Well, it’s finally here, the Debut of “Jersey Sings,” A tribute to Jersey’s best

 After countless rehearsals and preparation, the members of “Jersey Sings” are proud to announce that this Sunday, they will showcase the Hitmakers and Icons from our Garden State.

Featuring music and song from Hoboken’s Chairman of the Board (Sinatra) to “The Boss” (Bruce) and all the best from, Whitney, The Rascals, Frankie Valli, Kool and the Gang, Bon Jovi and more. 

We urge all of our friends and music lovers to come out this Sunday to the St. Ann’s Feast in Hoboken (7th and Jefferson) Start time 8:30 PM

What? can’t make Hoboken?

Catch us indoors in Barnegat NJ @ the Russel O’Brackman Middle School on August 24th start time 3pm doors open @ 2pm

Wishing You All a Great Summer       

The post Debut of “Jersey Sings” at St. Ann’s Feast in Hoboken July 27, 2025 first appeared on River View Observer.

 By Sally Deering

For those of you who know Frank Sinatra Drive as the long and winding road on Hobokenâ€s waterfront, well, kids, its time you knew some Hoboken history. Letâ€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. Itâ€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.

If you want to see just how much impact Sinatra has had on fans of his music, then you might want to head over to Frank Sinatra Park on Thursday, June 14, at 6:30 pm for the Sinatra Idol contest where 14 contestants from as far as London, and Mexico will hit the stage and channel the swinging vocal style of Ol†Blue Eyes as they compete for prizes and bragging rights to the title, Sinatra Idol.

Sinatra Idol hosts are Gary Simpson and Geri Fallo, the director of Hobokenâ€s Cultural Affairs department who will introduce the contestants. Judges are Bob Foster, director of the Hoboken Historical Museum; Dave Post, bandleader for the Swingadelic Big Band; Jack Silbert, music writer and editor (The New York Times, New Jersey Monthly, Weird NJ); Joyce Flinn, owner of Elysian Cafe & Schnackenbergâ€s Luncheonette in Hoboken; and Jay Lustig, founder/editor NJARTS.net. Jerry Pearce, the 2017 Sinatra Idol winner will perform.  

Contestant Barry Oliver Lawton,

Dorchester, MA

 Sponsored by Hobokenâ€s Cultural Affairs office, Sinatra Idol will require contestants to sing a Sinatra tune, and although the contestants donâ€t have to sound like Sinatra, they must convey Sinatraâ€s swinginâ€, finger-snapping cool. Contestants this year are James Beckman, Elizabeth, NJ; John Busalschi, Wilmington, NC; Peter Cannella, Gloucester City NJ; Paul Capello, St. Augustine, FL; Joe Cracco, Massapequa, NY; Gabriel Diaz, Mexico City, Mexico; Frank Gamrus, Madison, IN; Dylan Kaplan, Hoboken, NJ; Dan Lauzon, Burlington, Ontario, Canada; Barry Oliver Lawton, Dorchester, MA; David Martinez, Elmont, NY; Jerry Padula, Esq, Waterbury, CT; Humphrey Uddoh, Jersey City, NJ; and, Stanley Volk, London, England.

Contestant Frank Gamrus,

Madison, Indiana

A garment industry retiree, Stanley Volk will be visiting Hoboken for the first time for the Sinatra Idol contest. Hailing from London, England, Volk used to sing in Barber Shop Quartets. He has competed on TVs The X Factor and made it to the third round several times. Heâ€s been a huge fan of Sinatraâ€s ever since the 60s, he says. 

“Though I grew up with the pop scene, The Beatles, etc., I never really took to that sort of music,” Volk says from London. “Modern Jazz was my thing, particularly Big Bands. We had a lot in London at that time. I saw Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Sara Vaughan, Buddy Rich, et. al. at the Ronny Scott club where it all happened.”

For Sinatra Idol, Volk plans to sing a Sinatra tune from the 1958 album “Only the Lonely” although his favorite Sinatra tune is Angel Eyes, he says.

“There is so much feeling and emotion in his interpretation of that song,” Volk says.

Sinatra Idol contestant James Beckham of Elizabeth also grew up listening to Big Band music and got turned on to Sinatra when he won a contest in college with Sinatraâ€s rendition of the Cole Porter classic and Sinatra signature song, Iâ€ve Got You Under My Skin.

“From that day on, I continued learning the music of Sinatra and other Big Band Swing artists,” Beckham says. “I eventually built my own show, Jamesâ€s Big Band Classics that I perform at local coffee shops, restaurants and assisted living communities.”

Contestant Humphrey Uddoh of Jersey City is an attorney who works for New York City Transit. Back in the day, Uddohâ€s mom knew Sammy Davis Jr.â€s wife, Mae Britt, and Uddoh had the opportunity to watch the great singer Sammy Davis, Jr. rehearse and perform Those special times inspired Uddoh to sing during his college years at Vassar College. During college, however, Uddoh started smoking cigarettes and gave up on singing. Smoke free for the past five years, Uddoh takes his singing seriously and studies with a former singer with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Singing “My Way”, Uddoh competed in Sinatra Idol last year and came in 3rd Place. This year he plans to step up his game with Fly Me To The Moon, he says, and even though his singing may be inspired by Sinatra, heâ€s not trying to sound like Sinatra.

“I sing in a crooner style,” Uddoh says.

Contestant Humphrey Uddoh,

Jersey City

“When asked if heâ€s channeling Sinatra when he performs on stage, Uddoh says, “yes!”

I feel his energy,” Uddoh says.

If you go

Thurs, June 14, 6:30 pm

SINATRA IDOL

Sinatra Park on Frank Sinatra Drive, HOB

For more info: www.hobokennj.gov

The post SINATRA SWINGS AGAIN!   2018 Sinatra Idol Contest, June 14 first appeared on River View Observer.

The post Sounds Like New Jersey first appeared on River View Observer.

 By Sally Deering

 Fame came to Maxwellâ€s back in the 1980s and it has since become a Hoboken landmark as revered as that other Hoboken celebrity Frank Sinatra. Through the years rock stars and wannabees have set up their amps and drum kits in the small back room reminiscent of the old CBGBs in the East Village. And along with live music, Maxwellâ€s features a big beautiful bar that dates back to when the place served boilermakers to longshoremen who worked the docks.

Good food has always been a big part of Maxwellâ€s allure. Whether itâ€s the Angus beef burgers on the bar menu or the omelets served at brunch, hearty dishes of American fare – nothing fancy – just substantial good food keep Maxwellâ€s customers nourished and coming back for more.

Itâ€s now 2016 and along with a new year, Maxwellâ€s Tavern has a new chef (well, he started six months ago). Frank Roda, former owner of Francescaâ€s in Jersey City, now runs the kitchen at Maxwellâ€s Tavern where he creates Italian fare with a flair.

Chef Roda took a break on a busy Thursday afternoon to sit down with River View Observer and share the Ten Ingredients that make him a chef.

RVO:  Did you attend culinary school?

CHEF FRANK : I went to the Culinary Institute at Hudson County Community College. It was the first year the school opened and it was awesome.

RVO:  Before culinary school, was there someone or someplace that inspired your love for cooking?

CHEF FRANK : Nonna.â€s kitchen. My grandmother Nonna was an amazing home chef. She taught me how to make sauces like marinara and Sunday Gravy. She would make her gravy, with Oxtail.

RVO:  What is your cooking background?

CHEF FRANK:  Italian food is in my DNA. I love the food and watching people taste it. Iâ€ve had so many people applaud my food, from New York to Naples, Florida. Two years after culinary school I got a job as a sous chef at Rafaellaâ€s.  I was put in charge right away. I was 22 years-old. It was when Nouvelle Cuisine was coming out. The plates were $100 plates. I stayed there two years and came back and worked at Pegasus at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford.         I was on the line as a seafood chef. They called the orders out and you had to remember them. It was the height of Pegasus. When orders came in, they came 25 at a time. Ten Zuppa de Pesche; ten Dover Sole; I also had to cook the pasta.

RVO:  And now youâ€re bringing Italian food to Maxwellâ€s Tavern?

CHEF FRANK  : Maxwellâ€s is more known for the bands. Iâ€m introducing Italian dishes and slowly but surely theyâ€re adapting to it. This past week weâ€ve had so many repeat customers. Itâ€s been packed for the past two nights. Weâ€re starting to take off as far as Italian cooking, although we do have amazing burgers. We use only Angus beef. We donâ€t want to move away from that.

RVO:  Can you describe some of the Italian dishes attracting repeat customers?

CHEF  FRANK: Iâ€m making traditional Chicken Sorrentino; chicken topped with prosciutto, eggplant and mozzarella in a light tomato demi-glass sauce. I make a nice Angel Hair Pasta with Crab and Shrimp in a light tomato-basil broth. Itâ€s got the essence of the tomato, garlic and basil. The angel hair pasta is light and the jumbo crab is succulent, and instead of chicken stock, I put lobster stock. The Tour of Italy is a great dish. Itâ€s like Tapas; a dish of smaller portions of Chicken Francese, Veal Parmesan, Shrimp Scampi and Sautéed Lobster. We do a version of that called Tour of the Mediterranean, which is more about fish. Instead of Chicken Francese, we serve Sole Francese, Sole Parmesan and Lobster Francese. And we serve all our dishes with the best grated cheese, fresh Romano, top shelf. We pay a lot, but itâ€s worth it.

RVO:  Since you are now serving traditional Italian at Maxwellâ€s, the question arises:  how are the meatballs?

CHEF  FRANK: In my recipe, I use fresh bread, no breadcrumbs. Instead of kneading the meatball, I put it through the food processor. Our meatballs are on the money, and we serve them with our Sunday Gravy. Theyâ€re not just beef. We make them with pork and veal.

RVO:  Another question that must be asked; why do you call it gravy and not sauce?

CHEF FRANK: Why is it gravy?  Because itâ€s like a brown gravy. You have the meat, sausage and oxtail drippings. I take the skin off the prosciutto and start it with that. Itâ€s not a sauce, itâ€s a gravy.

RVO:  Since youâ€ve been serving Italian cuisine, has it affected business?

CHEF FRANK  :  Weâ€re booking lots of parties. Weâ€ve been getting word-of-mouth on parties. We just had a repast last week and from that one repast, we booked four new parties.

RVO:  Any other changes to Maxwellâ€s menu?

CHEF FRANK: Weâ€re introducing brunch on the weekends. Hoboken wants a good brunch. Itâ€s going to be good food and weâ€re keeping prices down.

RVO:  How would you describe your signature cooking style?

CHEF FRANK : Home cooking with passion and love.

If you go

Maxwellâ€s Tavern

1039 Washington St, HOB

(201) 653-7777

www.maxwellsnj.com

Restaurant Hours

Mon-Wed, 5-10 pm

Thu-Fri, 5-11 pm

Sat, 11 am – 11 pm

Sun, 11 am – 10 pm

Bar Hours

Mon-Wed, 5 pm – 12 am

Thu-Fri, 5 pm – 2 am

Sat, 11 am – 2 am

Sun, 11 am – 12 am

The post Chef Frank Roda brings Italian Fare with Flair to Maxwell’s Tavern in Hoboken first appeared on River View Observer.

The post Frank Sinatra Time line first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

Hobokenâ€s ‘Native Son†Frank Sinatra grew up in a town quite different from what it is today. There were no Starbucks or even PATH trains when Sinatra was born in 1915. And when he was old enough, the ‘skinny blue-eyed kid†began singing in his parents†saloon. Thatâ€s where Sinatra learned his trade, crooning to locals at Marty Oâ€Brienâ€s saloon.

Thatâ€s where the Frank Sinatra legend begins at the exhibit SINATRA: AN AMERICAN ICON now on view through September 4th at the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts. Sinatra sang in the studio and performed onstage for more than 50 years, recording hundreds of songs, and performing thousands of shows. Jam packed with memorabilia, music and all things Sinatra, this exhibit is both a loving tribute and a peek into the complicated life journey Sinatra took, from small time Hoboken street kid to saloon singer to concert and film star and in his later years, show biz royalty.

The personal mementos Sinatra collected, the home movies that were taken of him with family, photos, correspondence, music, and awards on display shine a warm light on a popular and hard-working performer who juggled a star-studded career with the obligations of family. Along his journey, Sinatra sought new challenges for his talents, from tap dancing with Gene Kelly to dramatic acting with Burt Lancaster to painting abstracts on canvas a la Wassily Kandinsky. SINATRA: AN AMERICAN ICON is a visual and audio feast for Sinatra fans and those who want to know more about Ol†Blue Eyes.

SINATRAâ€S HOBOKEN DAYS
The exhibit begins in the libraryâ€s lobby with several black and white photographs including one taken in 1938 of a young and somewhat bewildered Sinatra at the microphone of the Rustic Cabin in Fort Lee where he worked as a singing waiter for $15 a week. Inside the entrance, several platinum and gold albums he was given are on display including one for selling 1 million copies of “Come Fly with Me” and another for “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning.”

Move on to a display of memorabilia from his early Hoboken days including parents Marty & Dolly Sinatraâ€s 1913 wedding portrait, a photo from when Marty, a Hoboken firefighter was burned during a fire; and one of the Hoboken saloon Marty Oâ€Brienâ€s that Sinatraâ€s parents bought in 1920. Instead of naming the saloon Marty Sinatraâ€s, they gave it an Irish name because back then, Hoboken was divided into neighborhoods according to ethnicity and the bar was in the Irish section of town. Another Sinatra memento: Sinatraâ€s ID card from when he was a kid living at 841 Garden Street in Hoboken, printed in his own hand.

Ever since Sinatra was a kid, he would sing and accompany himself on the ukulele which is also on display: “While Frankâ€s primary interest was his voice, he had been playing ukulele since he was a boy,” it states next to the instrument on display. “He wooed his future bride the first time they met, serenading her with a song on the uke.”

The exhibit features a timeline of Sinatraâ€s life in Hoboken; his first marriage that took place in Jersey City and then a timeline of his early singing career where he crooned at the microphone as a soloist fronting Big Bands

A FILM STAR IS BORN
Sinatraâ€s early radio days are on exhibit with rarely heard recordings of broadcasts including Sophie Tuckerâ€s private recording collection and a special 1945 V.J. Day show with Bob Hope, Meredith Wilson, and Orson Welles.

In 1953, Sinatra was cast as Private Angelo Maggio in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, based on the novel by James Jones. He won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Other films followed, some dramatic THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, and some called on him to be a song-and-dance man. The exhibit features the white dance shoes he and Gene Kelly wore in one of their dance numbers in “TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME.”

SING WITH SINATRA
In one room of the exhibit thereâ€s a recording booth where a visitor can step inside and watch a video of Sinatra singing “The Theme from New York, New York.” It gets better. Visitors are given a chance to sing with the Master, just by hitting a button on the Touch Screen.

The exhibit reveals a lot about Sinatraâ€s politics, too, says one visitor.

“What I took from the exhibit is that Sinatra was a very complicated man,” Stan Sinberg, a writer and former New Yorker visiting from San Francisco says. “He was a pioneer in race relations. Just look at his TV shows in the 1950s and 60s where heâ€s singing with Ella Fitzgerald and theyâ€re hugging and touching. This was rare back then. I was also surprised by his paintings. I had no idea he was a visual artist, too.”

Sinberg, whoâ€s vacationing in Manhattan for several weeks, says heâ€s returning for a second look.

“Thereâ€s so much to see and listen to,” Sinberg says. “I really liked the recording booth where you can sing a duet with Sinatra. And when you play back what you recorded, the “Make It Stop” option was hilarious. I also liked the tuxedo in the glass case. He really was a skinny guy when he was young.”

SINATRAâ€S LATER YEARS

Sinatra expanded his artistic chops when he picked up a paintbrush and began expressing himself through oils and acrylics on canvas. Several of his paintings – bright abstracts with geometric shapes – are on view. He never sold his paintings, and preferred, instead, to give them away to family and friends – sometimes even fans.

Sinatra won Emmys, Oscars, a Golden Globe and so many more awards and well-deserved accolades during his career. His last official shows were December 1994 in Japan; right before his 79th birthday and his final show was on Feb. 25, 1995. He passed away three years later in Los Angeles on May 14, 1998, at 82. The White House awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and in 1998 the Congressional Gold Medal, posthumously.

ALWAYS THE SALOON SINGER
Sinatra always saw himself as a singer in a saloon, according to his daughter Nancy Sinatra, Jr.
“My dadâ€s roots were in the saloon, and he never forgot that, never lost that,” Nancy Sinatra says.

Nobody knew that better than Sinatra, himself. If you wanted to know the real him, all you had to do was listen.

“Just let me sing, baby,” he once said.

And so he sang…and weâ€re still listening.

If you go
Now through Sept. 4
SINATRA: AN AMERICAN ICON
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, NYC
(917) 275-6975
www.nypl.org
Exhibit hours: Mon.12 – 8 pm; Tues, 12 – 6 pm;
Wed, 12 – 6 pm; Thurs, 12 – 8 pm; Fri, 12 – 6 pm; and Sat, 12 – 6 pm.

The post OL’ BLUE EYES IS BACK ! SINATRA: AN AMERICAN ICON Celebrates Sinatra’s Centennial first appeared on River View Observer.

Sinatra’s 99th Birthday Bash This Friday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m., don’t miss  the very special Frank Sinatra 99th Birthday Bash, with a performance by 2007 Sinatra Idol Contest winner, Peter Cafasso (tickets are $20). His performance captures the authentic Hoboken spirit of the “Chairman of the Board.”

Hoboken Historical Museum
1301 Hudson St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030

201-656-2240

The post Frank Sinatra Birthday Bash at the Hoboken Historical Museum first appeared on River View Observer.

How many people can say Frank Sinatraâ€s mother brought them into the world? Born in Hoboken under the watchful eye of midwife Dolly Sinatra (she was a neighbor), Al Certo was raised in Hoboken where he dreamed of being a dancer but, instead, built two careers as a professional boxer and menâ€s tailor, Certo weaved back and forth between those two worlds until he eventually hung up his gloves and threw himself into herringbones and tweeds.

 Certoâ€s Custom Tailors has thrived in Secaucus for more than 50 years. Back in the day Certoâ€s shop was two floors with eight tailors handling the orders; today, the top floor is now a pizzeria and Harsh Khindri who has been with Certo for 15 years handles most of the work.

 “Heâ€s one of the greatest tailors I ever met,” Certo says. “He has gold in his hands.”

Certoâ€s tailor shop is filled with sewing machines and along several walls are rows of hangers with yards of fabrics like cashmere, wools and cottons. Above the hangers is a line-up of photographs mostly of famous boxers who Certo knew from his years in the ring. Sometimes they came to Certoâ€s shop to talk boxing and sometimes they picked out a suit. Thatâ€s what boxing legend Muhammad Ali did. 

“I got to be very close to Ali,” Certo says. “He came walking in; I got all the pictures of the fighters on the wall and he says, ‘whereâ€s all the black fighters?†We hit it off good. Ali had a 34 waist and a chest like, I would say 50-52.”

Back in the day, Certo built a good reputation as a boxer, won the Golden Gloves in 1953 and turned pro in â€56.  He owned a gym on Washington Street in Hoboken during those years, too, but there came a time when Certo had to flip a coin and make a career-decision.

 “What do I do, let this thing go and devote full time to the boxing? “ Certo says, describing how he chose tailoring over boxing. Pointing to the 8 x 10 framed photographs that line the top edge of the walls, he says: “Thereâ€s a billion dollars-worth of talent on that wall.”

 Heâ€s right. Black and white photos of the biggest legends in the boxing world like Ali, Joe Louis, Jake LaMotta, Jack Dempsey, Chuck Wepner, Jersey Joe Wolcott and Rocky Graziano are hung next to superstars like a young Frank Sinatra, who Certo dressed in his custom-made suits. Sinatra had a 29-inch waist at the time, Certo says. Thereâ€s also a picture of Martin Scorcese, Joe Pesche, Ray Liotta and Rober DeNiro who visited Al while filming “Goodfellas”.

 “DeNiro was doing research on his role as Jake LaMotta in ‘Raging Bull†and he knew I was a fighter and fight promoter and wanted to ask me questions,” Certo says.

 Certo is featured in several books including a popular new release “The Boss Always Sits in the Back” by Jon Dâ€Amore who is a former Secaucus resident now residing in Hollywood. Friends since the 1980s, whenever Dâ€Amore comes to the area for book signings, he hooks up with Certo.

 “Since back in the late 1970s when I was 14 years old I’ve credited Al Certo with being one of the people responsible for my successful career as a musician that lasted until I retired from it in 1985,” Dâ€Amore says. “He booked my first group, The Mixed Expressions, made up of 6 high school teens from Secaucus and Weehawken, for our very first paying job at The Plaza Arena. Al and I have stayed friends ever since and it’s been an honor to know him. Even now that I live in Hollywood, whenever I come back to New Jersey or New York City I always make it a point to stop by Al’s shop and have a cup of coffee.”

 Although he built his custom-tailoring business in Secaucus, Certoâ€s a Hoboken guy who remembers “when rents were $5 or $6 a month”. He grew up on Monroe Street a block from the Sinatra family and it was Sinatraâ€s mother Dolly who supplemented her income as a midwife and brought Certo into the world. His father, Al, a trombone player and mother Nettie raised 12 kids – Certo was a middle-child — and when Certo was big enough, he worked as a shoeshine boy near the Hoboken docks that lined the Hudson. In his early 20s, he married Lee Bernacci; they are together 64 years.   

“I never wanted to be a fighter. I wanted to be a dancer,” Certo says. “I was a good dancer with my sister Joanne. Once, we were at a dance in Hoboken and the whole dance floor got off and watched us dance. We were great.”

 Dreams of dancing like his idols Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire are now stored away along with memories of his days as a pro boxer, Light on his feet and in good shape, Certo looks like he still could wow ‘em on the dance floor – an observation that he brushes away like a puff of lint on a lightweight wool.

 “Iâ€m 85,” he says. “I got two left feet now.”

                                                                                                                                                                           

Certoâ€s Custom Tailors

1259 Paterson Plank Road

Secaucus

(201) 867-4934

 

The post Tweed Suits and Golden Gloves-Former Boxing Champ Al Certo on Choosing the Right Weave first appeared on River View Observer.