Although the two records that Butch Walker (due this Friday, November 15, at the Larimer Lounge) made with the Black Widows were collaborative efforts, from songwriting to production, Walker opted for a more personal approach on his latest five-song EP, Peachtree Battle. The album is about his father, who passed…
After more than two decades of living in the United States, synthpop pioneer Thomas Dolby (due at the Bluebird Theater this Thursday, November 14) returned to the coast in Suffolk, England, where he grew up and later built a studio called Nutmeg of Consolation in a 1930s lifeboat, and that’s…
Equally gifted as a bassist and composer, Ben Allison has released some outstanding and forward-thinking recordings over the course of his career, beginning with his 1996 debut, Seven Arrows, through his forthcoming release, The Stars Look Very Different Today. Slated for release in December, the album reflects his lifelong fascination…
While the ellipsis in front of …And the Black Feathers might immediately draw comparisons to, well, a certain other band that has three dots before its name, that’s essentially where the similarities end. That much is clear from the slow strum of the reverb-drenched guitar on “Evol (Part 1),” the…
Although Chris Daniels will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of his group, Chris Daniels and the Kings, next year, he started out playing acoustic folk in the ’70s, first with the Rosewood Canyon and then with Magic Music, an outfit hailed as Colorado’s first jam band. We spoke to Daniels about…
This Friday, November 8, at the Paramount Theatre, the Colorado Music Hall of Fame’s current inductees, which include John Denver, Barry Fey, Harry Tuft, Red Rocks, Flash Cadillac, Sugarloaf, the Astronauts and KIMN radio, will be joined by a brand-new class that includes a peer group of folksingers, including Judy…
It’s evident from “A Fence of Colorado Stone,” the opening track on Two Billion Acres of Salt, that vocalist Hezekiah Goode has a strong affinity for old-time folk and country — and pedal-steel player Glenn Taylor, banjoist Keith Reed and fiddle player Greg Buergler help him drive this point home…
SAT & SUN | HOUSTON PERSON at DAZZLE | 11/30-12/1 While tenor saxophonist Houston Person, who turns 78 on November 10, has recorded a number of soul-jazz albums under his own name since the mid-’60s, he’s also played on platters by Horace Silver, Eddie Harris, Cedar Walton, Charles Brown and…
While studying trumpet performance at St. Olaf College in Minnesota two decades ago, Jason Harrelson, owner of Harrelson Trumpets, became consumed with learning how the trumpet works and understanding the physics of playing one. In 1993, he began experimenting with trumpet mouthpieces, enlarging throats, backbores and adding mass, and before…
Although jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan, who’s just going by his first name these days, is only in his mid-twenties, he already has more than two decades of playing under his belt. Having started on piano at the age of three, he was already playing festivals by the time he was…
The Monkey Barrel, a new bar and live music venue being brought to us courtesy of Rock-a-Billies owner Jimmy Nigg, was slated to open last month, but after some construction delays, the venue, which is housed in the former Salvagetti Bicycles space at 1611 Platte Street, pushed back its debut…
After years of refusing to play Soul Coughing songs, Mike Doughty, the band’s former frontman is not only performing entire sets of the band’s material, but he also released an album of Soul Coughing tunes reimagined. The title of the disc, issued last month on Doughty’s Snack Bar imprint, is…
Armed with just two acoustic guitars, a trap kit and Nate Cook’s zealous singing, the Yawpers have been known to kick up a hell of a racket not only on stage, but also in the studio, as heard on last year’s Capon Crusade. That same musical energy is more than…
THE BAD PLUS at THE ORIENTAL THEATER | 10/19/13 After the Bad Plus opened its set with “Pound for Pound” and “Wolf Out,” bassist Reid Anderson told a packed Oriental Theater, “We have to roll out the brand tunes because it’s that time of year,” he said. “The season changes…
There’s lots of variety to be found on On the Lam, the latest album from Fort Collins’s Escape Goats. The bluesy roots of opener “I’ll See You Again” recall the music of the Band — frontman Joe Schicke’s vocals are similar to Levon Helm’s — while the trio locks into…
Throughout the history of jazz, groups have been driven by a single leader. But when the Bad Plus formed thirteen years ago, the trio made it a point to be more of a collective. The approach had worked well for drummer Dave King’s group Happy Apple, which he co-founded four…
Justin Henry has a pair of Rottweilers, ages seven and eight. He can’t take them everywhere, but he’d certainly like to. Specifically, a place where he could drink and have the dogs with him. With that in mind, last April he took over the former Priddy Auction Galleries space at…
An integral part of jazz is the swing feel, and drummers are often the ones stoking that fire, helping to propel the song along with the other players involved. While the saxophonists, trumpeters, pianists and guitarists all get their fair share of attention, the importance of a great drummer can’t…
Nearly a year after Quixote’s relocated into the former Bender’s location on 13th, owner Jay Bianchi has opened up a new place. This one’s called The Donkey O.T. (get it?), and it’s at 1630 Federal Boulevard, which was the home of Atmosphere Ultra Lounge since June, 2012. Since the bar…
With new bassist Kim Shattuck in tow, Pixies are slated to headline the Fillmore Auditorium on Thursday, February 13, with Best Coast. Tickets ($49.50/$55) go on sale this Friday, October 11, at 10 a.m. Keep reading to see what other shows are on sale this week, what songs are being…
With a moniker that means “lucid canvas” in Spanish, the Littleton-based Lucida Tela draws from a varied palette on this self-titled effort. Prog-rock remnants of the band Tryst — some of whose members are now in Lucida Tela — can be heard on cuts like “Temperal Illusion” and the odd-metered…
On the title track of the Patti Fiasco’s Small Town Lights, which also serves as the album’s opener, the Fort Collins-based quintet starts off fairly tame, with strumming acoustic guitars and a slide resonator guitar that sounds almost like a pedal steel. It’s a bit twangy at first, but in…
