Jazz News: New boss at Denver Arts & Venues; FPJF Extends Deadline; Gregory Porter – Christmas chef!

Denver’s new director of Arts & Venues is longtime city staffer Gretchen Hollrah. She will continue to serve as deputy chief operating officer for Mayor Mike Johnston and only receive the salary for that position.  Arts and Venues manages city-owned venues like Red Rocks, the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the Denver Coliseum, the McNichols Civic Center Building, and the Colorado Convention Center, as well as events like the Five Points Jazz Festival and the Cultural Runway Series. Hollrah was formerly COO of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and she once oversaw the National Western Complex.

Denver Gazette writer Noah Festenstein suggests Hollrah’s biggest challenge ahead is the restoration of the May Bonfils-Stanton Theater on the former Loretto Heights College campus, a 1963 building and new cultural hub for which voters approved some of the funding.

Fun fact – back in 2006, KUVO hosted its 20th anniversary concert at the Teikyo Loretto Heights with Jazz Master Marian McPartland. (SOURCE: Denver Gazzette / Gretchen Hollrah)

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On a related note, the Five Points Jazz Festival has extended the application deadline for bands to this Friday, December 15. And word is the honorarium for bands has been increased. (SOURCE: Arts and Venues Denver / Five Points Jazz Festival)

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Gregory Porter is out with his first Christmas album, “Christmas Wish.” He’s faithful to the canon of standards and accompanied by strings. But he added some originals that further unpack his own faith and inspirational bent. Last week on the daytime talk show hosted by Tamron Hall, Porter reverted to his job before he was a singer – he has chef credentials and cooked up a sweet potato pie for the TV audience. (SOURCE: Gregory Porter makes the perfect Holiday Pie)

That’s jazz news!

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