Monthly Archives: January 2014

On December 21^st, 2013, I performed with Lisa Downing and Bob Baker, both from Denver, again at DazzleJazz. Both shows were to full houses and it was really nice to again perform in Denver’s premier live jazz club.  This concert was videotaped and you should soon find posts on You Tube of the individual songs chosen by the performers.  A highlight of this concert was welcoming a lifelong friend of mine, Don Graves, to the stage for one song where he played spoons and I played piano.  Don (Harmon Graves) is the author of two books: When I was Three, and, Passionate Landscape: The Painting Journeys of Buffalo Kaplinsky.  Also during this concert I featured three new compositions that will be a part of my upcoming third solo piano CD to be released hopefully by the summer of 2014.

At little later in 2013 I performed in Salida, Colorado, with Lisa Downing, and Argentine pianist, Julio Mazziotti.  What a wonderful artisan community Salida, Colorado is now.  The performance was at the SteamPlant Events Center, and was well received by the entire audience. A bonus for me was that the concert was hosted by a good friend of mine, Jan Justis, an extremely talented dancer and choreographer.  In fact she created the Jan Justis Dance Company in Denver, which is how I met my life partner Nancy, one of the company’s original members.

May of 2013 offered me a unique experience of hosting my first house concert here in Mancos, Colorado, at Nancy’s and my house.  Again it was sold out, and featured my good friend, award winning solo pianist Lisa Downing in concert with me.  Lisa and I have performed with Liz Story, Kathleen Ryan, Joseph Akins, and Julio Mazziotti, to name a few.  The experience was so wonderfully received that another concert with Kathleen Ryan and myself is in the planning stages for the early summer of 2014 at our house.

In February of 2013 I accompanied the renowned cabaret singer, Gillian Kelly, along with bassist Chad MacCluskey.  The performance over two nights was a fundraiser for the Durango Arts Center Theater Department.  Both nights were sold out shows.  Her program entitled, “From Pops to Classics,” was a true challenge of classical repertoire showing  classical themes that have gone on to become themes used in both pop music and jazz.