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