Category Archives: Music Views

SINATRA SWINGS AGAIN!   2018 Sinatra Idol Contest, June 14

14 Crooners Compete for Title at Sinatra Park, Hoboken

 By Sally Deering

Sinatra Swings Again
Dan Lauzon, Ontario Candad

For those of you who know Frank Sinatra Drive as the long and winding road on Hoboken’s waterfront, well, kids, its time you knew some Hoboken history. Let’s just say Ol’ Blue Eyes grew up in Hoboken back when almost every corner had a gin joint and if you could carry a tune, some music-lover on a barstool bought you a drink.

Those were the days when Hoboken native son Frankie Sinatra walked the Mile Square City dreaming of someday making it big. And make it he did! Superstar, legend, and boy, what a voice. It’s been said that back in the 1990s, while Sinatra was in Manhattan, he would tell the limo driver to take him to Hoboken where his black limo could be seen cruising up and down the old neighborhoods.

Continue reading SINATRA SWINGS AGAIN!   2018 Sinatra Idol Contest, June 14

Singer Giselle enters NPR Tiny Desk Contest

Jersey City indie pop singer Giselle has joined thousands across the country in entering NPR’s 2018 Tiny Desk Contest. Every year, NPR’s Tiny Desk Series hosts a national contest through YouTube, offering undiscovered talent the opportunity to win a Tiny Desk performance at NPR in Washington, D.C., a US tour with NPR and Lagunitas, and an appearance at a taping of NPR’s Ask Me Another.

Giselle, accompanied by her band, delivered a live performance of her song “Patience” as entry into the contest, with the help of local filmmakers and creatives who assisted with the video’s production. The video was filmed at Jersey City’s vibrant and newly-opened restaurant, Frankie.

Giselle is originally from Miami, FL but later found herself leaving school and heading to the bright lights of New York City to pursue a singing career. Though classically trained in opera, Giselle’s vocal style evolved as she began charting new territories as a songwriter.

Giselle is perhaps most notable for singing the 2015 viral hit “diarreah song” featured on FX, which collectively garnered nearly 500,000 views on YouTube. Giselle’s newest mixtape, “not ready to grow up” however, signifies the pop singer’s evolution with dynamic vocals and dark, vulnerable themes. While Giselle has performed in venues all over the country, her local performances have included the 2017 Freedom Fireworks Festival, Art House Productions’ 2016 Snow Ball Gala, The ALZ NJ Jersey City Walk, and events at New York Red Bulls Arena, Loew’s Jersey Theatre, and Barclays Center. 

Below is the link to the video. And if you’re interested in featuring the video, I’d be happy to send along more information. Thank you for your time!

Music Broadway Bayonne November 10, 2017

Music Broadway Bayonne for November 10th 2017,now in its tenth    week. Sponsored by Bayonne Mayor James Davis and the Bayonne Urban Enterprise Zone  the Music on Broadway program brings music back to Bayonne  combining excellent venues with exceptional entertainment to make your Friday night out fun and local. 
 
See who’s performing at these  four   participating  restaurants and Bistro and Tavern  for Friday, November 10, 2017
 
Music Broadway Bayonne November 10 2017

RJO Presents the Riverview Jazz Festival 2016

RJO presents over 40 events June 3- 11 for the 4th Riverview Jazz Festival 2016

River View Jazz festival

RiverviewJazz.Org (RJO) will present the Fourth Annual Riverview Jazz Festival from June 3 – 11, 2016. All events are free to the public.

The Riverview Jazz festival week starts with an opening party on Friday June 3 at City Life in Jersey City with over 40 events planned through the week and culminating on June 11 at Riverview Fisk Park. This year’s flagship event on Saturday June 11 at Riverview Fisk Park will feature two stages, nine bands, beer provided by BuyRite, food trucks curated by Hudson Kitchen, a vintage flea market by Pacific Flea, family events, and a cobblestone artwalk produced by Riverview Neighborhood Association with artist Jeankarlos Cruz. And best yet – it’s free to the public!

The Riverview Jazz Festival is made possible in part by Mayor Steven M. Fulop, the Jersey City Municipal Council, and the Office of Cultural Affairs, by generous support from the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs/Tourism Development, Thomas A. DeGise, Hudson County Executive and the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and many others including Hudson Reporter, Buy Rite, Sawyer Smith Residential Brokerage, Riverview Neighborhood Association, Remco Press, Silverman, New Jersey City University, Farms in the Heights, New Heights Art Supply, ModCup, Palisade’s Liquors, Gino’s Pizzeria, Guitar Bar/Drum Den, all the venues hosting events and other individual supporters.

Ogden Ave Stage

Noon : RJO All-Stars
1:30pm : Winard Harper
3:00pm : Donny McCaslin Quartet
4:30pm : Slavic Soul Party
6:30pm : Tipica 73 Continue reading RJO Presents the Riverview Jazz Festival 2016

Susan Murphy’s “GIRL GROUP: A Daughter’s Tale” A Jersey City Story about The Carmelettes All-Girl Singing Group

Opens Feb. 7th at the Loew’s Jersey City

February 7th  show is sold out -a second show is being added at a later date

JERSEY GIRLS 

 By Sally Deering

Girl Group, practicing with piano for show
‘GIRL GROUP: A Daughter’s Tale”

Before Beyoncé, and Madonna, Mariah, Aretha and the all-girl groups of the 1960s, there was The Carmelettes, a trio of teen Jersey girls from the Marion section of Jersey City who sang original pop tunes in tight harmonies. It was 1959, and the girls Angela LaPrete, Vicky Cevetello and Virginia Verga recorded two songs, “My Foolish Heart” and “Promise Me a Rose.” A year later, they cut two more records, “Aching for You” and “Something Tells Me I’m in Love.” 

 It’s a Jersey City tale that would be long forgotten if not for Susan Murphy, Angela LaPrete’s daughter, a professional singer herself who wrote a play with music about her mother’s experience in “GIRL GROUP: A Daughter’s Tale” to be presented at the Loew’s Jersey City in Journal Square – just blocks from where The Carmelettes were born – on Sat, Feb. 7 at 7 pm. (Tix $20 at www.brownpapertickets.com). A reception follows. Continue reading Susan Murphy’s “GIRL GROUP: A Daughter’s Tale” A Jersey City Story about The Carmelettes All-Girl Singing Group

Guitarist Walter Parks performs in Hoboken, NJ for Guitar Bar Concert Series

Walter Parks River View Observer Walter Parks is scheduled to perform at Guitar Bar Jr. in Hoboken, NJ on Saturday October 25. Veteran blues and jazz guitarist Walter Parks has built an international career as the lead guitarist for Woodstock legend Richie Havens, as half of the folk-duo The Nudes, and as leader of the neo-southern rock group Swamp Cabbage. Inspired by the swampy gospel blues that wails from storefront churches and roadhouses in and around the southeast Georgia low country, Park’s performance is full of guitar picking tunes that explore matters of the soul and spirit, built upon a foundation of jazz, classical and folk.

Continue reading Guitarist Walter Parks performs in Hoboken, NJ for Guitar Bar Concert Series

Jersey City Home to New Community Chorus North Jersey Residents Invited to Celebrate the Great American Songbook

Beginning this fall, Jersey City will feature a new community chorus, “North River Sing,” the first chorus in New Jersey dedicated to American musical theatre. Conceived by Jersey City resident Liz Morrill, North River Sing will be directed by Meg Zervoulis,, currently resident music director and arranger at Paper Mill Playhouse.” The name “North River Sing” derives from an old nautical moniker for the part of the Hudson River that lies between New York City and New Jersey.

“I adore Broadway show tunes and hope to find dozens of neighbors throughout North Jersey who feel similarly,” said Morrill. Continue reading Jersey City Home to New Community Chorus North Jersey Residents Invited to Celebrate the Great American Songbook

GRAMMY NOMINATED SALSA SENSATION AND JERSEY BOY FRANKIE NEGRON RETURNS TO NJ

 TO  PERFORM LIVE AT THE BLUE MOON CAFÉ

 

frankie_negron_copy_rev1 (2)New Jersey’s own Grammy nominated Salsa singing sensation, Frankie Negron, is returning to New Jersey on Nov. 22, 2013 to perform live at Jersey City’s Blue Moon Café, 117 Montgomery St.

Raised in Newark, NJ, Negron has had Gold albums; numerous #one hits and remains a dominant figure in the world of Latin music in America and around the world.

Negron will arrive in Jersey City Friday, Nov 22, after performing at the Maya in Las Vegas.

The Blue Moon Café promises to be the number one spot in Jersey City for live celebrity performances, and being a Jersey Boy, Frankie was asked to be the first artist in what is expected to be monthly stellar line-ups.

Doors will open for the performance at 10pm. Four hours free parking with validation is available. For ticket information or, a reservation call 201-779-0700. Seating is limited so get on board quick. Lunch and dinner will be served as normal throughout the day and early evening.

 

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MUSIC -If You Play It, They Will Come – Union City Chamber Players Enchant Local Audiences with Classics

By Sally Deering

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOne of the great things about living in Hudson besides its close proximity to Manhattan is the community of artists who reside here and share their talents. Dancers, actors, singers, musicians, visual artists – you name it! – lots of creative folks who perform professionally call Hudson home and some even find time in their busy schedules to share their talents with local audiences, like the musical artists who call themselves the Union City Chamber Players.

 

Union City Chamber Players (L-to-R) Pianist Marina Korsakova-Kreyn, Violinist Peter Borten and Vocalist Bernadette LaFond

Violinist Peter Borten; mezzo-soprano Bernadette LaFond; and pianist Marina Korsakova-Kreyn are Union City residents and professional musicians who banded together to share their love for classical musical and their talents as classical musicians. At St. John’s Episcopal Church in Union City, recently, the trio presented a classical program, a “Love Concert” that featured Gounod’s “Ave Maria”; Mozart’s violin sonata K.526; French love songs by Faure and Massenet; Strauss’s “Stiller Gang” and Rachmaninoff’s “In the Silence of the Secret Night”. Continue reading MUSIC -If You Play It, They Will Come – Union City Chamber Players Enchant Local Audiences with Classics