Jewelry is the easiest way to take your fashion sense from basic to unique in a matter of seconds. However, it can be hard to find unique pieces that won’t break or tarnish with the natural wear and tear of life. Here are some great Denver jewelry stores, moving from most affordable to more high end, for jewelry that looks good and lasts.

Affordable Gems: Gorjana

Location: 3000 E 1st Ave Space 180 in Cherry Creek

The best store for jewelry that won’t break the bank is Gorjana. Gorjana is a wide spread jewelry store found in many states with a Denver location in Cherry Creek. It has a mix of affordable (but still long lasting) pieces as well as a line of fine jewelry that is slightly more expensive but made with more durable metals.

They have a selection of necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings that are good basics to wear everyday and mix and match. If jewelry intimidates you, this is a great place to start and pick up some items you can wear with any outfit.

Mid Price Range: AS Jewelry Design

Location: 86 N Pennsylvania Street, Denver

Moving up in price slightly, but increasing in individuality is Ashley Schenkein Jewelry Design. AS Jewelry Design has a plethora of options. Ashley has created multiple collections of jewelry and also creates custom pieces. Prices start around 40 dollars and go up depending on materials used and the kind of design. She has a good mix of affordable pieces as well as luxury pieces if you are looking to spend a bit more. Another perk of her store is that she has permanent jewelry options.

Read Here: The Best Places to Shop for Men’s Accessories in Denver

Luxury Designs: Love Saro

Location: 2702 E 3rd Ave, Denver

For luxury jewelry in Denver, a great shop is Love Saro. Specializing in permanent jewelry, this is a great place to go if you are looking for a design to last a lifetime. A mother-daughter-operated company that focuses on creating a shopping experience that is personal to each person who books an appointment. Love Saro has a bit of a higher price range since it is luxury, but these designs are guaranteed to last.

This brand has countless unique designs that will not only compliment but inspire an outfit. They even have designs that include “healing stones”, which are certain gems that are believed to bring good energy.

Whether you’re looking for a basic chain to mix with your existing jewelry or a stand out necklace that will start conversation, Denver has it. Stores like Gorjana, AS Jewelry Design and Love Saro are committed to providing shoppers with dependable jewelry that will last. Check out all these locations and more in Denver, you’ll be sure to find something you can’t leave without.

Denver will spend $15 million to study how Peña Boulevard could be widened in hopes of accommodating more traffic to the airport after the City Council on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a five-year contract.

The contract, with Lakewood-based Peak Consulting, will consider ways to widen the road west of E-470 as well as potential environmental impacts. The study, a requirement under the federal National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, is a precursor to an eventual construction project on the corridor.

The proposal highlighted differences among council members, some of whom see the widening as an intuitive step to ease congestion while others say widening roads doesn’t improve the problem in the long term.

With a 9-2 vote, support for advancing the project grew from a closer 7-6 vote on funding a year ago. Several council members who had opposed studying the widening supported the concept Tuesday.

“I have been going back and forth on this,” Councilwoman Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez said. “I agree that expanding the highway doesn’t necessarily solve the problem. … I am also concerned about what this means for residents in that area.”

She added that the council will still have a chance to vote on whether to approve any widening project — which would likely cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars — after the study is complete. While Gonzales-Gutierrez voted against a related matter in 2024, she voted in support of the study Tuesday.

Council members Paul Kashmann and Darrell Watson, who also had voted against it in the past, voted in favor, too. Council members Amanda Sandoval, Kevin Flynn, Jamie Torres, Amanda Sawyer, Flor Alvidrez and Stacie Gilmore all supported the 2024 measure and the one approved Tuesday.

Several council members spoke about the importance of improving the highway — not just for employees and travelers headed to Denver International Airport, but also for the residents who live nearby and use it for many reasons.

“For me and my neighbors, it’s our lifeline,” said Councilwoman Stacie Gilmore, who represents neighborhoods around Peña Boulevard.

Councilwomen Sarah Parady and Shontel Lewis have voted against advancing the project both times. On Tuesday, they said they opposed the contract because it wouldn’t include a study of ways to boost transit ridership on the A-Line, a commuter-rail train that runs from Union Station to Denver International Airport.

“These investments, or some combination of them, could allow Denver to escape the seemingly endless cycle of highway expansions that will inevitably fill up with more traffic,” she said.

Flynn, for his part, said he would like to see the A-Line studied separately.

The Peña Boulevard study process will include public engagement, scoping, analysis of alternatives, environmental effects and possible mitigation. Peak Consulting’s team will also perform some design work under the contract. An airport official said earlier that the process was expected to take less than the maximum five years.

Councilwoman Diana Romero Campbell abstained from the vote, citing that a family member works for one of the team’s subcontractors. Councilman Chris Hinds was absent Tuesday.

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Originally Published: April 1, 2025 at 6:02 PM MDT

On Thursday, April 3rd, the inaugural Denver Jazz Festival kicks off. Jazz has long held space in Denver, the city’s history tied to that of the genre. Now, Denver Jazz Festival seeks to celebrate that history with a weekend-long festival featuring some of the most important jazz musicians working today, including Bill Frissell, Ghost-Note, Isaiah Collier, Ganaya, and many more. The festival is also something of a celebration of Denver music as a whole, as it will be spread out across 12 of the Front Range’s most beloved venues, including Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, Dazzle, Nocturne, and the Boulder and Fox Theatres. The festival hopes to highlight the genre in all its glory, from the traditional to the very non-traditional, so whether you’re a jazz scholar or are first getting into the genre, this weekend is a perfect time to immerse yourself in jazz in all of its many variations.

303 Magazine spoke with Denver Jazz Festival founders Don Lucoff and Dave Froman about the festival’s inception, their love of jazz, Denver’s ties to jazz music, what fans new and old can expect and much more.

READ: Venue Voices — Nocturne Jazz & Supper Club Highlights the History of Jazz in Five Points

303 Magazine: Hello! I usually like to start these off by having you introduce yourself and tell me what it is you do in your own words.

Don Lucoff (DL): I moved to Denver full time about seven years ago but traveled here annually in the early 90s for several years during the formative years of Jazz Aspen Snowmass, supporting the efforts of my longtime friend Jim Horowitz. Although my core career as a jazz professional is in marketing and began nearly 40 years ago, I still love getting behind the mic, as I spent my college and post-college
time as a jazz DJ and curated jazz shows at my alma mater, San Diego State. Even before that, I presented Larry Fine of the Three Stooges fame at my high school. I knew from that point I was destined for show business. Along the way, I have promoted jazz from Istanbul to Panama, Detroit to the Caribbean, and ran the Portland Jazz Festival for a decade, and briefly served as President of Vail Jazz just prior to COVID.

Dave Froman (DF): I wear a number of hats. In the course of a day, you might find me at an interactive event introducing jazz to 100 third-graders, performing on stage at Dazzle with an 18-piece big band, on site at a commercial property that requires attention, or, more often than not, in front of my computer in my home office for the past 30 years at 8,500 feet in the foothills west of Denver.

303: Tell me about your experience with jazz music. When did you first notice the music, and how has it affected you throughout your life and career?

DF: My love of jazz dates back to the first time I was introduced to this amazing art form in junior high school. I played trumpet in the jazz band and have never stopped. Currently, I perform with the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra — an 18-piece big band — in addition to Blue Sky Jazz Collective, a post-bop modern jazz quintet. As a college senior, I produced the First Annual UC Santa Barbara Invitation Jazz Festival and decided that this would be my path in life. Sixteen years ago, I took the helm of Gift of Jazz, a Denver-based nonprofit. For the past 30 years, it’s been our mission to enrich the Front Range community with jazz education and performance programming for all ages. Denver Jazz Fest is in many ways the culmination of my life’s work to date.

303: Denver Jazz Fest seems poised to become a new Denver tradition. Can you tell me about the festival’s inception? Do you have an ultimate goal for the festival?

DL: David and I met at Dazzle when he presented a tribute to Alan Hood on behalf of Gift of Jazz. It was clear to both of us that Denver was one of the rare exceptions of an American major city without a national jazz festival that also supported the local artists and jazz education. The reasoning was clear: Denver boasts an award-winning 24-hour jazz radio station, a year-round jazz club with clever and creative programming, and an abundance of private and public jazz education programs in and around the Front Range region.

303: In addition to celebrating jazz, the festival seems to be a celebration of Denver itself. The festival is spread out over 12 very different but equally important venues in terms of Denver’s thriving
musical ecosystem. Can you tell me a little about why you chose the venues you did?

DF: From the outset, it’s been our intention to create an event that is inclusive of the vibrant jazz
community here. To that end, we spent the first year of our planning process meeting and creating partnerships with all the stakeholders that are involved in presenting and supporting jazz in the Front
Range on a year-round basis. We wanted everyone to feel a part of this – certainly the clubs, but also the
artists, radio stations, nonprofits and halls of jazz education. The selection of 12 venues was also in keeping with the goal of appealing to the broadest possible demographic of listeners.

303: From dueling pianos at Charlie Brown’s to upscale nights at Dazzle or Nocturne to sweatier, more raw experiences at Meadowlark jazz nights, the genre has long made its mark on this city. Can you
talk a little bit about the history of jazz in Denver?

DF: While I’m no expert on the subject, we all know Five Points was the Harlem of the West. As bands traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles, they found in Denver a community that welcomed them —
providing hospitality and great venues like the Rossonian Hotel and Casino Ballroom (now Cervantes’
Masterpiece Ballroom) which hosted the likes of  Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, B.B.
King and Ray Charles. The Roxy was a black-owned movie theater going back to the 30’s. Louis
Armstrong and Billie Holiday both performed there. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to
bassist Charles Burrell, who broke color barriers as the first black artist to perform in a major symphony
orchestra. Charles, a mainstay of the jazz scene here for decades, recently celebrated his 104th birthday
and he’s still going strong!

303: As far as the artists go, they range from the traditional to the very non-traditional. This seems to me to appeal to a wide-ranging audience of jazz fans while also seeking to draw new appreciators into the genre. Can you talk about finding the balance between the new and the old, the traditional and the non-traditional? And how does that thinking apply when planning such a festival?

DL: In order for live jazz to continue its cultural relevancy, the music needs to grow and continually re-invent itself. Denver presenters, both non-profit and for-profit, do a commendable job of offering incubator venues to PACs, standing only ballrooms, piano lounges, galleries, and other creative environments that draw distinctively supporting audiences. We feel it’s our job to collaborate and curate within this ecosystem.

303: Do you have any artists in particular you’re personally excited for?

Lucoff – Jazz Festivals for the jazz fan and casual listeners are about the joy of discovery. We are offering highly skilled players of many jazz facets for wide musical tastes. I speak with people coming in from out of town and they are looking to hear what is best represented here by the local players. Well, they won’t be disappointed. We have jazz royalty here: Art Lande, Ken Walker, Eric Gunnison, among others, performing and a special player, Rico Jones, who is making his mark now as a New York City resident. Our two most cherished nationally recognized artists with deep Denver ties are Dianne Reeves (her first Denver show since 2018) and the indefatigable Bill Frisell. Our timing is also perfect to have a new voice on saxophone: Isaiah Collier will be making his Denver debut. You will hear a lot about him, and in a decade will say to your friends, “I saw him at Dazzle in 2025. You missed something special.”

303: Finally, what else would you like the people to know about Denver Jazz Fest? What can attendees expect?

DF: It’s often been said that “the house of jazz has many rooms”. Denver Jazz Fest is offering an
opportunity to peek into many of them with an unmatched variety of music over four days. From
straight-ahead jazz played at the highest level, to explorations that push the boundaries, from great
vocalists to exciting instrumentalists, a mambo orchestra to dance to and some amazing jam bands. I’m
personally having a hard time figuring out how to take it all in!

Get tickets to Denver Jazz Fest here!