Revisiting the music of Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters, Freddie Hubbard & original funk vibes. Jazz on the funk side!!! Stafford Hunter: Multi-Grammy nominated trombonist & seashells player (and sometimes vocalist) recently relocated from NYC. Has performed and/or record with Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner, Roy Hargrove, Amy Winehouse, Dionne Warwick, Lenny Kravitz, Oliver Lake, Orrin Evans’ Captain Black big band, and was 21 years member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Stafford has 5 CD’s as a leader to date: https://www.staffordhunter.com…

This series is a collaboration between Classic Pianos and La Cour. Join the warm and lovely vocalists, Donna Oliver and Kelly Hamilton, who join the ThunderHill Jazz Band! They will be singing some great jazz standards including Unforgettable, S’Wonderful, A Foggy Day, and Straighten Up and Fly Right. Thunderhill musicians are Tait Solberg horns, Billy Ray Stephens on Piano, Tom Severino on Bass, Ben Parrish on guitar and Steve McBride on drums. They will include tunes from the song books…

Celebrating 100 Years of Yusef Lateef Presented by Matt Smiley (bass) and Heath Walton (woodwinds) with Ben Markley (piano) and Alejandro Castano (drums) Throughout his 60 year career, Yusef Lateef was a sideman, band leader, recording artist, composer, arranger, philosopher, author, educator and more. As a virtuosic reed player, he mastered almost ten different reed instruments from across the globe. Matt Smiley is a bassist and composer based in Colorado’s Front Range. He has performed in a variety of musical…

A Denver East High senior jazz sextet taught by local legend Keith Oxman, the music and song choice is heavily influenced by bop and post-bop artists such as Wayne Shorter and Max Roach. We chose the band name, Shamen, because it sounds cool, and also because traditionally Shaman are the medium to the spiritual realm. So in our case, our music is that medium. Jake Rosen: drums Aidan Vogel: Piano Nik Varga: Trumpet Ben Kaufman: Saxophone Alan Jones: Bass Cyrus…

Ms. Ellis brings her talents to the Muse with Gonzalo Teppa-bass, Dave Hanson-piano, Clare Church-drums, and Pete Lewis-saxes They will perform a variety of standards arranged by Pete Lewis. Come join us for a wonderful evening of jazz! This concert will be streamed from the Muse. It will be available to view on Facebook and Youtube. Donations: Venmo @museperformancespace or Muse website donation 70% goes to musicians and 30% goes to helping the Muse pay the rent.

The fourth year running - this is a fun and freaky treat of a show. This night will hold tricks - many treats - many creative interpretations of a wide variety of sounds. Expect a haunting and humorous concoction of funky surprises and psychedelic soundscapes from a bubbling cauldron of rock and pop Halloween tunes, as well as theme songs, all with a slight improvisational accent. ADAM BODINE - PIANO/COMMENTARY/SOUND EFFECTS, JEAN-LUC DAVIS - BASS, KEVIN MATTHEWS - DRUMS Genre-fusing…

Tom Amend is a pianist, organist, composer, and arranger from Denver, Colorado. Performing and recording often throughout the Rocky Mountain Region in various settings as both a leader and a sideman he can be heard with with Colorado based Soul/Blues artists: The Burroughs and the Taylor Scott Band. Tom was selected as a semifinalist for the American Jazz Pianist Competition in 2014 and 2015, and was a finalist in concert in 2017. He also received third place at the 2015…

The Heath Walton Band is back for their second residency at Nocturne. This residency will feature original compositions, new arrangements, and selections from their debut album “Brooklyn’s Bridge.” This project began in 2016 after Heath won a Pathway to Jazz Grant from the Boulder County Arts Alliance. The grant helped fund their previously mentioned album and is Heath’s second recording as a band leader. The Heath Walton Band’s music represents the modern jazz idiom albeit with rock, hip-hop, and R&B…

Colorado native Derek Banach has performed professionally for 25 years in a variety of settings from Jazz to Hip-Hop, Salsa, Classical, and Reggae. His roots are firmly set in the Hard-Bop stylings of 60's period icons such as Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. Derek's quintet album, "Tugende" displays his composing talents and personal approach to trumpet playing. He has recorded with Italian producer Nicola Conte, Quintetto X, Paul Mulliken and has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Richie Cole, Joe…

This special Sunday series was curated by Denver jazz pianist Stu MacAskie to explore the great drummer-less trios throughout jazz history. Art Tatum, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, and Benny Green all recorded and performed in the piano/guitar/bass format. Allowing for a different sound, more freedom for the piano and guitar to work together, and a different focus on swinging, the Trios Trio plays music inspired by this great tradition along with original compositions and arrangements honoring this tradition. During…

Drummer Dru Heller presents a celebration of the music of Paul Motian. One of the most influential jazz drummers of all time, Motian first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and was a member of Keith Jarrett's "American Quartet" from 1967-76. As a leader he is most known for his trio with saxophonist Joe Lovano and guitarist Bill Frisell, as well as his Electric BebopBand which showcased many different young lions of…

THE DEMOCRACY is a modern jazz quintet that operates in a way that allows each musician to be an active a part of the creative direction of the ensemble. All five players contribute to the original works performed an all have a say of how each night will go... this band is proof that the spirit of Democracy is alive and well. adam bartczak - trombone, sam williams - saxophone , peter stoltzman - piano, gonzalo teppa - bass, dru…

Bobby Wiens is a Canadian-born jazz drummer now based out of Greeley, CO. He has worked as both a leader and a sideman with several world-class musicians throughout the U.S. and Canada. Wiens has had the privilege of studying with master drummers such as John Riley, Jim White, Dylan van der Schyff, Jon McCaslin, and Memo Acevedo among others. Since graduating from the University of Northern Colorado with his Masters degree in Jazz Studies, Wiens maintains a busy playing and…

For this streaming show Bassist Seth Lewis celebrates the release of his album “Go Your Own Way.” Seth is most often found supporting other artists as the bassist in their groups, but the recording and live performance presents music he has composed and arranged for a group of Colorado’s best musicians.  The group this evening includes Shawn Williams on trumpet, Austin Cebulski on saxophone, Tom Amend on Piano and Brian Claxton on drums. This dynamic ensemble brings mature creative chemistry…

The Spencer Zweifel Quintet is a dynamic ensemble that combines strong individual playing into a cohesive group sound. Inspired by the classic quintets led by Charles Mingus, Horace Silver, Chick Corea and Dave Holland, Zweifel’s quintet draws from all corners of the jazz world. Swing, hard bop, free music, and the Great American Songbook come together for an exciting and fresh musical experience. The majority of the repertoire is originals by the band supplemented with standards that have personal meaning to…

Nocturne's Saturday Supper & Stream features Clay-Gott Chordless Quartet. Taylor Clay was born in Brooklyn, NY and began his musical journeys at the age of 13 and went on to study at the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY. After completing his degree in Music Performance in 2012, he moved to Colorado to attend the Univeristy of Northern Colorado as a graduate student and teaching assistant. Taylor currently lives in Denver, Colorado works as a busy freelance musician. Saxophonist and…

A Jazz and Gospel Christmas celebration! Come join Hazel Miller & the Collective for a Gospel inspired Jazzy Christmas concert. All your favorite holiday songs presented from our original point of view. “Holiday Spirit” sung and played with heart and soul! Come join us for an incredible evening of music, holiday joy and fellowship. Click HERE for more info and Covid-19 precautions.

A Nocturne holiday season tradition in its sixth year, we present a night of seasonal cheer that riffs on classic versions of Frank, Perry and Ella holiday arrangements, as well as select songs from Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas and beyond. Curated by Drew Morell and Scott Mattson. This evening celebrates the magic of the season with a little a dash of nostalgia atop some hard swinging music. Tom Amend - piano, Drew Morell - bass, Louisa Amend - vocals,  - guitar, Scott Mattson- drums (Details…

Saxophonist Harry Drabkin is a Berklee College of Music graduate as well as a faculty alumni where he performed in the Recording Band, the Faculty Jazz Ensemble and the Faculty Saxophone Quartet. His influences come from Miles, Coltrane, Cannonball and Charlie Mariano. He recently retired as Chief of Oncology at the Medical University of South Carolina to return to Denver. Harry Drabkin - sax, Derek Banach - trumpet, Jack Dunlevie - piano, Kent McLagen - bass, Todd Reid - drums With the…

Jeremy Wendelin returns to Nocturne for a residence focused on the trio of saxophone, bass, and drums. This instrumentation, pioneered by Sonny Rollins, affords artists great freedom in exploring their material. The sound is simple, but the music is full of complexities; the players have freedom, but also more responsibility to create the right sound for each moment. In the years since Rollins’ early recordings, many artists have taken on this format, including Branford Marsalis, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Kenny…