Paul Bass Photo
Diane X Brown and Chris "Big Dog" Davis.
Chris “Big Dog” Davis is returning to Dixwell’s Stetson Branch Library to bring a rainbow of holiday-season hope — with the help of a Hollywood Walk of Fame singer and actress.
Davis — a Grammy-nominated producer, singer, songwriter, and keyboardist in his own right — will headline a “Village Holiday Celebration” Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. He’s been here before, including hosting a video shoot with Dixwell kids of an updated version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in 2016.
As usual, he’s bringing musical guests, including Dawn Tallman, Timmy Maia, and Rahsaan Langley.
The special guest this time around: recording artist and Tony Award-winning actress Melba Moore.
Moore will sing a version Davis arranged for her of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” They first performed that version in April at a “Celebrating Women in Jazz” event at the Berks Arts festival. It received a standing ovation.
Moore will also answer questions from the audience during a conversation portion of the program.
“She’s an icon. She has a story to tell,” Davis said during a preview conversation Thursday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
“We’re going to have a new president. We got a whole new thing going on in the world. I want to give the community, the young and the old, something to look forward to … to drill in and to give everyone a positive message moving forward for 2025.”
“That’s what Stetson library is all about. We’re much more than a library. We’re here to try to give people hope. We give people hope every day,” said Stetson Librarian Diane X Brown, who also appeared on the program. “Our political landscape is changing. People are down and depressed. We can share something to help keep people looking over the rainbow. The sun’s going to come out, so you just got to hold on a little bit longer.”
There are no more seats available for Saturday’s concert, according to Diane Brown. However, she asked anyone who plans to cancel a reservation to let her know so the seats can be made available to people on the waiting list.
Click on the video below to watch the interview with Chris “Big Dog” Davis and Diane X Brown, which included discussion of Christmas music traditions and personal memories, on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.” Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of “Dateline New Haven.”