Jazz Live music this holiday season
There’s some warm and occasionally thrilling music scheduled as we head into the holiday season.
Vocalist Kurt Elling is an established, deeply thoughtful performer, and he’s doing something ambitious at Denver’s Soiled Dove Underground on Dec. 12. There will be two performances that night, but each will feature different material. The first set at 7 p.m. will consist of holiday-themed songs, drawing from his 2016 “The Beautiful Day (Kurt Elling Sings Christmas)” album. That kaleidoscopic offering reflects the singer’s charisma as much as anything he’s ever released, and his warmth as a performer should be on ample display.
The second concert of the evening at 9:30 p.m. will feature material from his new release, “The Questions,” which is, according to a press release, “his musical response to this moment in history and the widespread anxiety of our times.” And I’ll admit, “The Questions” is searching, existential stuff. Elling’s covers of Bobdylan and Carla Bley compositions prove he’s unafraid to jump into eclectic territory, and the results are often rewarding. Tickets for these sets begin at $40, and can be found at tavernhg.com/ soiled-dove.
Also on Dec. 12 (and 13), tenor saxophonist Houston Person, a genuine wise man in the world of jazz who can stir up emotions with his heartfelt tone and lyricism, will play Dazzle at Baur’s. Person broke through on the “soul-jazz” scene in the 1960s, recording an exceptional string of dates for the Prestige record label. (My favorites include period-perfect titles like “Underground Soul!” and “Blue Odyssey,” but there are many more.) Person worked extensively with the singer Etta Jones until her death in 2001, and continues to travel well into his 80s, managing to stop at Dazzle at least once a year. Houston’s support for these shows includes some of Colorado’s most empathetic players: bassist Ken Walker, pianist Jeff Jenkins and drummer Paul Romaine. I don’t know if Person will perform any seasonal music during his Dazzle run, but his tenor style would mesh perfectly with your favorite holiday ballad. Tickets are $15-35 for the 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. sets both nights; get them through dazzledenver.com.
New Orleans’ rowdy Rebirth Brass Band will be swinging through three Colorado venues Dec. 1315. Even though the drumand tuba-propelled unit has experienced a rotating lineup in its three-year existence, it has always maintained the same irresistible life force. Often featured on the HBO series
“Treme,” where Rebirth formed, there’s a sense of New Orleans’ (and America’s) musical history in every performance. The band makes purely timeless music. See them at the Aggie Theater in Fort Collins on Dec. 13, the Caribou Room in Nederland on Dec. 14 and Denver’s Bluebird Theater on Dec. 15. They don’t leave their environs for Colorado very often; catch them live if you can.
And more: Trumpeter
Bob Montgomery and Friends play Denver’s Nocturne Dec. 11 … Big ’80s names of the Windham Hill Records “new age” movement, William Ackerman, Barbara Higbie and Todd Boston, play at the Boulder Theater on Dec. 11 … Colorado musical royalty, Purnell Steen, appears at Dazzle on Dec. 19.
Bret Saunders (bretsaunders @ kbco.com) can be heard from5to10 a.m.weekdays at KBCO 97.3 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @Bretontheradio