Kurt Elling and Eliane Elias, both Grammy-nominated vocalists, headline this year's JazzFest Denver at Dazzle this weekend. Elling's warm baritone can stretch over four octaves and he honed his chops by listening to Mark Murphy, Jon Hendricks and other crooners before him. The guy's a mad scatter, as well as being deft in vocalese, where he's set words to songs written by John Coltrane, Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock, all of which can be found on his 2003 Blue Note release Man in the Air.
Jazz Fest Denver Dazzle Restaurant & LoungeFriday, March 20 through Sunday March, 22Dazzle is home to some of the finest local and national jazz acts that swing through Denver on a nightly basis, but this week Dazzle graciously lent its doors and transformed the club into a three-day awkward romp known as Jazz Fest Denver. Sterling Kaminsky and his crew have brought in some of the finest acts in jazz to our town. This year's lineup was spectacular despite the festival's ups and downs. Knowin
Rene Marie.
Today at 11 p.m. on KUVO/89.3 FM, a public-radio station that specializes in jazz and blues, singer Rene Marie will perform live for Denver Public Schools music students as part of a KUVO/DPS partnership program. However, the station's press release makes no mention of the reason many, if not most, members of the general public know Marie's name: her decision to sing a version of what's known as the "Black National Anthem" in place of "The Star Spangled Banner" at a State of the Cit
