“I hate the term ‘smooth jazz,”‘ says Stephen Watts, saxophonist with Denver performing institution Dotsero. “It applies to some of our music but not all of it.”
So, what shall we call the funky, laid-back instrumental moods locally concocted by Watts, his brother Dave, a guitarist, and other personnel since 1984?
“We’re much more on the ‘contemporary jazz’ or ‘fusion’ side,” he says. “It’s not sappy, it’s much more hard-edged, and it has a third chord!”
In your face, two-chord knowin’ smooth-jazz pretenders.
The fact is, Dotsero crafts a light brand of fusion that’s always packed in more ideas than the standard sonic wallpaper. I once heard the Watts brothers talk enthusiastically about John Coltrane, for instance, in their former live performance headquarters, Jazz @ Jacks, on Platte Street. They’re relocating to a space that’s twice as large, at the Denver Pavilions and recently hung up their Jazz @ Jacks shingle in the form of a 16-foot-tall saxophone sign.
“That big old sax sign makes us a bit more legitimate,” adds Watts, who is also one of the club’s owners.
He sees the new digs with the capacity to hold around 200 patrons (on the third floor of the Pavilions on 16th Street) as an opportunity to present a diversity of styles and bring in some national names too like Dave and Don Grusin on April 12. (The new Jazz @ Jacks’ grand opening happens April 6-7.
“To have Dave and Don come and play, it’s like having them christen it,” says Watts.
He’s expecting to bring in more classic-flavored, Latin jazz and blues bookings to the new Jazz @ Jacks, in addition to frequent appearances by Dotsero themselves. Watts cites Denver saxophonist Nelson Rangell’s explorations of the Great American Songbook over the course of many Sundays in the near future as an example of the decision to create a “full range jazz club.”
“With the opportunity to bring in straight-ahead groups, we’re going to need an acoustic piano,” adds Watts.
But getting a piano up to the third floor of the Pavilions is only one step toward Watts and his associates’ commitment to bringing live jazz to a city that could use more stages for local and national talent.
“I think the move is something that gives us a chance to have a great place to play and have fun, but also to give something back to Denver,” Watts says.
Set list
There’s a promising mix of intelligent, sometimes challenging, music lined up for the next couple of weeks kicking off Wednesday at Dazzle with the uncategorizable group Kneebody splitting the bill with the Brian Allen Trio, featuring New York saxophonist Tony Malaby, whose name on any number of recent CDs signifies a trademark of creative quality. …
It’s a split decision for April 7 when tenor monster Joe Lovano and Brazilian singer Luciana
Souza share the Macky Auditorium stage in Boulder while iconic avant-saxist/composer John Zorn creates undoubtedly happy havoc with guitarist Fred Frith and vocalist Mike Patton at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom that same night. … Charlie Hunter, a guitarist who’s been making some of the most forward-thinking music of his career lately, brings his trio to the Boulder Theater to share a bill with bassist Christian McBride’s group April 11.
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.
