Post Paradise are Nick Duarte (guitar/vocals), Josh Freed (bass), Amy Morgan (cello) and Craig Babineau (drums)

As you may know, at Savvant Music we search for music that is polished, with great live shows, awesome original music, well performed musically and ready for discerning listeners, and yet still under the radar of the major labels and major indies.  As such, we don’t usually write up bands that are just forming, but we’re making an exception with Post Paradise, because we’re so impressed with their fantastic song writing, arrangements and musicality of their performance.

Starting off at Hodi’s with Better Off Post Paradise immediately caught us with their full sound and very energetic and professional stage show.  Working through failing microphones and lack of monitor support, front man and composer Nick Duarte handled the challenging situation without batting an eye, pushing through the problems and delivering a great show through it all.

Post Paradise live

Duarte’s compositions use chord progressions and voicings you might not be used to in many rock bands, yet even with a cello instead of a guitar on the instrumental leads, this is unabashed rock music.  The rock steady groove set down by bassist Josh Freed and drummer Craig Babineau provides a rock and roll canvas for the lyrical counterpoint of Duarte’s well sung vocal melodies and the rocking riffs ripping out from the lovely Amy Morgan on the cello.

Another favorite song of mine on Post Pardise‘s playlist is the hard hitting irony in A Way With Words in which Duarte rocks back and forth between “A face that screams sincerity” and “The kind of fake that you adore” underlined with an intense and driving counter melody played by Morgan on the cello.

Post Paradise doesn’t yet have any formally released albums, but if you’re lucky you can pick up a free demo CD at one of their upcoming gigs. They’ll be playing on Saturday, April 11th at 6:00pm as part of the Fort Collins Music Experiment (FoCoMX) at the Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins, Colorado on the bill with The Heyday, The Piggies, Common Anomaly, Roe and more. FoCoMX will feature over 100 bands from northern Colorado and is being put on by the Fort Collins Musicians Association (FoCoMa.org).

Note: Post Paradise recordings, songs and lyrics are copyright Post Paradise and are streamed here with permission.

Thomas Marriott and Hadley Caliman play in perfect unison at Dazzle

Trumpeter Thomas Marriott put together a fantastic jazz quintet featuring the pure, clear and rich tenor sax tones of the amazing Hadley Caliman.  Marriott‘s deep melodious flugelhorn and rich trumpet tones were perfectly entwined with Caliman‘s when they played together, and yet they played nicely contrasting improvisational solos individually.

A little tired of standing venues with sticky floors, booming bass through earplugs and teenagers scrubbing off under-aged marks in the bathrooms, my partner Bob Carnahan and I took a night to enjoy some incredible grown-up jazz down in Denver, Colorado at one of our favorite listening rooms, Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge.

Phil Sparks on bass violin

Surrounded by room full of jazz lovers, we soaked up the vibes of this fantastic Seattle-based quintet.  In addition to Marriott and Caliman, the group included drummer Matt Jorgensen, bass violinist Phil Sparks and Denver-local guest pianist Jeff Jenkins. Sparks kept up a hot bass line most of the time, but one of my favorite bass moments was his initial solo stint when he picked up a bow and played a very rich melodic bass solo — still hot and jazzed, but very different from your typical jazz bass solo.

Jeff Jenkins on piano

From the start Denver jazz pianist Jeff Jenkins was just amazing, playing a seriously hip and engaging solo with a awesome and unusual rhythmic left hand chord composition against a lovely contrasting melodic element.  He’s definitely a local artist we’ll want to follow closely and hear more.

Another local guest, Boulder trumpeter Brad Goode, sat in with the quintet on several numbers.  Goode blew us away once before at a previous gig at Dazzle when he was a guest of local Denver group Table for 5, and his soaring, ripping melodies and his contrasting, unique style blew us away once again.  Where Marriott‘s solos were rich and harmonious, Goode‘s playing was edgy, screaming and flavored with bop, and while both were exceptionally good, it was difficult to realize they were playing the same instrument, so different are their style.

From Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” to Miles Davis‘ “All Blues”, Marriott and Caliman played together with the ease of true professionals, their styles and tones well matched to each other.   Drummer Matt Jorgensen added hot rhythmic accents and kept things tight and moving.

If you get a chance to see any or all of these guys, jump at it.  In fact, Brad Goode will be performing at a CD release party in The Dazzle Showroom starting at 7pm on Wednesday, November 26th (that’s the day before Thanksgiving).  I can’t make it, but I hope you can go for me!

Hadley Caliman also has a new CD out, called “Gratitude” which Bob Carnahan purchased last night.  Hopefully we’ll get a review of some of the tracks from Bob later this month!

You can buy Gratitude from Amazon, or on .  Hadley Caliman, Brad Goode, Matt Jorgensen, Thomas Marriott, and Phil Sparks are all on Origin Records label.

Marriott, Sparks, Caliman and Jorgensen