Members of the ensemble consisted of vocalists junior musical theater major Jenna Bainbridge, sophomore vocal jazz major from Denver Sarah Dubetz, Nellie Quinn, freshman vocal jazz major from Golden Brendan Schuster and freshman vocal jazz major from Shanghai Smee Wong. The vocal repertoire combo performed first. “It’s fun to think of all of the amazing jazz musicians that performed before us on that very same stage,” said Quinn.īoth the Vocal Jazz Repertoire combo and the Vocal Jazz Combo performed a set which included songs such as Stevie Wonder’s “Hey, Duke” and jazz classics like “Autumn Leaves,” along with a variety of free jazz and student originals. Nellie Quinn, a sophomore vocal jazz major from Denver who performed in both groups, expressed her enthusiasm about the Dazzle performance. Gunnison is currently a jazz piano professor at DU and has been performing at Dazzle since 2003. Dazzle is a hot spot for local jazz musicians such as Bob Montgomery, Paul Romaine and Eric Gunnison. Household names including trombonist Slide Hampton, saxophonist Richie Cole and bebop pianist Bob Dorough have performed at Dazzle over the years. Approximately 60 students, community members, parents and jazz-lovers alike attended the event.ĭazzle Jazz, founded in 2002 by Donald Rossa, is a hybrid restaurant, bar and music venue. The event, which took place from 7 – 9 p.m., cost $10 for non-DU students, and $5 for students with a DU ID. Vocal jazz students of the Lamont School of Music gained real-world performance experience last Wednesday night in the candlelit “Showroom” at Dazzle Jazz, a music venue on Ninth and Lincoln, that is entirely dedicated to supporting and maintaining jazz culture in Denver. Denver and Dazzle will soon be making some beautiful music together.0 Shares Sophomore jazz vocalist Nellie Quinn singing “The Ballad of Harrison Crabfeathers” at Dazzle Jazz last Wednesday night as part of the Vocal Jazz Repetoire ensemble. Sometime in late November, Dazzle will pack up and leave its current home downtown, moving just two blocks away to 1080 14th Street, where it will become a tenant of the Denver Performing Arts Complex in a decade-long lease with Denver Arts & Venues, which operates the city-owned complex.Īt a time when many venues are struggling and some have given up altogether, including iconic jazz club El Chapultepec, this deal sounds particularly sweet.ĭazzle got its start 25 years ago, when Karen Storck and Miles Snyder opened a restaurant/bar at 930 Lincoln Street, in the former home of Fuji En, a Japanese restaurant. While it didn't present live music, Snyder created a soundtrack for Dazzle with jazz CDs from his extensive home music collection. In 2001, Donald Rossa, who'd previously worked for the Fourth Story, Piatti and Sfuzzi restaurants, was brought in as a managing partner. Dazzle quickly became a favorite spot for happy hours and late-night gatherings (since it was just a block from the Westword office, we were regulars), but that September 11, as news came in of the terrorist acts on the East Coast, the scene was much more somber. That’s when Rossa decided that Dazzle needed to start hosting live jazz. “I said, ‘We’re going to celebrate being American, and our original art form is jazz,'” he told Westword in January, when Dazzle officially celebrated its 25th anniversary. ![]() “And Miles said he was on board with it, because Miles taught me about jazz. ![]() Rossa reached out to renowned local trumpeter Bob Montgomery, who gave him a list of phone numbers for other local jazz musicians. Initially, Dazzle hosted live jazz four nights a week in its bar area over the next year, another stage was added in its second room, and the venue expanded its live-music program to every night of the week. Rossa became the sole owner of Dazzle in 2003 soon afterward, he interviewed El Paso transplant Matt Ruff for the position of general manager during a performance by the Future Jazz Project. “I remember being blown away by the band, but also by the venue,” says Ruff, who's now also a partner in Dazzle, along with Austin Andres and Jan Cleveland. Perkins & Will But a decade later, the physical limitations of that venue were beginning to cramp Dazzle's style. Around the same time, David Spira, who'd bought the circa 1891 Baur’s Building at 1512 Curtis Street in 2004, was closing Baur’s Listening Lounge, which he’d run since 2015. ![]() Spira invited Rossa to look at the space, and within two months, they made a deal. This space came with its own challenge, however. While the Golden Triangle spot had been more of a neighborhood bar, the new Dazzle was more of a destination - with much more space, including a huge kitchen.
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