Autumn Begins With Multi-Colored Concerts | Norman Provizer’s Jazz Notes

Over the next seven days, two of the top five clarinetists on the scene, based on the annual DownBeat “Critics Poll,” will be in town. On top of that, both of those players have their own special connection to Denver. Don Byron is a masterful player and composer who moved to town in 2015 to take a teaching position at Metropolitan State University Denver. The Pulitzer Prize finalist is the featured artist for the upcoming Gift of Jazz “Blind Tiger” series at La Cour, 1643 S. Broadway, on Sunday at 3 p.m. (giftofjazz.org). Byron is simply an incredible addition to the Mile High jazz scene.

The other clarinetist, Ben Goldberg, is an actual Denver native and he plays at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, on Tuesday at 6 and 8 p.m. with his Invisible Guy band that has Michael Coleman on keyboards and Hamir Atwal on drums (303-839-5100). Since his days with the New Klezmer Trio, Goldberg has created a number of different groups to express various sides of his music. This trio (that has a CD out titled Knuckle Sandwich) is one of those groups. In 2011 and 2013, Goldberg, after a long time on the scene, captured the number one slot in the DownBeat poll as the rising-star clarinetist. And before long, he moved out of the rising-star category onto the list of the handful of top clarinetists on the scene. Period. And you have to love the idea that both players are in town during the same week.

Interestingly, Goldberg will be back at Dazzle on October 22 as part of drummer Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom sextet, while Byron will start on extended residency at Nocturne, 1333 7^th St., as part of the Byron-Adam Bartczak Republic sextet on November 1.

The musical week kicks off on Thursday with saxophonist Ben Wendel’s very strong quartet at Dazzle at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. That band has Gerald Clayton on piano, Joe Sanders on bass and Henry Cole on drums. Wendel has worked with a broad range of musicians and was a founding member of the band.

Kneebody.  The trumpet player with Kneebody, Shane Endsley, from Denver, is also on the musical bill this week. He is the featured guest with pianist Annie Booth’s trio at Nocturne on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (303-295-3333).

Additionally at Dazzle, pianist Shamie Royston returns home with a trio that has Rudy Royston on drums and Yasushi Yakamura on drums. Rudy is another Denverite who captured the top, rising-star spot on his instrument, while Shamie is part of Denver’s very musical Fuller family, as is her sister Tia Fuller. Her trio plays on Friday at 7 and 9 p.m. Dazzle also has pianist Neil Bridge with his Latin hat on Saturday at 7 and 9 p.m. and bassist Mary Stribling, celebrating a new CD at Dazzle at 6 p.m. on Sunday. Stribling has a quintet that includes the outstanding flautist Ali Ryerson.

Over at Baur’s, 1512 Curtis, the blues quartet led by Phil Wiggins and George Kilby Jr. takes the stage on Thursday at 8 p.m. (303-615-4000), while guitarist Wayne Wilkenson is at Boulder’s Caffe Sole, 637R S. Broadway, on Friday at 7 p.m. (303-499-2985) and the What’s Cookin’ Big Band is at Jazz at Jacks, 500 16^th St. on Sunday at 5 p.m. (303-433-1000). 

The popular Denver based singer Teresa Carroll leads a George Gershwin 118th birthday celebration at Dazzle on Monday starting at 7 p.m. Teresa will be accompanied by Eric Gunnison-piano, Ken Walker-bass, Todd Reid-drums and Lenny Kaye on narration and additional vocals.

One of KUVO’s ”30 Under 30″ featured artists from their 30th Anniversary year-2015, pianist Walter Gorra and his quartet continue their residency at Nocturne, 27th and Larimer in the hot RiNo District of Denver, on Friday-7 til 11pm. Walter on piano accompanied by Gonzalo Teppa-bass, Manuel López-drums and Greg Tanner Harris-vibes. They will be performing Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and mainstream jazz every Friday through the end of October.

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