Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts

Founded more than a decade ago, the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts is a mentoring program founded for high-school and middle-school students to learn more about jazz performance, history and language. Hang Time features two groups of CCJA musicians headed up by local pianist Eric Gunnison (Group Gunn) and trumpeter Greg Gisbert (Group Giz). This fourteen-track disc not only showcases sharp skills from the gifted young players, but also serves to highlight a variety of compositional styles, on such tunes as Daryl Gott’s swinging opener, “Pop,” Patrick McDeviit’s funky “Gotta Listen,” Stephen Chen’s groove-based “Tai Chi” and Chris Navarrete’s lilting bossa nova cut, “Afterthoughts.”