Rocco Williams, 16, didn’t like jazz when he first started attending Denver School of the Arts to study percussion, but then he discovered the vibraphone and Artie Shaw, Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson. Now it’s all he wants to play.
Saxophonist Rico Jones, 16, was turned off of jazz when he first started sixth grade at Denver School of the Arts because he didn’t feel he was good at it. But after encouragement from his band director, he rededicated himself.
Camilla Vaitaitis, a 2012 graduate of Littleton High School, had trouble finding people at her school who liked jazz as much as she did. But after joining the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts, she’s one of Denver’s top young jazz pianists. And she found some friends to play with along the way.
Even as high schools and middle schools across the Denver metro area have seen a reduction in music programs, jazz in Denver is experiencing a renaissance among youth, who have outlets to play in the community that didn’t exist before.
Groups like the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts — a nonprofit group geared toward educating youth in jazz — and strong high school programs such as Denver School of the Arts and Denver East High School are producing students who play at a higher level and get more opportunities to play than students 15 to 20 years ago.
“What I see is that (students) are playing really great music and have something to offer audiences. It’s not like it was when I was in school where it was hard to listen to,” Denver School of the Arts director of bands Dave Hammond said.
Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts started 15 years ago when drummer Paul Romaine and his wife developed the program and got some of the top jazz artists in the area to sign on to be leaders. Students in middle school and high school can sign up and are split up into combos led by a mentor for 10-week sessions.
Students cap off each session with a concert at Dazzle, one of the better-known jazz clubs in the city. Now Romaine is seeing some of his students from a few years ago popping up on some newer jazz albums, and he thinks more is to come.
“When you hear young groups playing, you’re going to find a big percentage of them went through this program and are still involved in this program,” Romaine said.
Williams and Jones are both involved with the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts, and Vaitaitis is now working as a mentor with one of the groups and studying jazz piano at the University of Denver. All three of them are committed to having a career in jazz. For Williams, working with the instructors is motivating.
“It’s kind of like a window into the future, because that’s what I want to do,” he said.
Vaitaitis said Denver has a growing jazz scene and there are opportunities to play every night of the week at jam sessions, even though she’s under the age of 21.
Places like Dazzle, 930 Lincoln St., make it easier by giving youth opportunities to play weekly.
Dazzle music director Kevin Lee said a good part of the venue’s program comes from booking high school and college acts.
Williams and Jones have formed their own combo with other members of the jazz bands at Denver School of the Arts and Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts and recently played at Dazzle.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking thinking about all the amazing people who played there,” Jones said. “But I try and focus on the music and not worry about it.”
Lee said he’s noticed a difference in the quality of the high school groups he’s booking lately, and some are better than the college combos that are coming through.
Jazz radio station 89.3 KUVO also supports high school and college programs and has shows dedicated to local student groups affiliated with a school or an outside group.
Assistant program director Erik Troe said he’s noticed some of the students who were part of high school groups are now in groups he’s playing during regular programming.
“When it comes to the state of jazz in Colorado, we’ll have no shortage of players,” Troe said. “Building the fan base is a different question.”
Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joe_vacc
