venus cruz

"From jazz to soul, hip hop to Afro-Latin, Denver-based vocalist Venus Cruz has opened for artists such as Gregory Porter, Hiatus Kaiyote, Black Thought of The Roots, Emily King, Meshell Ndegeocello, Saul Williams, Zap Mama, Al Green, Guru, Vieux Farka Toure, Tinariwen, Big Freedia, GoGo Penguin, Corey Henry and Mark De Clive Lowe, to name a few.

Cruz has held residencies in many venues in Denver as well as a featured artist in The Chautauqua Amphitheater in Boulder, Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) and City Park Jazz. In 2014, Cruz organized, directed and performed in the Billie Holiday Centennial Celebration at Denver’s Union Station, bringing in a record performance crowd for the space. Cruz also performed at the Prince Tribute at Red Rocks. This year marks her 8th performing in The Underground Music Festival.

In 2019, Venus played the part of freedom fighter “Lola Devine” in the futuristic multimedia project, "The Five Pointers," created by artist Thomas “Detour” Evans for Red Bull Music. Venus has won several Westword Magazine music awards, and was a 14 year host of the popular radio show “Jazz Odyssey” on 89.3 FM on KUVO, where she enjoys interviewing music luminaries such as Taylor McFerrin, Derrick Hodge, Dave King (The Bad Plus), Dennis Ham (Thundercat) and many others.”