Marty Napoleon Quartet Kicks Off Downtown Sounds Concert Series

Marty Napoleon, the legendary jazz musician, will kick off the 2013 Downtown Sounds Concert Series at the Glen Cove Village Square Plaza on July 5 at 7:30 pm. Napoleon will lead a quartet that features long-time jazz musicians Ray Mosca and Bill Crow.

Napoleon is best known for stints in Louis Armstrong’s All Stars in 1952-1953 and 1966-1971. At 91, he is the band's last surviving member. Drummer Mosca has travelled the world with international stars including Carmen McRae, Lena Horne, Hazel Scott and Earl “Fatha” Hines. He was a member of three different Benny Goodman Bands. Bassist Crow was featured in the big bands of Claude Thornhill, Gerry Mulligan and Benny Goodman and has toured both Europe and Japan.

Rounding out Napoleon’s quartet will be Bria Skonberg, an award-winning trumpeter, vocalist and composer who is creating a musical style rooted in swampy New Orleans grooves. She got her start as a big band singer at 16 while doubling on trumpet and has performed all over North America, Europe, China and Japan. Recently, she earned a Jazz Journalists’ Association nomination for Up-and-Coming Artist of the Year, and her debut American release, So is the Day, peaked at number seven on the U.S. national jazz charts.

Every Friday night during July and August, the Downtown BID and the City of Glen Cove join forces to bring Downtown Sounds to the Village Square at the intersection of Glen and Bridge Streets. This annual outdoor concert series, which is free to the public, is designed to use music as a promotional tool to boost the local economy. For example, the weekly concerts typically bring 600-1,000 people to the city’s streets, which increases patronage of local businesses including many area restaurants. The event has grown substantially since its debut in 1997 and the city now closes School Street due to the overflow crowds. A new feature this year will be a second stage upon which alternative acts will perform. For example, on July 5, while The Marty Napoleon Quartet is playing on the main stage, award-winning songwriter, actor and journalist Paul Helou will provide an improvisational musical journey of the imagination for children on the nearby second stage.

Downtown Sounds 2013 is presented by Bethpage Federal Credit Union with additional sponsorship by National Grid, American Community Bank and Men on the Move Moving & Self Storage. The SUNY College at Old Westbury, OWWR Old Westbury Web Radio and OWTV Old Westbury Television, Sahn Ward Coschignano & Baker PLLC, The Glen Cove Printery, Linchitz Medical Wellness and AvalonBay Communities have also provided support for this year’s events. Sponsors of the opening performance include Atria Senior Living, The Downtown Cafe and Page One Restaurant with special support from The Regency at Glen Cove, which is proud to claim Marty Napoleon as one of its residents. Free parking is available at the nearby municipal garage and in the case of rain, the advertised acts will perform at the nearby Wunsch Arts Center at R.M. Finley Middle School on Forest Avenue. For more information, visit www.downtownsoundslive.org or call 516-759-6970.