American funk and jazz saxophonist, flutist and vocalist Karl Denson will return to Gainesville Wednesday with his band, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe.
The jazz band is at the end of its Fantastic Fall Tour and will perform one of its final shows in Gainesville. The band’s tour regularly holds over 150 shows annually.
“This is Karl Denson’s first time at High Dive, and first time in Gainesville in about 15 years,” Pat Lavery, owner of Glory Days Presents, wrote in an email. “This is a very rare appearance for him in the area.”
Denson’s last experience in Gainesville marked the beginning of a craze.
“I bought a straw cowboy hat and a couple of guys in the band said it looked cool, so I went through about a year or two wearing cowboy hats because of Gainesville,” Denson said.
The band will perform at High Dive, located at 210 SW Second Ave.
Doors open at 8 p.m., and the show begins at 9 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for $21 at the door, and advanced tickets can be purchased for $18 on ticketfly.com.
Lavery considers Denson’s sound a “jazz fusion,” mixing elements of funk and rock.
“It is more in the jam band world,” Lavery said. “Karl is a world-class musician and is one of the foremost sax players in the world.”
The artist began playing music at an early age when he joined his junior high school’s band, which prompted the start of his extensive music career.
“It was a good school program back in the day when they were helping kids play instruments all the time, and I guess I enjoyed it,” Denson said. “I never thought about doing it professionally until I entered college.”
Denson decided to make music into a career in college, but he wasn’t in it for the money — he didn’t make money for a long time, he said.
“I probably made more money in high school playing in wedding bands, than I did all through college,” Denson said.
Upon graduating in the 1980s, he found his first road gig working with American television host and producer Don Cornelius from Soul Train.
“After Soul Train, I had a really great jazz gig in Orange County playing traditional jazz a few nights a week, my dream job, which I was really happy,” Denson said. “I ended up working with Lenny Kravitz in 1989.”
The musician was also a member of the Lenny Kravitz “Let Love Rule”-era group for about four years, which helped launch his career.
“Lenny Kravitz is a great guy and super funny,” Denson said. “That was a really nice time and it kind of got me established on my life too, which I thank him for that.”
Lenny Kravitz helped him get his spot on the Rolling Stones’ 2015 Zip Code Tour. Upon the conclusion of his current tour, Denson will return on stage with the Rolling Stones in South America.
“My favorite memory with the Rolling Stones is just every night watching the show start,” Denson said. “Being on a stadium and seeing the whole thing gear up is awesome.”
Denson shared a few lessons he learned during his many years in the industry.
“It’s just about work. When you hang out with people like Lenny and the Rolling Stones, you just know they just work hard, and that’s kind of what you learn,” he said. “You just have to get in there and put your work in and learn how to be yourself.”
