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May 15 & 16, 2010
Performance Schedule
Performance Park (417 West Elkhorn Avenue)
Jazz Fest is one of the highlights of the springtime season, offering two days
of great music
and beautiful art. Jazz performances take
place between noon and 5 p.m. at
Performance Park
, located at the west end of Elkhorn Avenue. The Art Walk begins at 10 a.m. and
the self-guided tour of local galleries continues
until 5 p.m. Be sure to pick up your Art Walk map at
Performance Park.
During the past 20 years the
festival has featured internationally known jazz stars Benny Golson,
Marlena Shaw, Don Braden, Angela Hagenbach, The Brubeck Brothers,
Margo Reed, and Les McCann among others. Colorado’s top area jazz
artists have also performed, many with national reputations,
including The Ken Walker Sextet, Queen City Jazz Band, Images, Ellyn
Rucker, The Air Force Academy Falconaires, Eric Gunnison, Dotsero,
Pat Bianchi, Hazel Miller, Nelson Rangel, Hugh Ragin, Laura Newman,
The OTone Brass Band, Groove Society, The Heavenly Echoes Gospel
Choir, Conjunto Colores and many more.
Jazz Fest is directed by Max Wagner and sponsored by the Town of Estes Park,
The Silver Moon Inn, KUVO Radio, Coca-Cola and
Poppy's Pizza & Grill. Stop by just to listen briefly while you're enjoying the
Art Walk, or bring your own blanket or lawn chair and camp out for the
afternoon to enjoy performances by some of the nation's most renowned jazz
musicians. Food and drinks provided by Poppy's Pizza & Grill will be
available for purchase at the park.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE: For the comfort and safety of
all concert-goers, dogs are restricted to the paved area located
along the river and the Riverwalk.
(There is no admission fee)
Estes Park Jazz Big Band
Swinging Classic Big Band Sounds
This group of talented Estes Park
musicians, many of whom have played professionally with headliners
throughout the United States, is known for its powerful sound that
adheres to precepts of the big band era. Now in its 15th
year together, the band performs the swinging sounds of Duke
Ellington, Les Brown, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller and
Count Basie.
Derek Banach Quintet
Cutting-edge Original Modern
Jazz
Derek Banach is one of the most
gifted and original jazz artists on our regional scene. As a
trumpeter and in his composing, Derek’s approach and concepts are
distinctive, unique, always soulful, and are delivered with a
playful sense of humor. He will be joined in this performance of
original music by Keith Oxmantenor on saxophone, Justin Adams on
piano, Bijoux Barbosa playing bass and Jeremy Jones on the drums.
Barbara Ernst and Mistura
Bela
Brazilian Bossa Nova and Samba -
Circle 504 Records recording artist
Canadian born vocalist and
guitarist Barbara Ernst grew up listening to her parents’ collection
of great swing and jazz classics of the 20s, 30s and 40s. As a young
musician she made her way to the west coast of the U.S.; first the
Bay Area and then Seattle. She was greatly influenced by and became
an accomplished musician within these thriving music scenes. Fluent
in Spanish and Portuguese, Barbara sings romantic Spanish ballads
and Bossa Novas with true authenticity and brings her own unique
touch to some of our jazz standards. She has performed at festivals
and in clubs in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico, has toured in
Asia and Africa and twice performed at the Winter Music Festival in
Sao Joao del Rei, Brazil. Teamed with her highly accomplished
six-piece Brazilian jazz group, Mistura Bela, Barbara delights
audiences with performances encompassing the beauty, excitement and
romance of Bossa Nova, Samba and Brazilian Jazz. Barbara’s latest
album with Mistura Bela, April Child, is on the Circle 504
record label.
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Convergence
State of the Art Modern Jazz -
Capri Records recording artists
"They achieve a groove sought
by many, but not easily found..."---Ira Gitler
Convergence is dedicated to sharing
the intimacy and spark of improvised music with its audiences. This
talented sextet has released six albums including its latest: I
Can Be There on the Capri Records label. They have performed
extensively throughout the U.S. at festivals and night clubs
including New York’s Knitting Factory, and have broadcast live on
NPR’s Toast of the Nation and Jazz Set with Dee Dee
Bridgewater. Members of the group have performed with Buddy Rich,
Woody Herman, Toshiko Akiyoshi, The Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra, The
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Carmen McRae,
Betty Carter, Phil Woods,
Roberta Gambarini and many others.
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Karen Parry |
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Max
Wagner Quartet
Modern Mainstream Jazz - Tenor
Saxophone and Jazz Vocals -
Capri Records
recording artist
“Max Wagner is Denver’s
candidate for the Tenor Madness Award” – Westword.
Capri Records recording artist Max Wagner is an eloquent and
accomplished tenor saxophonist and jazz vocalist. A very lyrical and
melodic player, he has developed an individual sound and approach to
modern jazz. This dynamic musician delivers a remarkably varied and
engaging musical experience, which includes soulful bebop, Latin
jazz, classic jazz, and romantic ballads. Having spent many years in
full-time touring, Max has performed across the country at jazz
festivals, concerts and in jazz clubs. He has performed on more than
50 albums with a wide variety of artists. His second album as a
leader, This Can’t Be Love on the Capri Records label, has
been enthusiastically received and enjoys broad radio air-play. Max
has worked with many of the great jazz artists of our time,
including: Dakota Staton, Bud Shank, Angela Hagenbach, Lew Tabackin,
Don Braden, Red Holloway, Nick Brignola, Javon Jackson, Pete
Christlieb, Lou Donaldson, Frank Tiberi, and Fred Wesley, among many
others.
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Manuel Lopez and
The Latin Jazz Project
Latin Jazz, Salsa, Sounds of
Cuba
Born and raised in Colorado, Manuel
Lopez grew up with a great passion for Latin music. He began playing
congas in his early teens, moved on to the drum set, and eventually
embraced a wide variety of percussion instruments. As years passed,
Manuel’s abilities and versatility on the drums, as well as many
other percussion instruments, have led him to perform with a wide
variety of top artists; notably, Jane Bunnett, Jerry Gonzalez, Dave
Valentin, Hugh Ragin, Robert Johnson, Osmany Paredes, Babbi Mason,
and many others. His exciting six-piece Latin Jazz Project features
top regional artists performing the finest in Latin jazz, Salsa and
Afro-Cuban rhythms.
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Gene Martin |
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Houston Person
Legendary Jazz Great – World
Class Tenor Saxophonist -
HighNote
Records recording Artist
“He’s one of the best.” –
Dizzy Gillespie
Jazz great, legendary tenor
saxophonist, Houston Person, grew up in Florence, South Carolina and
remembers his parents listening to lots of jazz at home. First
playing piano before switching to the tenor sax at age 17, he went
on to study music at South Carolina State College (where he’s
included in the school’s Hall of Fame), and later pursued advanced
studies at Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut.
As a member of The United States
Air Force Band stationed in Germany, he played with Eddie Harris,
Cedar Walton and Don Ellis. Houston later worked as tenor
saxophonist for Lena Horne, LouRawls, Horace Silver and organist
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, among others. Global performer Houston
Person has recorded more than 75 albums as a leader on the Prestige,
Westbound, Mercury, Savoy, and Muse (which became HighNote Records)
record labels. In 1990 his recording with Ron Carter, Something
in Common, won the Independent Jazz Record of the Year Award,
and he received an Indie Award for his recording Why Not.
Other awards have included the prestigious Eubie Blake Jazz Award
and the Fred Hampton Scholarship Fund Image Award. His HighNote
recordings as both tenor artist and producer were Grammy Award
finalists in 1999 and 2000.
Houston’s latest recording,
Mellow, features the same winning combination of outstanding
sonics, time-tested tunes and great jazz. Gary Giddens of New York’s
Village Voice wrote, “I have always admired Houston Person
for his huge tone, gruff humor and pointed obbligato …Person lucidly
rides the beat with figures you think you've heard, but haven't.
These are not recycled licks or clichés; they simply seem familiar,
like family.”
Pete Olstad /Bob
Montgomery Big Band
High Energy Modern Big Band Jazz
The Pete Olstad/Bob Montgomery Big
Band is one of Colorado's premier performing groups. The 18-piece
band includes some of the greatest jazz musicians in the United
States who now live in Colorado. They have performed in the bands of
Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Maria
Schneider, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Blood Sweat and Tears, Clark
Terry and many more. The band is co-led by trumpeters Pete Olstad
and Bob Montgomery. Jazz and lead trumpet player Peter Olstad has
toured and performed with the bands of Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich,
Woody Herman, Blood Sweat and Tears, Mel Torme and Brian Setzer. In
1999 Pete was hired by Tom Jones and played lead trumpet with his
band for nine years. From Carneige Hall to Royal Albert Hall and the
Hollywood Bowl to Wembley Stadium, Pete has played them all.
Trumpeter Bob Montgomery is an internationally recognized performing
artist who has appeared throughout Europe, Australia, Canada, China,
Mexico, Japan, Great Britain and the United States. He has performed
with such artists as Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Tony Bennett,
Quincy Jones, Nancy Wilson and many more. Bob toured Europe with
Clark Terry's Big Bad Band, performed as featured soloist for the
International Trumpet Guild. He also appeared at Town Hall in New
York City with Clark Terry during the New York JVC Jazz Festival.
The Jazz Continues at Night
The Max Wagner
Trio
performs from 6:30-9 p.m. on
Saturday, May 15th during Jazz Festival weekend at Mama Rose’s
(an official sponsor of Estes Park’s Jazz Fest). The Max Wagner
Trio features Max Wagner - tenor saxophone and jazz vocals,
with Jerry Weiss on Piano and Ken Walker at the bass. Additional
artists from the festival will be dropping by to sit in with the
group. Mama Rose’s is located in Barlow Plaza, along the Riverwalk
at 338 E. Elkhorn Avenue in downtown Estes Park. Reservations are
suggested: call 970.586.3330.
For more information about Jazz Fest, call: 970-586-6104
Art Walk: May 15 &
16, 2010
Stroll from gallery to
gallery, chat with artists, or listen to a great jazz concert in Performance
Park. Art Walk is a self-guided tour of galleries in the
Estes
Park area. The tour offers a relaxed
way to see what's new and interesting from all sorts of regional artists. The
Cultural Arts Council of Estes Park (CACEP) produces a map of participating
galleries, enabling you to make your own way at your own pace to galleries
showing paintings, sculptures, pottery, weavings, jewelry, photography and
limited edition prints. Several galleries will have artists on hand,
demonstrating their talents. You can pick up a tour map at
Performance Park or at any of the participating galleries.
Galleries will be open
for the Art Walk on Saturday and Sunday from
10 a.m. to
5 p.m.
For more information on Art Walk and a gallery map, call:
970-586-9203
Exquisite
art, great music and springtime in the
Rockies ... It's a wonderful combination!
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