In the 2008 Down Beat “Critics Poll,” Coloradan Otis Taylor ran away with the best-blues-album award for his Telarc CD Recapturing the Banjo. At the same time, the 100-or so critics surveyed named pianist/composer Jason Moran as the rising-star jazz artist of the year. And tonight and Friday at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, Taylor and Moran join with trumpeter Ron Miles for a night of boundary-crossing sounds that simply should be out of sight.

Born in Chicago, Taylor was just a youngster when he landed in Denver. And in recent years, the Boulder resident has moved up the list of contemporary blues artists at a very rapid pace. In fact, Taylor, a singer who plays a number of instruments, has been called, with more than a little justification, “the most relevant blues artist” on the scene today. His new CD carries the title Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs.

Like Taylor, trumpeter Miles is another Denver transplant. Born in Indianapolis, Miles moved here when he was 11. Except for his time at the Manhattan School of Music, the trumpeter, who also teaches at Metro State, has remained in these parts. But his highly individualistic, creative style has received wide acclaim well beyond the Rockies.  Later this month, for example, Miles brings his quartet to the Jazz Standard in New York. The last time he played the noted jazz club, the trumpeter was in the familiar company of guitarist Bill Frisell (who was born in Baltimore but grew up, you guessed it, in Denver). This time around, Miles has Moran on piano.

The pianist, of course, is the only member of this high-powered triumvirate without a direct Colorado connection. Born in Houston in 1975, Moran headed for New York after high school. He too went to the Manhattan School of Music and studied with the much underappreciated pianist Jaki Byard, as well as with Andrew Hill and Muhal Richard Abrams. By 1997, the young man from Houston was recording with saxophonist Greg Osby. (Osby, by the way, is doing a mini-tour of Colorado in June as part of guitarist Jimmy Herring’s band. The band first plays at the Telluride Jazz Celebration during the first weekend of the month and then hits Belly Up in Aspen, the Fox in Boulder and the Aggie Theater in Fort Collins before wrapping things up at Cervantes in Denver on June 12-13.)

In 1998, Moran began recording on his own for Blue Note. His seventh and most recent disc on that label titled Artist in Residence. Over the years, Moran has worked with an imposing list of jazz artists and has definitely emerged has new bright light in terms of both his playing and his writing. When you add this all together, it’s not hard to see that this event at Dazzle is indeed something special. The show tonight and Friday are 7 and 9 p.m. ($20, 303-839-5100). 

Staying with Chicago for a moment, Windy City singer Rondi Charleston picks up at Dazzle after Taylor, Moran and Miles move on. One of the striking things about Charleston’s visit is the band she has in tow. Her quartet features Pete Levin on piano, Joel Frahm (who will be back performing at the Vail Jazz Festival over the Labor Day weekend) on saxophone, Alvester Garnett on drums, Joe Sinaguglia on bass and Dave Stryker on guitar. This is a group worth hearing all on its own. Charleston says she “worships at the feet” of Carmen McRae and you can hear what that means on Saturday at 7 and 9 p.m. ($15).

Also this week, pedal-steel man Glenn Taylor brings his out-of-the-ordinary septet to Boulder’s Laughing Goat, 1709 Pearl, at 8:30 p.m. this evening, while singer Meryl Romer has a party marking the release of her CD So Sure at Dazzle on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ($12). Additionally, Denver School of the Arts student Carly Meyers has her senior recital at Dazzle on Monday at 7 p.m. Senior recitals aren’t usually mentioned here, but Meyers was one of five DSA students whose compositions were performed by the 9^th + Lincoln Orchestra in a concert sponsored by the Gift of Jazz at the school a month ago. The quality of the work I heard that night by the students who were taught by Chie Imaizumi and assisted by Tyler Gilmore of 9^th + Lincoln deserves some special recognition.

Speaking of recognition, Peter Poses provides the most complete listing of jazz events in his long posting that’s available at www.rockymountainjazz.com.

The author can be contacted at Normanprovizer@aol.com.

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