"It's not necessarily an evolution; it's more about preservation, because Denver's jazz is historic," says pianist Purnell Steen, whose band Purnell Steen and the Five Points Ambassadors regularly plays Dazzle.
Denver has had a thriving jazz community since the genre's inception, and from the 1920s to the 1950s, the Five Points neighborhood was the epicenter of the city's scene. Known as the "Harlem of the West," Five Points had more than fifty bars and clubs at its peak and hosted all of the greats, including pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington, singers Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Miles Davis. Local musicians also kept things going, and the Five Points sound emerged, a brand of jazz defined by red-hot swing and boundless joy.
"Years ago, when Black musicians were traveling, this was a mecca in the middle of nowhere," Steen says of Denver. "A lot of times, on their way west, they couldn't get any public accommodations. The club owners, or somebody that they stayed with, would fix him a sack lunch and wave bye. They would start off, and it was like going on an odyssey trip. It was a dangerous environment for Black people. When they got to Denver, they had made it. ... The big clubs played the music of the era, which was swing music in the style of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. In the smaller clubs, they played what is called straight-ahead jazz, and that became the signature sound of Five Points — that's the history we are trying to preserve."
Steen notes that for Black artists, the stage could serve as a beacon of hope in an otherwise hostile world. "There have been multiple books written about what it was like to be on stage as a Black person playing for a racially mixed audience," he says. "In the club, they give you heaps of praise and adulation, but as soon as you packed up your horn and walked out the door, you were still a second-class citizen. So it was confusing; it's almost like a schizophrenic situation. One minute people are almost laying at your feet, and the next minute they're trying to kill you."
Amid these trials, Denver's jazz scene thrived for decades. But from the 1960s through the 1990s, the local jazz landscape underwent a significant transformation. The clubs of Five Points, once bustling with the sounds of swing and bebop, faced challenges, and many closed their doors as the neighborhood's dynamics changed. Despite this, the spirit of jazz remained indomitable in the city. Small venues and local musicians kept the flame alive, ensuring that the genre was maintained as an integral part of Denver's cultural fabric.
It was in this evolving milieu that Dazzle found its roots. Far from the jazz cornerstone it is today, Dazzle was mainly a restaurant that played jazz music over the speakers at 930 Lincoln Street when Karen Storck and Miles Snyder opened it in 1997. But after 9/11, former co-owner Donald Rossa, who just retired as the club's president in early January, encouraged live jazz to become Dazzle's primary focus. Rossa became Dazzle's sole owner in 2003; he soon brought in general manager Matt Ruff, who's stayed in that position as a co-owner. As Dazzle became known as a jazz stalwart in the city, by 2017 the club needed more space, moving to the historic Baur's Building. And when it was shuttered during the pandemic, Dazzle kept its community efforts alive with a food bank and even helped to organize a statewide drum circle.
Dazzle reopened in the Denver Performing Arts Complex in August 2023, in a space that echoes its Lincoln Street roots and with a piano lounge dedicated to longstanding jazz club El Chapultepec, which closed for good during the pandemic after nine decades in business. Over its 27 years, Dazzle became a go-to hub for live jazz, encapsulating the history of the Five Points neighborhood and forming a bridge between the rich legacy of the past and the evolving sounds of the present, continuing the city's tradition of embracing jazz as a vital part of its cultural identity.
"I’ve played Dazzle for about 23 years, almost since their inception," Steen says. "It’s almost like our home club. We play Dazzle more than we play anywhere else because Dazzle is committed to promoting jazz music. On Fridays, at our Lunch Bunch, a lot of times there's an older crowd of people, and they want to hear the music of Broadway, which is called the Great American Songbook. They want to hear the standards — a lot of Duke Ellington pieces, swing, Brazilian music, the waltz and Latin music — so it's all different types of music, but it's always very melodic."
JoFoKe, a multi-genre singer, songwriter and artist-in-residence at Dazzle, has been there for several years. "I was pursued by Donald Rossa to do this residency for a few years, and I finally acquiesced in 2021," she says. "His reasoning for asking me, in addition to having a following and doing well with the numbers anytime I play Dazzle, was because he felt that no one was doing what I was doing. As far as telling the stories of Black writers and composers and talking about Black mental health, it's what I love to do. I'm a history buff, and I am very passionate about platforming Black artistry. If I do another song that is a cover, we’ll do it our way."
"Our theme for the residency show this month is Black love and exploration," JoFoKe of Same Cloth says. "We are planning to investigate love on all sides."
Courtesy of Dwayne Brown
Other highlights include the 3MoMezzos' Motown Valentine’s Day Concert on Thursday, February 8; Wil Alston's spiritual jazz interpretations on Friday, February 9; and a tribute to J Dilla by ManyColors on Saturday, February 10. The Bigpocket Band honors Luther Vandross on Friday, February 16, while the Ken Walker Sextet takes over the club on Friday, February 23. JoFoKe & Same Cloth rounds out the month with dynamic performances on Saturday, February 24.
"Our theme for the residency show this month is Black Love: An Exploration," JoFoKe says. "We are planning to investigate love on all sides. From friendships to tough love to romantic love or just love for all mankind, we’re looking at it from different scenarios and vantage points. The inspiration behind the theme, of course, is our experiences of being Black in America and our new single coming out on February 15. It's really a conversation that might be had on February 13 or 15, but certainly not on the 14th. It is really talking about how that loving feeling isn't there anymore. It’s called ‘The Butterflies Have Died,’ and features violinist Monique Brooks Roberts, and the first line says, ‘A kiss goodbye is the only time our faces touch,’ and then the story goes on from there."
In a world where the rhythms of the past often fade into the background, Dazzle ensures they resonate through its wide-ranging programming to commemorate Black History Month.
"I hope one day we will be able to say that Black voices aren't underserved or overlooked, but it’s still a thing," JoFoKe says. "We are not considered mainstream, even in an art form that was created by us. ... It hadn't dawned on me until Rossa started beating that drum and saying, ‘Nobody else is really saying this. Everybody else is concerned that they won't get hired,’ and I mean, of course I want to be hired, but I don't want to be the only Black person.
"I'm trying to get rid of being tokenized — playing the role of the black singer when you know that you're only there to check a box or replicate what Aretha Franklin did, when you are yourself creative and have your own voice," she concludes.
Learn more and get tickets at dazzledenver.com.
