Fifteen years ago, at the height of the swing craze, Jesse Morreale opened Ninth Avenue West at 9th and Acoma and brought in some of the top bands of the day, like the Royal Crown Revue and the Mighty Blue Kings. But around the turn of the century, as swing…
The indie-folk movement has grown considerably over the past few years, and though it draws from folk and bluegrass, Denver-based Fiction Is Fun takes a more adventurous route. On You Die Every Time Always, the seven-piece — which started as a trio and at one time ballooned to nine people…
Over the past decade, Wovenhand has delivered many an intense show as a trio fronted by David Eugene Edwards. While some of the band’s previous six recorded efforts wrangle a fair amount of that visceral energy, none come as close to capturing it as The Laughing Stalk, the act’s heaviest…
Like fans of pretty much every other genre in this town, the jazz connoisseurs here are spoiled with a steady stream of great shows. In the past few months, we’ve been treated to shows from the likes of Esperanza Spalding, Ron Carter, the Bad Plus, the Vijay Iyer Trio, Keith…
Not yet in her teens, Boulder-based singer-songwriter Jaden Carlson already has three albums under her belt. Even more impressive, the gal started playing guitar at age six; since then, she’s developed some fine picking and songwriting chops and has shared the stage with major acts such as Michael Franti and…
While a lot of people began celebrating Halloween this past weekend, there are still a ton of parties to check out, where you can show off whatever clever costume you dreamed up this year (we’re going as either King Diamond — or one of the baseball furies, depending how our…
RYAN ADAMS @ BOULDER THEATER Half of the fun of seeing Ryan Adams live, apparently, is getting to hear all his banter. He has a fascinating duality: One minute he’s completely enthralling the crowd with a heartfelt ballad, and then he bookends the tune by casually offering up a hilarious…
Twelve years ago, Dale Bruning released Reunion, a two-disc live album with one of his more famous students, Denver native Bill Frisell, who studied with Bruning for close to five years in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Just Between Us, recorded live during two nights at Dazzle last March,…
Ron Carter has played on over 2,500 albums and secured a spot in jazz history as one of the world’s finest bassists. Doing much more than merely helping anchor the rhythm, Carter is quite the melodic master. In his five-decade-long career, he’s played with countless jazz legends, including a five-year…
Quixote’s True Blue has relocated a few times since first starting out sixteen years ago on 9150 East Colfax in Aurora as a place where Deadheads and kindred spirits could gather after the passing of Jerry Garcia. Next month, the now iconic Denver bar will move again into Bender’s Tavern…
The Border had long been a popular watering hole in the University of Denver neighborhood, although it went through some dry spells — and then dried up altogether last May. But a trio of new owners, two of whom run Merchants Saloon in Oakland, California, took over the spot a…
Danielle Anderson (aka Danielle Ate the Sandwich) has said that a lot of her music is really bright and dreamy and whimsical; take a look at pretty much any of the singer-songwriter’s YouTube videos, and you’ll see a cute, bubbly gal having a lot of fun singing and playing her…
SMASHING PUMPKINS @ 1STBANK CENTER | 10/16/12 “So, for those of you who are insiders into our multi-faceted world, you know that we’re playing our album first tonight, Oceania,” Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan told the crowd at 1STBANK Center on Tuesday night. “And then, if I’m in the mood…I…
This past weekend, Hoot and Howl, which recently opened in the former Twisted Olive space in Northfield Stapleton, celebrated its grand opening with performances by Lola Black, Scarlet Canary and Midnight Roulette. While the spot is a restaurant, it will also host live local music, open mike nights and karaoke…
One of the more exciting pianists in jazz today, Vijay Iyer has won a slew of awards over the past few years, including five different nods in the DownBeat International Critics’ Poll. Awards notwithstanding, if you need proof of what amazing chops this Grammy-nominated composer-pianist has, look no further than…
Although John Kite has been the featured pianist at the Brown Palace Hotel for the last 25 years, Anything Goes! marks his first solo album. Drawing from Tin Pan Alley-era songs and jazz standards, Kite kicks off the disc with a peppy take on a Cole Porter tune in which…
“Half of our songs are about getting fucked up, and the other half are about existential crises that make you question the nature of reality,” declares Yawpers frontman Nate Cook. “So, those two themes run pretty prevalently through the music, or at least I would hope so.” Cook, a self-described…
There’s a whole new batch of shows to let you know about, some of which are going on sale this week, including a new date from Breathe Carolina, as well as a rescheduled date for Mouse On Mars at Summit Music Hall, plus 3 Doors Down and Daughtry, who are…
GARBAGE @ OGDEN THEATRE | 10/6/12 After opening the show with a vigorous take on “Automatic Systematic Habit,” and then following with the equally charged up “I Think I’m Paranoid” and “Shut Your Mouth,” Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson was greeted by a blast of applause from the sold out frenzied…
About two decades ago, I heard Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, and it floored me. It’s the best selling jazz album of all time, and if there’s one album that truly started an obsession with jazz, it was that one. As a kid, I’d gotten to see cats like…
Local trumpeter Ron Miles and former Denver native Bill Frisell have performed and recorded together on a number of occasions, but they’ve only teamed up with drummer Brian Blade a handful of times. One of the reasons this trio works so well is that its members share certain sensibilities, and…
Nine years ago, Barry Zadikoff took over the old Skylark Lounge space at 58 Broadway and transformed the address into Barry’s on Broadway. Now he plans to basically clone Barry’s in Highland. He’s taken over the former Arabian Bar, which had been in business since the ’20s at 3360 Navajo…
