Steven Pope
The Vail Jazz Festival is back for its 27th season with nine weeks of performances running from now through Labor Day Weekend.
Overcoming obstacles
After a year of uncertainty, festival founder Howard Stone and his team have been able to overcome the roadblocks of the pandemic to present 29 performances featuring some of the biggest names in jazz.
“Last night I didn’t sleep very well because I was so pumped up from the energy and the music,” said Stone, following the opening night of the festival.
Planning for this concert series usually takes place over the course of nine months, but this year Vail Jazz only received approval to proceed with the festival about eight weeks ago. It was a daunting task, but Stone was ready to do whatever it took to keep the music alive.
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Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra Will Perform Basie, Blues, and More Next Month
The Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra (CJRO) performs the best of Count Basie and other world-renowned jazz artists on Sunday, June 6 at 2 p.m. at the Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway, Lakewood, CO 80226.
Featuring many of the best jazz musicians in the area, the CJRO will perform a variety of blues, jazz, and Latin classics including Count Basie s Blues in Hoss Flat , Stan Kenton s A Little Minor Blues, Chick Corea s Armando s Rhumba and even Corner Pocket, reimagined as a cha-cha by Drew Zaremba. Critically acclaimed vocalist, Heidi Schmidt will sing Avalon and many other favorites in a concert that will delight every blues and jazz lover. Read Heidi Schmidt s biography here at Coloradojazz.org
Denver s jazz scene took big hits during COVID-19, including the loss of El Chapultepec, Le Cour and Live @ Jack s. But City Park Jazz, which was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic, is coming back with nine free shows in 2021.
The series, which launched in 1986, is celebrating its 35th season this year. In the past, concerts regularly drew between 8,000 and 12,000 people to City Park on Sunday evenings. Some would bring in picnics, while others took advantage of the food trucks around the park.
“We couldn’t be more excited right now,” notes Andy Bercaw, president of the City Park Jazz board of directors, in a statement announcing the return of the concerts. “Last year was tough for the whole world, so there’s no need to belabor the heartbreak. But Denver’s been on their game, getting vaccinated and pulling together as a community to lift each other up and that’s what City Park Jazz is, after all: a celebration of community.”
Norman Provizer Share
Before we know it, the end of April, the end of Jazz Appreciation Month, will be here.
Jazz’s designated month wraps up on April 30 each year – designated by UNESCO as International Jazz Day with events occurring across the globe. In fact, if you check out
jazzday.com, you can see hundreds of those events listed by country from the start of the alphabet through Vietnam. Additionally, if people are hanging around with music on their minds, you can add a listing to the International Jazz Day posting by going to
Before we get to International Jazz Day on the 30th, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) celebrates its newest class of Jazz Masters with a taped event co-sponsored with SFJAZZ and hosted by saxophonist Miguel Zenón. Among the many performers involved in the activities are past NEA Jazz Masters, including Denver’s Dianne Reeves, who earned the Masters label as part of the class of 2018.