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!

A $15 million contract to study and begin designing a potential widening of Peña Boulevard has put a spotlight on a longstanding fissure among Denver City Council members as they grapple with how to address the often-congested artery to Denver International Airport.

Ahead of a vote Tuesday, some on the council say the study is a necessary step in pursuing an intuitive solution — more lanes — for a worsening traffic problem. Others see the proposal as an expensive, dead-end deal that won’t thoroughly consider improving transit options.

“We don’t know what’s going to come of the study,” said Phil Washington, the CEO for the airport. “The study itself will reveal other alternatives that are possibilities. So all we’re saying is: Let’s do the study.”

If approved, the five-year contract with Lakewood-based Peak Consulting would be paid for out of DIA accounts. It would include an environmental review to meet federal requirements and some design work for the project.

DIA, where over 40,000 people work, has said for years that the city needs to find a way to address the ballooning congestion. The average daily traffic on the road has increased 80% between the airport’s opening in 1995 and 2023, from 75,000 vehicles to more than 136,000. That figure could exceed 186,000 vehicles before 2050, the airport has estimated.

Between 2016 and 2023, roughly 45% of 1,250 crashes along the road were read-end collisions, largely due to congestion, DIA data shows.

“I would ask that we push this through because it protects the safety of my community,” said Councilwoman Stacie Gilmore, who represents the communities around Peña Boulevard, during a committee meeting on the proposal. “Otherwise, you’re trapping us.”

DIA and the council are looking primarily at Peña west of E-470. East of the tollway, where it’s largely an airport-access road, DIA has been widening and rebuilding the road on its own in recent years.

Last year, Gilmore and six other council members approved an agreement for a $5 million state grant that, coupled with money from DIA, set aside $18.5 million for environmental studies and design of the widening, plus some other things. Six of the 13 council members, including Councilwoman Sarah Parady, voted against it.

Now the contract for studies and design work is bringing the issue back to the council.

Parady has said she won’t support the proposal unless it explicitly includes research into how to encourage more people to take the A-Line train, which runs from Union Station to DIA’s terminal.

“I feel like I’m in crazyland here, you guys,” Parady said during a March committee meeting. “The train runs along the road. We are dying of climate change. How are we not even going to study that?”

Is A-Line expansion a possibility?

Parady wants to see the airport examine things like safety concerns, public awareness of the train and possible changes to the A-line’s fares, frequency and infrastructure.

Scott Morrissey, the vice president of sustainability for the airport, responded that there wasn’t evidence that a transit-only solution could alleviate traffic.

The A-Line is one of the Regional Transportation District’s most-used rail lines, but it isn’t at capacity. RTD has suggested that it wouldn’t dedicate funding to making improvements on the line until the train cars are full.

“There is not a possibility to expand the A-Line, nor is there a need right now. Until we can fill it up,” said Councilman Kevin Flynn, who represents southwest Denver and supports the road expansion. “This is not the place to wage a war on cars.”

But opponents of the plan have also pointed to past studies, which show that widening roads can alleviate traffic temporarily — but ultimately attracts more people to drive on them, rather than spurring people to consider alternative options, such as transit.

If the airport does decide to widen the road, Morrissey said, it won’t be to add another general-purpose lane.

Last year, the airport released updated master plans for its transportation demand and Peña Boulevard, with the goal of reducing “drive-alone trips” for employees and passengers. The plan laid out possible improvements for the highway. Those options, which would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars, included possibly adding a bus-only lane or a managed toll lane.

The environmental study would be conducted in line with the current federal National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, process. One snag: the way developers comply with NEPA, which has been criticized as an overly onerous and expensive process, may be changing under President Donald Trump’s administration.

The airport vowed to study impacts prioritized at the local level, “even if they might not be in the official federal NEPA documentation,” Morrissey said.

Councilwoman: “We need both” options

Under the proposal from Peak Consulting, the process would include public engagement, scoping, analysis of alternatives, environmental effects and possible mitigation.

During the March meeting, council President Amanda Sandoval asked how the airport arrived at the eye-bulging $15 million price tag for the contract. Morrissey responded that officials looked at similar projects to create that estimate, but the project may not take the full five years allotted.

Peak Consulting didn’t respond to a request for comment on the contract Monday.

The contract would include the amount of design work needed to satisfy the NEPA process, typically to the 30% level. It also includes an option for the firm to design the entire project.

If city officials ultimately decide to widen the road, the airport would likely pay for the majority of the cost and about a third would be paid for by other entities, possibly including the Colorado Department of Transportation, Washington said. The Federal Aviation Administration, though, has said it won’t contribute.

The study contract hit bumps earlier this year when council members’ questions about the proposal went so long in a committee meeting that a vote on it had to be postponed.

Council members said they’ve gotten hundreds of emails on the topic.

In an email to her constituents, many of whom take Peña for non-airport travel, Gilmore urged them to show up to a council general public comment session to support the study. In a suggested script, she encouraged them to focus on the impact for neighbors of the road.

“This shouldn’t be a black and white issue. Our only options shouldn’t be widen a road or build out our train system,” according to her email. “We need both.”

The council will consider the resolution during its regular meeting Tuesday, which begins at 3:30 p.m.

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Standing tall on Zuni Street in the La Alma-Lincoln neighborhood of Denver is one of the city’s old power stations. It might not be so easy on the eyes right now, but Historic Denver CEO John Deffenbaugh sees greatness beyond the graffiti. 

“This building has really been at the heart of this area for 120 years,” he said.

Originally, the building was set to be demolished in 2021 before his organization and the Denver City Council made an appeal to Xcel Energy, the owners of the defunct station and plot of land, to hold the bulldozers.

“It really is going to take a very serious and considered approach,” he explained. “Thirty days to sell a building of this sale is ridiculous.”

This past February, Xcel wrote a letter to the city and various preservation organizations stating that they would open up a 30-day window to try and find a developer who would take on the land and the building. Bids have been sent to Xcel, but no agreements have been reached. That 30-day window has since run out and now the site’s future is even more uncertain. Deffenbaugh believes that the area can be repurposed similar to the old streetcar power station on Platte St. which is now the home of the city’s REI flagship store and anchor of Confluence Park. 

“Just a mile or so down the river, we have this building, and people don’t seem to be connecting the dots,” he said. 

The biggest question seems to be the environmental cleanup required of the area. The power station utilized coal and natural gas over the course of its lifespan and has several pipes that lead out into the Platte River. 

In their February letter, Xcel explained, “Xcel Energy is not a community developer. It is our practice and approach not to undertake redevelopment of existing facilities.”

If the property doesn’t sell, Xcel says, they may need to use the utility infrastructure in a different way to meet Denver’s electricity goals. While they say they aren’t a developer, the letter went on to further state that the company doesn’t seem to believe a building retrofit could be the best course of action for the site. 

But Deffenbaugh sees things differently, hoping to have the ability to lead a coalition that will save the building and anchor it to a growing and quickly changing neighborhood just south of Empower Field at Mile High.

“This is a building which caused pollution through coal fire and energy generation but it’s the same community that were affected by that pollution that want the building to stick around for community benefit,” he concluded. 

The city council and Historic Denver have appealed for a 180-day period to re-open public bidding in efforts to find a developer that will take over the site.