1. Boulder Theater
2032 14th St., Boulder
This cabaret-style theater includes such impressive architectural features as an art deco facade and two 25-foot Western murals. When it comes to live music, it draws some of the best touring jazz players, including Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, and Dianne Reeves, all of whom have played the venue.
2. Fox Theatre
1135 13th St., Boulder
This small rock room is legendary. Hip-hop heads and jam band aficionados know it as a key stop for their favorite groups, and rockers love its intimacy, central location on The Hill and super acoustics.
3. Arvada Center
6901 Wadsworth Blvd.
When it comes to live music, the Arvada Center is best known for lovely summer evenings in its 1,400-seat outdoor amphitheater. But its 500-seat indoor mainstage theater also hosts about 25 concert, chorale, poetry and dance events per year. It’s a comfortable venue for music but has some pockets of dead acoustics.
4. Grizzly Rose
5450 Valley Highway
This large roadhouse – capacity of 2,032 – is one of the nation’s best known and most respected. It has a huge dance floor, plenty of bar space, free country dance lessons, numerous bartenders and servers and more. It books the best up-and-coming artists, such as Keith Anderson and Josh Gracin, as well as some of country’s greatest stars, such as Jerry Jeff Walker and Merle Haggard. It also brings in acts, such as Tracy Byrd and Mark Wills, who are one notch below the those who can fill large arenas.
5. Oriental Theatre
4335 W. 44th Ave.
The recent renovation treated this old North Denver palace kindly, and with new management and booking at the helm, The Oriental is ready to be busier than it has been in many years. The sound is solid, and expect more money to be put into everything from the bathrooms to the bar, both of which are small and get overly crowded at busy shows.
6. Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
2637 Welton St.
The hub of Denver’s neo-hippie jam-band scene inhabits the historic Casino Cabaret in Five Points, a building whose storied history includes a stint as a mid-century jazz club that hosted the likes of Duke Ellington and Etta James. Cervantes’, now booking hip-hop and indie rock in addition to improv bands, is the largest in a family of live-music bars that includes neighboring Quixotes. Surrounding streets are dark, so it’s best to park along Welton.
7. Comedy Works
1226 15th St.
It’s no joke that the Comedy Works is one of the best comedy clubs in the country. Today’s top comics play this 280-seat subterranean club on a regular basis. In November, top funny guy Dave Chappelle did six shows as part of the club’s 25th anniversary. It is a typical comedy club with tables edge to edge, but it is comfortable and friendly to nonsmokers.
8. Paramount Theatre
1631 Glenarm Place
This downtown charmer underwent a recent renovation, bringing back some of its deco glory.
The sound in here can be tremendous – although hip-hop doesn’t always play the venue well and true.
9. Ogden Theatre
935 E. Colfax Ave.
The Ogden is the stepchild of Nobody in Particular Presents’ three theaters. It’s not as elegant as the Gothic or as vibey as the Bluebird. But it’s central, downtown on Colfax Avenue, and a solid room for heavy rock and metal.
10. Bluebird Theater
3317 E. Colfax Ave.
This small room has some of the sweetest sound in town. Of course it’s not-so-sweet up front or in the balcony, but hang around in the middle (around the soundboard, yes) with such acts as the Supersuckers or Idlewild, and the bands sound better here than they do on the records.
11. Magness Arena
2240 Buchtel Blvd.
The sound in this mini-arena (about one-third the capacity of the Pepsi Center) is a nightmare. There’s no sure-fire escape. Sometimes it’s better on the floor. Other times it’s better in the back. Most of the time the sound quality is obscene and befitting of a sports hall – but the room’s mid-sized, 5,000ish capacity is usually what seals the deal for Gwen Stefani, Depeche Mode and other acts with similar draws.
12. Gates Concert Hall
Newman Center, 2144 E. Iliff Ave.
This 977-seat hall, home to the highly acclaimed Friends of Chamber Music series, is simply the finest place to hear unamplified music in Denver.
13. Swallow Hill
71 E. Yale Ave.
Swallow Hill is acoustic music in Denver. It has three stages: Daniels Hall seats 300, Tuft Theater, 100, and The Café, 60-120. There are concerts every weekend, plenty of jam sessions and numerous instrumental and voice classes. Some of its upcoming concerts feature Tim O’Brien, Chuck Pyle, Utah Phillips, Natalia Zuckerman and Greg Trooper.
14. Gothic Theatre
3263 S. Broadway, Englewood
The jewel of Denver’s urban rock theaters is actually in the suburbs. Down South Broadway you’ll find this renovated beauty, which offers a killer wraparound balcony and two ideally placed bars to serve the masses. Look for bands to settle at the Gothic, a room they love, for multiple nights, as with Social Distortion, Pennywise and Built to Spill.
The best five places to listen to jazz in the metro area:
BOULDER THEATER
2032 14th St., Boulder: The most accomplished jazz folk take to the stage of the Boulder Theater because they know they’ll have access to a sensitive, receptive audience. Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and Dianne Reeves have headlined here in recent years.
DAZZLE RESTAURANT
AND LOUNGE
930 Lincoln St.: By staging jazz performances nearly every night of the year that run the spectrum from big-band traditionalism to out-leaning groups, Dazzle has matured into Denver’s best venue to hear consistent creativity, in a genial atmosphere.
EL CHAPULTEPEC
1962 Market St.: Presenting straight-ahead jazz and blues in a friendly yet funky atmosphere, there’s nothing more authentic than a weekend night spent checking out El Chapultepec, swinging for generations now. It’s a living landmark.
FOX THEATRE
1135 13th St., Boulder: Anyone interested in the future of jazz should pay a visit to the Fox Theatre’s website, foxtheatre.com, to seek out younger national and local talent fusing improvisation with electronics, rock and hip-hop.
THE ROBUSTO ROOM
9535 Park Meadows Drive, Lone Tree: A new addition to Colorado venues, it’s gone full throttle toward making jazz available on a frequent basis. Denver artists such as Hugh Ragin, Lynn Baker and Paul Romaine deserve more sympathetic stages like this to put forth their ideas.
-Bret Saunders
