Free Concert Series Kicks Off In New Rochelle With Jazz Vocals

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The popular jazz vocalist Glenda Davenport and the Hiroshi Yamazaki Quartet will kick-off the summer’s BID Music on the Green series from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 20. The outdoor free concert will take place in New Rochelle’s Ruby Dee Park at Library Green. In the event of rain, the concert moves indoor to the Ossie Davis Theater in the New Rochelle Public Library, according to organizers.

Jazz vocalist Glenda Davenport began her career in 1992 and has been performing steadily ever since in clubs, on concert stages and at private parties. Born into a musical family, Davenport’s breakthrough was her winning performance at The World Famous Apollo Theater's Amateur Night in April 1993. She performs regularly with accompanist Hiroshi Yamazaki in duo, trio, quartet and quintet ensembles, and has also performed with Don Friedman, Bill Crow, Carmen Leggio, Michael Carbone, Houston Person and Sarah Jane Cion.

The series will continue July 27 with the 16-piece Banda Nueva York. Blending trumpets, trombones, clarinets, alto horns, sousaphone, percussion and singing, some of the finest brass musicians in New York create the authentic, powerful sound of the great Bandas of Sinaloa, Mexico. Wrapping up the series, on August 3, will be the five-piece Wali Ali Band performing a program of rock, folk, blues and jazz.

The Music on the Green concerts are made possible by the New Rochelle Downtown Business Improvement District in cooperation with the New Rochelle Department of Parks and Recreation and the New Rochelle Public Library.

Photo credit: Submitted.