Forty-five years ago, a young, Texas-born guitarist left college and moved to New York where he joined drummer Chico Hamilton’s band. Before long, the young man from Galveston was part of the groundbreaking jazz/rock group Free Spirits and a member of vibraphonist Gary Burton’s quartet. That guitarist is Larry Coryell and the move to the Apple put him on the path to become “one of the most original improvisers and composers to emerge in the 1960s and 1970s.”

          Tonight, Coryell performs at the Mount Vernon Country Club’s outstanding jazz series with his band called the Bombay Jazz Project (or, if you want to use the Indian city’s newer name, the Mumbai Jazz Project) that features Ronu Majumdar on bamboo flute, Aditya Kulyanpur on tabla and George Brooks on saxophone. That tells you that when it comes to music, Coryell remains a “free spirit” who understands musical relationships in the most global sense whether it’s in the guitar trio with John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia or with Brazilian singer/guitarist Dori Caymmi or the boys from Bombay. Coryell is a superb player who, to the listener’s benefit, never restricts himself. The dinner portion of the evening at Mount Vernon starts at 6 p.m. with the music at 8 p.m. ($45.95/$20 for the music alone, 303-526-0616). The country club is located west of Denver off of I-70 near exit 254.

Also this evening, saxophonist John Gunther brings guitarist Brad Shepik to Denver for sets at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, at 7 and 9 p.m. ($15/$8 students, 303-839-5100). Shepik was member of drummer Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band for some five years and also worked with a number of important groups such as trumpeter Dave Douglas’ Tiny Bell Trio, reedman Matt Darriau’s Paradox Trio and Pachara with Chris Speed. He and the talented Gunther, who teaches at University of Colorado, work together in the Safari Trio. At Dazzle, the two are joined by the dynamic drummer Jim White. 

On Friday, Gunther and Shepik take the Safari down the road to Boulder where, with percussionist John Hadfield, they perform a free concert in the Black Box Theatre in the Atlas Center on the CU campus at 7:30 p.m. (303-735-4577). The three players can be found on the new Safari Trio CD Surrender. For that event, they share the bill the group Psychoangelo led by guitarist Michael Theodore who also teaches at CU.  

Additionally, on Friday, saxophonist Maceo Parker blows his horn at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton, at 9 p.m. with the Chicago band Lubriphonic opening the show ($20/$25 day of the show, 303-297-1772) while trombonist Wycliffe Gordon joins guitarist Dave Corbus’ quartet (with Ken Walker on bass and Paul Romaine on drums) on stage at Dazzle at 7 and 9 p.m. ($20/$12 students).

Born in Georgia in 1967, Gordon grew to prominence during his long association with Wynton Marsalis, including his work with Marsalis led Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Since the mid-1990s, the trombonist (who also bass, trumpet, piano, tuba and drums) has led his own groups on more than a half-dozen CDs. Without doubt, he is in the top tier of trombonists on the scene. Corbus, who moved to these parts from New York in 1993, works in a number of contexts including the sextet fronted by bassist Walker. As for, Parker, the longtime James Brown saxophonist can play as well as groove.

Come Sunday, another area-based player, pianist Art Lande, also brings a guest to town in the form of reedman Paul McCandless. Lande is among the internationally known jazz artists residing here, while McCandless is extremely well known to all kinds of musical audiences through his extended association with the group Oregon. The two perform at Dazzle at 6 and 8 p.m. ($15). Following that, on Tuesday, Ladysmith Black Mambazo brings its South African vocal sound to the University of Denver’s Newman Center, 2344 E. Iliff, at 7:30 p.m. ($28-$48, 303-871-7720).

Looking ahead: If you want to get ready for the appearance of the Robert Glasper Experiment at Dazzle on March 18-19, then you should take a look at the feature on the pianist (who is clearly one of the rising stars in the music) in the April 2010 issue of Down Beat. Right after Glasper is at Dazzle, singer Dianne Schuur is in town at the Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Performing Arts Complex for the “2010 Visionary Awards Concert” sponsored by the American Council of the Blind of Colorado (www.blacktie-colorado.com)

Normanprovizer@aol.com