2025 Touring Shows

Each show listed below includes:

  • Show Date(s)
  • Show Time(s)
  • Ticket links (VenuePilot is the ticketing software)
  • Show Description (it’s a drop-down text box)
  • YouTube video of the Artist’s music for you to sample

Julius Rodriguez

Man looking into the distance
Julius Rodriguez performs at Dazzle on January 9, 2025
Show Description

You can find Julius Rodriguez in many places. You could walk into a packed jazz haunt and bear witness to him behind the piano with energy practically surging from his fingers through the room. You might scroll up on social media and catch him alternating from drums to bass to guitar at the speed of a jump cut. You may also step onto festival grounds and see him on stage either solo or accompanying another likeminded visionary, jamming like his life depends on it. No matter where, the New York-born and Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer electrifies any lane. By doing so, he also transcends perceived boundaries between genres and styles, redefining the music to mirror his own fluid creative inclinations and delivering a sound that’s solely his alone.

Richard Bona

Man playing guitar
Richard Bona performs at Dazzle on January 10 & 11, 2025
Show Description

Richard Bona is a Grammy-winning musician, one of the most accomplished international bass players, composers and multi-instrumentalists. With his unique sound and vocal gift he is continuously representing his African origins. Bona’s music addresses the continent’s traditions, culture, beauty and issues. His purpose, and the way he connects with his audience has turned him into a staple name in world, jazz and Afropop music.

He is currently producing and recording for Latin and Brazilian artists in the realm of pop, Brazilian songbook, Flamenco and Caribbean music.

Richard Bona has toured, composed, recorded, and created musical forms of art with the greatest: Herbie Hancock, Harry Belafonte, Steps Ahead, Quincy Jones, Chick Corea, Buena Vista Social Club, Cesária Évora, Sting, Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Stevie Wonder, Bobby McFerrin, Chucho Valdés, George Benson, Oumou Sangaré and many more. Along the diverse notable collaborations Richard has also taught Jazz Improvisation at NYU and is constantly teaching and mentoring young talents throughout the world. He’s also a TED speaker and ambassador for various non-profit projects.

He is highly involved in developing better music business practices and ethics. His Signature Series collaboration with Italian-based MARKBASS has positioned him as one of the most creative and best-selling bass amp and bass guitar tailor-made manufacturers in the world.

Constantly touring around the world and exploring new musical directions, Richard continues to redefine his sound, while still performing live. He’s currently working on new Afrobeats, Afropop, Latin and Flamenco projects throughout Europe, the US and Latin America.

The Cookers

Show Description

Experience counts, especially in jazz. The more time musicians spend interpreting tunes and interacting with others, the more articulation an audience can expect. You can hear the fruits of such work in the expressive language The Cookers bring to the bandstand and to their six critically acclaimed recordings, Warriors, Cast the First Stone, Believe, Time and Time Again (which was the iTunes Jazz CD of the year in 2014), The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart and Look Out!. This exciting all-star septet summons up an aggressive mid ‘60s spirit with a potent collection of expansive post-bop originals marked by all the requisite killer instincts and pyrotechnic playing expected of some of the heaviest hitters on the scene today.

Eddie Henderson, George Cables, Cecil McBee and Billy Hart all came up in the heady era of the mid ‘60s. It was a period that found the dimensions of hard bop morphing from their original designs, and each of these guys helped facilitate the process as members of some of the most important bands of the era. Hart and Henderson were members of Herbie Hancock’s groundbreaking Mwandishi group; Cecil McBee anchored Charles Lloyd’s great ’60s quartet alongside Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette; while George Cables held down the piano chair in numerous bands including groups led by Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper.

David Weiss and Donald Harrison, from a more recent generation and the youngest members of the band, are experts in this forthright lingo, having gained experience performing with Art Blakey, Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Tolliver, Roy Haynes and Herbie Hancock.

Billy Hart and Donald Harrison were both recently named NEA Jazz Masters.

Each member of the Cookers has spent time leading his own series of groups as well, and each has a keenly individual sound. But it’s the unmistakable power of teamwork that makes this music so commanding and resonates with a kind of depth and beauty that speaks of the seasoned track record of its principals (combined, the group has over 250 years of experience in the jazz world and has been a part of over 1,000 recordings). You can feel the collective weight of that experience in their CDs and especially in their live performances. Since this version of the band was solidified in 2007 the group has performed at venues around the world, including headlining the Newport Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Playboy Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, Northsea Jazz Festival, Jazz a Vienne, London Jazz Festival, San Sebastein Jazz Festival, Detroit Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Portland Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, The Jerusalem Jazz Festival, The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, Jazz in Marciac, The Burghausen Jazz Festival, Jazz Terrassa, The Healdsburg Jazz Festival, Jazz Viersen, Ronnie Scott’s, SF Jazz, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola and Yoshi’s.

After seventeen years together, The Cookers, who “embody the serious-as-death commitment that it took to thrive on the New York scene some four decades ago” (Andrew Gilbert, The Boston Globe), recently released their sixth album, Look Out!, the follow up album to their five critically-acclaimed recordings, Warriors, Cast The First Stone, Believe, Time and Time Again and The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart. On Look Out! again the incredibly high level of musicianship has only increased with the latest offering of fresh, challenging, boundary-pushing music from these legendary, revered, veteran improvisers.

Thur. January 16, 6:30PM

Thur. January 16, 9PM

The Cookers – Look Out!

Miki Yamanaka

Woman touching her head
Miki Yamanaka performs at Dazzle on January 17, 2025
Show Description

34-year old Japanese-born pianist Miki Yamanaka has called New York City home since 2012 and in the past decade has wasted no time establishing herself as one of the leading personalities of her generation on the piano and beyond. Critics laud her “light, expressive touch and solidly crafted, mainstream approach” – Mike Jurkovic (All About Jazz), while audiences delight in not only her playing, but her vibrant personality as well. Yamanaka has gained international recognition from her albums as a leader; her most recent and most celebrated release, “Shades Of Rainbow” (Cellar Music), features Jazz masters Mark Turner and her NYC rhythm section, Tyrone Allen and Jimmy Macbride. Additionally, Miki has emerged as a leader of the “New York Scene” via her notable residencies at mainstay West Village sister clubs Smalls and Mezzrow. During the pandemic, she developed a successful in-home live-streaming weekly concert series cleverly titled “Miki’s Mood” where she features a veritable who’s who of NYC talent (including her husband and frequent collaborator – drummer Jimmy Macbride). The series showcases her vast knowledge of Jazz standards and tunes, often featuring themed offerings of various composers from both the Great American Songbook as well as iconic Jazz composers.

As a sideman, Yamanaka has worked with Jazz luminaries such as alto saxophonist Antonio Hart who posits “Miki will be recognized as one of the most exceptional artists of her generation, as she is already one of the most talented and dedicated musicians from Japan.” Other notable bands she currently works in include the Harish Raghavan Quintet and The Mingus Bigband. One of her most respected mentors on piano and organ (Yamanaka also performs on organ frequently), Larry Goldings, once mused, “If only I could have Miki Yamanaka comp behind me!” – a compliment of the highest order from one master pianist to another. She has a myriad of glowing reviews from her recorded work and the iconic Downbeat Jazz magazine has repeatedly awarded her albums high marks.

On top of her exciting work as a bandleader in New York and abroad, Miki can often be found out and about most nights, where her infectious smile and gregarious nature engender fast friends in every audience she encounters. She has many hobbies, including cooking, knitting, and perhaps most visibly, her penchant for wearing her vast collection of kimonos on her gigs, proudly representing her heritage and culture night after night as she dazzles audiences around the world.

John Pizzarelli

Man sits with his guitar
John Pizzarelli performs at Dazzle on January 18 & 19, 2025
Show Description

Guitarist and singer JOHN PIZZARELLI has been hailed by the Boston Globe for “reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz.”

Established as one of the prime contemporary interpreters of the Great American Songbook, Pizzarelli has expanded that repertoire by including the music of Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Antônio Carlos Jobim and the Beatles. In addition to being a bandleader and solo performer, Pizzarelli has been a special guest on recordings for major pop names such as Natalie Cole, Kristin Chenoweth, Tom Wopat, Rickie Lee Jones and Dave Van Ronk, as well as leading jazz artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Ruby Braff, Johnny Frigo, Buddy DeFranco, Harry Allen and, of course, his father Bucky Pizzarelli. He won a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category as co-producer of James Taylor’s American Standard in 2021. A radio personality who got his start in the medium in 1984, Pizzarelli is co-host, alongside wife Jessica Molaskey, of Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli.

He has performed on America’s most popular national television shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Conan, and Great Performances, as well as the talk shows of Jay Leno, David Letterman, Regis Philbin and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Caity Gyorgy

Show Description

Caity Gyorgy (pronounced George) is a 2 time JUNO award winning Canadian vocalist known for singing bebop and swing music. She has performed at jazz clubs and festivals across Canada, Mexico, Japan and the USA and has worked and recorded with incredible musicians including Christine Jensen, Pat LaBarbera, Jocelyn Gould, Ira Coleman, Bryn Roberts and Joe LaBarbera, to name a few.

In addition to being a performer, Caity is an avid writer and composes songs in the style of the Great American Songbook. Her compositions have been sung by other vocalists around the world, and have won multiple awards including the Grand Prize in the jazz category of the 2021 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. She is also a sought after clinician and is currently on faculty as a vocal jazz instructor at the Yukon Summer Music Camp in Whitehorse, Yukon and the Interprovincial Music Camp in McKellar, Ontario.

She is currently signed to Brooklyn label La Reserve Records and has released several albums of original and standard music with them including her two JUNO award winning albums “Now Pronouncing” and “Featuring” and her JUNO nominated album with pianist Mark Limacher titled “You’re Alike, You Two”.

Her upcoming album “Hello! How Are You?” features Caity accompanied by her regular piano trio and will be released on August 9th, 2024.

“While having a beautiful voice is plenty to recommend any singer, also knowing how to use it in the myriad ways that Caity Gyorgy does puts her high up the list of young singers to watch”. – Cathy Riches, WholeNote

“Canadian jazz singer Caity Gyorgy, in addition to having a warm voice and swinging phrasing, is a skilled songwriter whose originals sound as if they are from the 1950s with more modern lyrics” – Scott Yanow, Downbeat

Ticket Links

Tues, January 21, 2025, 6:30PM

Tues, January 21, 2025, 9PM

Caity Gyorgy – Post Modern Jukebox

New Jazz Underground

Four musicians with their instruments
New Jazz Underground performs at Dazzle on January 23, 2025
Show Description

New Jazz Underground, an American trio, have been described as “an innovative and ultra creative collective striving to establish themselves as a defining voice for the genre of Jazz and beyond”. Their music signals a merging of traditional sensibilities in Jazz with the modern influence of swing, hip-hop, house/afro-beat, and afro-cuban music. Listeners were introduced to the trio’s undeniably fresh sound through viral videos of the band performing in their living room. Millions viewed videos such as: “they can hate but we still swingin’”, “f**k/s**t/c**t/jazz”, “sad boy jazz”, as well as many others featuring the band’s exuberant chemistry, effortless musicality, and raw ambition in sound.

Abdias Armenteros (Saxophonist/Composer), Sebastian Rios (Bassist/Composer), TJ Reddick (Drummer) have each been lauded as some of Jazz’s most promising young artists in their own right. After meeting while students at The Juilliard School, the trio began playing in the parks of NYC during lock-down in 2020. They shortly began posting to their Youtube channel that has since grown to over 85k+ subscribers. Releases such as “MF Doom Suite”, “Harlem to Havana”, and “cook/swing/work/relax” fully demonstrate the trio’s reverence towards Jazz’s icons, yet still contend in a vision to establish their own voice in the expression of new sounds that transcend genre lines. New Jazz Underground is the 2023 DCJazzPrix™ Winner. Rios is a 2024 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award Winner. Both Reddick (BM’ 20) and Armenteros (MM’ 22) are Juillard School Graduates. Armenteros is the youngest member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Reddick and Rios have played as sidemen for the likes of Jon Batiste, Sullivan Fortner, Emmet Cohen, and ELEW, among many more. Rios is a long-time student of the legendary bassist, Ron Carter. The group most recently was featured on NPR Music for their release “Cook/Swing/Work/Relax.”

The trio not only performs, but boast their composition and production skills across a variety of mediums. Rios was a featured composer for the 2019 “New Dances”, the first ever collaboration between the Jazz and Dance divisions at The Juilliard School. He was also commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to write a Suite to be performed by the trio at the 2023 Caramoor Jazz Fest. Rios’ compositions for the collective bring forth each member’s sound in a way that transcends the sum of their individual efforts. These gestures of collective musical identity are made real through the vehicle of composition tailored to each member’s unbridled talent, inspiring skill set, and transformative emotion. Creating a new standard for Jazz presentation through their online videos, New Jazz Underground have blazed a path for young Jazz musicians in the modern music landscape. Each video is produced independently, all video and music production are done in-house. Their videos attract millions of music fans through their seemingly clickbait presentation. However, when audiences click they are met with an authentic musical expression steeped in both modernism and tradition that provides a soulful perspective to a deeper world of music. Listeners who wouldn’t normally enjoy Jazz are brought into the music creatively through young artists who are dedicating their lives to its legacy and promise of new creative paths.

NJU has a keen interest in helping students, not much younger than themselves, to develop a deeper understanding of Jazz music and the elements surrounding the creative process. Armenteros, Rios, and Reddick each have their own student studios as well as years of experience teaching students from middle school through college in topics such as Jazz history, theory, and application. Rios developed the program, “Creative Video in Modern Music” to teach intermediate to advanced Jazz students to produce their own music, and have a better understanding of the modern media landscape. Dynamic and powerful performers, New Jazz Underground possess far-reaching talents that are re-energizing the contemporary music world from the inside out. They dedicate themselves to the music continually and serve as a burgeoning benchmark for the future of Jazz to come.

Antonia Bennett

Show Description

Antonia Bennett lives her life and musical career by Duke Ellington’s advice, “Number one, never give up. Number two, remember number one!” Antonia is a jazz vocalist and the daughter of legendary artist Tony Bennett. With a distinctive voice that The New York Times describes as “Billie Holliday and Rickie Lee Jones, with a hint of Betty Boop.” Antonia is a gifted song interpreter who performs music from the Great American Songbook and her own originals.

The youngest daughter of Tony Bennett and actress Sandra Grant Bennett, Antonia grew up in Los Angeles and started singing with her father by age four. During that time, Antonia was surrounded by some of the greatest vocalists of all time, including Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra – known to get up and sing at her father’s parties during the holidays. Antonia’s passion for music grew stronger. After high school, she attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Antonia moved to New York City and, by the mid-2000s, started performing as Tony’s opening act at renowned venues throughout the world: Radio City Music Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, the Newport Jazz Festival, and Royal Albert Hall in London.

In 2008, Antonia recorded “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” with her father, featured on his album “A Swingin’ Christmas.” In 2010, she released her own critically acclaimed EP, “Natural,” produced by Holly Knight. All About Jazz praised Antonia’s debut, stating the EP “introduces Bennett as a gifted interpreter of jazz classics with an impeccable and accessible vocal style.”

Her most recent album “Embrace Me,” showcased ten standards from the Great American Songbook, including “All of You,” “Embraceable You,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” and “Nice Work if You Can Get It.” With this release, the songstress continued to capture the attention of critics. JazzTimes wrote, “Natalie Cole. Norah Jones. Now, Antonia Bennett can be added to the list of second-generation vocalists with the potential to rival an iconic parent’s pizzazz.”

Currently, Antonia is working on new music, in collaboration with other writers, that will feature her vocal prowess and songwriting skills. Antonia continues to tour with new music and jazz standards.

Thurs. January 30, 2025, 6:30PM

Thur. January 30, 2025 9PM

Antonia Bennett with The Lionel Hampton Big Band

Kat Edmonson

Woman in front of a simmering curtain
Kat Edmonson performs at Dazzle on February 6, 2025
Show Description

Kat Edmonson is an award-winning songwriter and singer “with an equal foothold in jazz, cabaret and vintage cosmopolitanism pop” (The New York Times). Raised on the music and film of the early-to-mid-twentieth century, Kat is a rare artist who embodies the spirit of the past while remaining resolutely au courant. She performs original songs and familair classics in her live show, interweaving humorous anecdotes, philosophical musings, and her love of film with disarming candor and vulnerability. Her longtime band members’ keen and sensitive accompaniment allows Kat to freely veer off-script as she’s often inclined to do. She has been featured on Austin City Limits, Tiny Desk Concerts, A Prairie Home Companion, and The Tonight Show.

Kat’s sixth studio album Holiday Swingin’! A Kat Edmonson Christmas Vol. 1 was released in November of 2021 and was included on the NY Times list of “13 Albums That Revisit (and Redefine!) Holiday Classics” and was described by Jazziz as “impeccably hip”. In 2020, the vintage-pop and jazz artist was on a 40-city tour promoting her new critically acclaimed album Dreamers Do when the pandemic struck. Kat quickly transformed her living room into an attractive set where she performed live every Sunday night at 7PM ET. Drawing from her love of old variety shows, Kat dubbed her livestream The Kat Edmonson Show. Her modern-day variety show ran for 66 episodes.

Kat’s fifth album, Dreamers Do (2020) combines mid-20th century Disney songs (from Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Mary Poppins, Babes in Toyland), with familiar classics (“What A Wonderful World” as well as “All I Do is Dream of You” from Singin’ in the Rain), and features two new, original songs (“Too Late to Dream” and “Someone’s In The House.”) The LP, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Chart, takes place in a single night, from bedtime till morning. “It’s about our concepts around dreaming- all of the wonderful things, the fearful things, and the things that keep us awake in the middle of the night,” Kat explains of the music, “It’s also about the quiet power of merely having a dream. There are interludes between the songs indicating different points in this nocturnal journey and if someone wants to listen to the entire record as an experience, it’s available to them.” Of Dreamers Do, American Songwriter says, “terrific!” and UNCUT calls it a “Bewitching songcycle from a masterful vocalist.”

Recently, The Songwriters Hall of Fame awarded Kat the Abe Olman Scholarship Award for Excellence in Songwriting. “Intuitive about melody and handy with a turn of phrase (The New York Times), the songsmith has been writing ever since she was a little girl, having published over 40 songs to date. JAZZIZ magazine says, “…her lasting contribution might very well be her songs.” NPR says, “she’s a savvy student of ’60s film soundtracks, jazz-pop stylists and Brill Building songcraft, nodding to her influences at every turn. But her take on those stylized musical languages is so fresh and fluent that the referencing never feels cumbersome.” Her original song “Lucky” was featured in the Coca-Cola “Footprints” ad from the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Jacky Terrason

Man smiling at the camera
Jacky Terrason performs at Dazzle on February 10 & 11, 2025
Show Description

Jacky Terrasson, the most widely travelled of all jazz pianists, is the “piano player of happiness”, according to Telerama magazine in France. He is an exhilarating musician, one of those who play their public straight to euphoria.

Born in Berlin, of an American mother and a French father, he grew up in France, in Paris. He started to learn the piano when was 5 and after studying classical piano in school, he began to study jazz, in particular with Jeff Gardner. His encounter with Francis Paudras (whose movie, “Round Midnight”, tells the moving story of a lasting friendship with Bud Powell) will be an important part of his initiation in jazz. Jacky then leaves for the United States to attend the Berklee College of Music. In 1993, after he wins the prestigious Thelonius Monk Award, he begins touring with Betty Carter. He then decides to move to New York, where he still lives today.

Exactly one year after his triumph in the Thelonius Monk competition, Jacky Terrasson was introduced in the New York Times Magazine as one of the 30 under 30, that is to say one of the 30 artists most likely to change American culture in the next 30 years, and signed with the prestigious Blue Note label.

He made three first trio recordings for Blue Note (Jacky Terrasson, Reach, and Alive). He then devoted himself to several collaborations: “Rendezvous”, with Cassandra Wilson, and “What it is”, with Michael Brecker and Mino Cinelu. Beginning in 2001, he records “A Paris” for Blue Note, a very personal interpretation of classics of French song; “Smile”, (winning him Best Jazz Album of the Year, 2003 Victoires du Jazz and a Gold Django), and finally a solo album, “Mirror”.

This Franco-American national has never stopped dazzling us, either by his prestigious collaborations, with greats such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Jimmy Scott, Charles Aznavour, Ry Cooder… or with his minimalist and energetic music hammered out with drummer Leon Parker and bassist Ugonna Okegwo, in a trio that was considered one of the best jazz trios of the 90s. And this intuition, this instinct, this openness, leads him to the discovery of the great burgeoning talents of his many groups (talents such as those of Eric Harland, Ben Williams, Jamire Williams, and Justin Faulkner).

In February 2012, Jacky Terrasson signed with Universal Jazz France. His first recording, “Gouache”, will appear in Fall 2012, and it is a joyous celebration of his 20-year career. In this recording, he is surrounded by the pride of the upcoming New York jazz generation, but also by Michel Portal, Stéphane Belmondo, Minino Garay, and singer Cecile McLorin-Salvant.

He performs regularly in solo and in trio in the great jazz festivals (Montreal, San Francisco, Montreux, North Sea Jazz, Marciac); and in the most prestigious Piano festivals (Klavier Ruhr Festival, Lucerne, La Roque d’Anthéron, Piano aux Jacobins). He also plays regularly in Asia, mostly in Japan, South Korea and in China, in Europe and the United States.

If we were to describe his playing, we would compare Jacky Terrasson to Bud Powell for his carefully controlled velocity on the piano keys, to Ahmad Jamal for his sense of phrasing, but also for his knowledge of the great French composers savants, such as Ravel, Fauré and Debussy. Through his fingers, as he mingles and melts the colors and the inventions of the great pianists of yesterday and today, Jacky creates his own style, all in subtleties, freshness, facility and ease, with the desire to rewrite and reinvent, again, every day and forever.

In 2015, Jacky Terrasson signed with the prestigious label Impulse! and released “Take This”. He is also the musical Ambassador for Krug’s Champaign and will tour worldwide for an unique journey and experience that pairs Musi and Champaign.

In 2016, Jacky releases “Mother” on Impulse! with his long-time partner and friend, the trumpet player Stephane Belmondo.

In 2019, Jacky releases “53” on the mythical label Blue Note, a trio album, his favorite format.

Adam Hawley

Man with his guitar over his shoulder
Adam Hawley performs at Dazzle on February 21, 2025
Show Description

Musical Style: Contemporary Jazz

Guitarist and Producer Adam Hawley has burst onto the contemporary jazz scene as a celebrated and innovative artist, composer and producer. Handpicked by Maurice White (founder of Earth, Wind, & Fire) he first debuted on the legend’s label Kalimba Music. Now, helming his own record label MBF Entertainment, Adam’s six albums and work as a producer has spawned an incredible 16 Billboard #1 Hits. Before embarking on a solo career, Adam appeared with a who’s who of legendary artists including Dave Koz, Brian Culbertson, Jennifer Lopez, Brian McKnight, Lalah Hathaway, & Natalie Cole, to name a few.

Yellowjackets

Four musicians
Yellowjackets perform at Dazzle on March 4 & 5, 2025
Show Description

Throughout their storied 43-year history, the Yellowjackets have recorded 26 albums, received 18 Grammy® nominations – won 2 – performed countless sold-out tours, and enjoyed worldwide critical acclaim and commercial success.

The Yellowjackets formed in the late 1970’s as the backup band for guitarist Robben Ford. They recorded their first album together in 1980. Shortly after that recording, however, Ford decided to part ways and go in a different musical direction. As a result, the modern day Yellowjackets were formed — a trio with Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip and Ricky Lawson. Since then, and with the addition of Bob Mintzer, the Yellowjackets have gained and maintained prominence as one of jazz’s most influential and loved groups.

Over the years the band has undergone numerous lineup changes. Never failing to rise to the inevitable challenges of adjustment, the Yellowjackets – Russell Ferrante, William Kennedy, Bob Mintzer – have maintained an extraordinarily high quality of musicianship that is the rival of many but a surprise to no one who knows and appreciates the band and their music.

The most recent addition to the band adds Australian bass player Dane Alderson in to the mix. With his exceptional rhythmic sensibility and natural disposition toward groove, Dane brings a new energy to the band and adds a youthful approach to the music.

The Yellowjackets album “Raising Our Voice” was released in Fall 2018 and features special guest vocalist Luciana Souza. Their album “Jackets XL with the WDR Big Band” was nominated for a Grammy® in 2021.

Their latest album “Parallel Motion” was released in fall 2022 and is a true testament to the longevity and resilience of a band who debuted over 40 years ago. Consistently reinventing themselves through elevated instrumentation in their signature electro-acoustic soundscape, the current lineup showcases a collective at their prime. This album features 9 new original compositions and guest vocalist Jean Baylor (4x GRAMMY® Award Nominee of the Baylor Project and R&B duo Zhané) on “If You Believe.”

Avishai Cohen (Trumpet)

Man leans his elbow on a chair with his trumpet resting on it.
Avishai Cohen plays at Dazzle on March 22, 2025
Show Description

Avishai Cohen is globally recognized as a musician with an individual sound and a questing spirit, an ever-creative player-composer open to multiple strains of jazz and active as a leader, co-leader and sideman.

In his new album, Naked Truth (released in 2022), you find a raw beauty and vulnerability in Avishai Cohen’s trumpet sound. Very much music-of-the moment, found and shaped in the course of a remarkable recording session in the South of France, Naked Truth takes the form of an extemporaneous suite. For most of its length the Israeli trumpeter painstakingly leads the way, closely shadowed by his long-time comrades — pianist Yonathan Avishai, bassist Barak Mori and drummer Ziv Ravitz — who share an intuitive understanding, hyper alert to the music’s subtly-changing emphases.

Avishai describes the album as the outcome of a “two-year meditation. I had been sitting with the main motif of Naked Truth since the start of Covid. The eight note motif you hear at the start of Part II was the beginning of the whole process. I wouldn’t say the motif has been ‘haunting’ me exactly, but it’s been accompanying me through this whole period and everything that I came to assemble for the album revolved around those eight notes and all the possibilities within them.”

“Cohen is a multicultural jazz musician, among whose ancestors is Miles Davis. Like Davis, he can make the trumpet a vehicle for uttering the most poignant human cries.” — Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes

The String Queens

Three women pose together
The String Queens perform at Dazzle on April 10, 2025
Show Description

Praised for its authentic, soulful, and orchestral sound, The String Queens (TSQ) is a dynamic trio that creates stimulating musical experiences that inspire diverse audiences to love, hope, feel, and imagine! With an array of repertoire spanning from the Baroque era to the Jazz Age to today’s Billboard Hot 100 Chart, TSQ performs versatile programs that take listeners on a rousing musical journey through time and a multitude of musical genres.

Based in Washington, D.C., TSQ has been featured in performances at renowned concert halls and venues across America, including Carnegie Hall in New York City and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the nation’s capital. Notable appearances include a special performance dedicated to Vice President Kamala Harris at the “We Are One” Presidential Inauguration Concert in January 2021 and rendering a spotlight presentation of TSQ’s electrifying arrangement of Harry Styles’s hit song “Golden” for the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament “The Championships, Wimbledon” in June 2021. As an ensemble who frequents the D.C. jazz scene, other headlining performances include multiple appearances at the DC Jazz Festival and the Capital Jazz Fest.

Recognized by D.C.’s leading news network WUSA9 as “school teachers by day and concert performers by night”, TSQ’s dedication, service, and innovative work in the field of music education has been acknowledged by the DC Jazz Festival with the “Jazz Education Award” in 2022, Carnegie Hall with the “Music Educators Workshop” Keynote Address in 2021, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with the “Aspire

Award” in 2020, Washington Performing Arts’s “Mars Arts D.C” Resident Ensemble in 2019 and 2020, and most recently, a partnership with the Save The Music Foundation to present a series of professional development workshops for performing arts educators around the country on “Social Emotional Learning in the Arts Classroom” and “Trauma-Informed Centered Arts Classrooms” as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2022, TSQ released its third album titled “RISE”, which was made possible by a Sphinx Organization MPower Artist Grant. With this album, TSQ sought to sonically address the problems that are currently plaguing the world by creating unique arrangements of timeless classics rooted in hope, joy, peace, and love. Featuring original compositions by Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Richard

Smallwood, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and more, “RISE” takes listeners on a musical journey that starts in a field of loss and hopelessness and ends in a fortress of faith, triumph, and fortitude. Previous albums from TSQ include a self-titled EP released in 2019 and a holiday EP titled “Our Favorite Things” released in 2020. All TSQ albums are available on its website and all major digital music platforms.

Kent Burnside Blues Band

Man playing the guitar
The Kent Burnside Blues Band performs at Dazzle on April 11, 2025
Show Description

Musical Style: Blues

Kent Burnside was born in 1971 in Memphis Tennessee, and spent his early years in Holly Springs, Mississippi. He is the oldest Grandson and one of the closest pupils of the legendary R.L. Burnside

Kent first heard the blues while watching his grandfather R.L. perform on the family farm to the locals. Kent used to sell sandwiches to audience members for a dollar a piece during these performances.

The first lesson RL taught Kent was that to be a bluesman you have to find your own rhythm on the guitar. You can’t play someone else’s rhythm – as rhythm comes from your heart.

Ticket Links

Fri. April 11 – 7PM

🎉Dazzle Turns 1 at the Arts Complex 🎉

Dazzle celebrates its 1st year at the Denver Performing Arts Complex with four shows on July 31st & August 1st, 7 & 9:30PM*.

Derrick has complete creative control over these shows (as does every artist at Dazzle), but expect jazz, RnB, blues, fusion, and maybe even some gospel.

*$10 Flash Sale on late shows (9:30PM) on July 30, 2024.

Matt Ruff, Owner and Operations Manager, says, “the process to get to the Arts Complex was long and arduous, but I felt this was the correct move for Dazzle. One year at this location has given me proof that we are finally home.”

Owner Chad Schneider believes that, “there is no cooler jazz club anywhere and it’s such an honor to be entrusted by the people of Colorado to continue this legacy. I want the best jazz in the world brought to Dazzle. We are succeeding wildly!”

Derrick Hodge celebrates Colorado as Dazzle 3.0 turns 1

YOU Get the Presents

Instead of Dazzle receiving presents for its birthday, show attendees get the presents. Drawings will be held before each show to win presents. Everyone who comes to the shows gets a ticket and is entered in the drawing.

🎂 All Presents Given Away at ALL Four Shows 🎂

🎁 A pair of tickets to any touring show at Dazzle (available seats only)

🎁 A pair of tickets to any local show at Dazzle (available seats only)

🎁 A signed print of Dazzle by photographer Mark Payler

🎁 Official Dazzle water bottles

🎁 A cocktail created for and named after YOU by master mixologist Westin Elliot and it will be on the Dazzle menu for a month

🎁Community Partner Gifts (one will be given away each night) from: Swallow Hill, Colorado Symphony, and The Renaissance Hotel.

🎁Admission for two to Dazzle Brunch because Dazzle is bringing back the bottomless brunch for our birthday, starting Aug. 4!

🎁 And more!

The best 🎁 of all is Derrick Hodge. Derrick performed at the soft opening for Sponsors, Friends, and Family before Dazzle opened to the public last year. This year, he puts together ‘The Dazzle Sessions,’ with fellow Denver based musicians:

Derrick Hodge – bass

Aaron Daniels – keyboards

Solomon Chapman – piano

Matt Campbell – drums

Derrick Hodge

Derrick Hodge is one of contemporary music’s most complete and complex artists.

Two time GRAMMY Award Winner for: Best Traditional R&B Performance 2014 – Jesus Children & Best R&B Album 2012 – Black Radio (with Robert Glasper)

Also lauded as a composer, he is revered as one of the great bassists and musicians of his generation and his solo projects—Live Today (2013), The Second (2016), and Color of Noize (2020)—have been met with praise from critics and audiences alike.

His albums are rich, raw and revelatory, reflecting his roots in the church, a passion for hip hop, and an eternal reverence for melody and classical composition. Like the artist, Hodge’s music contains multitudes.

Hodge has played a role in countless groundbreaking projects and historic firsts.

In 2022, he directed the music for the Academy Awards and arranged for Nas’s performance at the Grammys. As part of CNN’S Juneteenth celebration, he conducted the first all Black orchestra to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. In 2014 Hodge became the first Black composer to compose Hip Hop for the National Symphony when he acted as orchestral arranger and music director for the 20th anniversary celebration of Illmatic. Named one of the top moments in hip hop history by Fender Magazine, it was the first time hip hop was ever performed by the National Symphony Orchestra. He was also the first Black composer to write strings for hip hop at Carnegie Hall and the first Black composer to write symphonic music for hip hop with the Houston Symphony.

Christian McBride & Mr. Ron Carter At Dazzle

That’s right, Dazzle is excited to welcome both Mr. Ron Carter and Christian McBride back to the Dazzle stage. Mr. Carter brings his Foursight Quartet to Dazzle this September and Christian McBride & Ursa Major come in February, 2025.

Ron Carter’s Foursight Quartet at Dazzle in Denver, CO

Monday – Thursday, September 9 – 12, 2024

6:30PM & 9PM

Ron Carter brings his Foursight Quartet to Dazzle in Denver, Colorado.

When do tickets go on sale for Ron Carter’s Foursight Quartet?

Excellent question. We expect tickets to be on sale in early June, but that is not confirmed yet. We will update this Music Note (blog) when we have a date.

Are there any Pre-sales?

Another excellent question. Yes, there are three Pre-sales.

  1. First is a 48-hour Sponsor Pre-sale for those who helped us buildout the new space. (Sponsorships are no longer available.)
  2. Next is a 48-hour Member Pre-sale. Memberships are still available. Learn more about Memberships here.
  3. Then comes a rare 24-hour newsletter subscriber Pre-sale. Sign up for the newsletter here.
  4. Lastly, tickets go on sale to the general public.

Christian McBride & Ursa Major

Monday – Thursday, February 17 – 20, 2025

6:30PM & 9PM

Christian McBride and Ursa Major come to Dazzle in Denver, Colorado

When do tickets go on sale for Christian McBride & Ursa Major?

Tickets are on sale now. Go to the Live Music page and scroll down to the bottom or use the search function for ‘McBride’.

Were there any Pre-sales for Christian McBride & Ursa Major?

Another excellent question. Yes, there were three Pre-sales.

  1. May 18th: 48-hour Sponsor Pre-sale for those who helped us buildout the new space. (Sponsorships are no longer available.)
  2. May 20th: 48-hour Member Pre-sale. Memberships are still available. Learn more about Memberships here.
  3. May 22nd: A rare 24-hour newsletter subscriber Pre-sale. Sign up for the newsletter here.
  4. May 23rd: Tickets are on sale to the general public.

I’m having trouble understanding the seating chart. Can I see a picture of where the seats are?

Yes, we created this fabulous page where you can see all of the seats in relation to the stage. Click here.

If it’s your first time at Dazzle, you’ll enjoy the layout as it’s reflective of the theater-in-the-round seating from Greek and Roman outdoor theaters. Every seat is less that 25 feet away from the stage.

Other FAQs can be found here.

What other shows with local Artists are similar to these?

Dazzle is incredibly proud of our local lineup because the talent here rivals most touring shows.

Ken Walker is an upright bassist and Dazzle Artist In Resident who has played on our stages monthly since 2011. You can catch his show the last Friday of every month.

Ken Walker Sextet

Last Friday of every month at 6:30PM

Full Show Description & Ticket Links:

May 31st

June 28th

Daruma

Saturday, June 1 – 9:30PM

Full Show Description & Ticket Link:

9:30PM

Benny Green, Solo Piano

Tuesday, July 30 – 7PM & 9:30PM

Full Show Description & Ticket Links:

7PM

9:30PM

Dazzle Is Westword’s Best of Denver 2024 x3

Dazzle is honored by the people of Denver to win not one, not two, but THREE Westword Best of Denver 2024 awards.

THANK YOU, DENVER!

Best Jazz Club (Music & Venues)

Best Blues Club (Reader’s Choice, three years in a row)

Best Late-night Jazz

Dazzle has brought so much to the jazz scene since it opened its doors at 930 Lincoln Street in 1997, but the venue really showed its love for the city by deciding to spotlight another jazz club when it had its long-anticipated reopening in the Denver Performing Arts Complex last August. The El Chapultepec Piano Lounge honors the come-as-you-are spot that closed during the pandemic, in partnership with the El Chapultepec Legacy Project. Dedicated to maintaining the ‘Pec’s legacy, the lounge offers late-night sets from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays — and they’re all free.

Westword, Best of Denver 2024

WE WANT YOU TO BECOME A DAZZLE MEMBER TODAY

Become a Dazzle Member at Westword’s Best of Denver 2024’s Best Jazz Club, Best Late-night Jazz (at our El Chapultepec Piano Bar), and Best Blues Club. Start taking advantage of the perks, including the 2024 Fall Lineup pre-sale that starts April 17th.

From the Pick of the Pec basic membership level to the top Big Horn level, becoming a Member is the best way to make the most of your experience at Dazzle.

Please note: Gift cards may not be redeemed for Memberships

To purchase or discuss further, contact Kelley at Kelley@DazzleDenver.com or 303.519.3139.

Kerrie Joy & Nelo Present: Dope $h!t with Friends Photo Credit: Mark Payler

DAZZLE MEMBERSHIP PACKAGES

Pre-sales for touring shows and big local shows, such as New Year’s Eve.
Memberships are good for 12 months from the date of purchase. If you purchase the Big Horn level, and already have tickets to touring shows within the next few months, contact Kelley to discuss an appropriate start date for your Dazzle Membership at Kelley@DazzleDenver.com or 720.862.9170.
Prices listed include taxes and processing fees.

UPCOMING 2025 TOURING SHOWS PRE-SALE

On Thursday, August 29th, Dazzle begins its 2025 Touring Shows Pre-sale through Thursday, September 12th. 12 shows are available for Members only. A Dazzle Membership gets you pre-sale access to purchase tickets before the general public.

As more touring shows are added Members have Pre-sale access.

A Holiday Shows Pre-sale follows on Sept. 14th – 23rd.

2025 Touring Shows Pre-sale Includes:

  • Julius Rodriguez, 1/9
  • Richard Bona, 1/10 & 1/11
  • Miki Yamanaka, 1/17
  • John Pizzarelli, 1/18 & 1/19
  • New Jazz Underground, 1/23
  • Kat Edmonson, 2/6
  • Jacky Terrason, 2/10 & 2/11
  • Adam Hawley, 2/21
  • Yellowjackets, 3/4 & 3/5
  • Avishai Cohen, 3/22
  • The String Queens, 4/10
  • Kent Burnside, 4/11

DAZZLE MEMBERSHIP LEVELS

PICK OF THE PEC

$250

Pre-sale period for Members takes place 24-48 hours after the Sponsor’s pre-sale and before the general public. (To put it in perspective, 4-8 tickets are usually sold during the Sponsor’s pre-sale, so Members still have lots of great seats available.)
TWO tickets per year for performances $50 and under. You pick the show.
20% discount on tickets for local performances. (Limit two discounted tickets per Artist. This cannot be used with the ‘TWO tickets per year for performances $50 and under’.)
Dedicated Dazzle Concierge to handle ticketing requests.
Invitations to private events once or twice a year.

COLORADO RIVER

$500

All the benefits of Pick of the Pec.
TEN tickets per year for local performances (limit two tickets per Artist).

CHARLIE’S SEAT

$1,500

All the benefits of the Pick of the Pec.
Unlimited tickets per year for local performances (limit two tickets per Artist).

BIG HORN

$3,000

All the benefits of the Pick of the Pec.
Unlimited tickets per year for ALL performances, including touring shows (limit two tickets per Artists).
Additional tickets to touring shows may be purchased for a 20% discount (limit two per Artist).
One artist meet-and-greet annually.

Current lineup can be found here.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Touring Shows at Dazzle in the Denver Performing Arts Complex

Touring Shows List Updated Monthly

These are the touring shows that are coming to Denver. All of the other shows on our website are top local musicians.

Scott Amendola, Ben Goldberg & Todd Sickafoose Trio

Show Description

Musical Style: Jazz
Scott Amendola, Ben Goldberg, & Todd Sickafoose play the music of Thelonious Monk, and more!

Scott Amendola, Ben Goldberg, and Todd Sickafoose have been playing music together in various forms for nearly 30 years. Together as a trio they bring virtuosic mastery of their instruments, along with band sensibility to create a playful, and thoughtful musical experience. Thelonious Monk’s music has captured their collective heart ever since they all heard him as young upstarts. Along with original music, the trio will journey through all kinds of moods, and musical landscapes.
“If Scott Amendola didn’t exist, the San Francisco music scene would have to invent him.” 
Derk Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian . For Scott Amendola, the drum kit isn’t so much an instrument as a musical portal. An ambitious composer, savvy bandleader and capaciously creative foil for some of the world’s most inventive musicians, Amendola applies his rhythmic virtuosity to a vast array of settings. His closest musical associates include guitarists, Nels Cline, Jeff Parker, Charlie Hunter, Hammond B-3 organist Wil Blades, violinists Regina Carter and Jenny Scheinman, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, players who have each forged a singular path within and beyond the realm of jazz.
Todd Sickafoose is a Tony and Grammy award-winning composer, producer, orchestrator, bandleader and double bassist. He produced and co-arranged all three albums of the Broadway hit Hadestown and also produced Anaïs Mitchell’s album Young Man in America. Since 2004, Sickafoose has recorded and performed internationally with artist/activist Ani DiFranco. Straddling the worlds of folk, indie rock, jazz and chamber music, his own band Tiny Resistors has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Stern Grove Festival, Angel City Jazz Festival and been featured on many “Best-Of” lists including the Village Voice and JazzTimes. Writing for Tiny Resistors, he recently created Bear Proof, a long-form chamber jazz hybrid commissioned by the Doris Duke Foundation.
Clarinetist / composer Ben Goldberg grew up in Denver. He was a pupil of the eminent clarinetist Rosario Mazzeo and studied with Steve Lacy and Joe Lovano. Since 1992, when his group New Klezmer Trio “kicked open the door for radical experiments with Ashkenazi roots music” (SF Chronicle), Ben has shaped a career through curiosity and experimentation. The New York Times says Ben’s music “conveys a feeling of joyous research into the basics of polyphony and collective improvising.” Downbeat Magazine has twice named him Rising Star Clarinetist.
Scott Amendola – drums/percussion/electronics
Ben Goldberg – clarinet
Todd Sickafoose – bass

Wed., November 6 – 6:30PM

Charu Suri

Show Description

Join multi award-pianist and composer Charu Suri, who has made history by performing four times at Carnegie Hall as the first Indian jazz artist to do so, in her debut at Dazzle. Charu blends Indian ragas (modal scales) with jazz and has composed five albums, including her latest, RAGS & RAGAS, which was recorded with Steve Gadd, John Patitucci, and Joe Lastie. Join her in a very special evening, relax and listen to her unique world that New York City Jazz Record says defies Rudyard Kipling’s saying, “East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.”

Sat., November 9 – 6:30PM

Nduduzo Makhathini

Show Description

Musical Style: Jazz
Nduduzo Makhathini grew up in the lush and rugged hillscapes of umGungundlovu in South Africa, a peri-urban landscape in which music and ritual practices were symbiotically linked. The area is significant historically as the site of the Zulu king Dingane kingdom between 1828 and 1840. It is important to note that the Zulu, in fact the African warrior code, is deeply reliant on music for motivation and healing. This deeply embedded symbiosis is key to understanding Makhathini’s vision.
The church also played a role in Makhathini’s musical understanding, as he hopped from church to church in his younger days in search of only the music. The legends of South African jazz are deep influences as well, Bheki Mseleku, Moses Molelekwa, and Abdullah Ibrahim. “The earlier musicians put a lot of emotions in the music they played,” he says. “I think it may also be linked to the political climate of those days. I also feel there is a uniqueness about South African jazz that created an interest all around the world and we are slowly losing that too in our music today. I personally feel that our generation has to be very conscious about retaining these nuances in the music we play today.”
Through his mentor Mseleku, Makhathini was also introduced to the music of John Coltrane’s classic quartet with McCoy Tyner. “I came to understand my voice as a pianist through John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme,” he says. “As someone who started playing jazz very late, I had always been looking for a kind of playing that could mirror or evoke the way my people danced, sung and spoke. Tyner provided that and still does in meaningful ways.” Makhathini also cites American jazz pianists including Andrew Hill, Randy Weston and Don Pullen as significant influences.
Active as an educator and researcher, Makhathini is the head of the music department at Fort Hare University in the Eastern Cape. He has performed at renowned festivals including the Cape own International Jazz Festival and the Essence Festival (in both New Orleans and South Africa), and in 2019 made his debut appearances the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City, as well as Jazz at Lincoln Center where he was a featured guest with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on their 3-night musical celebration The South African Songbook in Rose Theater. He is a member of Shabaka Hutchings’ band Shabaka and the Ancestors appearing on their 2016 album Wisdom of Elders, and has also collaborated with artists including Logan Richardson, Nasheet Waits, Tarus Mateen, Stefon Harris, Billy Harper, Azar Lawrence, and Ernest Dawkins.
In addition to producing albums for his peers (such as Thandiswa Mazwai’s Belede and Tumi Mogorosi’s Project Elo), Makhathini has released eight albums of his own since 2014 when he founded the label Gundu Entertainment in partnership with his wife and vocalist Omagugu Makhathini. Those albums earned him multiple awards and include Sketches of Tomorrow (2014). Mother Tongue (2014). Listening to the Ground (2015), Matunda Ya Kwanza (2015); Icilongo: The African Peace Suite (2016) Inner Dimensions (2016), and Reflections (2016). His 2017 album Ikhambi was the first to be released on Universal Music South Africa and won Best Jazz Album at the South African Music Awards (SAMA) in 2018. His Blue Note debut Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds was released in 2020 to wide critical acclaim earning many end of the year “Best Of” lists.

Mon., November 11 – 6:30PM

Mon., November 11 – 9PM

Tierney Sutton & Tamir Hendelman

Show Description

Musical Style: Jazz
Singer Tierney Sutton and pianist Tamir Hendelman have a musical relationship that goes back over 20 years. While Sutton racked up 9 Grammy nominations for her 14 albums as leader, Hendelman was arranging, recording and performing with Barbra Streisand and Natalie Cole, leading his own trio, and being the featured pianist of the Jeff Hamilton Trio and Grammy-Winning Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. And along side all this, Tierney and Tamir still found time to tour as a duo in Italy, Japan, China and throughout the U.S.
Yet it was the pandemic that cemented and deepened the partnership of these 2 LA-based artists. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Tierney and Tamir created and presented live-streamed themed shows as well as creating “By Request” video dedications for fans around the world.
Says Sutton: “This is truly one of my very favorite projects. No pianist in the world swings harder than Tamir and he’s an encyclopedia of songs so I’m able to be so free and improvisational. This project is a joy.”

Thurs., November 14 – 6:30PM

Thurs., November 14, 9PM

Alex Hahn

Show Description

Alumni of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and 1st Place Winner in the Michael Brecker International Saxophone Competition, Alex Hahn is a Grammy Award Winning saxophonist, composer, and educator based in Southern California. Hahn has performed and recorded with notable names such as Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding, and has recorded on Michael Bublé’s last three Grammy Nominated Albums including “Higher,” which won a Grammy Award in 2023. Hahn is also a featured soloist on the Eddie Murphy movie Coming 2 America. Hahn currently serves as the Director of Jazz at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.
He is an endorsed artist with Eastman Winds, D’Addario Woodwinds, and Key Leaves.
About Childhood Melodies: La Reserve Records
Childhood Melodies, my fifth studio solo album, features original arrangements of the music from my childhood. Growing up with two musician parents who were also music educators, music has always been a huge part of my life. My family loved to listen to artists like Barbara Streisand, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and songs from classic Disney movies. At an early age, these melodies helped shape my musical personality. Each song on this album has a unique story of when and where I first heard it, how it has influenced me musically, and how it has been significant in my life.

Fri., November 15 – 6:30PM

Chad LB Quartet

Show Description

Musical Style: Jazz
Hailed as a “Sax Phenom” by the New York Daily News, Chad LB has toured globally as a bandleader and with superstars ranging from Chris Botti to Taylor Swift. Chad has been a featured soloiston 2 GRAMMY-winning albums and in concert with premiere ensembles like the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and Multi-Grammy winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. No stranger to the big screen, Chad has made appearances on numerous TV shows with pop icons and rock legends like Don Henley, as well as the Hollywood film “Here Today” with Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish.

Sat., November 16 – 6:30PM

Sat., November 16 – 9PM

Sun., November 17 – 5PM

Sun., November 17 – 7:30PM

Nicholas Payton Trio with Adam Deitch & Will Gaines

Show Description

Musical Style: Black American Music
As a leading voice in American popular music, the Grammy Award-winning Nicholas Payton is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, producer, arranger, essayist, and social activist who defies musical and artistic categories. All the while, he honors the tradition of what he terms “postmodern New Orleans music,” as well as the spirit of Black American Music, of which he states, “There are no fields, per se. There are lineages.”
The New Orleans-born Payton has followed his calling since growing up under the tutelage of his parents — acclaimed bassist Walter Payton and Maria Payton, a pianist and vocalist. Already a prodigy before entering the first grade, he began playing trumpet at age four and started performing professionally at age 10. Before the age of 20, he was already in demand by everyone from Danny Barker and Clark Terry to Elvin Jones and Marcus Roberts. Payton released his first album, From this Moment, in 1995 on the famed Verve label. He received his first Grammy nomination in 1997 for the album Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton, and for the category of Best Instrumental Solo, which found him winning the award that year.
Payton has released over 20 recordings as a leader, pushing musical boundaries and showcasing a variety of contemporary and traditional styles, while displaying his ambidextrous ability to play both the trumpet and keyboard at the same time when he’s inspired to do so. He has collaborated with numerous mentors and contemporaries alike, ranging from Common and Cassandra Wilson to Trey Anastasio, MonoNeon, and Jill Scott, to Dr. John, Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste of The
Meters, Allen Toussaint, and Abbey Lincoln to name a few. His most recent albums are Quarantined with Nick and Maestro Rhythm King, both released in 2020.
“Everything I write is about life experiences. The music means nothing without life. A life lived. It’s not just notes on a page. It’s not just a technical exercise. It’s vibrations and energy,” Payton says. “And I’m striving to help lift, if possible, raise the vibration of the collective conscious one audience, one album, one song at a time. If I can’t do that, there’s no point in me playing. That’s why I play. It’s about contributing to society and inspiring. That’s my life as an artist, period. Challenging people to think differently, to think critically and to not be slaves to the system and
the status quo.”
In addition to Payton’s work as a performer, he is an equally respected composer, having written The Black American Symphony an orchestral work, which the Czech National Symphony Orchestra commissioned and performed. He led a live concert performance of Miles Davis’ renowned Sketches of Spain with the Basel Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland.
“Pretty much all the music that I play is centered in Black culture, Black music. And that’s why I’ve eschewed jazz and came up with the terminology, Black American Music, because I want to be connected to the whole of it,” Payton says about genre. “It’s all the same. John Coltrane and Charlie Parker and James Brown could be neighbors. So what’s the distinction there? The only difference in the music is who they came through, and where they’re from.”
As a leader, Payton’s seminal writings and discussions on the problematics of the term and associations of “jazz” have inspired musicians, researchers, music listeners, and thinkers alike. As such, he termed Black American Music, or #BAM for short, to represent the breadth of improvisational musical creations created by Black people in the U.S., regardless of genre. His introduction of #BAM into the lexicon of popular music discourse landed him an entry in the New York Times’ “The Decade in Jazz: 10 Definitive Moments” in 2019.
“(Black American Music) is … a liberation music, it is our first global recognition in humanizing, if you will, a class of people who were systematically dehumanized for centuries,” Payton says. “The concern for me is to draw from the wellspring of all the great Black ancestors who inspired me to play this music in the first place. And to hopefully keep that energy, that spirit.”
Through his mission-driven work and art, Payton continues to creatively move boundaries, while inspiring and remaining inspired by the pioneering lineage of Black American Music, of which he is a part.

Adam Deitch – Drums

Will Gaines – Bass

Mon., November 18 – 6:30PM

Mon., November 18 – 9:00PM

Tues., November 19 – 6:30PM

Tues., November 19 – 9:00PM

Jane Monheit

Show Description

Jane Monheit is a jazz and adult contemporary vocalist with a deep passion for the Great American Songbook. With many highly acclaimed solo albums, countless awards and accolades, and over two decades of international touring experience, Jane has not only been an extremely successful bandleader, but has had the privilege of making music with some of the greatest musicians, arrangers, and producers in jazz.

During her childhood, Jane studied woodwinds and piano, spent a decade performing in award winning choirs, and participated in community theater on Long Island. Throughout all of this, her focus remained on jazz, especially interpretation of the Songbook. At the age of 20, during her senior year at the prestigious Manhattan School Of Music, Jane placed second in the Thelonious Monk Competition, now known as the Hancock Competition. This led to an incredible career trajectory, catapulting Jane into the jazz stratosphere nearly overnight.

By 22, Jane was working with legends such as Tommy Flanagan, Ron Carter, and Kenny Barron, recording her first albums, and touring the planet. This led to collaborations with jazz luminaries such as Terence Blanchard, Ivan Lins, Tom Harrell, John Pizzarelli, Christian McBride, Vince Mendoza, Jorge Calandrelli, and many more. Countless television appearances followed, including David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, The View, and many popular international talk shows. Several successful film soundtracks have also included Jane’s music, including Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow and Never Let Me Go.

After more than twenty years, twelve studio albums and countless recorded guest appearances, Jane has continued to tour the world nearly nonstop, including playing iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, and headlining at nearly every legendary jazz club on the planet, most notably NY stalwarts such as the Village Vanguard and Birdland. In addition to touring, she also writes English lyrics for Ivan Lins, and uses the knowledge and experience she has gained both at Manhattan School Of Music and on the legendary bandstands of the world to educate and uplift students worldwide. Jane resides in Los Angeles with her husband of over twenty years, drummer Rick Montalbano, and their son.

Wed., November 20 – 6:30PM

Wed., November 20 – 9:00PM

Thurs., November 21 – 6:30PM

Thurs., November 21 – 9:00PM

Stella Cole Quartet

Show Description

Musical Style: Holiday Show
To watch Stella Cole perform is to be transported back in time. Her sense of joy and wonder is infectious – one look at her massive social media following makes this clear. Take a quick scroll through the comments of any of her many viral videos and you’ll see not only her irresistible charm, but an ability to expose fans of all ages to the wonders of the Great American Songbook, especially when these timeless stories are told honestly by an artist with an uncanny ability to transcend generations.
On her highly anticipated debut recording, Stella is presented performing interpreting a collection of classics in a variety of settings, including many featuring an orchestra arranged by multiple Grammy-winner Alan Broadbent. Featuring songs made famous by everyone from Barbra Streisand (“When the Sun Comes Out”) and Judy Garland (“The Boy Next Door” and a classic re-interpretation of “Over the Rainbow”) to Billie Eilish (“My Future”) and Audrey Hepburn (“Moon River” of course!), it is sure to be one of the most impressive vocal recordings of 2024.
Upon first hearing Stella Cole, one is immediately struck by her rich tone and extraordinary vocal control. However, what is particularly rare is her ability to interpret songs that were initially intended for actors in character in a direct, personally vulnerable way that connects to something within herself, placing her in the lineage of the greatest interpreters of the repertoire. Perhaps most exciting, to her many young fans, who have never heard these songs before, these are Stella Cole songs, which clearly makes her one of the most exciting artists of her generation.

Wed., Dec 11 – 6:30PM

Wed., Dec 11 – 9PM

Thurs., Dec 12 – 6:30PM (Sold Out)

Thurs., Dec 12 – 9PM

Otis Taylor

Show Description

Otis Taylor grew up in Denver, but like the old blues song said, he was born in Chicago in 1948. According to Taylor his parents were both jazz fans. My dad worked for the railroad and knew a lot of jazz people. He was a socialist and real bebopper. His mother loved everything from Etta James to Pat Boone. The first instrument Taylor learned to play was the banjo, but he soon rejected the banjo for its association with the racist American South. Taylor would eventually return to the banjo upon discovering its African roots.

Like so many musicians in Denver, Taylor drew inspiration from time spent at the Denver Folklore Center founded by Harry Tuft, where he first heard Piedmont, Delta, country, and Chicago blues artists like Son House, Muddy Waters, and Mississippi Fred McDowell. He learned to play guitar and harmonica and while still in his teens he formed a band called the Butterscotch Fire Department and later the Otis Taylor Blues Band.

Thurs, December 26 – 6:30PM

Thurs., December 26 – 9PM

Christian McBride and Ursa Major

Show Description

Musical Style: Jazz
Christian McBride is an eight-time GRAMMY-winning bassist, composer, and bandleader. He is the Artistic Director of the historic Newport Jazz Festival, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), the TD James Moody Jazz Festival, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. McBride is also a respected educator and advocate for youth, and serves as Artistic Director of Jazz House KiDS and the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Summer Sessions. In addition to artistic directing and consistent touring with his ensembles, he hosts NPR’s “Jazz Night in America” and “The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian” on SiriusXM. Whether behind the bass or away from it, Christian McBride is always part of the music. From jazz to R&B, and pop/rock and hip-hop/neo-soul to classical, he is a luminary with one hand ever reaching for new heights, and the other extended in fellowship—and perhaps the hint of a challenge—inviting us to join him.

For this show he is joined by four rising young master instrumentalists including saxophonist Nicole Glover, guitarist Ely Perlman, pianist Mike King, and drummer Savannah Harris.
Michael King – keys
Virtuosic pianist Michael King, a Chicagoan native, began playing drums in his local church band at the early age of 4. This fortuitously melodic schooling nurtured an undeniable affinity to the piano and organ, the very seat that he began to occupy, by ear, at age 14. Mr. King is an alumni of Lincoln Park High School and the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory. He was selected to attend the Thelonious Monk Institute and The Ravinia Jazz Scholars program on merit scholarships. Michael has performed with Bobby Watson, Kevin Eubanks, Dave Liebeman, Gary Bartz, Billy Hart, Joel Frahm, Rufus Reid, & Antonio Hart, among others. Currently you can catch Mr. King touring internationally with: DeeDee Bridgewater, Robin Eubanks, Theo Croker’s DVRK FUNK, Soul Understated, & Marcus Printup.
Savannah Harris – drums
Savannah Harris is a New York City-based drummer, composer and producer. Raised in Oakland, California by musician parents, she gravitated towards the drums at age 2. Steeped in a jazz tradition, Savannah views its connection to all forms of diasporic and folkloric music as central to her approach. She’s performed and recorded with indie and experimental artists Helado Negro, Georgia Anne Muldrow, KeiyaA, Nick Hakim, Kate Davis, Justin Allen, and Standing on the Corner. Her jazz recordings include releases from Peter Evans, María Grand, and Or Bareket. She’s performed with Geri Allen, Jason Moran, Ambrose Akinmusire, Terrence Blanchard, Linda May Han Oh, Billy Childs, Immanuel Wilkins, Joel Ross, and Aaron Parks. Presently, she tours extensively with Christian McBride, Cecile McLorin Salvant, and Kenny Barron. In 2019, Savannah was awarded the Harlem Stage Emerging Artist Award, and she received her master’s in jazz performance from Manhattan School of Music. She was featured twice in the January 2021 issue of Modern Drummer as both a featured artist and a contributing writer. In October of 2021, she debuted her solo piece “With Inner Sound, Truth” commissioned by Issue Project Room as a tribute to composer Ruth Anderson. Savannah was also featured in Sixteen Journal’s “JAZZ” edition, with portraits shot by photographer James Brodribb.
Nicole Glover – saxophone
Saxophonist, bandleader, composer, and educator Nicole Glover, is based in New York City and has established herself as a rising star and a musician in great demand. Her most recent solo recording is Strange Lands (Savant), with the venerable pianist George Cables. The London Times awarded the album 4 stars, calling it “otherworldly.” It remained near the top of the Jazzweek radio charts for 11 weeks. Nicole is also an integral member of the supergroup ARTEMIS, led by pianist Renee Rosnes. In May 2023, the collective released their 2nd recording, In Real Time, on Blue Note Records.
Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Nicole was a student of the American Music Program, a program dedicated to priming students for a career in jazz. In 2009, she moved east to attend the jazz program at William Paterson University. There, she studied with pianists Harold Mabern, Mulgrew Miller and tenor saxophonist Rich Perry.
Currently, Nicole is a member of an new quintet led by bassist Christian McBride, and she performs often with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. She has worked with drummers Al Foster, Victor Lewis and Kenny Washington, Grammy award winning vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Buika, saxophonist Rudresh Manhanthappa, vibraphonist Joel Ross, and pianists Geoffrey Keezer, Luis Perdomo, and George Colligan among others. She recently performed Mary Lou Williams’ “Zodiac Suite” with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the musical direction of pianist Aaron Diehl.
An experienced educator, Nicole is on faculty at Princeton University, Manhattan School of Music, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is a passionate teacher, and has given many masterclasses and private lessons to aspiring musicians all over the globe.
Ely Perlman – guitar
Ely Perlman (b. 1999) is a guitarist, composer, and producer hailing from Tel Aviv, Israel. A third-year student at the Berklee College of Music, Ely Perlman is a member of Christian McBride’s newest band. In addition to collaborating with other acclaimed artists such as Shai Maestro and Ben Wendel, Ely leads multiple musical projects, including a jazz quartet highlighting his compositional vision and an indie band called “SWIMS.” Ely released “All We Got” in 2022, his first single as a singer/songwriter, and is currently working on his self-produced debut album. He received his early musical education at the esteemed Jazz Department of the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, graduating with honors, and at the Center for Jazz Studies at the Israel Conservatory of Music, Tel Aviv

Mon., February 17, 2025 – 9PM

Mon., February 17, 2025 – 6:30PM

Tues., February 18, 2025 – 6:30PM

Tues., February 18, 2025 – 9PM

Wed., February 19, 2025 – 6:30PM

Wed., February 19, 2025 – 9PM

Thurs., February 20, 2025 – 6:30PM

Thurs., February 20, 2025 – 9PM


Upcoming Touring shows and member presales

2025 Touring Shows

For More info about 2025 Touring Shows go to https://www.dazzledenver.com/2025-touring-shows-pre-sale-starts-8-29-24/


Learn more about becoming a Dazzle Member for pre-sale access and ticket packages.

Updated: October 28, 2024