Jazz News: Denver Jazz Heroes – The Romaines; Ken Walker Celebration of Life; Record Store Day – Hargrove, Miles, Coltrane & More
This is Jazz News, a look at what’s news in jazz, music, and the arts.
Jazz Journalists: 2026 Denver Jazz Heroes
Jazz Journalists Association has named their 2026 Jazz Heroes across the country. Denver’s laureates are Paul and Chris Romaine, founders of the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts.
In his article, former KUVO music director and Jazz Journalists McPartland-Conover honoree Arturo Gómez called the Romaines a “jazz power couple” in Colorado. Educator and co-founder of the CCJA Chris and her prolific drummer - husband Paul have been molding and shaping young musicians in after school and weekend settings since 2005, and their alumni include a few names you might recognize: Rico Jones, Colin Stranahan, Annie Booth, Alejandro Castaño, Gabe Rupp, Gabriel Mervine, Jake Alvarez, and so many more artists who have gone on to professional music careers.
SOURCE: Jazz Journalists Association Awards/2026 Jazz Heroes
Ken Walker Celebration of Life Sat. Apr. 18
Colorado Music Hall of Fame jazz bassist Ken Walker’s official Celebration of Life is this Saturday, April 18 at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Denver campus, in Room 130. Many of Ken’s collaborators over the years will provide the music and the memories.
DU Lamont School of Music obituary: Liberal Arts / Lamont News / Remembering Ken Walker
Event Details: April 18 - 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. at Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Room 130, Orchestra/Band Rehearsal Room
Livestream & Free parking: Register here
Join us as we come together to honor and celebrate the life of beloved jazz bassist, educator, and mentor Ken Walker. Read more about his extraordinary life here.
Record Store Day – Sat. Apr. 18
This Saturday, April 18 is the first Record Store Day of 2026 (they do it again on Black Friday). Among the 30-plus jazz and jazz-adjacent releases for Record Store Day are a new release from the Roy Hargrove estate, recorded in Bern, Switzerland in 2000, and for this year’s centennials, a Miles Davis ten-inch mono disc with four tracks, and two different Coltrane releases: The Complete Concerts of the John Coltrane Quartet from France 1965, a four-LP set from Charly Records, as well as a two-track preview disc of The Tiberi Tapes, a prized and mysterious private recording that will be in full release for the Coltrane centennial in September.
There are 33 participating record stores around the seven-county metro area, and in Larimer and Weld Counties, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Summit County, Grand County, and in Durango. Details at Record Store Day.
SOURCE: RecordStoreDay.com.
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