Juneteenth Celebrated with a Night of Music at Blues Alley
By • June 24, 2025 0 166
By Caroline Moore
Juneteenth took center stage last night as Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va) performed along with the David Kline band and Abena Koomson-Davis at Blues Alley in Georgetown. The musical celebration was packed, with the first show at seven pm being fully sold out and the second one at 9:30 being crowded.
This electric performance paid homage to the origins of the holiday and how it is celebrated more in the modern day. Juneteenth marks that day that the people of Texas learned that all enslaved African Americans had been freed. Senator Kaine himself was one of the cosigners of the bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
Photo of singer Abena Koomson-Davis performing to a packed audience. Photo by Caroline Moore.
Many of the songs focused on a message of freedom or solidarity with the people. Kaine specifically sang about not having any more tyrants, connecting this not only to the end of slavery, but to modern politics. Later on in the concert he played “Tears of Rage” by Bob Dylan, he specifically said he was playing the Jimmy Hendrix version. Before playing this he talked about the complex messages of this song, specifically its lines about patriotism and when people use the flag incorrectly. Kaine along with Abena Koomson- Davis, a vocalist with the band, also played a mashup of gospel music.
The performance featured Abena Koomson-Davis as a vocalist, who had performed with Stevie Wonder, Angelique Kidjo and with Natalie Merchant. She is currently the music director for the Women’s March Resistance Revival Chorus. It also featured Grammy winning Steve Davis, who played trombone. Previously he played with Chick Corea for twenty-two years. He has nearly 200 recordings as a band leader and spent four weeks at number one on the JazzWeek radio charts. The band’s namesake, David Kline, also performed with Chick Corea, Stephane Wrembel, David Murray, and Zach Brock. David Kline Band also included Buddy Speir on electric guitar, TJ Turqman on electric bass and Olaolu Ajibade on the drums.
All in all, this event brought in lots of applause, not only for the Senator from Virginia and the rest of the band but the rich culture surrounding Juneteenth.
