The Denver & Diamond Show Starring Jim Curry & Jack Wright Was Held At The Higley Center For The Performing Arts in Gilbert, Arizona

PHOTOS BY GLENDA S. PARADEE

The Denver & Diamond Show Starring Jim Curry & Jack Wright was held January 4, 2020 at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts in Gilbert, Arizona. They put on a terrific show.

They helped define a decade of popular music — the poetic and passionate songs of John Denver and Neil Diamond, two of America’s biggest hit song writers of the 1970s.

The show is an authentic recreation of the hit songs that have kept John Denver and Neil Diamond in the hearts and minds of their fans for decades. Jim Curry and Jack Wright are a perfect pairing.

The show includes fan favorites by Denver such as “Rocky Mountain High,” “Annie’s Song,” and “Take Me Home Country Roads.” And from Diamond, “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Song Sung Blue,” and “Coming to America.”

Tribute artist Jim Curry performs the heartfelt hits of John Denver and tribute artist Jack Wright performs the powerful hits of Neil Diamond.

“It’s a whimsical thing that came up,” Jack said. “We’re playing music from the early ’60s to the ’80s.” Neither is an impersonator or an over-the-topic mimic. They use their natural voices and uncanny resemblances in an authentic interpretation of Denver and Diamond’s passionate music.

Jim Curry, who lives in Upland with Anne, his fellow band member and wife, has performed John Denver’s music in sold-out shows throughout the U.S. and Canada, emerging as today’s top performer of John’s vast legacy of multi-platinum hits.

These acclaimed vocalists were accompanied by a fully orchestrated band of top touring professionals, who play from scores by eight-time Emmy Award-winning composer and arranger Lee Holdridge — the musical genius who put the magical energy beneath the voices of both Denver and Diamond. All those great Lee Holdridge strings make the music so powerful.

Jim, whose voice was heard in the CBS-TV movie “Take Me Home: The John Denver Story,” illustrates his ability to mirror the late singer’s voice and clean-cut look, taking you back to the time when ” “Sunshine” and “Calypso” topped the charts. “John Denver was all about bringing humanity together,” Anne said. John Denver became one of RCA’s top-selling recording artists, and Neil Diamond became an American legend, writing popular hit songs like “Sweet Caroline,” “I Am I Said” and “Song Sung Blue.”

Tribute artist Jack Wright is a singer, composer and music arranger who has performed in venues throughout the U.S. and Canada. He comes to the stage with a background in musical theater and classical music, from which he has emerged as an accomplished popular singer and musician. “I have fun with the Neil Diamond stuff because I love doing his music,” Jack said. “All his songs are different — I’m interpreting the words he’s written and the music puts wings under me so I can feel it.”

Jack, who lives in the Bay Area with his wife, Julie, said the show is “kind of an awesome concept.”

Jim and Jack met through an artist manager, but it was an idea Jim had brewing for awhile, he said — the Denver-Diamond combo.

Thanks For The Music Jim & Jack!