In December, the family of Jerry Krantz, who d run El Chapultepec for decades, announced that they were closing the legendary jazz club at 1962 Market Street and would not be selling the business or the name. They didn t own the building, though, and now we know what s moving in:
Cantina, a new club from Valentes Corleons, who owns the nearby Beta Event Center. Renovations are already under way, and the plan is to host several kinds of music, including jazz.
After hearing the news, readers quickly started sounding off on the
Taking an iconic place like that and giving it over to something like Beta.
When the owners of iconic jazz club El Chapultepec decided to close the business for good in December, rumors spread about the future of the legendary spot: Would the building be torn down and replaced with a condo complex? Could someone buy the El Chapultepec name and keep the club going? Or would anyone have the moxie to take over the space and create something new?
The family of Jerry Krantz, who d run the Pec for decades, decided not to sell the business and just shut it down. But they didn t own its home Evan Makovsky, co-owner of Shames Makovsky Realty Company, bought the building at 1962 Market Street after Krantz died, leasing it back to his family and since the structure is in a historic district, it isn’t going anywhere (though there s plenty of construction next door at the future home of Dierks Bentley s Whiskey Row).
Roller Auctions
There are signed and framed photos of Bill Clinton, Red Holloway and Slide Hampton, as well as framed photos of musicians who were integral to the Pec, including saxophonist Freddy Rodriguez, who led the house band for four decades before dying last March from COVID-19 complications, and saxophonist Billy Tolles and Tony Black.
There are also framed photos of nationally known jazz legends who performed at the venue, including Eddie Harris, Lew Tabacken, Pete Christlieb, Bud Shank, Ray Brown, Gene Harris and Richie Cole.
El Chapultepec s piano and bench are up for auction.
Roller Auctions
Let s Get Lost, Clint Eastwood s Charlie Parker biopic
In 2019, Denver s live jazz scene was thriving. A year later, it s on the brink of extinction.
That became most obvious in early December, when legendary bar El Chapultepec closed after nearly nine decades. It was the third jazz venue to shut down since COVID-19 arrived. Clubs like Dazzle and Nocturne are doing what they can to stay afloat, and less traditional spots like the Mercury Cafe and Muse Performance Space in Lafayette are relying on goodwill to weather the pandemic.
Before COVID-19, Denver boasted a long jazz tradition, stretching back to the 1920s, when Five Points was known as the Harlem of the West and jazz greats frequented town. El Chaputepec, which opened the day after Prohibition ended and originally offered mariachi music, eventually became a bar where young jazz musicians honed their chops and royalty like Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Tony Bennett, Eddie Harris and many more came to play.
Last call for Denvers El Chapultepec
12/15/2020 It was a good run, a hell of a good run! But therell be no encore for Denvers landmark jazz joint, El Chapultepec. The nationally known hole-in-the-wall jazz club and famous dive bar has called it a night. After eighty-seven years, last call has come and gone at the corner of 20th and Market.
El Chapultepec, more informally, the Pec, is just another casualty of a pandemic and economy that have claimed far too many souls, killed too many dreams. Its eulogy came last Friday, outside its front door, one that had swung open for locals and luminaries through boom and bust, war and peace and everything in between.