What does Changes Jazz Trio play?

Jazz standards, played by a guitar trio with a modern edge: guitar, fretless bass and drums, with the arrangements left open. It's instrumental, so it sits under a dinner without competing with the conversation, and it holds a listening crowd when the evening gives it one. Their site carries two studio recordings.

How is this different from the jazz duo?

The jazz duo is a format we guarantee by instrumentation: upright bass and guitar playing standards for cocktails and dinner. Changes is a named working trio with drums and a fretless bass, a more modern sound, and three players you can look up. Book the duo for the hour, and Changes when you want a band with a name on it.

Can it add a saxophone?

Yes. The quartet is the trio plus saxophone, which puts a horn on the melody and turns a dinner set into a featured one. It's the size for a gala or a client dinner where the music is part of the program.

The trio plays cocktails and dinner at 65 to 72 dBA at the nearest table, a level the table talks across. A featured set runs louder on purpose, and if your venue has a decibel cap, give us the number and the set is built under it.

Where is the trio based?

Denver. All three players live and work in the Denver metro, and the trio plays the Front Range and the mountain towns on the same terms as the rest of the roster.

Can Changes play outdoors?

Yes, with a covered, level and dry performance area and power run to it. We agree a move-indoors plan with you ahead of time, because Colorado evenings turn fast and the electronics stop behaving in the wet.

Modern jazz

Changes Jazz Trio

A named act. Doug Emery, guitar. Sri Viswanath, bass. Brian Jaffe, drums. Standards, trio to quartet.

Guitar, fretless bass and drums, playing the standards with a modern edge at a volume guests can talk across. Three working Denver players booked under their own names, with a saxophone added when the evening wants a featured set.

Check a date See pricing

Hear them first: two studio recordings on their site, with the three bios beside them.

Footage slot

Trusted and booked by

Changes is a guitar trio with a modern edge. Doug Emery on guitar, Sri Viswanath on fretless bass and Brian Jaffe on drums, playing the standards the way a working trio plays them, with the arrangements left open and a little risk in the solos. It holds a dinner at conversation volume, and it holds a listening crowd when the night wants that instead.

The three players are the reason it books under a name. Doug studied guitar performance at Berklee, played more than three thousand dates across New England, from jazz duos to wedding bands, and now teaches music full time in Denver. Sri spent decades as a working bassist in New York, on stages from Smalls to the Plaza Hotel, and played on Radha Thomas's 2019 tribute to Chet Baker. Brian came through the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver and has played more than a hundred theater productions in the Denver pit orchestras since 2011.

It books as a trio, or as a quartet with a saxophone out front when the night wants a horn on the melody. The trio is the cocktail hour and dinner size. The quartet is the one for a featured set at a gala, or a client dinner where the music is part of the program.

Their own site carries the three bios and two studio recordings, and the recordings are the quickest way to hear what the trio sounds like before you write to us.

This is a named act, booked under the names of the three players in it, and if anyone in the lineup changes, we tell you in advance.

Configurations

Size	Where it lands
TrioGuitar, fretless bass and drums	Cocktails and dinner at conversation volume, and a listening crowd.
QuartetThe trio plus saxophone	A featured set at a gala, or a client dinner where the music is part of the program.

The configuration and the date set the number: an hour under cocktails and a full evening in the resort corridor are different jobs. Send us the date and we price that night.

Occasions

Common occasions for Changes Jazz Trio.

Four nights the trio plays often. Each wants a different size of the same three players, and each has a page of its own.

Client dinners: The trio sits under the conversation the way the jazz duo does, with the drums played soft and the fretless bass underneath, and the quartet with saxophone turns the same booking into a featured set when the dinner has a program in it. The corporate page covers the corporate details.
Wedding cocktail hours: The trio plays the hour after the ceremony at a volume guests can talk across, and a modern take on the standards suits a couple who want jazz in the hour without the lounge feel. The cocktail hour page covers the hour itself.
Galas and award nights: A listening act for the stretch between the seating and the program. The quartet with saxophone is the size for a gala that wants the music to be one of the things guests remember, and the galas page sets out how the cues around it work.
Dinner parties and milestone birthdays: A dinner party for thirty, or a sixtieth birthday that wants real jazz in the house. The trio fits a home or a patio on a single circuit, and the private parties page covers the configurations by size.

How the music sits around speeches and a program is planned with the run of show. What live music costs across Colorado, size by size, is set out in the cost guide.

Booking questions

The operational detail, footprints to power, is on the technical page.

What does Changes Jazz Trio play?: Jazz standards, played by a guitar trio with a modern edge: guitar, fretless bass and drums, with the arrangements left open. It's instrumental, so it sits under a dinner without competing with the conversation, and it holds a listening crowd when the evening gives it one. Their site carries two studio recordings.
How is this different from the jazz duo?: The jazz duo is a format we guarantee by instrumentation: upright bass and guitar playing standards for cocktails and dinner. Changes is a named working trio with drums and a fretless bass, a more modern sound, and three players you can look up. Book the duo for the hour, and Changes when you want a band with a name on it.
Can it add a saxophone?: Yes. The quartet is the trio plus saxophone, which puts a horn on the melody and turns a dinner set into a featured one. It's the size for a gala or a client dinner where the music is part of the program.
How loud is it?: The trio plays cocktails and dinner at 65 to 72 dBA at the nearest table, a level the table talks across. A featured set runs louder on purpose, and if your venue has a decibel cap, give us the number and the set is built under it.
Where is the trio based?: Denver. All three players live and work in the Denver metro, and the trio plays the Front Range and the mountain towns on the same terms as the rest of the roster.
Can Changes play outdoors?: Yes, with a covered, level and dry performance area and power run to it. We agree a move-indoors plan with you ahead of time, because Colorado evenings turn fast and the electronics stop behaving in the wet.

Tell us the night, and Changes brings the trio or the quartet.

Live music for your event, from a solo musician to a full band, with sound support that’s the right size for the venue and a personal contact for the night.

Check a Date

Send us the date and the venue, and we’ll come back with a recommendation and a price for your night. What live music costs in this market is on the pricing page.