Venue of the Month-El Chapultepec
by Ryan Edwards
Denver has a lot of newer venues, but it’s nice to come across a place that has a lot of history and has been a part of the Denver music scene for a long time. El Chapultepec sits on the corner of 20th and Market, right across the street from Coors Field, and has been serving up food and jazz for over 55 years. Seven nights a week, a person can walk by and hear jazz blasting from inside. Known as “The Pec” to regulars, this venue has had many famous jazz musicians, such as Miles Davis, and even Bill Clinton, play on their tiny, intimate stage. One Thursday night I walked in and only a few people were at the bar, but jazz music playing anyway. Once the musicians took a break I had a chance to speak to them about their thoughts on this historic music destination.
Chad Schneider is a trombone player who has been playing at the Pec for ten years. When asked about the stage, Schneider mentioned the intimate vibe you feel when playing there. As for the crowd that comes in, he says, “I like the people that come into the Pec. There is a wide variety. There can be homeless people sitting next to yuppies. There isn’t that much discrimination. One time, the bass player from the Steve Miller Band came in and sat in on a tune. The next night Wynton Marsalis came and played. There’s a wide variety, you never know what to expect.” As far as Schneider’s thoughts on the overall venue and what it means to Jazz music, “I think live jazz is important because it is a place where you can witness something truly spontaneous and very creative. Most people don’t realize or appreciate the amount of knowledge, skill, and experience that is required.”
Later, I had the honor of talking to Freddy Rodriguez, Sr. who has been playing at the Pec for more than 30 years; and at the age of 81, might be the oldest jazz musician around. Rodriguez loves the Pec for its intimacy and the open-minded crowd that comes in every night. “They like it, even if they’ve never experienced jazz; we get a decent crowd.” This venue’s importance cannot be expressed enough, as it holds so much value for the history of jazz music, which Rodriguez believes has fallen behind with the newer generations. “Jazz is an oddity, jazz is an old-school thing. [The Pec] is an institution; not many places like it left.”
Category: Buzzworthy
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