Discovery-Colorado, USA
Up until this week our Discovery series has been locations other than the United States. This week I wanted to start adding in some locations from the U.S. to the series starting with where I live- Colorado! I believe Colorado (specifically the Denver/Front Range area) is one of the greatest beds of jazz talent you will find. Many famous jazz musicians were born and raised in the area and a number of international jazz artists currently make their home here too. You could dedicate an entire website to all of the talent that comes from Colorado. Hopefully my friends and colleagues will not be too upset if I forget to mention them!
As with our past locations, the goal is to introduce you to 3 new musicians each week from different areas. My hope is you will find some new discoveries, support them by buying their albums and by attending their concerts if you are in their area (or they in yours). Another benefit is for you to hear new musicians and how they approach their instrument and jazz. You never know where you might find your next favorite line!
Many of the videos below were recorded live at what I believe to be one of THE BEST jazz clubs in the world…Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge. It boasts many awards (for food as well as best jazz club), it frequently has some of the best jazz musicians in the world play there and has a great owner and staff that work hard to promote this music.
For the Discovery list I am going to include myself because today happens to be the day that my band (the Jason Klobnak Quintet) releases our album Mountain, Move. It is available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, GooglePlay, Spotify, etc. I hope you check out our promo below and support the album. Part of the proceeds go towards helping getting women and children out of human trafficking. Each month on this site I will be featuring an organization that proceeds will be going.
Like mentioned last week with Italy; Colorado has been the home to a number of jazz musicians known and unknown. Hopefully the musicians below are people you will start checking out (if you have not already).
Jason Klobnak– trumpet
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXRsSpIQ1Kw&w=420&h=315]
Josh Quinlan– sax
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb0zuum3q6U&w=560&h=315]
Aakash Mittal– sax
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOlVblZ9WxU&w=560&h=315]
These are just a few of literally hundreds of great jazz musicians you can find in and/or from Colorado. If you have checked out these musicians above, be sure to check out their websites and albums to support them. Below is a list of some AMAZING jazz musicians you will find in Colorado. I highly encourage you to look them up and see what this great state has to offer in terms of Jazz.
Colorado Jazz Musicians (in no particular order):
Ron Miles, Greg Gisbert, Diane Reeves, Jovan Jackson, Tia Fuller, Brad Goode, Al Hood, Bob Montgomery, Eric Gunnison, Nelson Rangell, Lynn Baker, Todd Reid, Jeff Jenkins, Ken Walker, Mike Marlier, John Gunther, Rich, Chiaraluce, Paul Romaine, Mark Simon, Dave Devine, Greg Garrison, Bijoux Barbosa, Keith Oxman, Gabe Mervine, Jon Parker, Ian Hutchison, Paul Mullikin, Elijah Samuels, Annie Booth, Alwyn Robinson, Matt Fuller, Josh Moore, etc. This list could go on forever, but these were just a few that popped into my mind as I was writing. Hopefully you check some of them out!
