Denver Arts & Venues’ annual Five Points Jazz Festival returns for its 20th year on June 10, noon-8 p.m., celebrating the music, culture and roots of Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood.
The free, family-friendly festival takes place on Welton Street between 25th and 29th streets, and features 40 bands playing live music on 10 stages throughout the day, as well as food and drink, artisan vendors, and more. In addition to dozens of musicians performing along Welton Street, during the festival Arts & Venues also honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the culture and livelihood of Five Points and the Denver and Colorado jazz landscape.
Five Points Jazz Festival will kick off with a parade starting at 29th and Welton streets at noon featuring grand marshals Purnell Steen and Erica Brown. As leader of Purnell Steen and the Five Points Ambassadors, Denver native Purnell Steen has performed jazz and blues “Five Points Style” for more than 30 years. Erica Brown is a singer, songwriter, recording artist and actress based in Denver and has been dubbed “Queen of the Blues.”
At 1 p.m. at White Claw Hard Seltzer Stage (29th and Welton streets), Five Points Jazz Festival pays homage to Charleszine “Terry” Nelson. Denver native Charleszine “Terry” Nelson has been involved with the Five Points Jazz Festival since its beginnings. As former Senior Special Collection and Community Resource Manager at the Blair Caldwell African American Research Library, Terry has been steeped in the history of Five Points for decades and spent her career nurturing the community roots of the library, even co-authoring a book on how to engage volunteers in the work of libraries.
At 1:30 p.m. at George Morrison Jazz Heritage Stage (Welton Street between 27th and 28th streets), Five Points Jazz Festival recognizes Dr. Hugh Ragin. Dr. Hugh Ragin began playing trumpet in his early teens, and earned a degree in music education from the University of Houston and a degree in classical trumpet performance from Colorado State University. He’s performed with Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton, Maynard Ferguson and David Murray. Ragin earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts in jazz studies from the University of Colorado Boulder and currently leads a variety of ensembles, master classes and workshops.
At 3 p.m. at White Claw Hard Seltzer Stage (29th and Welton streets), Five Points Jazz Festival honors Ed Dwight. An engineer, US Air Force test pilot, astronaut candidate, systems engineer, aviation consultant, real estate and construction entrepreneur, restauranteur and visual artist, Ed Dwight is truly a renaissance man. In 1979, he created a series of bronze sculptures, “JAZZ: An American Art Form,” which consists of more than 70 pieces depicting the evolution of Jazz from its African roots to the fusion of contemporary music.
2019 Five Points Jazz Festival photo of Linda Theus-Lee by Lucia De Giovanni
Original source can be found here
