Melba Moore headlines Vincentian charity’s pre-Father’s Day jazz event in Brooklyn
Proceeds from the VINCI event in Canarsie will support the Salvation Army in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
NEW YORK, United States. Tony Award-winning actress and three-time Grammy nominee Melba Moore performed on Sunday, June 14, at a pre-Father’s Day Jazz and Cocktails celebration hosted by the Brooklyn-based Vincentian-American Independent National Charities (VINCI) at the American Legion Hall in Canarsie.
Ms Moore, 80, who starred in the Broadway musicals “Hair”, “Purlie!”, “Timbuktu!” and “Les Miserables”, sang “You Stepped into My Life” and “Fallin’”, receiving standing ovations before and after. She also signed copies of her new memoir, “This Is It: Marvelous & Getting Better”, co-authored by Kevin E. Taylor.
Giving back
The 12th annual event was coordinated by VINCI public relations officer Enisha Fern Dopwell. WBLS Radio’s Lenny Green, whose grandfather was from Jamaica, was master of ceremonies.
“This lady broke color barriers,” Mr Green said of Ms Moore. He told Caribbean Life the show was “about giving back to the community,” adding: “I’m glad the proceeds will go in supporting the Salvation Army in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
Other performers included jazz singer Boncella Lewis with her band Miss B and Friends, pannist DoMo, the jazz trio Richie Nick and Friends, violinist Majid Khaliq, and classical pianist Sean Sutherland with vocalist Addison Stoddard, whose set included “St. Vincent My Homeland”.
Pageant contestants and a tribute
Three contestants in the Caribbean American Cultural Group’s 2026 Miss New York Continental Cultural Pageant appeared: Nia Jordan (Miss Trinidad and Tobago), Alex Colliard (Miss Belize) and Adiana Basquiat (Miss Haiti). The pageant takes place on Saturday, June 20, at I.S. 275 in Brooklyn.
Patrons observed a moment of silence for Renwick Rose, the prominent Vincentian social and political activist and journalist, who has died.
Roland “Patel” Matthews, the new St Vincent and the Grenadines consul general to the United States, said it pleased his heart “to see Vincentians coming together.” VINCI president Wayne Ragguette said the event was well attended. “The performances were of a very high standard,” he said.
