Because I grew up in the Boston area, my earliest exposure to live jazz came in the form of Bean Town musicians such as trumpeter Herb Pomeroy, who led a knock-out big band housed in a club appropriately named the Stables. Unfortunately, by the time saxophonist George Garzone finished up at Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 1972 and began performing around town with a trio called The Fringe, I was in graduate school in Philadelphia and never did catch the player from Cambridge, Massachusetts on his home turf.

But this weekend, I do plan on catching the versatile saxophonist when he steps way above sea level as the featured artist with a quartet led by drummer Pete Zimmer. That quartet, which also has Ben Markley on piano and Ken Walker on bass, performs on Friday at the University of Colorado in Boulder and on Saturday at Dazzle.

The free concert in Boulder is sponsored by the Creative Music Coalition and takes place at 7 p.m. in Room C 199 of the Imig Music Building on campus. Then, on Saturday, the quartet travels down to Denver for two sets at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, at 7 and 9 p.m. ($15/$10 for students at the late show, 303-839-5100).

In addition to his long standing tie to The Fringe (that has John Lockwood on bass and Bob Gulloti on drums), Garzone has worked with George Russell, Danilo Perez and Dave Liebman, as well as with Joe Lovano’s Nonet and with fellow saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi in a group labeled Gargonz. Additionally, Garzone has had a deep involvement in jazz education with students like Branford Marsalis and Joshua Redman.

A native of Wisconsin, Zimmer is 27 years younger than Garzone. After completing his studies at the New England Conservatory in 2001, the drummer moved to Queens. He began recording on his own in 2004 and Garzone was featured on the drummer’s third CD Judgment. In turn, you can find Zimmer on Garzone’s 2007 disc One, Two, Three, Four.  The drummer’s current release is Chillin’ Live at the Jazz Factory with Jeremy Pelt on trumpet.

Before Zimmer and Garzone arrive at Dazzle, the club on Lincoln has Convergence on Friday at 7 and 9 p.m. ($15). Originally, the imposing, young vocalist Roberta Gambarini was to appear with the sextet that has Greg Gisbert on trumpet, John Gunther on saxophone, Mark Patterson on trombone, Eric Gunnison on piano, Mark Simon on bass and Paul Romaine on drums. But a scheduling problem means that Gambarini won’t be sharing the stage with Convergence for now.

Though Gambarini isn’t on tap this weekend, singer Bebel Gilberto is. The daughter of Joao Gilberto, who has a recent Verve CD out titled All in One, appears at the Odgen Theater, 935 Colfax, on Saturday at 8 p.m. ($27.50-$30, 303-830-2525). Gilberto blends her Brazilian roots with a range of other musical influences, as indicated by her opening act DJ Lara Gerin.

Also this weekend, pianist Billy Wallace leads a quartet that has Mitch Chmara on guitar at Jazzmatazz, 1612 E. 17^th Ave., on Friday starting at 8:30 p.m. On Saturday, Convergence travels across town to play at the new club on 17^th Avenue also starting at 8:30 ($10, 303-333-3503).

Returning to Dazzle, the spot on Lincoln has pianist Ron Jolly’s trio tonight at 7 and 9 p.m. revisiting the group’s 2001 disc Live at the Christmas Tree. Then, on Monday, Dazzle has a free Frank Sinatra Birthday Bash at 9 p.m. just five days before what would have been the singer’s 94^th birthday. On a final note: Starting in the mid-1970s, the Italian labels Black Saint and Soul Note began a long run as two of the premiere jazz labels on the scene. Now, CAM Jazz  has the catalogue of the monster recordings associated with those labels. And until Jan. 5, 56 of those albums are available in a special, holiday sale room on iTunes. That’s something worth checking out. By the way, the first record issued by Black Saint was by saxophonist Billy Harper and it featured Joe Bonner, who reside right here, on piano. Bonner frequently plays on Sunday evening at the Mercury Café, 2199 California (303-294-9258).

Normanprovizer@aol.com