Bassist Ken Walker sustains the Denver music scene by performing, teaching

By Natasha Lovato

Jazz will thrive so long as artists pass their mentorship along. At least that’s Ken Walker’s mission. For the past few decades, Walker established his legacy on the Denver jazz scene with gig after gig alongside his band, the Ken Walker Sextet, and through his former professorship at the University of Denver.

Ken Walker Live
The Ken Walker Sextet plays at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, at Dazzle Jazz in downtown Denver.

Since childhood, Walker has furthered his own artistry by utilizing the experience of artists he idolized.

“When I first took on soloing I was like, ‘God I suck at this,’ so I read a lot of different biographies and autobiographies to switch up my mindset,” Walker said. “I also nagged a bunch of guys to see what they were thinking about while they soloed. If a musician knows you're sincere about learning the music, they will help you out.”

Walker had to learn basic fundamentals of the music on his own, but he has since passed on that knowledge to countless students.

Walker performed at “the Pec” (Denver’s former jazz mecca El Chapultapec) seven nights a week for more than a decade, and he said that consistency taught him how to play correctly, no matter how grueling the schedule. Once, he had three gigs in one day: in Estes Park, Conifer and Denver.

“When you play like that, you have to learn how to pace yourself so you don't injure yourself,” Walker said. “Playing that much, my arm would hurt unless it was in the position I'd play bass in.”

He explained that you have to feel what your body is doing, you have to be as relaxed as possible or that tension can cause damage to your body. Plus, something as simple as breathing is a basic building block that is easy to forget.

“Those are fundamental things that came up in my own playing, so when I teach I want to convey that to my students — playing shouldn't feel like work,” he said.

After nearly 30 years of teaching at DU, Walker said COVID-19 prevented him from continuing his mentorship of college kids. That still doesn’t stop his professor-like mentality, and Walker looks forward to guiding any musicians willing to listen.

“I think that mentorship is important because the people I learned from were patient, and showed me what was real,” he said. “I felt it was important to pass that on. That's how the music stays alive.”

Correction: This story has been updated to correctly identify El Chapultapec.