THE JAZZ W.O.R.M.S.

Saxophonist Keith Oxman remembers Denver in the ’80s as a hotbed of jazz. With more than fifty clubs at the time, gigs were easy to come by any day of the week. “There were after-hours jobs,” Oxman says. “There were happy-hour jobs. There were nighttime jobs. There was one of those Januarys, which is typically a dead month — I think I had some 35 gigs that month. I mean, afternoon and evening gigs. I was so exhausted at the end of that.” In 1984, Oxman started playing with drummer Paul Romaine, cornetist Ron Miles, pianist Andy Weyl and bassist Mark Simon, who were each gigging regularly with other jazz acts around town. Although the quintet started out getting together informally, the members eventually began rehearsing on a weekly basis, playing each other’s compositions. Oxman initially came up with the name Jazz WORMS — an acronym based on the first letter of each read more...