Thaw Out December’s Cold with Live Music That Sizzles | Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

You never know how things will work out for musicians. But just over 30 years ago, I heard a 15-year drummer who seemed destined to rise to the top of his craft. That was in Shreveport, Louisiana, where I was teaching at one of the universities, and the name of that young monster player was Brain Blade. I never quite had a similar feeling about a younger drummer until I heard Rudy Royston here in Denver. Royston honed his skills with a number of players on the scene here, most notably the great trumpet/cornet player Ron Miles. And in 2006, Royston headed east with his wife, pianist Shamie Fuller Royston, to pursue a graduate degree at Rutgers.

Before too long, Royston emerged as a player to watch on the New York scene; and in 2013, he made it to the list of rising-star drummers in the annual DownBeat “Critics Poll” occupying the third spot. The following year, Royston moved to the top spot among rising-star drummers in the DownBeat poll. It was an amazingly quick, and well-deserved rise to the top. Based on the east coast, Royston worked with a host of names from Bill Frisell, Dave Douglas, J.D. Allen, Ravi Coltrane and the Mingus Big Band to players with a Denver-area connection, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Javon Jackson and Tia Fuller.

In 2014, Royston released his first disc as a leader with the 303 septet (for a Denver area code) on the GreenLeaf label.  His new, second disc on GreenLeaf is the Rise of Orion, a trio outing. And it’s with a trio that Royston is coming home this week to perform at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, on Thursday and Friday. Along with Royston, the Oasis band has Jon Irabagon on saxophone and Thomson Kneeland (who is not on the disc but has worked with Royston over the years) on bass.

As an added item, guitarist Frisell’s When You Wish Upon a Star CD is a Grammy nominee in the pop-instrument category. And the drummer with that band is, of course, Rudy Royston, who was born in Texas but grew up in Denver. At Dazzle, Royston’s trio plays at 6 and 8 on Thursday and 7 and 9 on Friday (303-839-5100).

Moving over to Sunday, you can find some Chet Baker moments and a singer discovered by pianist Marian McPartland back in 1993. On Sunday at 3 p.m., the Gift of Jazz “Blind Tiger” series has a tribute to Baker with trumpeter David Froman along with a quartet and singer Terri Jo Jenkins. The “Blind Tiger” event is at the Woman’s Press Club, 1325 Logan (giftofjazz.org). Later on Sunday night at Dazzle, young trumpeter Ruth Nichols is on at 10:30 p.m. playing Chet. Nichols performs after the 5 and 7 p.m. sets by Katie Glassman and Snapshot.

The singer on Sunday is Memphis-born, Montana-based Eden Atwood who is at Baur’s Listening Lounge, 1512 Curtis, at 7 p.m. (303-615-4000). After McPartland heard a recording by the singer, the pianist contacted Concord Records who put out the disc by Atwood, making the youngest artist signed by that jazz label. Additionally on the singer front, Mandy Harvey returns to Dazzle on Saturday with her Holiday Show at 7 and 9 p.m. with a quartet that has Eric Gunnison on piano. And on Wednesday, the musical week wraps up with the Center for Musical Arts Jazz Ensemble at Dazzle at 7 p.m.

Of course during the holiday season, there are plenty of holiday-related show around from the musical version of A Christmas Carol at the Jones Theater in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) and the slyly funny The SantaLand Diaries by David Sedaris at DCPA’s Stage Theater to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer: The Musical at the Courtyard Theater in the King Center on the Auraria campus and, of course, The Nutcracker by the Colorado Ballet at the Ellie Caukins Opera House in the DCPA. The plays SantaLand and Christmas Carol along with the Nutcracker all run until December 24, while Rudolph is on stage until December 18. For DCPA show, the box office is 303-893-4100 and the King Center Box Office is 303-556-2296).

While not quite a traditional holiday-season show, the first national touring company of Hedwig and the Angry Inch is traveling through the American heartland with a stop at Denver through Sunday at the Buell Theater in the DCPA (303-893-4100). Rolling Stone has called the flamboyant and frisky play (and a cult film favorite) “the best rock musical ever” and the only thing to add to that is “damn right.” The play has more heart than is found these days in much of the American heartland along with humor, a compelling score and staging plus an off-the-charts performance by Euan Morton.  

Submissions and comments: normanprovizer@aol.com