Jazz Notes 4-22-2010, Norman Provizer
    The major event on tap this week is the 40th edition of the annual UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival held in Union Colony Civic Center, 701 10th Ave. The festivities start on Thursday with singer Patti Austin in front of the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Lab Band I and the university’s flagship vocal group Northern Colorado Voices. As a singer, the Grammy-winning Austin covers a number of musical bases. At the festival, she focuses on her tributes to the music of George Gershwin and the songs associated with Ella Fitzgerald.
    On Friday, the UNC/Greeley event continues with the potent Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, featuring, among others, bassist John Clayton, saxophonist Jeff Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton. This big band has been around for 25 years and is widely viewed as one of the top large ensemble on the scene. In addition to the Clayton-Hamilton gang, Friday also offer the university’s Vanguard Combo.
    The festival wraps up on Saturday night with the “Woody Herman Tribute and Drum Summit’ that has three former Herman drummers on hand – Hamilton (who was the band in 1977-1978 and sometimes after that as well), Ed Soph (who held down the chair in 1968-1971) and John Riley (on the stand with the band in 1978-1979 and frequently appearing with it into the mid-1980s).  The Jazz Festival All-Star Jazz Band, led by the highly regarded former head of jazz studies at the university, Gene Aitken, is also on Saturday’s program. 
    All of the shows at Union Colony start at 7:30 p.m. ($17-$39, 800-315-2787). Along with the main concerts and the jazz-education aspects of the festival, the Greeley affair also offers post-concert music on Friday and Saturday at the Kress Cinema and Lounge, 817 8th Ave. in Greeley, starting at 10:30 p.m. The sounds with saxophonist Don Aliquo, trumpeter Clay Jenkins, trombonist Paul McKee, pianist Dana Landry, bassist Erik Applegate and drummer Jim White are free.
    In addition to the Greeley event, there are also some inviting sounds emanating from Denver this week. On Friday, for example, trumpeter Gabriel Alegria, a native of Lima, Peru, brings his exciting Afro-Peruvian Sextet to Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, for a return visit at 7 and 9 p.m. ($20, 303-839-5100). I heard this group during a previous stop in Denver and its Nuevo Mundo sound certainly hits home.
    After Alegria leaves Dazzle, pianist Rob Mullins moves in on Saturday with a quartet that has Joe Anderies on saxophone, Bijoux Barbosa on bass and Mike Marlier on drums. Mullins attended UNC before heading to New York and then to California where he plays the role of a popular composer, arranger, producer and session player. Though known for his crossover, contemporary-jazz sound, Mullins can attack the music in a strong, straight-ahead style ($20). Also on Saturday, singer Lisa Bell celebrates the release of her new CD, Dancing on the Moon, with her band at Boulder’s Nomad Theater, 1410 Quince St. at
Then on Sunday, the adventurous 9th + Lincoln Orchestra pulls into the club on Lincoln at 7 p.m. ($10/$7 students), followed by Brazilian-born pianist Carmen Sadim’s sextet on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Sadim came to U.S. in 1996 to study at Boston’s Berklee College of Music before heading to the nation’s capital. For this visit to Dazzle, Sadim’s group features the serious trumpet playing of Ron Miles ($8).  
Additionally, saxophonist Keith Oxman (who is sounding good) brings a trio to Dazzle on Thursday to perform at a “Jazz for Nonviolence” fundraiser that runs from 5:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. in support of the Nonviolence Center ($35), while, on Saturday, singer Lisa Bell and her septet celebrate the release of the singer’s new CD, Dancing on the Moon, at Boulder’s Nomad Theater, 1410 Quince St., at 7 p.m. ($15 including wine and dessert, 303-443-7510 or www.tickethorse.com). Also keep in mind, a “Relief for Haiti benefit concert on May 1 at the Park Hill United Methodist Church, 5209 Montview Blvd. Pianist Purnell Steen, his Le Jazz Machine band and guest vocalists will all be there starting at 4 p.m. ($20). 
The UNC/Greeley festival, of course, reminds us that the summer jazz-festival season is just around the corner. When it comes to Colorado, Down Beat magazine’s annual summer festival guide (in the May issue) lists three events: Jazz Aspen Snowmass (June 25-July 3, www.jazzaspen.com); the Telluride Jazz Celebration (Aug. 6-8, www.telluridejazz.org); and the Vail Jazz Party (Sept. 2-6, www.vailjazz.org). While those are the major festivals around the state, they don’t exhaust the list. There’s also: the Estes Park Jazz Festival (May 15-16, www.estesparkcvb.com); the Five Points Jazz Festival (May 22, www.denvergov.org/5pointsjazz); JazzFest Denver (June 12-13, www.jazzfestdenver.org); Genuine Jazz (June 25-27, www.genuinejazz.org); the Evergreen Jazz Festival (July 23-25, www.evregreenjazz.org); the Winter Park Jazz Festival (July 24-25, www.winterpark-info.com); and, moving into the fall, Summit Jazz (Oct. 1-3, www.summitjazz.org). We will take a detailed look at each of these events in coming weeks.
Normanprovizer@aol.com