All That Jazz: Dazzle's Grand Reopening in New DPAC Digs Happens This Weekend

As Dazzle prepares for its highly anticipated opening at 1080 14th Street this weekend, longtime patrons will be pleased to know that the seminal jazz club's new space in the Denver Performing Arts Complex harks back to its early years at 930 Lincoln Street, according to the venue's marketing manager, Kelley Dawkins.

"My parents have actually been taking me to Dazzle since it opened in ’97," she says, "and this space is more reflective of the Ninth and Lincoln space. There was the main listening room and then there was the outside bar area, and we have a main listening room here and then we have a bar and a piano lounge that are distinctive, but connected. The flow is a lot smoother, with three separate spaces that are still very interconnected."

The original location had been the home 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. But jazz was there from the beginning, with Snyder using his jazz CD collection to make a laid-back soundtrack for the restaurant. Current co-owner Donald Rossa came on board as managing partner in 2001, and in the wake of 9/11, he pushed for live jazz.

“I said, ‘We’re going to celebrate being American, and our original art form is jazz,'” Rossa told us last year. “And Miles said he was on board with it, because Miles taught me about jazz. I didn't know anything about it. I was a rocker.”

Rossa became the sole owner in 2003, and soon brought in general manager Matt Ruff, who's stayed in that position as a co-owner (the duo currently co-owns Dazzle with Austin Andres and Jan Cleveland). The club became immensely popular in the jazz scene, starting out by booking primarily local acts and then adding national and international jazz legends such as Jim Hall, Jimmy Heath, Robert Glasper, Benny Golson and countless others. By 2017, the club needed more space, and it moved to the historic Baur's Building, at 1512 Curtis Street.

Then came the pandemic. Even though it had to close in March 2020, like all restaurants and venues, Dazzle's team still had the community's musicians in mind, and helped organize a statewide drum circle to keep spirits up during the somber times. "When the pandemic happened and everything shut down, Dazzle opened almost immediately a food pantry for musicians, and then they started livestreaming performances," Dawkins recalls.

"Dazzle didn't take any money for that — they put the musicians' Venmo on there, so people paid the musicians directly," she adds. "They wanted the musicians to survive and get through so that they could, as well. It's a really symbiotic relationship."

And fortunately for Dazzle, there's no dearth of talented jazz musicians in this city. "It also helps that Denver and Colorado just have such an incredible talent pool with so much skill and artistry," Dawkins notes. "We may get recognized for a lot of the touring shows that we bring through, but almost every single local act that we put on our stage can easily compete with the same level of talent as the touring shows. It's just having that quality of music available so readily to highlight on stages that has helped Dazzle do so well."

While there have been many jazz venues in Denver, Dazzle set itself apart not only with the diversity of musicians it books, but also the respect it shows them. "We are a serious listening room," Dawkins explains. "During our shows, we ask that conversations be kept to a bare minimum and that all electronics be silenced, so that the focus is solely on the music and being able to appreciate the experience of live music."

Although the venue weathered the pandemic with the help of a sympathetic landlord, Rossa knew it needed a different home, and last August Dazzle announced that it would be moving into the performing arts complex, which is owned by the city. "Donald has actually been trying to move into this space for fifteen years, and he's been talking on and off to Denver Arts & Venues about it, and the timing just never worked out right," Dawkins says. "Then it was time to renew the lease at Baur's, and...the timing just finally worked out right that the space was available, and Dazzle was able to leave because of a natural ending."

Although the target date for Dazzle's move was November, "we had the same experience that most restaurants and bars have in Denver, and there's just a very slow permitting process," Dawkins explains. "And, you know, we worked with Denver and we finally got through it. Now we get to open!"

Dazzle had its final show at the Baur's location on July 29, and will celebrate its grand reopening at 1080 14th Street on Friday, August 4, and Saturday, August 5, with shows each night at 7 and 9:30 p.m. The early shows have already sold out, but that's no surprise: The venue is bringing in Denver jazz veterans René Marie and Dawn Clement, who will perform with John Gunther, Steve Kovalcheck, Seth Lewis and Dru Heller.

"Dawn Clement lives here locally and teaches over at MSU and performs nationally. René Marie used to live here and is moving back to the city after caring for her parents, who ultimately passed away," Dawkins notes. "She is an old legend here."

Another legend will be celebrated at Dazzle: The venue is dedicated to maintaining the legacy of another beloved jazz club with the El Chapultepec Piano Lounge, in partnership with the El Chapultepec Legacy Project.

The Pec, as that iconic venue came to be known, opened the day Prohibition ended in 1933 and survived for 87 years under the same family's management before it shuttered for COVID. Jerry Krantz ran it for decades; after his death in 2012, daughters Anna Diaz and Angela Guerrero took over. But in December 2020, they announced that El Chapultepec would close for good.

That was a major cultural loss for the city, Dawkins reflects. "It was so unpretentious. You could be in there next to state senators and you could be in there next to homeless people, and everybody was nice; everybody just came to relax and enjoy the laid-back atmosphere, the good music, have some good conversation, have a good drink, a hot dog, maybe some green chile — that was their entire menu," she recalls.

Rossa and the sisters "have always known each other and always talked on and off over the years," Dawkins notes. "During the pandemic, they spoke extensively; all of the jazz club owners got together and helped with the food pantry. It may have been centered at Dazzle, and Dazzle may have gotten all of the recognition for it, but it really was all of the jazz club owners coming together, even just letting all their musicians know about it, to spread the word and make sure people were getting the resources that they needed. And then more recently, Anna and Angela are trademarking their name and want it to be in use." So they started the El Chapultepec Legacy Project, and worked with Dazzle to have that name live on.

Starting this fall, the El Chapultepec Piano Lounge will stage late-night sets on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. that showcase local musicians, particularly ones who used to play the Pec. And in keeping with that venue's legacy, all of the lounge shows will be free. "That makes it even more of a wonderful partnership and collaboration," Dawkins says, "because our ticket prices are getting more expensive as other expenses go up. And we know that keeps some people from seeing jazz in our venue, and we hate that. But we have to pay the bills, and with El Chapultepec coming in with no-cover late-night sets, it means that people can come hang out in our venue and see it and still hear great, great, great music without the same costs. And it can pull in a different crowd, and it can pull in the same crowd looking for a different vibe. It just expands the people who can continue to build an appreciation for jazz."

Dazzle is further honoring Denver jazz's Chicano and Hispanic roots through a collection of paintings by Shay Guerrero that depict those who dedicated themselves to the scene, including KUVO radio host Carlos Lando, KUVO vice president Tina Cartagena, KUVO music director Arturo Gomez and KUVO founder Flo Hernandez-Ramos, as well as Krantz and Freddy Rodriguez Sr., the saxophonist who was a bandleader at El Chapultepec and dubbed it "the Pec."

"We have numerous artworks by local artists depicting musicians from the local music scene. We have an installation by Brett Matarazzo of Charles Burrell, who is turning 103 this October," Dawkins adds. "He celebrated his birthday last year with us, and he came in and signed the piece; we had an unveiling for him and his family. We also have a women in jazz wall, with six different local musicians who have had a huge impact on the local jazz scene."

As Dazzle prepares to ring in a new chapter, it's continuing to put its cultural stamp on Denver.

"It's just really a milestone to be invited into the Denver Performing Arts Complex," Dawkins concludes, "because it shows that the city appreciates and values Dazzle and jazz's place in Colorado's musical and cultural landscape."