Help Bring Five Points to the World

Denver Sister Cities International is a Non-profit Organization under IRS §501(c)(3), and that donations are Income Tax Deductible in the USA.

Purnell Steen & the Five Points Ambassadors, one of Denver's premier musical groups, is going to Brest, France in September 2022. The band will perform a concert in Brest celebrating the jazz connection between the two cities. This tour is made possible because of the 75 year Denver-Brest sister cities friendship. 

The Five Points neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, boisterously proclaimed by beat poet, Jack Kerouac, as the “Harlem of the West'', is the historic seat of jazz in the Rocky Mountains. 

Brest, France, Denver’s oldest sister city, is proud to have introduced Jazz to Europe in 1918. The famous "Harlem Hellfighters", an infantry unit of the New York Army National Guard were also Harlem musicians. Jazz continues to be appreciated in addition to the folk and Celtic music of Brittany. 

Purnell Steen & the Five Points Ambassadors (acoustic bassist ~ Ron Bland, drummer ~ Bill Larson, guitarist ~ Vohn Regensburger, and trumpeter ~ Dereck Banach) will perform several concerts in Brest highlighting the history and jazz connection of both communities.

On September 17th, 2022, the Five Points Ambassadors will perform in Brest's legendary Le Vauban Concert Hall. The tour, aptly called Blues, Blanc, et Rouge, is a tribute to the stars and stripes, and the french tricolor as well as the blues! 

On September 18th, 2022, the group will perform at the Dixie Jazz' 29 Festival in the coastal town of Logonna-Daoulas.

A documentary film, "The Longest Walk" about 101 year old legendary bassist, Charles Burrell (considered the “Jackie Robinson of classical music”), Purnell's cousin, will premier at a theater in Brest. The film was directed and produced by Vohn Regensburger who is also the guitarist with the Five Points Ambassadors. 

Lectures will also be presented in French and English about the history of jazz in both cities. George M. Bailey, the grandson of the world renowned Denver musician George Morrison, will lecture on the breadth of his grandfather's jazz influence from Five Points to the world. 

The entire schedule of events will be filmed, along with Purnell Steen’s commentary, throughout the trip. A micro-documentary will be created for archival purposes and to share the story of bringing the Jazz legacy of Five Points to global audience. 

Your generous contribution will assist in covering all expenditures to make this jazz tour possible.