Denver Union Station Hosts Free Billie Holiday Centennial Celebration on April 11

Tim Wenger | April 6, 2015

WHAT:	Denver Union Station hosts a free jazz celebration to honor Billie Holiday’s 100th birthday on Saturday, April 11, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Great Hall. Venus Cruz, local jazz vocalist and host of KUVO’s “Jazz Odyssey,” will perform a centennial tribute alongside some of Denver’s finest jazz musicians.
WHERE:	Great Hall, Denver Union Station (map) 1701 Wynkoop Street Denver, CO 80202
WHEN:	Saturday, April 11, from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
WHY:	Sometimes referred to as the “Harlem of the West,” Denver’s Five Points neighborhood was once a major hub for jazz greats during the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Along with many important jazz figures of her era, Holiday performed at The Rossonian Hotel, a jazz club nestled in the heart of the Five Points community. Denver Union Station hosts Holiday’s centennial celebration as a way to commemorate the legacy and impact she left on the Denver jazz scene and American jazz culture at large. The Apollo Theatre in New York also is commemorating Holiday’s centennial with her induction into the Walk Of Fame on April 6 and a special performance on April 10 by vocalist Cassandra Wilson.