Jazz News: Five Points Jazz Fest replaced in 2025; new from George Porter Jr.; Allen Toussant stamp; Record Store Day Black Friday releases

This is Jazz News, a look at what’s news in jazz, music and the arts.

The obvious lead story of the week is the cancellation of the Five Points Jazz Festival after a successful run of 20 years as a mostly Colorado artists’ jazz music showcase.  It was free. It was outdoors, and indoors at venues up and down Welton Street. The crowds were huge in good weather and determined in cold weather. There was literal dancing in the street. The vibe was peaceful and joyous in the “Harlem of the West.”

The artists were happy to show their stuff in front of so many different crowds. Musicians would play their gig and then go see other musicians across the street, dragging their instruments with them.

Even when the festival moved from sometimes chilly May to June, the Five Points Jazz Fest was a rite of spring, a coming out party where you saw folks you hadn’t seen since last year.

Denver Arts and Venues, a branch of city government that includes Red Rocks, the Colorado Convention Center, the Denver Coliseum, and other venues, decided the money, $225,000, would be better spent on grant-making to businesses, non-profits, and creatives who make jazz happen year-round.

Denver District Nine City Councilman Darrell Watson supports the shift and wants the new plan to aid arts and culture on more than a single day of the year. The Five Points Business Improvement District also likes the transition to what will be called “The Five Points Jazz Activation Fund.” The application window opens next year. (SOURCE: Five Points Jazz Festival canceled)

So much of today’s music is made in home studios, but you know Colorado has a couple of legit record companies, right? One of them, Color Red Records specializes in releases on vinyl and digital download only. They’ve announced a forthcoming release from George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners, and their new release dropping in February is called “Porter’s Pocket.” The legendary bassist was a founding member of The Meters, and they played Cervantes a few weeks ago.

The lead single is out, called “Tito’s Dumpling Machine.” It’s full of funky drum breaks, organ play, and dumplings. (SOURCE: Color Red / George Porter)

Another New Orleans legend has been honored with his own U.S. postage stamp. In 2025 singer-songwriter-producer Allen Toussaint will be the48th stamp in the Black Heritage series. His smiling face is from a Bill Tompkins photograph taken in 2007 in New York City. (SOURCE: USPS / Allen Toussaint 2025 Stamp Peek)

Record Store Day now occurs twice a year, traditionally in April, and in more recent years also on Black Friday. The list of exclusive releases is out, and it includes a double LP of the Bill Evans Trio, “Live at Kongsberg 1970” in Norway, a re-issue of Herbie Hancock’s 2005 crossover “Possibilities” in triple-LP format, John Lee Hooker, Julian Lage, Sun Ra, “Live at the Left Bank 1978,” and a five-LP box set of War, “The Vinyl 1977 to 1994.”

Some of the “first releases” for the upcoming Record Store Day are Sam Cooke’s Diamond Edition seven-inch 45 of “A Change is Gonna Come” and triple-LP of Emily Remler, “Live at the 4-Queens,” previously unreleased recordings of complete performances that aired on KNPR in Las Vegas in the mid-1980s. This Resonance Records project is reportedly the first Emily Remler release in thirty years. (SOURCE: Record Store Day)

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