Musical Style: Jazz and Blues, Five Points Style

For over 30 years, Purnell Steen and the Five Points Ambassadors has been dedicated to preserving and playing the Jazz and Blues music of Denver's legendary Five Points neighborhood and are regulars at Dazzle.

Charles Burrell passed away on June 17, 2025, just a few months shy of his 105th birthday. Purnell Steen and the Five Points Ambassadors pay tribute to Charlie at this special Friday Lunch Bunch.

Charles Burrell was a classical and jazz bass player who was the first Black member of a major U.S. symphony, first with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, and then the San Francisco Symphony. He was a prominent musician in Five Points when it was referred to as “The Harlem of the West” and was the house bass player at the Rossonian Hotel during that era.

In 2017, he was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, and in 2022, The Charles Burrell Visual and Performing Arts Campus was opened in Aurora, CO.

Although performing for dignitaries is nothing new for them (in September 2022, they spent a week lecturing in Denver’s Sister City, Brest, France as part of a cultural exchange, and in 2008 they played at the National Convention for the Clintons and other notables), Purnell holds a special place in his heart of honor for his cousin, Charlie Burrell.

Purnell Steen - Piano

Ed Stephen - Acoustic Guitar

Vohn Regensburger - Brazilian Guitar

Ron Bland - Bass

Bill Larson - Drums