The first thing you’ll hear on the new album from Columbia Icefield, “A Silence Opens” (Out of Your Head Records), is the mournful whistling of leader Nate Wooley. Thatap followed by some pensive, unaccompanied trumpet, also by Wooley, the former University of Denver Lamont School of Music student who’s gone on to an impactful, creative career.
Then there’s an expansive cover of “Howard Beach,” a composition by the beloved late Colorado cornetist, trumpeter and educator Ron Miles, whose pieces take up the lion’s share of the music on “A Silence Opens.” Wooley sensitively explores the nuances of Miles’ profound music, with Susan Alcorn’s beguiling clouds of pedal steel guitar, Ava Mendoza’s potent electric guitar, and Ryan Sawyer’s responsive drumming. A choir of voices surfaces, and later another choir, this time of trumpets, that I’m assuming are overdubbed by Wooley. There’s more intense communication between the members of the quartet on a couple of extended numbers, and Wooley returns with the whistling to wrap things up.
But the music resonates long after the disc ends.
I’ve never experienced anything quite like this album. It gracefully explores the facets of grief, and has moments of unmistakable beauty as well as noisy passages that wouldn’t be out of place on a 1970s Miles Davis electric jazz-funk album. In the liner notes, Wooley explains that the project was initially recorded as a response to Miles’ death. “Ron saved my life as a young man, and his friendship and inspiration as a musician continue to guide me,” he writes.
Sadly, Alcorn, a trailblazer on her instrument, died last year, so this will likely be the final recording from Columbia Icefield. But “A Silence Opens” is a moving testament to the benevolent spirits of Miles and Alcorn. As for Wooley, I’m on board with whatever his future projects may be.
More music in the city
City Park Jazz returns for the summer season with the DJ Williams Band on June 7; Spicy Pickles featuring Hannah Rodriguez on June 14; Hazel Miller & The Collective on June 21; and Shane Endsley and the Denver Municipal Band on June 28. Showtimea are 6 p.m. Efforts are underway to fund the reconstruction of City Park’s historic bandstand, which burned in March of this year. cityparkjazz.org
The Ben Markley Trio takes to the Nocturne Jazz & Supper Club stage on Wednesdays in June, and The Peter Sommer Quintet plays there every Friday in June. …Local heroes appearing at Dazzle include the Queen City Jazz Band on June 8; Eric Gunnison’s “Horace Silver Reimagined” on June 9; Nelson Rangell on June 13; Joshua Trinidad’s Jaguar Breath featuring Evelyn Aranda’s Live Painting on June 19; and a Father’s Day Brunch with the Adam Bodine Trio on June 21. … The Harry Drabkin-Ron LeGault Quintet interprets the music of Charles Mingus at Bar 404 on Broadway on June 10. … The Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Experience returns to the mountains June 26-28, featuring Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Christian McBride, Benny Green, Greg Hutchinson, Anat Cohen, Lizz Wright and Kurt Elling. jazzaspensnowmass.org
Bret Saunders is a freelance writer and radio DJ.
