Joe Bonner

Joe Bonner was a brilliant jazz pianist who collaborated with some of the genre’s legends and developed a worldwide reputation for his moving style. Bonner moved to Colorado in 1976, when he was 28 years old. By then, he’d been playing professionally for a decade; his résumé included performances alongside Freddie Hubbard and Roy Haynes’s Hip Ensemble and a three-year stint touring and recording with legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. He quickly established himself in Denver, playing weekly stints at the Mercury Cafe and a run of sets at the Bay Wolf between European tours. He lived in the area so we decided to honor him by putting a piano key pattern with bricks and or pavers throughout.