JAZZ COOKERS
(CENTENNIAL, COLORADO)

Members:  Rick Crandell (cornet), Colton Crandell (trumpet), Jeff Henton (tuba), Kevin Matthews (banjo), Wes Leffingwell (piano), and Dave Ellis (trombone). 

Band Profile:
The Jazz Cookers are the product of a very talented group of young musicians who met while attending Arapahoe High school in Centennial, Colorado.  The core group of the musicians stayed together and under the management of cornetist Rick Crandell, formed The Jazz Cookers in June of 2007.  As the Dry Creek Dixie Dawgs, the group received standing ovations at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee as well as 3 consecutive Down Beat Magazine Awards.  The Jazz Cookers have performed to packed houses at several local venues including the Copper Fox Pub in Centennial, Colorado and are currently appearing on Sundays from 2-5 PM at Brix Downtown, 2200 Market Street.    Click "Links" on the menu to read an article in the American Rag.

How did the Cookers get their name?
In the 1920's prohibition of alcohol took place.  As a result of this ban on alcoholic beverages, small "in-home" alcohol businesses sprung up all over Chicago, New York and other large cities.  These small businesses were called "Alky Cookers".  The main customers of these "cookers"  were the speakeasy's. These small private clubs served the bathtub gin and provided their patrons with entertainment and always "Hot" jazz, the music of the era.  When you entered one of these speakeasy's you would hear small jazz bands with musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbeck playing jazz into the early morning hours.  This is the kind of music The Jazz Cookers play.

Member of:
The Denver Jazz Club and America's Finest City Dixieland Jazz Society.