The Denver Jazz Club Youth All-Stars were created in 2009 by retired public school music educator Dr. Ed Cannava. Ed was the 22 year Director of Arapahoe High School’s three time Downbeat award-winning Dry Creek Dixie Dawgs.
The main sponsor of the All-Stars is the Denver Jazz Club. Denver Percussion also sponsors the band. The Denver Jazz Club Youth All-Stars are now in their twelfth year of existence.
The All-Stars perform during breaks of the professional bands at each Denver Jazz Club monthly session. The band has been featured with many professional musicians including Bob Draga, Eddie Erickson, Duke Heitger, Dan Levinson, Kris Tokarski, Randy Sandke, Jim Fryer, Bria Skonberg, Eddie Metz, Jr., Dr. Bach and the Jazz Practitioners, the 101st Colorado Army Dixieland Band, the Summit Hot Seven, the Big Mama Sue Quartet, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Your Fathers Mustache Band, the Treme Brass Band, the Crescent Katz, Bob Schulz and the Frisco Jazz Band, the Au Brothers Jazz Band, the Blue Street Jazz Band, the Queen City Jazz Band, and Kristy Reed’s Valley Finest.
The Denver Jazz Club Youth All-Stars have performed at the 2010-2019 Sacramento Jazz Festivals. They also performed in the 2011 Montreux, Switzerland Jazz Festival, the 2011 Montreux Meets Brienz Jazz Festival, and in Interlaken, Switzerland. The band has performed at 3 other Colorado professional events – the Summit Jazz Festival, the Evergreen Jazz Festival, and the Summit Swingin’ Jazz Concerts.
The DJC Youth All-Stars performed on a concert tour to New Orleans during June, 2012. Performances took place at: The Spotted Cat Jazz Club, On the Streets of the French Quarter (as a band & as part of the New Orleans Jazz Camp 2nd Line), Café Beignet, The Creole Queen (Day and Dinner Cruises), The Bourbon Orleans Hotel, WWOZ-FM Radio Show, The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park Visitor Center, The Farmers Market Stage, Steamboat Natchez with Duke Heitger, The Palm Court, The Old U.S. Mint Jazz Historical Park Recording Studio and Recital Hall, and Preservation Hall.
In 2013, the DJC Youth All-Stars performed in the Assisi, Italy Music Festival; the Umbria, Italy Jazz Festival; and two Music in the Park Concerts at the Montreux, Switzerland Jazz Festival.
The band performed on a concert tour to New York City in July, 2014. The All-Stars performed with Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks on two evenings, at the Iguana Restaurant & Dance Lounge. Performances also took place on the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier, in Central Park, in Washington Square (Greenwich Village), and Finally, at the Garage Restaurant and Cafe with Bria Skonberg.
The DJC Youth All-Stars performed in the following year at the July, 2015 Montreux, Switzerland Jazz Festival, Montreux Meets Brienz Jazz Festival, and the Expo in Citta Festival (Milan, Italy).
The band performed on a concert tour to New Orleans in August, 2016. Numerous performances included: Washington Artillery Park, Preservation Hall (including a clinic with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band), The Spotted Cat Jazz Club, the Creole Queen Riverboat (both a day cruise and an evening dinner cruise), Cafe Beignet, the Steamboat Natchez (w/Duke Heitger’s Steamboat Stompers), the French Quarter Visitor Center, and the U.S.Mint (New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park).
The 2016-17 Denver Jazz Club Youth All-Stars returned to the Sacramento Music Festival, and performed with the Crescent Katz, Bob Draga and Friends, Bill Dendle and Eddie Erickson, Cell Block 7, and Clint Baker’s Hot Five. They also took a European Concert Tour to the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Montreux Meets Brienz Jazz Festival, and the Assisi Music Festival.
The 2017-18 DJC Youth All-Stars performed in the Seton Hall University’s Jazz ‘n the Hall Concert Series, in New Jersey, and on a week long summer concert tour to New York City.
The 2018-19 Denver Jazz Club Youth All-Stars, who performed in the 2018 Sacramento Hot Jazz Jubilee over Labor Day Weekend, performed an opening concert at the January 2019 Colorado Music Educators Clinic Conference at the Broadmoor Hotel. They made return summer performances at the 2019 Montreux, Switzerland International Jazz Festival, and premiered at the Kongsberg, Norway International Jazz Festival, during the same week.
The 2019-20 DJC Youth All-Stars made a return performance at the 2019 Sacramento Hot Jazz Jubilee over Labor Day Weekend. Due to the Pandemic, the 2019-20 band had to cancel their New Orleans Performance Tour.
The 2020 Sacramento Hot Jazz Jubilee had to be cancelled, due to the Pandemic, but the 2020-21 band was able to go on a Summer 2021 Concert Tour to New Orleans. The 2020-21 DJC Youth All-Stars performed on the Creole Queen, at the Spotted Cat Music Club, at the French Quarter Visitor Center, on the Dock of the Steamboat Natchez, in Preservation Hall, at Cafe Beignet with Dave Ruffner, and at Buffa’s Bar and Restaurant.
A 10 day European Concert Tour took place for the 2021-22 Denver Jazz Club Youth All-Stars in July of 2022. Performances included 2 Nights at the Tunnel-Vienna-Live Club with the Blue Special Dixieland All Stars; a performance at the Umbria, Italy International Jazz Festival; and a concert at the Assisi, Italy Music Festival.
In February of 2023 the band performed in the annual 3-day Sounds of Mardi Gras Jazz Festival in Fresno, California. In June, 2023 the Youth All-Stars performed in a concert tour to New York City. The band played 3 concerts at Swing 46 Jazz Club, along with additional performances at Washington Square Park, The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Central Park, and the Louis Armstrong Home Museum with trumpeter/vocalist Bria Skonberg and clarinetist Dennis Lichtman
Dr. Cannava retired in July of 2023, ending a 14 year run for the band.