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…