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Provizer: Roney's concept strong

Ex-Davis stand-in and band coming to Mount Vernon

Published May 4, 2007 at midnight

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In the summer of 1991, Switzerland's famed Montreux Jazz Festival celebrated its 25th birthday by bringing together trumpeter Miles Davis and Quincy Jones to re-create the classic Gil Evans big-band charts performed by Davis on albums such as Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain.

Such a sentimental journey was unusual for the trumpeter who would die Sept. 29, just 10 weeks after the event. When Davis missed rehearsals, it was trumpeter Wallace Roney who filled in. And during the actual concert, the Philadelphia- born Roney, who appears at Mount Vernon Country Club on Wednesday, provided invaluable musical support for the frail but still soulful Davis.

The next year, Roney toured with the Davis tribute band alongside Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, further accentuating his connection to Davis' trumpet sound. While it helped spread Roney's name, it also helped brand him as little more than a Davis clone.

The label was unfair; Roney was always something much more than a clone.

A decade before the Montreux concert, he began the first of his two stints with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and by the mid-80s, the trumpeter was also a regular with drummer Williams' group.

In 1987, the trumpeter began leading his band and finding his own way. His current sextet on stage at Mount Vernon is a strong aggregation with younger brother Antoine Roney on saxophone, Eric Lewis on piano, Rashaan Carter on bass, Eric Allen on drums and Val Jeanty on turntables.

At last year's Denver Jazz Fest, Roney's sextet delivered an enjoyable set of music in which the turntable sounds were well integrated into the music, indicating a concept more than gimmick. At Mount Vernon, Roney hits the stage at 8 p.m. The buffet dinner at the country club begins at 6 p.m. The dinner/music package at Mount Vernon, located west of Denver on Interstate 70 off exit 254, is $44.95. The music alone is $16 (303-526-0616).

ALSO ON TAP: Soulive is in town tonight at the Walnut Room, 3131 Walnut St. The trio consists of brothers Alan Evans on drums and Neal Evans on Hammond B-3 organ in the company of guitarist Eric Krasno. Together, they follow the groove, jam-band path cleared by Medeski, Martin and Wood.

The band, which has appeared at the Telluride Jazz Celebration, has released a number of discs on Blue Note and now on the Concord label. It hits the stage at 8:30 p.m. ($25, 303-292-1700).

• Convergence (with Greg Gisbert, John Gunther, Mark Patterson, Eric Gunnison, Mark Simon and Paul Romaine) is at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln St., this evening at 7 and 9. ($10, 303-839-5100).

• At 7 p.m. Sunday, Dazzle offers saxophonist Paul Riola's Bottessini Project. The adventurous project has Ron Miles (who recently returned from a week at the Village Vanguard in New York with guitarist Bill Frisell's group) on cornet, Art Lande on piano, Greg Harris on vibes, Glenn Taylor on steel guitar and Johannes Weidenmuller on bass ($10).

ON A FINAL NOTE: With the sun out and the venues overflowing, the fourth edition of Five Points Jazz held this past weekend brought a lot of smiles to music fans. Again, congratulations are in order for this year's honorees - singer Ed Battle, saxophonist Brad Leali and the late Louise Duncan - as well as to the city of Denver for taking jazz seriously.