John Gunther

John Gunther — Saxophonist • Composer • Multi-Reedist • Educator

John Gunther picked the saxophone in third grade because he liked its shape—and everything since has grown from that lucky choice. He’s now an acclaimed performer, composer, collaborator, and educator whose work moves fluently between jazz, classical, new music, chamber settings, world traditions, and electronics. “In the 21st century, we carry the sum of human music in our pockets,” he says. “Part of our job as artists is to figure out how to process and navigate that.” Gunther draws on jazz, folk, classical, and global “style tributaries,” shaping them with an ear for melody, groove, and narrative.

Brad Goode: Polytonal Big Band: The Snake Charmer

by Jack Bowers
February 22, 2025

"Polytonal," according to Webster's, denotes “the simultaneous use of two or more musical keys." Denver-based trumpeter and educator Brad Goode makes full use of that technique on The Snake Charmer, the debut recording by Goode's well-named Polytonal Big Band. When all has been written and played, two things are clear: first, Goode is a world-class big-band ...

Goose Chase

February 5, 2025

Album: Polytonal Big Band: The Snake Charmer
By Brad Goode
Label: Origin Records
Released: 2024
Duration: 08:48

Polytonal Big Band: The Snake Charmer

By Brad Goode

Label: Origin Records
Released: 2024
Track listing: Goose Chase; The Snake Charmer; Just a Thought; Ornithology; Pentacles; Cabin in the Sky; Hypnotic Suggestion; I Can't Forget About You.

Vibes on a Breath

By Ted Piltzecker

Label: OA2 Records
Released: 2023
Track listing: If I Only Had A Brain; Nature Boy; Roaring Fork Closure; We��ll Get Through This; Stolen Moments; Subconscious Lee; New Orleans; It Could Happen To You; In Your Quiet Place; Seven Steps To Heaven; Bus.

Ted Piltzecker: Vibes on a Breath

by Jack Bowers
September 22, 2023

Even though Ted Piltzecker is a splendid vibraphonist and ushers a group of Colorado's leading jazz musicians through its paces on Vibes on a Breath, it is his sparkling arrangements that carry the day on this delightful new album. Several members of Piltzecker's septet double, and he makes the most of that versatility, writing charts that ...

If I Only Had a Brain

August 16, 2023

Album: Vibes on a Breath
By Ted Piltzecker
Label: OA2 Records
Released: 2023
Duration: 06:59

Rene Marie at the new Dazzle

by Geoff Anderson
August 14, 2023

Rene Marie Dazzle Denver, Colorado August 4, 2023 It's always a joy when singer Rene Marie comes to town. Friday night was special because she opened the new Dazzle nightclub with two sets and two more on Saturday night. Marie lived in Denver for several years and, as one ...

Ari's Funhouse

By Ben Markley

Label: OA2 Records
Released: 2022
Track listing: Birdless; Lyric; Lines of Oppression; Bert's Playground; For Tracy; Arrows and Loops; Green Spleen

Ben Markley Big Band: Ari's Funhouse

by Jack Bowers
May 15, 2022

Ari's Funhouse, recorded in July 2021, sprang from a chance encounter at a Texas jazz festival in 2019 between New York-based drummer & composer Ari Hoenig and Denver-based pianist & arranger Ben Markley. After performing with Hoenig in a small group, Markley asked if he might score some of Hoenig's songs for a big band. Hoenig ...