New York-based trumpeter, bandleader and composer Dave Douglas is returning to Denver after a long time away.
“I love being in Colorado,” he told me via Zoom from his practice space, a silver trumpet set on a table behind him. “Every time I’m there, I have such a great time. It’s been a while, obviously. There were some years when we weren’t really traveling very much, so I’m thrilled to come back. And I hope people will come out to Dazzle.”
Douglas is bringing his latest project — a collaboration with pianist Elan Mehler, “If There Are Mountains” — to the Denver club on March 15. “Mountains,” to be released on CD March 24 (which also happens to be Douglas’ 60th birthday), successfully merges thoughtful ensemble performances with haiku poetry sung by Dominique Eade, whom Douglas refers to as “one of the premier jazz vocalists of the past few decades.” Also in the group: Colorado’s John Gunther on saxophone and clarinets and, for this tour, former Denverite Rudy Royston on drums. There’s a strong local presence in this music.
Douglas and his collaborators decided to set haikus to music for this project because “they’re very imagistic. It’s very, sort of, a single image that they’re floating out, and I find a lot of the writing I do for improvisers is like that. I’m making a suggestion. ‘Here’s this idea and image, and now we’re going to play from this.’ I also felt like if we could just stick to one image, it would be easier to capture in the music than if it was an epic poem that goes from one thing to another, and you’re trying to follow this narrative.”
This group is just one of multiple projects with which Douglas is currently involved. When he’s not performing live, he’s teaching, running his excellent Greenleaf record label, and practicing on his horn. Turning 60 this month seems to have little impact on him, other than taking some time for reflection.
“I’m on my third round of hiring former students to be in my bands,” he says. “You know, within a few years, they’re too busy to play with me anymore. Turning 60, yeah, I guess it’s a milestone. My most important teachers are either no longer playing or have passed on. That’s very intense, and part of wanting to keep the legacy of the music and the creative spirit alive is wanting to extend the lessons I was fortunate enough to receive into future players.”
(Dave Douglas and Elan Mehler, 7 p.m., March 15, at Dazzle at Baur’s. Tickets range from $15 to $35 and are available through dazzledenver.com.)
In other jazz performances this month:
Guitarist Bill Frisell returns with his quartet, after participating in an emotional tribute to the late Denver trumpeter Ron Miles at Metro State last month, to Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox on March 21. Guitarist Eric Krasno teams up with drummer Stanton Moore at Ophelia’s on March 25. … The Wil Swindler Quartet appears at Nocturne for two sets on March 10. On March 17, 24 and 31, saxophonist David Bernot’s quartet plays “Live at the Lighthouse” there, featuring a re-creation of the 1973 Elvin Jones album of the same name. … Denver’s Woods Boss Brewing Company presents Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz on the fourth Saturday of each month at 3 p.m. …. Dazzle is celebrating Women’s History Month through March, presenting 14 female bandleaders. Check the schedule at dazzledenver.com.
