El Chapultepec and 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.
The Pec, which closed in 2020 after more than 80 years of continuous operation, was hardly posh. Indeed, the late, great Denver saxophonist Freddy Rodriguez Sr., who led the nightclub’s house band for decades, lovingly dubbed it a dive – and its signature burritos definitely didn’t qualify as gourmet fare. But in its heyday, the nightspot nurtured the Mile High City’s finest jazz and blues players, including fellow Colorado Music Hall of Famers Greg Gisbert, Eric Gunnison, Ellyn Rucker and Ken Walker. Moreover, pretty much any nationally known performer passing through Denver made it a point to stop by to perform or pay homage to one of the state’s great cultural institutions.
The man most responsible for establishing and maintaining El Chapultepec’s place in the jazz firmament was its longtime owner, Jerry Krantz. And although Krantz died in 2012, his daughter Anna Diaz knows her dad would have been deeply gratified upon learning about the Colorado Music Hall of Fame induction of him and The Pec.