Five Points celebrates jazz with free music festival
DENVER — Five Points is alive with music thanks to the Jazz Roots Festival, a day-long event that took over the Welton Street corridor last weekend. The festival returns later this month for another round of music and bar hopping, free of charge.
The event spans 10 venues, each featuring a different band, and the lineup takes you on a tour of Five Points. The historic neighborhood was Denver’s first predominantly African-American neighborhood, known as the “Harlem of the West.” Five Points welcomed some of the greatest jazz musicians of the 20th century to perform there, including Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and more.
One of the goals of the festival, according to Five Points Business Improvement District executive director Norman Harris, is to expand the reach of the neighborhood within the greater Denver community.
“Five Points is really becoming a cultural anchor in Denver,” Harris said. “We want to promote the uniqueness of the neighborhood, so we’re intentionally putting what we have to offer in front of people.”
Jazz Roots is a product of a new funding program introduced last year called the Five Points Jazz Activation Fund, which distributes $225,000 to businesses, nonprofits, and individuals who participate in jazz-related projects. Denver Arts and Venues, the entity that owns and operates several of the city’s largest venues, started the program.
The fund replaced the Five Points Jazz Festival, which the city discontinued two years ago. Harris says there’s no replacing the Five Points Jazz Festival, but he believes Jazz Roots is a strong example of what Five Points is aspiring toward when it comes to year-round programming.
“I think the impact is greater than Jazz Fest, because it’s spread out over the whole year instead of just one day,” Harris said. “The number of people who come out over an entire year is huge compared to the one-day exposure of Jazz Fest.”
Another reason for the discontinuation of the Jazz Festival? The cost. Music festivals don’t typically make much money, but the price tag for the neighborhood was outweighing the benefit.
“There's fences, stages, blockades, security, bathrooms, staffing,” Harris said. “A fraction of the money actually makes it to the musicians, most of it goes into recovering those production costs.”
Harris and Denver Arts and Venues brainstormed ways to create the same impact in a more efficient way, resulting in events like Jazz Roots. If the wall-to-wall crowds at each venue were any indication, it would seem that the shift is proving successful.
The sense of unity was palpable as well, with a diverse crowd spanning all ages and jazz knowledge. Musician Tony Exum Jr., ahead of his set at Spangalang Brewery, asked the audience to hold up the number one and point to the sky ahead of his song “We Are One.”
“All colors, all genders, all age groups, enjoying music together right now,” Exum Jr. said to the audience. “We have a lot going on in our administration right now, but we are one.”
Harris feels personally honored to be a part of the team that is driving Five Points forward, as his roots to the neighborhood run deep. His grandfather owned a store on the corner of 24th and Welton.
“Working there was my first job,” Harris said, recalling early memories of the Five Points community. “The people in that neighborhood fought so hard for their properties,” Harris said. “There was just such a sense of pride there, and those business owners worked so hard.”
Through the business owners and energy of the neighborhood, Harris believes the future of Five Points is in the hands of those working to continue the neighborhood’s legacy.
“To be one of the architects of that future is so amazing,” Harris said. “I really hope to be able to say we created a community here that is diverse, inclusive, unique and authentic.”
The lineup for Saturday, Feb. 21 is available on the Five Points BID website.
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