Emerging from deep within the Earth’s crust, Spencer Zweifel’s Life or Death Situation delights stranded audiences with a hypnotic marriage of scintillating melody and oppressive soundscapes. Borne of a deep love for jazz, post-rock, and expressionism, Zweifel’s ensemble tackles disparate originals with disarming sincerity. Discerning listeners will detect generous Dave Holland, Chick Corea, and Charles Mingus influences; Non-Discerning listeners will detect generous Volume. 

Their debut album "The Life or Death Situation" was released September 2024

Sefa means “delight” in Turkish. Loco means “mad” in Spanish. “SeFa LoCo” also combines the opening letters of the names of this group’s members. A Rocky Mountain supergroup in the realm of creative jazz, this quartet links the talents of four accomplished musicians from Colorado. Their initial album, Creosote—reviewed here in All About Jazz, flowed from a spectacular freely-improvised recording session that was part of the Creative Music Series in early 2021; it was the first meeting of these players. Since then, SeFa LoCo has released six albums, with more on the way!

Bassist, composer, and educator Matt Smiley navigates his broad sonic world with imagination, openness, and artistic vision. Matt merges his deep roots in the jazz bass tradition with modern explorations of sound, texture, and improvisation from the world of contemporary composition, making him a favorite and frequent collaborator of creative musicians across a variety of musical genres. 

Lorna's Swingset is a gypsy jazz trio in Fort Collins. We play Django Reinhardt tunes and more with guitar, vocals and woodwinds.

The JJQ is a jazz quintet that plays originals and arrangements written by the band members. Everything from fusion to straight ahead to latin to be-bop.

Colorado bassist Jo Asker's instrumental ensemble of drums, bass, and saxophones features his all-original jazz compositions. Attractive to listeners with a wide array of musical taste, the ensemble creatively intertwines elements of jazz and popular music. Jo's original songs and the musicians joining him capitalize on fresh harmonic and rhythmic concepts while maintaining a sense of that "straight-ahead" jazz sound.

Jeremy Mohney has been leading a swing band out of Colorado for over a decade. Along with bandleading, his unique saxophone playing, vocals and original compositions bring a sound authentic to the feel of the swing era. Mohney and his band have been seen on stage at popular swing dance venues across the country and delights dancers and listeners alike.

Since its inception in 2015, the musicians of Guerrilla Fanfare have been dedicated to bringing the highest quality brass band music to life throughout Colorado and beyond. From fiery pop arrangements, to traditional jazz, to innovative original music, the mission of the band is to appeal to the audience and deliver a meaningful and positive performance that invigorates, excites and delights! Guerrilla Fanfare aims to bring levity and fun to any situation, and also to bring something for everyone to every performance.