David Froman (left) and Don Lucoff, co-founders of the Denver Jazz Fest.

(Photo: Courtesy Denver Jazz Fest)

From sisters Tia Fuller and Shamie Royston, Kneebody co-founders Shane Endsley and Kaveh Rastegar and the late Ron Miles to historic figures like Paul Whiteman and Jimmie Lunceford, Denver has been called home by a plethora of jazz talent. Now that home has its own festival. The inaugural Denver Jazz Fest, which ran April 3–6, celebrated the storied past and vibrant present of the metro area’s jazz scene.

Hosted at a dozen different sites between Denver and Boulder, and featuring 32 concerts, the festival opened with a performance by guitarist and native son Bill Frisell’s new In My Dreams band featuring violinist Jenny Scheinman, violist Eyvind Kang, cellist Hank Roberts, bassist Thomas Morgan and Denver-raised drummer Rudy Royston.

Star vocalist Dianne Reeves, who grew up in Denver and returned to live there in 1991, headlined the final day of the DJF in a duo setting with guitarist Romero Lubambo. Pianist/composer Annie Booth, a faculty member of University of Denver’s Jazz and Commercial Music program who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Colorado-Boulder’s music department, closed out the festival with her trio.

“We felt for the first year that it was important to reach out to great artists who have roots here but have gone well beyond the regional scene,” said David Froman, Denver Jazz co-founder. “But we also thought it was important to have a good balance in terms of local and national artists, especially given the number of really top musicians that we have here.”

Saxophonist (and April 2025 DownBeat cover artist) Isaiah Collier made his Denver debut as part of the DJF. Pianist/composer Art Lande, a Boulder resident since 1987, brought his Future History trio with son Aaron Lande on electric violin and guitarist Tim Wendel to Muse Performance Space, an artist-run non-profit stage located in the Boulder suburb of Lafayette. Vocalist Danette Hollowell and the DJF Allstars quartet showcased some quality locally based swing in an event co-presented by the festival.

“We set out to develop partnerships with every venue here that presents great music throughout the year,” Froman said in a conference call from his home in the Denver bedroom community of Pine. “Each partnership has taken a unique form based on the needs of both parties and the manner in which they operate. Denver Jazz Fest is producing all shows at the Newman Center, Dazzle, the Denver Performing Arts Center (DPAC) Galleria and the Mercury Cafe on our own. And we are co-producing the shows at the other eight venues. In most cases, that involves both curation and marketing.”

And making all this happen is a labor of love for the area’s jazz scene.

“Denver has been opening more rooms for music,” said Dianne Reeves. “So the community that was always there is really starting to come together in a way that’s really beautiful. When I’m in Europe, I perform at these festivals that last for four days. That part is the thing that makes the music hip and good; it allows artists to go see other artists.”

Reeves mentioned her excitement about tenor saxophonist/multi-reedist Joe Lovano bringing his new Paramount Quartet with guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Asante Santi Debriano and drummer Will Calhoun to the Boulder Theater for the DJF. She was also enthused about The Headhunters being on a bill with Ghost Note and Superimposition.

“Growing up in Denver, I went up to Red Rocks and saw the original incarnation of The Headhunters,” she said, by phone from her home in Denver.

“We’ve been working on this project for the past two years,” explained Froman, a three-decade-plus area resident who is president of Gift of Jazz, a nonprofit education and concert production organization. He co-founded DJF parent organization Denver Jazz, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, with jazz publicist, festival programmer and recent Denver transplant Don Lucoff. “Don was relatively new to the community, but obviously has a long history in producing jazz festivals and promoting jazz artists and record labels.”

“There was no national festival in Denver,” Lucoff pointed out. “We have a major airport with a hub for Southwest and United and artists coming through from the West Coast or down from Chicago or Minneapolis.”

“It’s a really healthy scene,” said Lande. “I feel like we have wonderful players, good mentoring for the high school students and several excellent colleges and universities. It feels not competitive at all but rather very supportive.”

The inaugural DJF honored the Five Points Jazz Festival (FPJF), which ended its two-decade-plus run last year. Held in Denver’s Historic Black Five Points neighborhood, it was free, outdoors and presented on multiple stages. ”We’re setting up a free open air stage at the Galleria at the DPAC,” explained Froman, who served on the FPJF board for its final 12 years, in advance of this year’s festival. “We’re also putting on a smooth jazz show at Spangalang Brewery in Five Points because we felt we needed to check that box.

“Some of the clubs that we’re partnering with are jazz clubs in a pure sense,” he continued. “Others are kind of jazz-adjacent clubs that produce music more along the lines of jam bands and are catering to a younger audience but will occasionally do a jazz show.” ALO and Garaj Mahal were expected to have audience members alternately standing and dancing.

“It’s always a fine line where you say it’s a ‘jazz’ festival, and then you have to be the arbiter of what jazz is,” Froman observed. “But jazz is a house with many rooms, as has been said.”

“Denver’s just a beautiful place,” Reeves concluded. “And it’s very easy to get around.” DB

from https://downbeat.com