Dazzle Denver – 1080 14th Street, Denver Media
April 14, 2025
Mental Health Awareness Month
and World Premiere Concert at Dazzle
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Established in 1949 to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness in Americans’ lives and to celebrate recovery from mental illness. This year, Dazzle is excited to partner with CU Denver and NAMI Colorado to increase awareness and support for mental health through a variety of means.
- Throughout May, donations can be added to all Dazzle ticket purchases to support NAMI Colorado.
- Friday, May 2 Joe Farnsworth and Patrick Bartley will offer a master class about the music of “Portrait of an Unquiet Mind” for University of Colorado Denver students during Professor Todd Reid’s Music Industry Insights course in the King Center Concert Hall from Noon – 1:00 pm
- Friday, May 2 at 1:00pm (immediately following the master class) Career Insights Panel and Student-Artist-Mix-and-Mingle in the King Center Music and Dance Studio (King Center 120). This panel discussion about careers in music will be moderated by CU Denver Professor Evan Reeves, and includes:
- Joe Farnsworth (jazz recording artist)
- Patrick Bartley (jazz recording artist)
- Shelbie Rassler (composer/conductor)
- Nick Moulds (talent buyer/music director, Dazzle)
- Sunday, May 4 at 5 & 7:30PM: Portrait of an Unquiet Mind: World Premiere Concert at Dazzle (more info below)
- Monday & Tuesday, May 5 & 6 The world-class musicians from the “Portrait of an Unquiet Mind” concert at Dazzle will record an album featuring this composition with original cover art by Jann Haworth, who created the album cover for the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and recently unveiled a mural on the side of the Buell Theatre.
- Grammy-award winning artist-entrepreneur, author, educator, and producer, Mark Rabideau will produce a made-for-PBS documentary about music’s role in combating the most pressing problems facing society.
- Mark Rabideau, Associate Dean for Faculty and Student Affairs within the College of Arts & Media at the University of Colorado Denver will create lesson plans for middle and high school students to be distributed to 57,000 music teachers who engage 49,000,000 students.
Portrait of an Unquiet Mind: World Premiere Concert at Dazzle
May 4, 2025 at 5 & 7:30PM
The world premiere of “Portrait of an Unquiet Mind” features an amazing line-up of world-renowned jazz artists; Joe Farnsworth (drums), Sean Jones (trumpet), Patrick Bartley (alto saxophone), Paul Cornish (piano), Reuben Rogers (bass), and Sara Caswell (violin). Shelbie Rassler, NYC-based composer, invites you to join her in this debut as art goes where science cannot yet reach: the interior mind of those struggling with bipolar disorder.
Their hope is that this music will build empathy for those struggling with mental illness, as we place listeners into an experience shared by so many. And that, through empathy and vulnerability, we can inspire more open conversations about mental wellbeing. Mostly, we want to tell people that we see them. And that they are loved, exactly as they are.
46 million people worldwide suffer with bipolar disorder, yet fewer than half seek treatment and for those who do, the gap between the earliest diagnosable symptoms and the first treatment is estimated at eleven years.
Grammy-award winning artist-entrepreneur, author, educator, and producer, Mark Rabideau has put together a who’s who of world-class players:
- Joe Farnsworth (drums): Joe Farnsworth (drums): Returning to the Dazzle, he has played on over 400 recordings. Twice Grammy nominated, Joe has collaborated with jazz elites Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall, McCoy Tyner, Horace Silver, George Coleman, Pharoah Sanders, & Benny Golson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc8VDt-EVlo
- Sean Jones (trumpet): Came to Dazzle with the Billy Childs Quartet. Sean turned a 6-month stint with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra into an offer from Wynton Marsalis for a permanent position as lead trumpeter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVyte2onPzM
- Paul Cornish (piano): This Los Angeles-based pianist and composer recently signed with Blue Note Records and will release his debut album this summer. He came to Dazzle with Mark Guiliana in 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOWacLbU8Ok
- Patrick Bartley (saxophone): Grammy® nominated saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader Patrick has performed and recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Jon Batiste, Emmet Cohen, Larry Grenadier, Steve Miller, Herbie Hancock, Louis Hayes, Carole King, & others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYMWS5mk1ls
- Reuben Rogers (bass): Raised in the Virgin Islands, he has worked with Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman, Nicholas Payton, Mulgrew Miller, Jackie McLean, Charles Lloyd and Dianne Reeves. He has toured extensively & recorded on over seventy albums. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX9v-VmIhyg
Sara Caswell (violin): Grammy® Nominee Sara Caswell “is a brilliant world-class violinist… She has performed and/or recorded with Brad Mehldau, Brian Blade, John Patitucci, Donny McCaslin, Henry Threadgill, Dave Stryker, Helen Sung, Miho Hazama, Christian Sands, Regina Carter, Kishi Bashi, and Bruce Springsteen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBVb8fOwkfE