Denver, CO
Storied Denver vinyl shop opens 2nd location in time for Record Store Day
Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath and the Eagles all released major albums in 1975. So did Bruce Springsteen, Steely Dan, Paul Simon and Led Zeppelin. And you can still find some of them (probably most of them) at Wax Trax Records, which opened in Denver that year and has been Capitol Hill’s neighborhood record shop for three generations of music fans.
But you’ll also find vinyl pressings by modern stars like Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, not to mention fringe bands and local acts, which isn’t something most people would have predicted in the 1990s as CD sales and online music put an end to the record business.
Or so it seemed – a resurgence in interest in physical records began about a decade ago when stores like Urban Outfitters began selling cheap turntables to Gen Z. In 2013, 6.8 million vinyl albums were sold in the United States, according to Statista. Five years later, annual sales had reached 16.1 million, and in 2023, record makers sold 49.6 million vinyl albums.
“The record industry has had its ups and downs and we have been there for a lot of that,” said Pete Stidman, the majority owner of Wax Trax, 638 E. 13th Ave.
“Right now, things have really come back. … People have started to crave something more than ethereal, digital, have-it-whenever-you-want-it musical experiences,” he added. “Vinyl is not only a direct connection to the music because it is analog, but it is a physical object – and the cover art is a lot of it. That physical piece is important to people.”
So important that Stidman has opened a second, satellite store, Wax Trax Broadway Bazaar, alongside a friend’s vintage clothing business at 200 S. Broadway. Both locations will host big parties for Record Store Day on Saturday, April 20 (see below for details).
The new shop began as a holiday popup last November, but it did so well, Stidman decided to keep it going with additional hours; he’ll open up the full space for the first time this weekend. “People like having a record shop in their neighborhood, being able to walk to it,” he explained. “It doesn’t have the depth that the other store has, but it has what people want.”
Stidman took over at Wax Trax in March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, after spending 20 years in Boston. But he was very familiar with the store. His father, Dave, and Dave’s business partner Duane Davis, had run it since 1978 when they bought it from its previous owners.
During the pandemic closure, he set about cleaning it up and reorganizing the layout – “restoring it to its former glory from the ‘80s and ‘90s,” as he phrased it – and began thinking about opening a second location. South Broadway was the obvious choice, he figured, because of its ties to Denver’s music scene, its location near various venues and its counter-culture vibe.
He wanted to new spot to have its own personality, however. “The Capitol Hill location has a lot of dust on it. Some of the posters on the wall go back to the 1970s. The Broadway location is a lot cleaner and has a lot more sunshine in it. Each place will be unique.”
Record Store Day
Wax Trax will feature hundreds of official RSD releases at both locations and beginner turntable giveaways from Denver-based Victrola. The 13th Avenue store will feature four Denver bands: The Tammy Shine, Quits, Bad Boy Bug, and Cherry Spit. It opens at 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 20. The Broadway store, opening at 10 a.m., will feature DJ Moe Velez from KUVO Jazz radio.
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April will be the premier month for jazz in Denver and Boulder, due to the arrival of the Denver Jazz Fest. Kicking off April 3 and running through April 6, some of the area’s best-sounding venues will open their doors to present internationally known artists and local jazz luminaries.
Performers include saxophonist Joe Lovano’s Paramount Quartet, guitarist Bill Frisell, multi-Grammy winner and Denverite Dianne Reeves, who is unquestionably one of the most accomplished living singers, pianist Omar Sosa, saxophonist Charles McPherson teaming up with trumpeter Terell Stafford, vocalist Ganavya, Boulder-based piano legend Art Lande, emerging and incendiary saxophonist Isaiah Collier, the funk-drenched Ghost Note, The Headhunters and more.
There will be 30 shows total.
It’s encouraging to see the involvement of so many venues in Denver and Boulder, from Nocturne to the Newman Center, presenting such heartfelt music. This will be the first Denver Jazz Fest, and hopefully an annual Colorado tradition will be established. It’s time for the world to be reminded of our extraordinary musical history. Everything you need to know is at denverjazz.org.
Record Store Day
“You can never have enough records” is a statement I embrace. Luckily, Record Store Day is Saturday, April 12. That means your favorite local retailer will amass a stash of limited-edition vinyl for you to grasp excitedly. The archival jazz crop this time around is excellent: there are recently-unearthed live dates from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (“On Fire – Live From The Blue Morocco”,) bassist Charles Mingus (“In Argentina – The Buenos Aires Concerts”,) and trumpet king Kenny Dorham (“Blue Bossa In The Bronx”) which is of particular interest, because there really isn’t a lot of Kenny Dorham music around in physical form.
There’s also an exhilarating four-hour vinyl box from big bandleader and keyboardist Sun Ra, “Nuits de la Fondation Maeght,” which includes a generous amount of previously unreleased sounds of joy from the summer of 1970. It’s as noisy as it is delightful. Locations and the definitive list are at recordstoreday.com. I hope you get what you want.
Guitarist Dave Devine will perform music associated with guitar hero Grant Green at Nocturne March 30, along with a six-course dinner…The Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra presents a tribute to Quincy Jones at Dazzle March 31…The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band will perform at DU’s Newman Center April 8…The Mike Marlier Quartet honors Chick Corea at Nocturne on April 9…the gifted saxophonist Miguel Zenon brings his quartet to Dazzle April 14…saxophonist-vocalist Brianna Harris performs “The Modern Songbook” at Nocturne Saturdays in April…NEA Jazz Master-saxophonist Gary Bartz, who has worked with legends from Art Blakey to Miles Davis, will take to the Dazzle stage May 1-2. Bartz is living history, and he doesn’t appear in Colorado very often…Victor Wooten and the Wooten Brothers appear at the Boulder Theater May 3…
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Even with all of the records that Nikola Jokic already holds in the NBA, he somehow still finds a way to mesmerize fans every game.
As the Denver Nuggets faced off against the Utah Jazz on Friday night, Jokic did the unbelievable and hit a near full-court buzzer-beater in a moment that left fans shocked.
Most importantly for Jokic and the Nuggets, they came out with a win against the Utah Jazz.
NIKOLA JOKIC IS INSANE. 🤯🤯🤯
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 29, 2025
After the game, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone gave his thoughts on Jokic’s impressive accomplishment.
“I don’t know if this still holds true and maybe you guys would know but, somebody told me if Nikola Jokic didn’t shoot those desperation heaves, he would be leading the league in three-point shooting,” Malone said. “If you took all of those out, and what you love about him is he does not care. He shoots the ball because he believes that they are all going in.”
“And when I asked him about it after the game when it left your hands did you think it was going to go in? And he told me actually it did, the way it came out and we all know that we have got spoiled watching him with the touch that he has,” Malone said. “His shot-making ability that he has is just incredible. That put us up by ten at the half. But Nikola can find ways to impress which is very hard to do when a player with as many accomplishments that he has.”
To a degree, NBA fans truly have become spoiled watching Nikola Jokic play basketball. Game after game, he’s found a new Wilt Chamberlain-esque record ot break and continues to hit half-court shots with ease.
Nikola Jokic is in a rarefied type of air, one where he could easily be winning NBA MVPs every year, but he doesn’t, solely due to voter fatigue.
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