forceful tenor sound of saxophonist Dave McMurray and his trio with Ron Otis on drums and Ibrahim Jones on bass. You can find McMurray’s sound on Blue Note Records, displaying that music really is life – and, of course, on stage at Dazzle on Tuesday (at 7:30 p.m.) and Wednesday (at 6:30 and 9 p.m.). McMurray launches a week of music from Detroit that includes blues poet John Sinclair, blues singer Thornetta Davis and the great saxophonist James Carter.

This past week, Hammond B-3 man Tony Monaco was in Denver at Nocturne and this week he takes his organ–trio sound to Boulder’s Caffe Sole, 637R S. Broadway, on Thursday at 7 p.m. (303-499-2985). Then, on Saturday, Caffé Sole hits another organ note when keyboardist Jeff Jenkins has a Boulder, CD-release party for his new disc In Blue at 7 p.m.   

Speaking of Nocturne, 1330 27^th St., where jazz is on stage every night except for Sunday and Monday, saxophonist Wil Swindler has his Elevenet are there on Thursday at starting at 6:30 p.m. and Alex Heffron revisits the music of Michael Brecker on Wednesday also at 6:30 p.m. (303-295-3333). And, back to Dazzle, bassist Ken Walker has his fine sextet there on Friday at 6:30 p.m. followed by the rocking Free Bear at 9:30 p.m. Additionally, Greg Gisbert and Jean-Luc Davis head the Dazzle Session at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday. And on Saturday, Dazzle has Davis’ “Tomorrow Today” outing at 7 p.m. and Maya Spectra at 9 p.m. Both groups feature trumpeter Shane Endsley.

The Muse Performance Space in Lafayette continues to present a wide variety of jazz groups and features the Front Range’s best jam session every Sunday, 7 until 10pm lead by Brad Goode, Pete Lewis and Clare Church. The session is open to all pro and student musicians.

If you add in the jazz found nightly at La Cour, 1643 S. Broadway, that’s a full schedule of sounds for the week (303-777-5000). And wait until you see the lineup for April.