Celebrate Juneteenth weekend with a free jazz concert in Las Cruces

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KVIA) -- Las Cruces' annual Jazz Arts Festival is changing up its June lineup through a collaboration with the Mesilla Valley Jazz and Blues Society. The jazz society will perform a free Juneteenth concert at the Rio Grande theater.

Juneteenth, which takes place June 21, is a federal holiday celebrated to commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S.

El Paso-based musician David Rodriguez will lead the Havana Quintet, a Cuban music group. They'll play a mix of traditional and contemporary Cuban rhythms like bolero, mambo and Latin jazz, according to MVJBS.

The Havana Quintet is part of the Team Havana project working to share Cuban and Latin music around the world. Rodriguez was born in Havana, the MVJBS said.

The free concert is on Sunday, June 21 at 2 p.m. at the Rio Grande Theatre (211 N Main St.).