Critic's Notebook

Kid Congo Powers plays music inspired by the records of his childhood and decades of encounters and collaborations with everyone from Patti Smith to Nick Cave.

From new recordings by Melissa Aldana to Jakob Bro, here are the ten best jazz albums of 2016.

A comic history of the Boulder Theater

Wizards, witches and allies: Brace yourselves for a rush on tickets. This morning the Colorado Symphony announced its next events in the Harry Potter film series: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

In Denver music news, as on the national stage, 2016 has been good, bad — but mostly it’s been ugly. From the deaths of irreplaceable pop icons to the (forced) closures of beloved venues (R.I.P. Quixote’s) and the bizarre antics of artists we can’t seem to escape, this year has kicked our collective asses. Before we run screaming into 2017, here’s a look back at ten of the most shocking or controversial stories in Denver music that rocked our world in 2016.

Heavy Metal is the reason for the season — at least, at Black Sky Brewery.

A brief cartoon history of Red Rocks.

Denver’s experimental music scene has yielded stellar releases in 2016. A complete list of all the bands operating in that realm could be much longer, but here is a primer of ten of the best acts that offered quality recordings anyone with an ear for the adventurous or unusual should check out. The bands are listed in alphabetical order because, as usual, music is not a competition.

Denver rapper Trev Rich’s new album, To Make a Long Story Short, released by the hip-hop powerhouse label Ca$h Money Records hit stereos yesterday.

Admit it: it’s not Christmas yet, and you’ve already become completely and utterly sick of Christmas songs. Which makes sense, because they’re ubiquitous—they’re the soundtrack at every store, in every elevator, on every TV and radio commercial. And god help you if you voluntarily listened to KOSI-101.5’s eternal Christmas Death March, which answers the question: just how much Josh Groban and Mariah Carey can one person take before declaring a moratorium on radio in the car?So yeah, we feel your pain. But fear not: for we bring unto you tidings of great joy, which should be to all people who are tired of hymns and carols and anything that Vince Gueraldi could adapt into a 60s jazz riff and sell to Charles Schulz. It’s not all Rudolph and Angels Up on High, people. Stretch, and enjoy the holiday alternative-style.

The Colorado Symphony veers toward the epic. Whether it’s recycling the familiar repertoire of the three Bs — Bach, Beethoven and Brahms — or collaborating with newer musicians including the Flaming Lips, DeVotchKa, Elephant Revival and Gregory Alan Isakov, audiences can expect sweeping performances in weighty locations. This February, the…