The jazz of Nat King Cole is coming to Lakewood

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

With a bass, a piano, a drummer, a guitar and a singer, Lakewood Cultural Center will soon erupt in tunes of Nat King Cole and his jazz quartet with the help of the Colorado Jazz Reperatory Orchestra and singer Robert Johnson.

“We’re addressing the jazz-curious, and we’re providing them with gateway music. And it really works,” Founder and Executive Director of CJRO Art Bouton said.

While they don’t often play series based solely on one artist, the band does play themed shows, like “Great Ladies of Jazz,” playing songs by artists like Ella Fitzgerald. According to Bouton, the Nat King Cole series came about because “Robert Johnson just does it so well.”

Johnson, a professional singer since 1982, focused on R&B previously, but slowly warmed up to Big Band tunes, rst starting to sing with the CJRO on and o four years ago.

“What I always try to do when I do these tunes in particular, I really want to put it in as close to the context of what he did with his own little trio,” Johnson said about Feb. 26’s Nat King Cole show. “His trio became the standard to what a jazz trio still is today.”

“He was one of the premiere jazz pianists of his time,” Johnson continued. “If this becomes something where people want to nd out a little more about him, I’m glad to be do- ing it and doing a little introduction.”

For this concert, it’s “just Robert Johnson singing the music of Nat King Cole with a quartet: piano, bass, drums and guitar,” Bouton said, with the band playing their own arrangements and some original works too.

“We will include original works, provided they t the theme and the groove and the feel of the concert,” Bouton said. He gave an example of Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” and how they reimagined it with a funky New Orleans feel. “We’ll start with a theme, we’ll start with a song, but then we actually start improvising as we are writing the tune.” e band orchestra itself started almost 10 years ago.

“I started this group as a cleanse for every bad musical experience I’ve ever had,” Bouton commented. “ e goal was to create the nest music with the nest musicians, and then pay them for rehearsals and for the gigs, and treat everybody with respect.”

Beginning at Lone Tree Arts Center, the orchestra has grown enough to do just that.

“We pay the arrangers to write the arrangements and pay them very well. We pay the musicians to play, we even provide a meal between sound check and the concert. at doesn’t sound like much but it’s a big deal,” Bouton continued. “ e last three albums, everything on them, every tune, is either an original composition or an arrangement by someone in the band.”

Tickets for the show can be found on CJRO’s website.

“Anything that will get people to come through the door and appreciate the form is a good thing,” Johnson said.

The City of Wheat Ridge is recruiting residents wanting to be involved and participate in their government, by volunteering on the City’s Boards and Commissions. Applicants should live in the district for which they are applying. Applications from interested residents must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. February 12, 2023 to the City Clerk’s office at 7500 W. 29th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 or emailed to wrbnc@ci.wheatridge.co.us.

Applications for any position will be kept on file for one year. Term endings and or Openings are currently available on the following:

Board of Adjustment – District II, District III, District IV, and At Large. Meets on the 4th Thursdays at 7 p.m.

Building Code Advisory Board – District I and One AtLarge. Meets as needed on the 2nd Wednesdays at 9 a.m.

Cultural Commission – District I, District II, District III, and District IV. Meets on the 2nd Wednesdays at 6 p.m.

Liquor Licensing Authority Board –District IV (term to expire 3/2/24). Meets as needed on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 9 a.m.

Parks & Recreation Commission – District II, District III, and District IV Meets on 3rd Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m.

Planning Commission –District II, and District IV. Meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 7 p.m.

Renewal Wheat Ridge (Urban Renewal Authority) –Alternates from any District (At Large) Meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays at 6 p.m. as needed.

Go to https://bit.ly/WRboardscommissions for detailed descriptions of the Boards and Commissions and to submit an online application. Printed applications can be mailed to City Hall Attn: S. Pomponio at 7500 W. 29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge CO., 80033

For more information please visit https://www. ci.wheatridge.co.us/1127/Boards-Commissions. Please contact Administrative Assistant to Mayor and Council, Stephanie Pomponio at 303-235-2977 or Deputy City Clerk Robin Eaton at 303-235-2816.