Welcome to Five Points: A New Jazzy Direction for London’s Open Jam Scene
Scene Report: Five Points London Open Jazz Jams
Since its inception in February 2021, London-based jam events organiser Five Points has been working at setting new directions in London’s diverse music scene. Cameron Evans (aka @_zenrei_) sat down with co-founder Max Rilby-Williams for SoundSight Mag to discuss the brand’s inception, journey and future.
Over a cold Guinness, Max sets the scene, explaining the origin of the name Five Points and the inspiration for the brand:
“Jack Kerouac led me to ‘Five Points’. In On the Road, which I was reading in 2017, he lands in Denver and goes to a bar named Five Points. I remember where I was sitting and where on the page it was as I read it. The atmosphere, scene, leathers, woods, browns, reds, all so well described…the name just stuck with me.
And then there’s Five Points in New York. In 1990, Jerry Wolkoff bought an abandoned factory in Long Island and gave street artists permission to tag the walls. By 1995, the warehouse was covered. In 2002, Jonathan Cohen began to curate the 200,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space with scheduled times for artists to work, and the building was cemented as a centre of the graffiti world. He renamed it ‘5Pointz’, a reference to the five boroughs of New York.”
“The idea was that it’s a safe space where people could come, share their art, meet and connect with other like-minded people. But in 2012, Wolff decided to demolish the building and replace it with a residential complex, no warning, nothing; but there was obviously a lot of money in it. It’s sad, but the building was torn down in 2014 and construction started.
Then the artists took Wolkoff to court! In 2018, a jury decided Wolkoff broke the law in not giving warning to the artists of the removal of the art, and the artists got $6.7 million in compensation. But yeah, we wanted to recreate the community, energy and engagement of that space in London!”
Since its inception in February 2021, Five Points has gone from strength to strength. It’s been showcasing a unique fusion of DJ sets and energetic live artists, channelling the New York creative energy they drew inspiration from, and working with a range of exciting venues and organisations across London. Some selections include events at Next Door Records (Shepherd’s Bush), Brixton Arches, The Glove That Fits, Grow Hackney, and a monthly open mic jam series at East London’s renowned jazz hotspot 91 Living Room. Max comments on 91:
“91 has been the hub of the community. It’s helped so much to create what we have. This kind of stuff…it’s all love. That’s the base driving point. To make more memories like that.”
They’ve also focused on live art featuring people at the forefront of London’s underground creative scene – in April 2023, they held a series of Primitive Surrealism Art workshops at Grow Hackney with artist Mo El Kadey. The litany of creatives have also included custom clothing from Caribbean-inspired Studio Irie, art by London-based artists Harriet Gillett, abs, Tunisian-born Wafa Love, Jamie Sheridan, and Pjotr Pavlovich. Many DJs have contributed to their events, such as Madu, LAANI, Sophia French and Sunni D. Merchandise has been bolstered by photography from the eye of Annie Godwin-Austen.
They’ve worked with Pilot Magazine and Two Tribes Brewing Company, as well as holding a first festival slot at Off the Rails Festival in June 2023. They also recently announced a new event series in collaboration with Jammerz at Omeara in support of Youth Music Charity. Lastly, they also hold down a residency at London community radio station Voices Radio – where they showcase their favourite new releases once a month. I ask Max about the journey, its beginnings, and its highlights:
“The journey has been long going, and a lot of passion and time has gone into it. We started with artist features from established artists, album reviews, playlists and stuff like that. Eventually, we put on our first event. I can remember that feeling of fear from the first event, wondering if anyone was going to turn up. Now I’m trying to chase that early feeling and find something new that we can do to keep it alive.
You do more events, you meet more people, build a community and keep pushing – more people come in, you have more credibility and more opportunities open up. In terms of highlights, anytime you really see artists performing and people vibing with it, it makes all the work worth it.”
I ask Max why he thinks Five Points has continued to grow from success to success:
“We’ve started to really realise what we mean to people. So from doing different events, all of which are interesting, that means that now we’re a jam events company. We’ve seen a lot of beautiful stories.”
I mention an example – a guy called Praveen started coming through regularly and laying down mad licks on his flute – everyone loved him. His sister Sindu started jamming too, and sometimes their mum came to support.
“I still see Sindhu around, too! Exactly…it’s beautiful…and also, we’re playing to our strengths. James is so good at knowing all the jammers and speaking to them, and I know I’m better suited to the detail-oriented stuff. And now [third Five Points member] Morgan’s involved, he’s been handling our newsletter, which is great. Passion is what keeps this driving, when you’ve got a full time job too. And you see it in the small things. And it was hard to find someone else with that drive until we found Morgan. I see it in him.”
And what does the future hold for Five Points – what is the focus going forwards?
“We’ve grown a lot since we started in 2021, and there’s been a lot of hard work from me and [co-founder] James, as well as amazing contributions from the community. You have to be hyper-focused. But sometimes you also need a bird’s eye perspective to see certain things. At the moment, new opportunities like the charity work with Omeara are coming up and our momentum keeps growing. And that keeps you going. As long as we keep being a pillar for our people, we’ll only keep growing.”
Make sure you follow Five Points on Instagram to keep up to date with their latest events and jams. Check out their playlists on Spotify, their latest show on Voices Radio, and link up with the FP community yourself at their upcoming 91 Living Room jam on 13 December.
