Since the unfortunate demise of the Denver Jazz on Film Festival in recent years, jazz-related events are few and far between along the Front Range this time of year.
And while there are some high-profile assemblages of traditional jazz talent in Denver a few times a year, there’s little in the way of festivals celebrating straight-ahead or modern jazz.
So Sterling Kamisky and his cohorts are out to end the Denver jazz festival drought.
“Some friends and I decided, ‘Why don’t we do a jazz fest in winter, and get this place on the map,”‘ says Conifer’s Kamisky, one of the organizers of the first (of hopefully many) JazzFest Denver, Feb. 24-25 at the Temple Events Center.
Kamisky, who worked on the famed Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in the ’80s and until recently had a hand in Colorado’s annual Jazz in the Sangres concerts, has put together a fine inaugural lineup. Along with locals Pat Bianchi, Neil Bridge and Brad Goode, the progressive trumpeter Wallace Roney and accomplished vocalist Marlena Shaw are the marquee names, and they’ll have their regular groups in tow.
“I think we’ll be a success because nobody’s greedy,” Kamisky says. “Nobody’s getting paid except for the musicians.” (Much of the proceeds will benefit the Griffith Centers for Children, assisting abused and neglected youth in Colorado.)
Kamisky, a lifelong jazz fan, is enthusiastic about the future of Jazzfest Denver. He believes there’s a sizable audience for an event like this: like-minded music-lovers who will commit to an annual winter gathering.
“I’m always intrigued by the level of creativity of a top- notch jazz group. … And I’m pretty impressed with the level of creativity of everyone who’s playing (at the festival).”
Jazzfest 2006, Feb. 24-25 at Temple Events Center. Tickets are $35-45. Call 303-426-3088 or visit jazzfestdenver.com.
Jazz and the midnight sun
What is it about the Norwegian improv scene that produces such compelling music? In recent years, the pianist Tord Gustavsen, trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer and the energetic group Supersilent (to name a few) have been at the cutting edge of a new, thoughtful kind of musical invention that ignores many established jazz formulas.
Rock melts into hip-hop rhythms and morphs into free-funk with splashes of pianist Bill Evans-style lyricism. Oslo’s music isn’t always easy to track down, but the ECM label documents some of this exciting movement, and the newest offering from guitarist Terje Rypdal, “Vossabrygg” (out Tuesday), serves as an appropriate entry point into the eclectic abandon of Norway.
Rypdal is well-known in his home country, and here he finds a kindred spirit in Miles Davis, who also had little use for stylistic boundaries. The opening track, “Ghostdancing,” sustains intensity (and interest) for 18 minutes. Turntables, samplers and electronics permeate much of the rest of this unpredictable, jostling funk-rock. Rypdal’s guitar tends to dominate, but the trumpet of Palle Mikkelborg, who worked with late-career Davis, also struts.
If you’re receptive to this kind of open-minded improvised enthusiasm, you may find yourself scouring the Internet for more of Norway’s contemporary approach to the music.
Set list
On Valentine’s Tuesday, vocalist Ilona Knopfler takes to the stage at Dazzle. … Lynn Baker presents the music of the neglected late trumpeter Woody Shaw at Lone Tree’s Robusto Room on Thursday. … Art Lande and Alex Heitlinger team for some intellectual give-and-take at the First Unitarian Church of Denver on Friday. … Guitarist Dale Bruning and narrator Jude Hibler offer an appreciation of George Gershwin at the Jefferson Unitarian Church of Denver at 7 p.m. Saturday. … Saxophonist Fred Hess has another winner with his new CD, “How ‘Bout Now,” and he presents his annual free concert at St. Cajetan’s Center on the Auraria campus at 3 p.m. Sunday on Feb. 19. Ron Miles is slated to join in on cornet.
Bret Saunders’ column on jazz appears every other Sunday in A&E. Saunders is host of the “KBCO Morning Show,” 5:30-10 a.m. weekdays at 97.3-FM. His e-mail address is bret_saunders@hotmail.com.
