“My mother and father have truly been taking me to Dazzle because it opened in ’97,” she says, “and this area is extra reflective of the Ninth and Lincoln area. There was the primary listening room after which there was the skin bar space, and now we have a essential listening room right here after which now we have a bar and a piano lounge which might be distinctive, however linked. The movement is loads smoother, with three separate areas which might be nonetheless very interconnected.”
The unique location had been the house of Fuji En Japanese restaurant, and when Karen Storck and Miles Snyder opened Dazzle in 1997, it was primarily as an eatery and bar, too. However jazz was there from the start, with Snyder utilizing his jazz CD assortment to make a laid-back soundtrack for the restaurant. Present co-owner Donald Rossa got here on board as managing associate in 2001, and within the wake of 9/11, he pushed for reside jazz.
“I stated, ‘We’re going to rejoice being American, and our authentic artwork kind is jazz,’” Rossa informed us final yr. “And Miles stated he was on board with it, as a result of Miles taught me about jazz. I did not know something about it. I used to be a rocker.”
Rossa grew to become the only real proprietor in 2003, and shortly introduced typically supervisor Matt Ruff, who’s stayed in that place as a co-owner (the duo at the moment co-owns Dazzle with Austin Andres and Jan Cleveland). The membership grew to become immensely common within the jazz scene, beginning out by reserving primarily native acts after which including nationwide and worldwide jazz legends similar to Jim Corridor, Jimmy Heath, Robert Glasper, Benny Golson and numerous others. By 2017, the membership wanted extra space, and it moved to the historic Baur’s Constructing, at 1512 Curtis Road.
Then got here the pandemic. Despite the fact that it needed to shut in March 2020, like all eating places and venues, Dazzle’s staff nonetheless had the group’s musicians in thoughts, and helped arrange a statewide drum circle to maintain spirits up in the course of the somber occasions. “When the pandemic occurred and all the things shut down, Dazzle opened nearly instantly a meals pantry for musicians, after which they began livestreaming performances,” Dawkins remembers.
“Dazzle did not take any cash for that — they put the musicians’ Venmo on there, so folks paid the musicians immediately,” she provides. “They needed the musicians to outlive and get by means of in order that they might, as effectively. It is a actually symbiotic relationship.”
And luckily for Dazzle, there is no dearth of gifted jazz musicians on this metropolis. “It additionally helps that Denver and Colorado simply have such an unimaginable expertise pool with a lot talent and artistry,” Dawkins notes. “We might get acknowledged for lots of the touring exhibits that we carry by means of, however nearly each single native act that we placed on our stage can simply compete with the identical stage of expertise because the touring exhibits. It is simply having that high quality of music obtainable so readily to spotlight on levels that has helped Dazzle achieve this effectively.”
Whereas there have been many jazz venues in Denver, Dazzle set itself aside not solely with the range of musicians it books, but in addition the respect it exhibits them. “We’re a critical listening room,” Dawkins explains. “Throughout our exhibits, we ask that conversations be stored to a naked minimal and that each one electronics be silenced, in order that the main target is solely on the music and with the ability to admire the expertise of reside music.”
Though the venue weathered the pandemic with the assistance of a sympathetic landlord, Rossa knew it wanted a unique dwelling, and final August Dazzle introduced that it could be shifting into the performing arts advanced, which is owned by the town. “Donald has truly been making an attempt to maneuver into this area for fifteen years, and he is been speaking on and off to Denver Arts & Venues about it, and the timing simply by no means labored out proper,” Dawkins says. “Then it was time to resume the lease at Baur’s, and…the timing simply lastly labored out proper that the area was obtainable, and Dazzle was in a position to go away due to a pure ending.”
Though the goal date for Dazzle’s transfer was November, “we had the identical expertise that almost all eating places and bars have in Denver, and there is only a very sluggish allowing course of,” Dawkins explains. “And, you recognize, we labored with Denver and we lastly acquired by means of it. Now we get to open!”
Dazzle had its last present on the Baur’s location on July 29, and can rejoice its grand reopening at 1080 14th Road on Friday, August 4, and Saturday, August 5, with exhibits every evening at 7 and 9:30 p.m. The early exhibits have already offered out, however that is no shock: The venue is bringing in Denver jazz veterans René Marie and Daybreak Clement, who will carry out with John Gunther, Steve Kovalcheck, Seth Lewis and Dru Heller.
“Daybreak Clement lives right here domestically and teaches over at MSU and performs nationally. René Marie used to reside right here and is shifting again to the town after caring for her mother and father, who in the end handed away,” Dawkins notes. “She is an outdated legend right here.”
One other legend shall be celebrated at Dazzle: The venue is devoted to sustaining the legacy of one other beloved jazz membership with the El Chapultepec Piano Lounge, in partnership with the El Chapultepec Legacy Venture.
The Pec, as that iconic venue got here to be recognized, opened the day Prohibition resulted in 1933 and survived for 87 years beneath the identical household’s administration earlier than it shuttered for COVID. Jerry Krantz ran it for many years; after his dying in 2012, daughters Anna Diaz and Angela Guerrero took over. However in December 2020, they introduced that El Chapultepec would shut for good.
That was a serious cultural loss for the town, Dawkins displays. “It was so unpretentious. You can be in there subsequent to state senators and you would be in there subsequent to homeless folks, and everyone was good; everyone simply got here to chill out and benefit from the laid-back ambiance, the nice music, have some good dialog, have a superb drink, a scorching canine, possibly some inexperienced chile — that was their total menu,” she remembers.
Rossa and the sisters “have all the time recognized one another and all the time talked on and off over time,” Dawkins notes. “Through the pandemic, they spoke extensively; all the jazz membership house owners acquired collectively and helped with the meals pantry. It could have been centered at Dazzle, and Dazzle might have gotten all the recognition for it, however it actually was all the jazz membership house owners coming collectively, even simply letting all their musicians learn about it, to unfold the phrase and ensure folks had been getting the sources that they wanted. After which extra just lately, Anna and Angela are trademarking their identify and wish it to be in use.” In order that they began the El Chapultepec Legacy Venture, and labored with Dazzle to have that identify reside on.
Beginning this fall, the El Chapultepec Piano Lounge will stage late-night acts on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. that showcase native musicians, notably ones who used to play the ‘Pec. And, in line with that venue’s legacy, all the lounge exhibits shall be free. “That makes it much more of a beautiful partnership and collaboration,” Dawkins says, “as a result of our ticket costs are getting dearer as different bills go up. And we all know that retains some folks from seeing jazz in our venue, and we hate that. However now we have to pay the payments, and with El Chapultepec coming in with no-cover late-night units, it implies that folks can come hand around in our venue and see it and nonetheless hear nice, nice, nice music with out the identical prices. And it might pull in a unique crowd, and it might pull in the identical crowd in search of a unique vibe. It simply expands the individuals who can proceed to construct an appreciation for jazz.”
Dazzle is additional honoring Denver jazz’s Chicano and Hispanic roots by means of a set of work by Shay Guerrero that depict those that devoted themselves to the scene, together with KUVO radio host Carlos Lando, KUVO vp Tina Cartagena, KUVO music director Arturo Gomez and KUVO founder Flo Hernandez-Ramos, in addition to Krantz and Freddy Rodriguez Sr., the saxophonist who was a bandleader at El Chapultepec and dubbed it the ‘Pec.
“We have now quite a few artworks by native artists depicting musicians from the native music scene. We have now an set up by Brett Matarazzo of Charles Burrell, who is popping 103 this October,” Dawkins provides. “He celebrated his birthday final yr with us, and he got here in and signed the piece; we had an unveiling for him and his household. We even have a girls in jazz wall with six totally different native musicians who’ve had a big impact on the native jazz scene.”
As Dazzle prepares to ring in a brand new chapter, it is persevering with to place its cultural stamp on Denver.
“It is simply actually a milestone to be invited into the Denver Performing Arts Complicated,” Dawkins concludes, “as a result of it exhibits that the town appreciates and values Dazzle and jazz’s place in Colorado’s musical and cultural panorama.”
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