VIRTUAL FIVE POINTS JAZZ FESTIVAL

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2020 FIVE POINTS JAZZ FESTIVAL WENT VIRTUAL SATURDAY, MAY 16, 6-8 p.m..

This free festival takes place the third Saturday of May every year and celebrates the history of Denver’s Five Points neighborhood.

Once known as the Harlem of the West, Five Points was home to several jazz clubs which played host to many of jazz music’s legends such as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and many more!

This year, Denver Arts & Venues partnered with Rocky Mountain Public Media (Rocky Mountain PBS, KUVO JAZZ and THE DROP) to present the Five Points Jazz Festival virtually on TV, radio and online in lieu of the annual day-long event in Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood.

The virtual event was presented as a two-hour, state-wide television broadcast on Rocky Mountain PBS, a two-hour radio show on KUVO JAZZ, on Facebook and YouTube and is now available as an on-demand video on ArtsandVenues.com/5PJF.

Learn more about:
The Bands and Entertainers
The Hosts
Local Businesses Through the Five Points Marketplace
Our Partners

Hazel Miller

Lauded as not only a great singer, but “a force of nature!”, for more than three decades Hazel Miller has been a sought after performer in Colorado, and has a reputation of “Bringing it!”  Born in Louisville, Hazel Miller was greatly influenced by Nancy Wilson and Aretha Franklin. After performing around Louisville and mixing blues and jazz with gospel and soul, people began to take notice. Her first big break happened in 1982, when she recording the official song for the city of Louisville. In 1984, she attempted to relocate with her two children to Los Angeles to further her musical career. But her rental truck broke down in Denver, where she stayed. Hooking up with Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Hazel Miller became a regular part of the band's lineup and toured throughout the world. She has opened for Herbie Hancock, Bob Weir, Buddy Guy, Mel Torme, James Taylor and Julian Lennon among others. She has also performed for United States soldiers overseas and starred in The Vagina Monologues. 

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Dianne Reeves

Dianne Reeves was the 2018 Monterey Jazz Festival’s Showcase Artist and performed in a variety of different contexts throughout the Festival’s 61st installment. Among the other headliners were Charles Lloyd, Norah Jones, Wynton Marsalis and Jon Batiste. As part of the festival, she was honored at the Jazz Legends Gala. The event was co-hosted by Christian McBride and Terri Lyne Carrington—with a special performance featuring the Christian McBride Trio with Benny Green and Gregory Hutchinson. Dianne is the first woman to receive the Jazz Legends Award. As Dianne was quick to point out, she will surely not be the last and is merely the first of many. 

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Josh Blue

Following his groundbreaking win on NBC's Last Comic Standing in the summer of 2006, Josh Blue has risen through the ranks from promising up-and-coming young comic to well-established and sought-after headliner at venues throughout the country. Josh made his debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in the summer of 2018 followed by an appearance at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal on the William H. Macy Gala. The year ended with him recording his fifth one-hour comedy special at his home club, Comedy Works in Denver. He continues to spread laughter and break down stereotypes of those with disabilities one sarcastic and though-provoking joke at a time.

Watch on YouTube

Jazz Arts Messengers

The Jazz Arts Messengers are the premiere high school ensemble of the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts (CCJA), a unique non-profit organization dedicated to empowering youth to creatively express themselves through the language of jazz. These talented young musicians come together from all over the Denver Metro area to study, practice, write, and learn this celebrated American art form under the mentorship of the by the region’s most sought-after professional jazz musicians. CCJA participants experience personal and artistic growth through participation in small ensembles, big bands, vocal ensembles, jazz instruction camps, jam sessions, clinics, community performances, online classes, and much more. 

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JoFoKe aNem

The music of JoFoKe aNem is an unique and eclectic blend of jazz and soul with influences from around the world, largely inspired by musicians such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Natalie Cole, Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, Nancy Wilson, Chaka Khan, Patti Austin, Lalah Hathaway, Aretha Franklin, Dianne Reeves, Roberta Flack, Esperanza Spaulding, Kim Burrell, Snarky Puppy, Ghost-Note, Tonex (BSlade) and Take 6.

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Ben Markley

Ben Markley, a jazz pianist, has performed with Brian Lynch, Greg Osby, Eddie Henderson, Terell Stafford, and George Garzone. Markley's latest recording project, Clockwise, has received great critical acclaim and was selected as one of the best 4 star rated albums of 2017 by DownBeat magazine. Markley is active as a composer and arranger, and has been recently commissioned to arrange for the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia and Wyoming Jazz Educators All-State Jazz Band. Compositions from Markleyʼs first two albums have earned him ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Awards. Markley was selected to participate in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program held at the Kennedy Center. Markley is an active performer in the Denver-metropolitan area and along the front range. He can be seen regularly at in Ft. Collins as part of the Subterranean jazz trio at Ace Gillett's Lounge. Markley currently serves as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Wyoming.

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Bobby LeFebre

Bobby LeFebre is an award-winning writer, performer, and cultural worker from Denver. He is a two-time Grand Slam Champion, a National Poetry Slam Finalist, an Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist, and a two-time TEDx speaker.  LeFebre has performed at hundreds of cultural events, social actions, detention centers, conferences, and colleges and universities across the United States and abroad.

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Ritmo Jazz Latino

Ritmo Jazz Latino is the essence of "True Latin Jazz." With arrangements ranging in 6/8 time signatures, to coro soneos resonating with the flavors of Puerto Rico and Cuba, this group of gifted musicians live and breathe clave and poly-rhythmic flavor. The musicians of Ritmo Jazz Latino have a vast range of musical experience. Ritmo Jazz Latino has played prestigious concerts such as Winter Park Jazz Festival, Taste of Colorado, Vail Jazz Festival, and most recently was the featured band for The Jefferson Symphony Orchestra. Since 2013 they have been dazzling audiences with their infectious rhythms, earning them their loyal fan base. The exciting musical sounds of Ritmo Jazz Latino will warm not only your heart..... but your  soul!

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Ron Miles

A highly regarded trumpeter, composer, and educator, Ron Miles is a progressive artist with a bent toward harmonically nuanced, genre-bending jazz. A star of the Denver, Colorado jazz scene and a longtime professor at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, Miles is a lauded performer who has worked as both a leader and a collaborator with such similarly inclined luminaries as Bill Frisell and Fred Hess. 

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The 5 Pointers

The 5 Pointers is a futuristic band envisioned by internationally-renowned artist Detour. Denver Post writer John Wenzel said, "'5 Pointers' represents one of the Denver’s art scene’s most dynamic and ambitious experiments in recent memory."

The 5 Pointers is visual and music-based art project based on an imaginative storyline in the year 2100. Following the story of a fictitious band named the "5 Pointers,” this project answers the question not only what does music sound like in the future, but also what does society look and feel like. Based on four characters played by Denver musicians, Venus Cruz as Lola Divine, Dameion Hines as King Tempo, Carl Carrell as Carl Remington, and Felix Ayodele as Wex Abeo, the 5 Pointers project is created to be a interactive and immersive experience through the lens of story traditional, storytelling, and performance. 

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Denver Comedy Lounge

Denver Comedy Lounge in Five Points showcases local and touring comedians, musicians and artists every weekend, and was founded by Anthony Kapfer and Ben Kronberg in the fall of 2019.

BK Sharad is a Denver based comedian. BK is best known for being a body double for actor and comedian Jay Chandrasekhar in a pilot. He has also been referred to as a style expert by Floyd’s Barbershop one time.

Made from embers of the lovable Dumpster Fire that is Buffalo New York, Meghan DePonceau has blood made of Frank's Red Hot & the spicy mouth to prove it. For her passions of giggle making & hooch slinging, DePonceau opened Wide Right, a bar and comedy venue in Denver's Ballpark neighborhood.

Gabby Gutierrez-Reed is a Denver based comedian. She’s been in the High Plains Comedy Festival and Beast Village Comedy Festival. Now that live performance has been put on hold, she has a lot of time to explore her “creative options.

Ben Kronberg has a Comedy Central Half Hour Special and has appeared on Late Night W/ Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel Live, And John Oliver’s New York Stand Up Showcase.

Eeland Stribling is a wildlife biologist and comedian, born and raised in Denver, Colorado. You can follow him on Instagram at @blacksteveirwin.

Anthony Kapfer is a NYC born comedian and musician, currently living in Denver, Colorado. Anthony has been seen on Fox, Hulu, Amazon Prime. 

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Matthew Ché Kowal

Matthew Ché Kowal wrote Quarantine blues at the behest of RMPBS producer Julie Jackson with Ms. Hazel Miller in mind to sing the heck out of it. Drawing on inspiration from stories of resilience and resistance he learned from sassy and smart elders, this song invites us to take care of each other and try to find the blessing in the blues. Matthew can be found at www.MajesticCollaborations.com and with the band: The Reals.

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Tamara Banks

Emmy Award-winning journalist Tamara Banks lives her motto: “One Person Can Make a Difference.” Banks is a freelance TV journalist, talk show host and documentary filmmaker, focusing on social justice, and dedicated to creating transformative social change through excellence in journalism. Her areas of expertise include social justice and political issues across the U.S. and internationally, particularly in South Sudan and Darfur. She also shines light on other parts of the globe where there is little or no news coverage about crimes against humanity and genocide. Her documentary short film, “The Long Journey Home” about former slaves stolen by the Janjaweed during a civil was in Sudan, was featured in the 2009 Hollywood Film Festival, “HollyShorts.” 

Carlos Lando

Carlos’s involvement in radio dates back more than 50 years. While still in high school he began an internship maintaining the music library at the local radio station, his first night on the air was January 13, 1968 on the Armed Forces Caribbean Network in Puerto Rico. By 1969 he was working for WABA “La Grande” on of the top AM commercial radio stations in the island. In 1970, Carlos was the weeknight host on WOUR in Utica, NY, one of the first FM “underground rock” stations in the country. Carlos moved back to Puerto Rico in the mid ’70s where he produced and hosted a new show on WZAR called “Jazz Where It’s Been and Where It’s At.” Carlos moved to Denver in 1980 where he spent five years as Music and Program Director and mid-day host at the nationally recognized soul music station KDKO. After working a year for KBCO in Boulder, Carlos joined KUVO in 1987. As Program Director, he helped establish KUVO as one of the most respected community-based jazz stations in the country. Carlos became the President and General Manager of KUVO in 2012. He remains committed to airing culturally diverse programs with significant appeal to people in the Latino and African American communities. 

Carlos was a Five Points Jazz Festival Tribute Award-winner in 2012.

Arturo Gómez 

Arturo has been part of KUVO Jazz for more than 18 years. Previously, Arturo began his radio career at Miami’s jazz station in 1989 and remained at WDNA until 2003 when he accepted his current position at KUVO Jazz. Arturo considers himself fortunate to have been raised in a bi-lingual music household where his mom listened to Cuban and Latin music while his dad was a fan of pop music and jazz. Spending his adolescent years in the Bronx he was exposed to a wide array of R ‘n B, soul and Top 40 music. When Arturo turned 12 his family moved to Southern California where he began listening to the progressive radio stations of Los Angeles, instilling in him a love and knowledge of many musical styles. 

Arturo is heard weekdays on KUVO from noon to 1 p.m. Jazz with Arturo Gómez, and has been a volunteer-member of the Five Points Jazz Festival organizing committee since 2004. 

Nikki Swarn (a.k.a. Amerykah Jones) 

Amerykah Jones is a powerhouse that commands attention and inspires many with her energetic, uplifting, fun loving personality with a deep passion for music, culture, fashion, travel and great food-specifically desserts! Over the past 10 years, Amerykah Jones has been an on-air personality and host in our community for many formats ranging from Hip Hop, Sports and Top 40 to everything in between. You can catch her feeling the pulse and vibe of our community at various historic music venues in Colorado. Aside from entertaining, Amerykah loves to spend time with family and friends watching movies or just dancing in her house (in pjs). She doesn’t sweat the big stuff, just finds the joy in all the small stuff life has to offer.