Saxophonist and composer Rico J ones is joined by is joined by mentors and collaborators trumpeter Brad Goode (trumpet)\, Essiet Essiet (bass) Sylvia Cuenca (drums) to present Bearer of th e Awakening. This collection of music moves through ballads\, swin g\, blues\, gospel\, Afro-diasporic rhythms\, and open improvisation and w as conceived as both a musical journey and a larger poetic statement\, the music explores prayer\, identity\, ancestry\, mentorship\, healing\, fait h\, love\, and our relationship with the Creator\, ultimately reflecting o n the sacredness of life and our responsibility to future generations.\n
A Colorado native now based in Harlem's Sugar Hill\, Rico Jones is a saxophonist\, composer\, and bandleader who began playing in the gospel band at Denver's Cure d'Ars Church at 13\, and that spiritual grounding st ill shapes his sound. He's studied with George Coleman\, Sonny Rollins\, B obby Watson\, and Vincent Herring and holds bachelor's and master's degree s from the Manhattan School of Music. He has performed with the Mingus Big Band\, Jeff 'Tain' Watts\, Esperanza Spalding\, Terence Blanchard\, and J oe Lovano\, headlined the Kennedy Center's Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival \, and made his Blue Note NYC debut in 2025. His debut album BloodLine s (Giant Step Arts\, 2025) earned four stars from DownBeat and a plac e on the magazine's Best Albums of 2025 list.
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Thursda y Show Times:
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Set 1 - 6:30-7:45pm | Set 2 - 8:30-9:45
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Reservation Information:
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Main level and mezzanine table s are reserved for Dinner and a Show Reservations and include our seasonal three course menu and the cost of music\n
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Reserved Bar Seats ~~are $29 per guest and include music. Bar seat guests can order from o ur entire dinner menu as well as our wine and craft cocktail list.~~
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The 'Ellington Experience' is the ultimate night out at Nocturn e\, featuring a five course tasting menu with wine pairings\, served at ju st two tables per set in our favorite nook of the main level under the cur ve of the grand art deco staircase.
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Important Notes:
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- On Wednesdays and Thursdays we set asid e four to six walk-in bar seats per set. Walk-in guests will have a music charge of $29 per person applied to their check.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20261009T180000UTC-0908A0O1eI@https://nocturnejazz.com/ DTSTAMP:20261015T010302Z CATEGORIES:Nocturne Jazz DESCRIPTION:
Fridays nights in October\, we welcome acclaimed Denver trum peter Derek Banach back to the stage as he presents Four Decades of Wayne Shorter. This super swinging and acclaimed band wil l include some of Colorado's finest: Jeremy Wendelin (sax)\, Dave Hanson ( piano)\, Andrew Rose (bass) and Todd Reid (drums).
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Colora do native Derek Banach has performed professionally for o ver 30 years in a variety of settings from Jazz to Hip-Hop\, Salsa\, Class ical\, and Reggae. His roots are firmly set in the Hard-Bop stylings of 60 's period icons such as Lee Morgan\, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. Derek 's quintet album\, 'Tugende' displays his composing talents and personal a pproach to trumpet playing. He has recorded with Italian producer Nicola C onte\, Quintetto X\, Paul Mulliken and has performed with Wynton Marsalis\ , Richie Cole\, Joe Bonner and Ron Miles.
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Friday Show Times:
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Set One: 6:30 - 7:45pm | Set Two: 9:00 - 10:30pm
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Reservation Inform ation:
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Main level an d mezzanine tables are reserved for Dinner and a Show Reservat ions and include our seasonal three course menu and the cost of music
\n

\n
Reserved Bar Seat s are $38 per guest and include music. Bar seat guests can order from our entire dinner menu as well as our wine &\; craft co cktail list.
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.
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The 'Ellington Experience' is the ultimate night out at Nocturne\, featurin g a five course tasting menu with wine pairings\, served at just two table s per set in our favorite nook of the main level under the curve of the gr and art deco staircase.
\n
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Important Notes:
\n
- We set aside four to six walk-in bar seats per set. Walk-in guests will have a music charge of $38 per person applied to their check on Fridays and Saturdays
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- Due to high demand\, we encourage guests to book well in adv ance on Friday and Saturday evenings
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FR EQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20261016T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20261016T223000 SUMMARY:Derek Banach Quintet honors Wayne Shorter URL:https://nocturnejazz.com/weekly-view/16-uncategorised/4874-derek-banach -quintet-honors-wayne-shorter-2 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=TEXT/HTML:
Fridays nights in October\, we welcome accl aimed Denver trumpeter Derek Banach back to the stage as he presents Four Decades of Wayne Shorter. This super swinging and a cclaimed band will include some of Colorado's finest: Jeremy Wendelin (sax )\, Dave Hanson (piano)\, Andrew Rose (bass) and Todd Reid (drums).
\n
Colorado native Derek Banach has performed pro fessionally for over 30 years in a variety of settings from Jazz to Hip-Ho p\, Salsa\, Classical\, and Reggae. His roots are firmly set in the Hard-B op stylings of 60's period icons such as Lee Morgan\, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. Derek's quintet album\, 'Tugende' displays his composing talen ts and personal approach to trumpet playing. He has recorded with Italian producer Nicola Conte\, Quintetto X\, Paul Mulliken and has performed with Wynton Marsalis\, Richie Cole\, Joe Bonner and Ron Miles.
\n
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Friday Show Times:
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Set O ne: 6:30 - 7:45pm | Set Two: 9:00 - 10:30pm
\n
R eservation Information:
\n
Main level and mezzanine tables are reserved for Dinner an d a Show Reservations and include our seasonal three course menu and the cost of music
\n
\n
Reserved Bar Seats are $38 per guest and include music . Bar seat guests can order from our entire dinner menu as well as our win e &\; craft cocktail list.
\n
.
\nThe 'Ellington Experience' is the ultimate night out at No cturne\, featuring a five course tasting menu with wine pairings\, served at just two tables per set in our favorite nook of the main level under th e curve of the grand art deco staircase.
\n
\n
Important Notes:
\n
- We set aside four to six walk-in ba r seats per set. Walk-in guests will have a music charge of $38 per person applied to their check on Fridays and Saturdays
\n
- Due to high demand\, we encourage guests to book well in advance on Friday and Saturday evenings
\n
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20250309T180000UTC-5317vi34fo@https://nocturnejazz.com/ DTSTAMP:20261015T010302Z CATEGORIES:Nocturne Jazz DESCRIPTION:
Ben Markley and his Quintet return to the Nocturne stage\, presenting an unforgettable night of original wor ks - inspired by hard bop\, post bop and modern jazz.
\nBen Markley is an accomplishe d pianist\, band leader and composer/arranger\, active throughout the Rock y Mountain front range and has performed with Brian Lynch\, Greg Osby\, Ed die Henderson\, Terell Stafford\, George Garzone\, Bobby Shew and John Fed chock and many others. Markley is the leader of the Ben Markley Big Band\, a daring ensemble known for their creative takes on belov ed modern and contemporary jazz classics. Fresh off the heels of Clockw ise: The Music of Cedar Walton\, Markley tackles his most ambitious pr oject yet: Ari’s Funhouse\, a big band album featuring the music of drummer Ari Hoenig\, with Hoenig himself in the drum chair. The album rec eived great critical acclaim and was selected as one of the best 4 star ra ted albums of 2022 by DownBeat magazine. Markley has performed a number of Nocturne artist in residenc ies\, and and one of his trio projects was featured on Nocturne's first ev er record release.
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Saturday Show Times:
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Set One: 6:30 - 7:4 5pm | Set Two: 9:00 - 10:30pm
\n
Reservation Inf ormation:
\n
Main level and mezzanine tables are reserved for Dinner and a Show Reser vations and include our seasonal three course menu and the c ost of music
\n
\n
Reserved Bar S eats are $38 per guest and include music. Bar seat gue sts can order from our entire dinner menu as well as our wine &\; craft cocktail list.
\n
.
\n
The 'Ellingt on Experience' is the ultimate night out at Nocturne\, featu ring a five course tasting menu with wine pairings\, served at just two ta bles per set in our favorite nook of the main level under the curve of the grand art deco staircase.
\n
\n
Important Notes:
\n
- We set aside four to six walk-in bar seats per se t. Walk-in guests will have a music charge of $38 per person applied to th eir check on Fridays and Saturdays
\n
- Due to high demand\, we encourage guests to book well in advance on Friday and Saturday evenings
\n
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20261017T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20261017T223000 SUMMARY:The Ben Markley Quintet URL:https://nocturnejazz.com/weekly-view/16-uncategorised/4877-the-ben-mark ley-quintet X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=TEXT/HTML:
Ben Markley and h is Quintet return to the Nocturne stage\, presenting an unforgettable nigh t of original works - inspired by hard bop\, post bop and modern jazz.
\n
Be n Markley is an accomplished pianist\, band leader and composer/arranger\, active th roughout the Rocky Mountain front range and has performed with Brian Lynch \, Greg Osby\, Eddie Henderson\, Terell Stafford\, George Garzone\, Bobby Shew and John Fedchock and many others. Markley is the leader of th e Ben Markley Big Band\, a daring ensemble known for their creati ve takes on beloved modern and contemporary jazz classics. Fresh off the h eels of Clockwise: The Music of Cedar Walton\, Markley tackles his most ambitious project yet: Ari’s Funhouse\, a big band album featu ring the music of drummer Ari Hoenig\, with Hoenig himself in the drum cha ir. The album received great critical acclaim and was selected as one of t he best 4 star rated albums of 2022 by DownBeat magazine. Markley has performed a number of Nocturne a rtist in residencies\, and and one of his trio projects was featured on No cturne's first ever record release.
\n
\
\n
Saturday Show Times:
\n
Se t One: 6:30 - 7:45pm | Set Two: 9:00 - 10:30pm
\n
Reservation Information:
\n
Main level and mezzanine tables are reserved for Dinner and a Show Reservations and include our seasonal three cour se menu and the cost of music
\n
\n
Reserved Bar Seats are $38 per guest and include mu sic. Bar seat guests can order from our entire dinner menu as well as our wine &\; craft cocktail list.
\n
.
\n
The 'Ellington Experience' is the ultimate night out at Nocturne\, featuring a five course tasting menu with wine pairings\, serv ed at just two tables per set in our favorite nook of the main level under the curve of the grand art deco staircase.
\n
\n
Important Notes:\n
- We set aside four to six walk-in bar seats per set. Walk-in guests will have a music charge of $38 per per son applied to their check on Fridays and Saturdays
\n
- Due to high demand\, we encourage guests to book well in advance on Friday and Saturday evenings
\n
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR