Why Jazz Matters: Track 10

Tim Wenger | January 2, 2015

by Norman Provizer

In 1969, a clarinet player by the name of Bill Frisell graduated from Denver’s East High School. Though born in Baltimore, Frisell came to Denver at a very young age; and in high school, he found himself in the musical company of some very talented, fellow students like Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn and Andrew Wolfolk (all of whom would join Earth, Wind & Fire and end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for their efforts).

After East, the clarinetist with a growing interest in the guitar spent some time at the University of Northern Colorado. He had learned some guitar from Bob Marcus at the Denver Folklore Center and then focused on the jazz side of the instrument by studying with Dale Bruning. By the mid-1970s, he was off to Boston’s Berklee College of Music; and in 1982, he had his first album out under his own name (In Line on the ECM label).

Today, the once clarinet-playing Frisell is widely recognized as one of the leading guitarists in jazz history. To briefly illustrate that point, in 10 of the past 11 annual polls of jazz critics from across the globe conducted by DownBeat magazine, Frisell emerged in the top spot among guitarists. The only exception was the 2008 critics poll in which Frisell occupied the second spot under Pat Metheny.

Over the years Frisell has visited his old hometown on a number of occasions, performing with his old teacher Bruning and cornetist/trumpeter Ron Miles (who is also an East graduate, teaches at Metropolitan State University and frequently works with the guitarist), as well as others. On January 21 at 7:30 p.m., Frisell is back in town for a special homecoming concert at East High School’s auditorium to benefit the school’s music program. For this performance, Frisell has the group that appears on his 2014 Guitar in the Space Age! CD: pedal-steel player Greg Leisz, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen. On that disc, he revisits guitar music from the 1950s and 1960, from the Beach Boys and Duane Eddy to folk and country sounds. After all, as Frisell has pointed out, the first record he ever bought was the Beach Boys single that had “Little Deuce Coup” on one side and “Suffer Girl” on the other.

Frisell, who has developed his own unique style, leads multiple groups, but at the heart of all of those groups is a sound that is pure Americana in all its forms. One of Frisell’s bands is at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York in January and that group has Rudy Royston on drums. While he was born in Fort Worth, Royston also grew up in Denver where he spent a lot of time in the company of Ron Miles before moving east and national recognition. And Miles will be with another of Frisell’s bands performing at Jazz at Lincoln Center in the spring.

Speaking of players with Denver roots, saxophonist Brad Leali, who was recently back home to perform, was on stage at the Kennedy Center Honors program as part of the group ensemble supporting the tributes to singers Sting and Al Green. Not bad for a town that in the past had been known not as a destination, but a place you fly over.

For information and tickets for Frisell’s concert at East (a school that also produced singer Judy Collins), you can go to ticketfly.com. On January 22, the day after Frisell’s performance, Mount Vernon Country Club in Golden serves up some serious heat in the form of M/F. Productions Latin Jazz All Stars (with trombonist Steve Turre). Also in town during the month are: tenor saxophonist Houston Person at Dazzle on the 2^nd and 3^rd; alto saxophonist Charles McPherson at Dazzle on the 5^th and 6^th; drummer Cody Moffett (son of drummer Charles Moffe