Enjoy an afternoon of live music in our Stewart Auditorium this fall featuring an eclectic array of musical acts from up and down the Front Range.

Purnell Steen and The Five Points Ambassadors is dedicated to playing and preserving the music of the legendary Five Points neighborhood in Denver. The Blues-oriented Hard Bop music is basically Swing style. The scintillating Myra Warren rounds out the ensemble. They have been chosen to tour France in 2022 starting with our Sister City, Brest, and continuing throughout France. They performed for many dignitaries, and during the 2008 National Convention, played for the Clintons, and other notables. Purnell is a cousin to Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, George Duke, five-time Grammy Award winner Dianne Reeves, and the legendary Charles Burrell.

About Purnell Steen and the Five Points Ambassadors

Purnell Steen and the Five Points Ambassadors, formerly known as Purnell Steen and LeJazz Machine, have been on the Colorado jazz scene for 30-plus years and have become a veritable household word. As a small ensemble, we have been given that sobriquet by Norman Provizer, former Jazz Critic of The Rocky Mountain News. This energetic ensemble will definitely have you swinging and swaying the Five Points Way! The music is Blues-oriented Hard Bop, Latin, and Swing style. We have been deeply influenced by both Count Basie and Duke Ellington, as well as Horace Silver and the Cannonball Adderly Quintets. We are dedicated to playing in the Style of Five Points that Purnell heard as a child in Denver during the heyday of Five Points.

Purnell’s ensembles have been House Band for the Alabama Delegation to the Democratic National Convention (2008); played for Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg and U.S. Representatives Diana DeGette and Ed Perlmutter, and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet; the official “Hickenlooper Swing Band” for Mayor John Hickenlooper’s campaign and inauguration party; performed with five-time Grammy Award Winner Dianne Reeves, the late George Duke, and with the legendary 101 year-old Charles “Charlie” Burrell.

The Five Points Ambassadors have played in the following venues: 100 Nights of Jazz Series (2020-2021); Aurora Festival of the Arts; Black Arts Festival; Castle Rock Days; Cherry Creek Arts Festival; City Park Jazz Festival; Colorado Music Hall of Fame Inductions for Charles Burrell, Dianne Reeves, and Earth, Wind & Fire; the Colorado Symphony; Denver Blues Festival; Estes Park Jazz Festival; Georgetown Arts & Culture Festival; Gin & Jazz Series; Jazz on the Plaza Series; Juneteenth Festival; Littleton Jazz Festival; Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in Arts and Culture (2005); Memorial Service for Former Governor Richard D. Lamm; MCA – Museum of Contemporary Art, Jason Moran “Bathing the Room with Blues” exhibition, with regular performances at Dazzle Denver, The Muse Performance Space, and other locations.

Purnell Steen and the Five Points Ambassadors have been chosen to represent Denver’s Jazz Scene at its Sister City, Brest, France, in September 2022. Our history with Brest goes back to the First World War when the only African-American U.S. Army troops stationed in France introduced the citizens of Brest to Jazz. That love affair continues to this day!

Tickets

$12 general admission, $10 students/seniors, $8 members

Please Note: Masks and proof of vaccination against COVID-19 are required to attend programs held in the Stewart Auditorium. Read our full mask & vaccination policy.

Friday Afternoon Concert Series

The Friday Afternoon Concerts happen at 2:30 pm on the second Friday of the month through April. See upcoming Friday Afternoon Concerts.

Consider coming early to view our new exhibit, Washi Transformed: New Expressions in Japanese Paper.