Concert Reviews

Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom at Green Mill, Chicago (October 20, 2017)

Although Allison Miller’s sextet Boom Tic Boom had just played an acclaimed set at the Chicago Jazz Festival over the Labor Day weekend, she was back in Chicago (with a somewhat different personnel) for a mid-October gig at the Green Mill. Thomas Cunniffe was on a working holiday in the Windy City, and he offers a review of two sets from the Friday performance.

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Cyrille Aimée at the Lakewood Cultural Center (March 27, 2015)

From the stage of the Lakewood Cultural Center, Cyrille Aimée told the audience that she loves performing in Colorado. And so, just a few months after performing in Denver, she and her quartet returned for concert performances of the music from her CD It’s a Good Day. In his review, Thomas Cunniffe notes that while the music was superb, the program only showcased part of Cyrille Aimée’s abundant talents.

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Kurt Elling and the Swingles at the Soiled Dove, Denver (December 5, 2017)

On a chilly night in Denver, Kurt Elling and the Swingles heated up the stage of the Soiled Dove with an eclectic repertoire of jazz, pop, folk, blues and holiday favorites. Thomas Cunniffe was in attendance, and he writes about the spectacular performances by Elling and the Swingles, Elling’s outstanding new band, and of a quickly-devised encore that involved all of the singers.

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UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival (April 20-22, 2017)

JHO principal writer Thomas Cunniffe grew up in Greeley, Colorado and went to music school at that city’s University of Northern Colorado. Thus, he has a unique perspective on the annual UNC/Greeley Jazz Fesitival. Over the past four decades, he has seen it grow from a stream of performances by college big bands and combos held in a converted movie theater to a fully professional presentation featuring world-class artists. In his Concert Review, Cunniffe states that the 2017 edition may be one of the best he’s witnessed, not only for the stellar performances by Sheila Jordan, Aubrey Logan, Greg Gisbert, Dave Liebman, Jimmy Heath, and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Band, but also for a remarkable suite based on Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.

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UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival (April 21-23, 2016)

The 46th annual Greeley Jazz Festival featured a remarkable array of guest artists including New York Voices, Ellis Marsalis, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Houston Person, Tamir Hendelman and Joey DeFrancesco. However, it was also a reunion of alumni from Greeley’s University of Northern Colorado Jazz Studies department. Thomas Cunniffe, who is one of those alumni, offers an extended review of the festival.

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Gretchen Parlato at Rockwood Music Hall, New York City (December 6, 2012)

Music (and especially jazz) has the quality of a living organism, changing from night to night as its players find new avenues of expression. After a year of global touring, Gretchen Parlato and her band are recording live versions of songs previously issued on her studio albums. Nicky Schrire attended one of these live sessions in New York City, and offers this concert review.

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