Songs & Stories

Tansy Wine defies genre boundaries and captivates audiences with its unique blend of jazz, art music, and more. Tansy Wine has a stunning display of up-and-coming musical powerhouses in its ranks - Sofia Avery (Composition & Vocals), Sonya Walker (Keys), Maximillian Moore (Keys), William Kuepper (Bass), and Gabriel Gravagno (Drums). Tansy Wine’s engine runs on resplendent skill and focus from all five, knitting together a vibrant musical landscape and bringing otherworldly stories to life. Bandleader Sofia was the 2018 Gift Of Jazz Award winner and an arranger for the CSO’s 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Awards ceremony.

Iterations of Tansy Wine’s rhythm section feature regularly as the house band for the Mercury Cafe’s weekly jazz jam (highlighted in Westword’s “Best Shows to Go Out and See”). Tansy Wine's shared passion for collaboration, experimentation, and exploring the future of jazz has fused into a truly extraordinary sonic experience.

Catch them live at Dazzle on Friday, January 26, 2024.

Our guest today is Shane Dähler, drummer for the contemporary jazz quintet. Daruma will appear at Dazzle on Sat, January 20. 

Daruma is a fresh, new, contemporary jazz project featuring original music by some of Denver’s finest young talent. Their sound takes audiences from deep grooves to intimate ballads to Coltrane-inspired swing. Daruma reinterprets the jazz aesthetic for the 21st century and crosses it with progressive rock, film music, and neo-soul in a genre-bending original sound.

Ensemble members have performed with leading voices in contemporary music, ranging from Billy Childs, Rufus Reid, and Tia Fuller to the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Big Gigantic. They’ve played at notable venues, including Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the Blue Note Amsterdam, and Birdland, and have won ASCAP and Downbeat awards.

The ensemble will release its debut album on the respected Monk Music label in the spring of 2024.

“iies.” is an emerging artist/band from Denver, CO. The name “iies” is coined from the lead vocalist’s birth name "Craig Northup II," which takes the Roman numeral two to symbolize the two letter "i’s," creating the word "iies."- pronounced "eyes".

known for engaging performances & past debut hip-hop albums such as "Poetry in the Field" and "Rebirth", iies. now tours Denver with “The iies. Collective,” a band dedicated to pushing the musical envelope by bending genres and lyrical feats with a style they call “experimental jazz rap” and “Homesickness." Their latest single blends Folk, Hip-Hop, Jazz, and ambient music in a refreshingly new and beautiful way - sure to bring you into tears and the realm of nostalgia. The collective plans to release their latest debut album in the following months!

Craig (Lead Vocalist) Baz Gillen (drums), Killian Bertsch (Piano), Aidan Roberts (guitar), and Jacob Montano (bass) have showcased at notable venues around Denver, such as Appaloosa, Lost Lake, The Roxy Theater, The Roxy Broadway, The Gothic Theater, Cervantes, Your Mom's House, Underground Music Showcase, Sofar Denver and many more. They are known for hypnotic rhythms, electrifying lyrical feats, and dazzling solos - told by many as a must-see act! 

Far from past personas and no longer held by the mental restraints of societal, parental, and internal shortcomings, iies. now expresses a fully realized identity proudly with stories of trauma, culture, redemption, and spirituality.

Alex Heffron is a jazz guitarist located in Denver, CO.  Alex has a degree in Jazz Guitar from the University of Colorado Boulder. He is a member of numerous groups around Colorado and has performed with many of the local legends, including Ken Walker, Eric Gunnison, Paul Romaine, John Gunther, Paul Warburton, Bob Montgomery, Paul McKee, Jeff Jenkins, Joe Anderies, Gabe Mervine, and Todd Reid, to name a few.

He has performed with noted artists such as Tony Monaco, John Riley, Kenwood Denard, Pat Coil, Greg Gisbert, Matt Wilson, Melvin Butler, Corey Christiansen, Earl Klugh, John Von Ohlen, Marvin Stamm, Cody Moffett, Howard Levy, Donald Harrison, Chuck Lamb, Dave Roitstein, Brad Goode, and many others. 

Alex was also selected as one of 89.3 KUVO's 30 musicians under 30 initiative, which highlighted young and upcoming musicians around the Denver area.  He has been playing guitar since he was 9 years old and studied with the best in Denver and around the world. Alex continues to learn and study from the incredible tradition of jazz and classical music while trying to refine his own voice in jazz guitar.

The Jacob Larson Band is a 10-piece funk and soul ensemble combining powerhouse vocals, classic instrumentation, and an old-school approach to music. Digging inspiration from the roots of soul religion, the band shares their own take on notable influences such as Tower of Power, Stevie Wonder, and Earth, Wind, and Fire. 

Jacob, an experienced entertainer with a strong and soulful voice, leads the band with true dynamic flair and presence, delivering the goods with a performance that moves and excites concert-goers of all ages.

The Jacob Larson Band will appear at Dazzle on Friday, January 12, 2024, for a 6:30 p.m. show.

An in-demand keyboardist outside his own projects, Adam Bodine, has racked up thousands of performances with hundreds of groups, playing alongside some of the best in the biz. A go-to studio session musician to boot, Bodine is regularly recruited for all sorts of recording work. He has also accompanied various theatrical productions, including musicals, silent films, improv comedy, dance troupes, and various cultural arts and social justice presentations.

Extra cool, Adam currently plays in the house band at eTown, the illustrious and nationally syndicated radio show and multimedia organization out of Boulder. In recent times with eTown, Adam has accompanied a myriad of popular artists including Rufus Wainwright, Madison Cunningham, City and Colour, Shovels and Rope, The Milk Carton Kids, The Secret Sisters, Bruce Cockburn, Ron Sexsmith, Peter Rowan, Daniel Rodriguez, Abraham Alexander, S.G. Goodman, Allison Russell, Calexico, Buffalo Nichols, Jake Blount, Parker Millsap, The Ballroom Thieves, Mmeadows, Dom Flemons, and The War and Treaty.

Bodine will appear at Dazzle on Wed, December 27, 2023.

Mike Marlier has performed and recorded with countless artists and musicians, including Dave Grusin, Nelson Rangell, Benny Golson, Bobby Shew, Rob Mullins, the Neophonic Jazz Orchestra, Lee Ritenour, and Stanley Jordan. He is the staff drummer at the annual Conference on World Affairs at CU and Mile Hi Church in Lakewood. Marlier was the featured drummer at the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert presented by the Gift of Jazz in 2009 and presented a clinic and masterclass at a Gospel Chops seminar in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2014. 

Eric Gunnison has worked extensively with trumpeter Ron Miles, with whom he has toured and recorded since 1997, including appearing as a clinician and pianist with Miles’s quartet at the 1st Annual Thailand Jazz Conference and the Bangkok Jazz Festival in 2009. Gunnison has also been the pianist and a composer/arranger for the cooperative band Convergence, one of Denver’s leading jazz ensembles, since 1991. In addition to releasing several recordings, Convergence hosts a monthly series of appearances with special guest jazz artists at Denver’s premier jazz club Dazzle that, since February 2010, has featured Roberta Gambarini, Rene Marie, Randy Brecker, Jim McNeely, Chris Potter, Christian McBride, Wallace Roney, and Bobby Watson among others.

The Eric Gunnison & Mike Marlier tribute to Chick Corea will take place on Wednesday, January 3. Showtime is 6:30 PM, with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. Tickets and more info: https://www.dazzledenver.com

Max Bessesen is a multi-woodwind instrumentalist and composer in NYC. His “saxophone virtuosity” (Downbeat) has made him an in-demand sideman alongside musicians like Frank Lacy, Joe Farnsworth, and Mimi Jones. He has performed across the US, the Netherlands, Jordan, and NYC venues like Dizzy’s, Ornithology, and Birdland. His acclaimed 2020 album Trouble (Ropeadope) features Ron Miles, and the single “Bakkam” won an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award.

Max Bessesen and his group will appear at Dazzle on Wednesday, December 27, for a 7:30 p.m. show. Doors open at 7. 

Lynn Skinner is a classically trained vocalist whose out-of-the-box personality quickly led her to weave her 3-octave voice into jazz, original music, folk, bossa nova, and a series of tribute concerts ranging from Duke Ellington to Joni Mitchell.

For over 40 years, Lynn has brought her artistry as a Denver-based performer and voice educator to much of the USA, the UK, France, and Switzerland in intimate cafés, clubs, schools, festivals, and concert halls.

Lynn Skinner and her band will perform at Dazzle (Denver) on Thursday, January 4, for a 6:30 p.m. show. Doors open at 5:30. 

DAES is a group of musicians committed to pushing the boundaries of jazz music through modern jazz hip-hop fusion. DAES comprises current and former students from the Denver School of the Arts. Members include Elias Earl (vibraphone), Declan Scully aka GOLDICHOPS (drums), Scarlet Before-Horses (piano), Aesop Pelta-Tiller (bass), and Gwen Parney featured on saxophone.

DAES will perform at Dazzle on Friday, January 5, for a 6:30 p.m. show. Doors open at 5:30.