Photos by Tim Dwenger
The Scene: Dazzle Jazz on a Sunday night is a mellow place. When I arrived about 45 minutes before showtime, it was wonderfully warm and friendly and people were quietly sipping cocktails, chatting with spouses or friends, and enjoying dinner. I’ve been to Dazzle many times but I tend to spend more time in the rock clubs of Denver and, honestly, it’s a nice change of pace to see a show at 6pm when everyone in the room is on hand to listen to, and enjoy the music.
Charles McPherson: This 76 year old master of the alto saxophone is best known for his work with the legendary Charles Mingus in the 60’s, but he is quite a composer and player in his own right. Stepping on stage at the stroke of six, Charles McPherson and his stacked band of locals launched into a 60 minute set that was heavy on notes and dripping with talent.
McPherson’s backing band featured Denver standouts, and Dazzle regulars, Jeff Jenkins on the piano, Kenny Walker (who is immortalized on the wall of the club as my friend pointed out) on the bass, and Todd Reid on the drums. Together they took a minute to find their groove but soon locked in and only got more comfortable as the night moved on, taking world class solos that had McPherson himself grinning from ear to ear.
One of the most interesting parts of the set was midway through when the band ran through two pieces from the Sweet Synergy Suite that McPherson had written for a ballet: “Nightfall” and “Marionette.” The later song, “Marionette,” was written for his daughter – a dancer in the company he wrote the pieces for – who was in attendance and got a sweet shout-out from her father before the tune. As the band played (Reid with his hands on “Nightfall”) I was struck by how interesting it would be to see a ballet company dance to these energetic and fast paced Jazz numbers…off to youtube I went.
Late in the set McPherson served up a tune called “Manhattan Nocturne,” and though he admitted that tune was written for New York City, he promised that he would write a song for Denver before he returned to our fair city. Let’s hope he puts pen paper, and notes to tape, soon because there are a lot of Jazz fans in Denver that would love hear that, and love to see McPherson light up the stage of Dazzle again in the near future.
Energy: B+
Musicianship: A+
Sound: A
Stage Presence: B+
Set/Light Show: N/A
Overall: A-
+ There are no comments
Add yours