Even if you catch just an occasional jazz performance in Denver, chances are you’ve heard drummer Paul Romaine. He has recorded or shared the stage with Lannie Garrett, Phil Urso, Ken Walker, Dale Bruning and as a member of the collective Convergence in recent years. He plays at Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge so often he’s practically the house drummer.
Romaine is well connected to the local jazz community, so when he and his wife, Chris, decided to form the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts in 2000, he didn’t have to look far to find willing jazz vets who would share their experience with middle and high school students interested in learning the finer points of improvisation.
“When you see a kid actually turn that corner, where two weeks before they were barely making any chord changes and they weren’t swinging, and then you see that light go on, that’s an amazing experience,” said Romaine. He will put his students on stage with nationally recognized musicians like bassist Walker and trumpeter Hugh Ragin at Dazzle on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different,” Romaine said. “We saw a possible need for kids in a jazz education format. If they’re interested in learning how to compose, improvise, arrange and other things that don’t really happen in the public school situation, they get to study with people who do this for a living.”
Since the conservatory’s inception (Romaine instructed six students the first time around), more than 340 students have gone through the program, which includes instructional sessions at DU’s Newman Center for the Performing Arts throughout the year, a “jazz boot camp” in the summer, and performances at the annual Westcliffe Jazz Festival in Southern Colorado.
Romaine is delighted with how the conservatory has taken off, but he seems proudest when talking about the personal and musical triumphs of his 15-year old daughter Erienne, a talented singer who has been fighting a winning battle with medical issues related to her brain.
Proceeds from sales of last year’s “The Scenic Route” CD (Synergy Music) helped pay some of the family’s medical bills, and Romaine is helping with post-production of a concert she gave in Denver last month for a future CD release.
“Right now she has more gigs than I do,” said Romaine, and that’s saying something. “It was a real turning point for me, watching her sing, and saying, ‘You’re a pro now.”‘
No doubt Romaine will soon be saying that about many of his students.
Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts, 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge, 930 Lincoln St. Admission is free. Call 303-839-5100.
Sax man’s evolution
Rudresh Mahanthappa, the alto saxophonist who played TV show themes on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall for cash while growing up, continues his evolution into a leading composer and player with “Codebook,” a rewarding new quartet date on Pi Recordings. The label is shaping up to be the most reliable of American imprints at the headier end of the jazz spectrum.
With a slightly warm but gritty tone that rests somewhere between John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, Mahanthappa somehow evokes these tenor sax heroes even though he’s playing an alto. His frequent collaborator Vijay Iyer is back on piano, and as a duo they challenge one another to dig deeper for brisk solos on amusingly titled pieces like “The Decider” and “Enhanced Performance.”
I won’t pretend to understand the intricacies of the mathematic formulas that are apparently part of Mahanthappa’s compositional process, and it isn’t necessary to enjoy this remarkable disc, his third as a leader and his most energetic throughout.
Set list
Smooth jazz saxist Najee serenades the Soiled Dove Underground on Friday and Saturday … the Wazee Supper Club presents trumpeter Bob Montgomery and friends on Nov.14 … guitarist Nels Cline challenges his audience on Nov. 17 at the Oriental Theater … Rene Marie sings at the LoDo Tattered Cover on Nov. 18 in a fundraiser for public radio jazz station KUVO … drummer Ralph Peterson returns to Dazzle that same night.
Bret Saunders’ column on jazz appears every other Sunday. Saunders is host of the “KBCO Morning Show,” 5:30-10 a.m. weekdays at 97.3 FM. E-mail him at bret_saunders@hotmail.com.
