Ken Walker

Bass is the beating heart for music of every description – and bassist Ken Walker filled the same role for the Denver jazz scene. For decades, he was among the most in-demand performers in the Mile High City, helping to provide the rhythmic foundation for local talents, as well as national and international genre stars.

Ellyn Rucker

Rucker, who died in 2022 at age 84, was a prodigiously talented pianist and vocalist, as well as a rare beauty – although her daughter, Kristin Rucker, notes that she grew uncomfortable whenever aficionados described her as sexy. But because she didn’t devote herself to music full-time until after she’d raised her family and preferred sticking around Denver

KUVO and Carlos Lando

KUVO Jazz, a public-radio outlet at 89.3 on the FM dial and accessible online and via its app, is the voice of jazz, blues, salsa and more in Denver. But its takes more than being a great-sounding radio station for KUVO to live up to its tagline “Your Oasis in the City.”

Eric Gunnison

Pianist and composer Eric Gunnison didn’t plan to move to Colorado during a key stage of his amazing life in music. But once he arrived, he became such an integral part of the jazz scene in Denver that imagining it without him is virtually impossible.

Greg Gisbert

For jazz trumpeter and educator Greg Gisbert, the news that he would be inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame triggers appreciation for the talent to be found in the state he calls home

El Chapultepec & Jerry Krantz

If Denver’s jazz scene can be likened to a solar system, El Chapultepec (The Pec) was the sun around which everything else revolved.