Why Jazz Matters- Track 11
by Norman Provizer
From its very beginnings, jazz has always had, in the words of Jelly Roll Morton, a “Spanish tinge” to it. After all, New Orleans has been, in many ways, strongly connected to the Caribbean – and it was the city of New Orleans that played such a special role in the emergence of jazz. During the 1940s and the era of be-bop that tinge took on a distinctly Cuban color, producing what we still call Afro-Cuban jazz or, what jazz players back then referred to as “Cubop.”
In the early 1940s, Machito and his Afro-Cubans with trumpeter/arranger Mario Bauza began playing a standard Cuban tune “Tanga” in jazzed-up style. And later in the 1940s, Bauza would introduce Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo to trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie giving birth to tunes like “Manteca” and the be-bop giant’s life-long interest in Afro-Cuban sounds.
Fast forward some 30 years to 1977 and Gillespie finally made it to Cuba as part of a jazz cruise that would have considerable impact with its stop on the island. On land, Gillespie connected with players such as trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera, who were part of the potent Cuban group Irakere and would help that band gain international exposure.
In 1980, saxophonist/clarinetist D’Rivera defected to the United States, followed in 1990 by trumpeter Sandoval who was the subject of the 2000 HBO movie For Country or Love with Andy Garcia. Since their arrival in America, both D’Rivera and Sandoval have been named Jazz Masters by the National Endowment for the Arts and have received dozens Grammy Awards between them. And on February 27, D’Rivera is in town headlining a special benefit concert for Cuba’s Damas De Blanco (Ladies In White), women who take to the streets on a regular basis to protest peacefully the government’s holding political prisoners.
The concert with D’Rivera, several area-based players and student musicians from the University of Colorado takes place at Mount Vernon Country Club in Golden with shows at 6:30 and 9 p.m. That’s a lot of history packed into one event.
When Gillespie made his first, but not last visit to Cuba, multi-instrumentalist David Amram was also on board. Amram, too, is in town during February for the annual Neal Cassady Birthday Bash. An important companion of Jack Kerouac who had a considerable influence on the author of On the Road, Cassady is Denver’s contribution to the Beat Generation. This year’s bash to mark what would have been his 89th birthday runs February 6-8 with Amram, who had close ties to the Beats, on stage, along with family members and friends, at the Mercury Café on the 6th of the month.
In addition to D’Rivera and Amram, there is also a host of guitarists on tap at Dazzle on Lincoln during the month. On the 5th, Jonathan Kreisberg, gets things started, followed by Bobby Broom on the 12th and 13th, Leni Stern on the 18th and Julian Lage on the 25th and 26th. In addition to the visiting guitar players, the creative, area-based guitarist Neil Haverstick (a.k.a., Stickman) is also at Dazzle with his Microtonal Power Trio. That’s an impressive string of string players during any month, especially one that only has 28 days.
Beyond the guitarists, the month has the groove giants Medeski, Martin and Wood at the Newman Center at University of Denver on the 5th and at Macky Auditorium at the University of Colorado in Boulder on the 6th. Staying with groove sounds, drummer Joe Russo’s Almost Dead is at the Ogden Theater on the 14th and 15th and at the Boulder Theater in Boulder on the 16th. Galactic is at the Ogden on the 20th and 21st and on the 28th, it’s saxophonist Karl Denson and Tiny Universe at the Boulder Theater.
On the 8th, pianist Kevin Hays brings his trio to Dazzle – while on the 11th, pianist Billy Childs brings his quartet, with saxophonist Steve Wilson, to Mount Vernon Country Club.
Moving to brass instruments, and back to guitarists, Ron Miles, who lives here, leads a trio at Dazzle on the 14th and 15th that blends his cornet with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade. Then on the 19th and 20th, it’s trumpeter Nicholas Payton at Dazzle with a trio. And, returning to the saxophone, Melissa Aldana, a native of Chile who won the 2013 Thelonious Monk Institute’s Saxophone Competition (the first women to win the Monk competition in any instrumental category) is at Dazzle on the 7th, while saxophonist Ellery Eskelin joins pianist Art Lande for a duo at Dazzle on the 24th and crossover saxophonists Marion Meadows and Paul Taylor are at the Soiled Dove Underground on the 14th.
Add this all together and it’s easy to see that there aren’t many places in the country that can match Denver’s jazz lineup for February.
Category: Buzzworthy
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