Hazy snow and the sound of jazz throughout Five Points Saturday morning enhanced the neighborhood’s historic title of “Harlem of the West.”

The Jazz Roots in Five Points festival celebrated its third year, bringing visitors to the Denver neighborhood to celebrate the city’s ongoing jazz scene and Black History Month. Over 15 bands performed at various venues, along with an art show, museum tours and a poetry reading.

“We’re trying to expand on what jazz means to our community,” Norman Harris, the executive director of the Five Points Business Improvement District, said.

“We’re looking to really raise the visibility of the Five Points neighborhood to our city. Not only can you come down here and see great music, but you can also come down and see the fabric of our city’s culture.”

The celebration of Black history and jazz stretched across various venues from Welton Street between 22nd and 28th Avenues — the heart of the Five Points neighborhood that was once considered a stepping stone for upcoming jazz artists.

The area’s history stretches well beyond this weekend’s event and the summer-time Five Points Jazz Festival. 

Harlem of the West

Five Points was the first predominantly African-American neighborhood in Denver, starting in the late 1800s when people were traveling westward for work.

“Denver was a popular location for folks to land because there were opportunities through the railroads and military,” Harris said. “What also was occurring was Five Points became a hub for African Americans to live because it was the only place in the city they were allowed to. The benefit to that was that Five Points really developed into a city within the city.”

This included becoming a big hub for jazz music between the 1930s and 1950s, with legends such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis performing.

Jazz musicians traveling across the country would come to Denver and perform downtown, but they weren’t allowed to stay at hotels there, so they would book late-night shows in Five Points where they were allowed to sleep.

“This used to be one of the hottest jazz destinations in the country,” Wil Alston, a Denver jazz singer who fronts Wil Alston and Kool Grooves, said. He moved to the area from Washington D.C. in the 1980s for college.

He continued: “After the concerts on 16th Street, people downtown were like, ‘Where’s the after party?’ and people would say, ‘It’s over there in Five Points.’”

With events like the long-running Jazz Fest and the new Jazz Roots event, the area is trying to maintain that sonic center point. And, despite a dip in jazz’s popularity over the last few decades, a new generation is taking the stage.

Harris’ Spangalang Brewery, for example, hosts jazz concerts every week, often featuring new artists.

“These shows brings in newcomers to experience the artform along with folks who love it traditionally,” Harris said.

“I’m amazed at these young cats,” Alston said. “You look at the colleges and their music schools around. We have young kids coming from all over the country to those programs, and they’re out in the community playing. Denver still does have an evolving jazz scene.”

He continued: “Denver absolutely has a jazz scene. It took a hit like everybody else did with COVID. We lost some amazing clubs. People started playing in little flower shops and little bars. Jazz will find a way.”

Celebration of culture

The Jazz Roots festival also celebrated African-American history and art.

“The point is to really activate different businesses and venues along the Welton corridor,” Harris said, noting that the festival has increased foot traffic over the years. “Five Points has a place in people’s hearts in terms of a place to go to see live music. There are several different restaurants that we believe really deserve more visibility. Places like Welton Street Café, Taco Uprising and Mimosas.”

“Five Points needs more publicity,” Randy “Mc2” McAnulty, an acrylic painter who moved to Five Points in the 1980s, said at the festival’s art show.

McAnulty isn’t a musician and doesn’t claim to be, but his artwork is heavily inspired by the sound of jazz, with a significant amount of his painting showing musicians or people dancing to the tunes of the genre.

“We’re going through some very harsh times now. People are reluctant to venture out,” McAnulty said, pointing toward the COVID pandemic changing people’s opinion on venturing to events like the fest. “That’s one of the fallacies of our interactions with each other.”

But McAnulty doesn’t plan to ever untie his connection to the neighborhood, still painting pictures of its architecture and sound. 

Alston said it’s both exciting and significant to see events like this in the neighborhood.

“It’s exciting because there have been a lot of folks trying to get this rebirth down here. It’s significant because Denver is a place where very few people are from Denver, so it becomes this place that’s a tapestry of different cultures. Having this kind of destination is important because there’s not another Afrocentric community like this in the area.”

Jazz Roots is free to attend and will run from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Feb. 22. More information can be found at fivepointsbid.com/jazzroots.