Trombone Shorty, Herbie Hancock and more jazz in Colorado
There are a few exciting opportunities for jazz followers to take in some life-affirming sounds at Denver’s newest concert venue this week.
The Mission Ballroom (4242 Wynkoop St.) is AEG Presents’ attempt to construct a medium-sized club (capacity around 4,000) that will stage national and local acts. And, judging by the initial lineup, it appears that the promoters behind the Mission will embrace a certain degree of eclecticism.
For example, the charismatic bandleader Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and his band
Orleans Avenue will split the bill with soul rocker
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals at the Mission on Aug. 12. Trombone Shorty’s albums have been underwhelming; but he and his band are powerful and joyous in a live setting, exuding a kind of New Orleans-infused energy.
On Aug. 14, Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington will co-headline at the new ballroom. Keyboardist and composer Hancock is simply one of the most influential jazzbased artists of the past half-century. His innovations reach back to his time as a member of the second great Miles Davis Quintet, and he has been at the forefront of fusion, funk and electronic sounds in the years since. Hancock’s set promises to be a celebration of his inimitable career.
Washington is a saxophonist who embraces the spiritual side of the jazz spectrum, and his solos conjure up much of what made trailblazers like John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders so thrilling. Washington’s album releases are satisfying, but onstage he and his band approach the transcendent.
Finally, Steven Ellison, the electronic artist who performs under the name
Flying Lotus and dabbles in jazz improvisation (he’s related to the late John and Alice Coltrane), will bring his arsenal of machinery to the Mission Ballroom on Aug. 16. The latest Flylo release, “Flamagra,” is a dense mix of multiple styles that manages to touch on jazz-fusion and includes a trippy spokenword performance from filmmaker David Lynch. What more could you want?
Information on all of these shows is available at missionballroom.com. Let’s hope the promoters at AEG Presents continue to book plenty of jazz artists moving forward.
And more: The Telluride Jazz Festival concludes on Aug. 11 with headliner Lettuce. Get tickets at telluridejazz.org . ... In Steamboat Springs, saxophonist Branford Marsalis plays the Strings Music Pavilion on Aug.13, and Asleep At
The Wheel appears there Aug. 16 . ... Peter White and Euge Groove will play the Soiled Dove Underground on Aug. 16 . ... The enduring Dirty Dozen Brass Band is scheduled for Levitt Pavilion Denver Aug. 17 . ... Denver
saxophonists Rich Chiaraluce and Keith Oxman pay tribute to Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt at Denver’s Nocturne on Aug. 17. Also that evening: the brilliant singer Catherine Russell plays a rare Colorado date at Dazzle at Baur’s . ... The inexhaustible alto saxophonist Charles Mcpherson,
who gained notoriety with bassist Charles Mingus’ band in the 1960s and ‘70s, has embarked upon an 80th birthday tour that includes a stop at Dazzle on Aug. 21.