Jazz Notes: Breakstone brings horn-like approach to guitar

If you’re looking for a lot of guitar pyrotechnics, then Joshua Breakstone may not be your cup of tea. But if you like your guitar swinging and supple in single-line fashion, then Breakstone, who performs at Dazzle on Thursday night, is your man. Breakstone picked up the guitar when he was about 14 and studied with Sal Salvador. For college, the New Jersey native headed to New College of the University of South Florida and took a couple of semesters to also study at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

Four years after he graduated in 1975, the guitarist appeared on his first recording. Four years after that, he had his first release as a leader. Since that point, Breakstone has issued a long series of discs on several labels, from Contemporary to Capri Records (the fine, Colorado-based independent label). Breakstone’s latest entry, in fact, is No One New on Capri (his fifth for the label).

Breakstone was captivated by jazz through the sound of trumpeters, especially Lee Morgan, and that influence can still be heard in his horn-like approach to the guitar. For Thursday night’s stop at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln, Breakstone is going duo with bassist Earl Sauls who was on the guitarist’s initial release as a leader (Wonderful! ), as well as later discs. The duo hits the stage at 7 and 9 p.m. ($15, 303-893-5100).

Among other things, Breakstone has an interesting connection to Japan. He toured the land of the rising sun with trumpeter Terumasa Hino and recorded for the Japanese King Records label in the 1990s. Additionally, he recorded a limited edition CD called Japanese Songs which happens to include the tune Akatonbo (or Aka Tombo).

Interestingly enough, composer/conductor Chie Imaizumi arranged Aka Tombo for a big band under a commission from the Consulate-General of Japan at Denver. Her version of the traditional Japanese song is part of her regular repertoire and you might even find on her upcoming recording for Capri scheduled for New York City in January. And, as the fates would have it, Imaizumi just happens to be at Dazzle the night after Breakstone’s appearance at the club (and on the first night of Hanukkah).

Born in Japan, Imaizumi now resides in Denver and she is something else. Her music (as well as the way she conducts it) simply makes your heart want to sing. Her small, big band is filled with strong players and is on stage Friday at 7 and 9 p.m. ($15).

It’s the last chance you have to hear her perform in town before she takes off for her recording trip to New York. For that adventure, she has a band that includes a host of mighty players from trumpeters Randy Brecker and Terell Stafford to bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton. They want to play her music and who can blame them.

On Saturday, bluesman Sammy Mayfield is at Dazzle at 7 and 9 p.m. ($15). Then, come Sunday, the wonderful pianist Ralph Sharon offers his Christmas sounds at Dazzle starting at 6 p.m. Ron Moewes on drums and Dean Ross round out Sharon’s trio ($12). Though best known for the decades he spent in the company of singer Tony Bennett, Sharon, who now lives in these parts, has covered a number of musical bases. For example, on his 1954 album Jazz Around the World, Sharon featured players such Charles Mingus and Kenny Clarke. And through Bennett, the pianist got to be up-close and personal with the Duke Ellington band. While the Duke passed from the scene 35-years ago, his orchestra keeps on going. And on Tuesday, the Duke Ellington Orchestra led by the Duke’s grandson Paul Ellington pulls into Boettcher Hall for its own Christmas concert in conjunction with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

I would assume that following the Big Band Christmas theme of the concert, the Ellington band will draw from the holiday standards found on its earlier Christmas releases. Though, I must say, the inclusion of Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s reworking of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker (from the 1960 album Three Suites) would be even better. The music at Boettcher in the Denver Performing Arts Complex is at 7:30 p.m. ($75-$90, 303-623-7876).

Over at Jazzmatazz, 1612 E. 17th Ave., the weekend finds trumpeter Hugh Ragin on tap on Friday starting at 8:30 p.m. and saxophonist Rich Chiaraluce taking the stage on Saturday also at 8:30 p.m. (303-333-3503).

On a final note: The soundtrack from Rene Marie’s powerhouse, one-woman Slut Energy Theory – U’Dean is now available at the singer’s website www.renemarie.com ($12). Though the disc runs just under 40 minutes in length, this gospel and blues flavored soundtrack contains a number of profound musical moments expressed in songs such as I Ain’t Ashamed and especially Jesus Left a Stain. There’s also Nothin’ but Love that, with some added production, would put most pop hits from female vocalists to shame. Add in Walkin’ to the Grand Canyon and It Ain’t What You Done Lost and you have more musical highs in under 40 minutes than you are likely to find on most multiple disc sets. Bill Kopper, Jeff Jenkins, Paul Romaine and Bijoux Barbosa provide the instrumental backing for Marie’s top-shelf and heart-felt vocals.

Norman Provizer writes a Jazz Notes column on Thursdays at kuvo.org. Provizer, who’s also a political science professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver, was a regular contributor to the Rocky Mountain News.