Let me make them for you; you will be heading to the Five Points Jazz Festival. Not only is the culture here as brilliant as that famous Colorado sunshine, the music outshines everything else. With vendors, food, and drinks, this music festival makes you want to get up and dance! With the extensive history that this town has to offer – with it being the “Harlem of the West”back in the day, this Jazz festival really celebrates the roots of downtown Denver and the surrounding areas.
This year, the festival will kick off at 11 with a Jazz band straight from New Orleans, the Dinosaurchestra. Following that, the Five Points Jazz Festival Tribute Award will be presented to Norman Harris lll, and later in the day, Lu Vason. With performances from Montebello high school drumline at different stages throughout the day, even a screening of “Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday” – a film that features rare TV and movie clips, commentary by musicians, singers and friends that knew her well at the Blair Caldwell African American Research Library. With all of this taking place throughout the entire neighborhood, it’d be hard not to find something for everyone! Performances also include ‘Yo mama’ an all-female quartet, back by popular demand ‘The Hendersons’, and Jakarta, and many other amazing artists. In past years, sightings of Charles Burrell, the first African American musician to perform onstage with Denver Symphony Orchestra, making him known as the “Jackie Robinson of Classical Music” have been known to happen.
Through all of this taking place, make sure to take the time to pass by the historical Rossonian Hotel and get taken back to the old days. With all of the rapid development going on in Denver – it’s nice to take a step back and enter history, leaving all your present-day stress and worries behind, even just for a day.
