Glenn Alexander & Shadowland (from left, singer Oria, singer-guitarist Glenn Alexander, saxophonist John Isley, trumpeter Chris Anderson, trombonist Neal Pawley, bassist Greg Novick and drummer Gary Dates). For their upcoming show in Asbury Park they will be joined by keyboardist Bobby Lynch.
Ever since Southside Johnny retired from touring in late 2024, the three-piece Asbury Jukes horn section has continued to perform together again, occasionally, and will do so again on March 14, as part of Jukes guitarist Glenn Alexander’s Shadowland band — who play a dynamic mix of blues, rock and soul music — at Tim McLoone’s Supper Club in Asbury Park.
The band will feature another ex-Juke, as a guest, as well: keyboardist-vocalist Bobby Lynch. Alexander says that when he first joined the Jukes, in 2010, “Bobby Lynch was the piano player. I think Jeff Kazee was out with Bon Jovi, maybe. I didn’t even meet Jeff for months.”
The three horn players are Chris Anderson, who plays trumpet and also leads the section; John Isley on saxophone; and Neal Pawley on trombone as well as occasional vocals. Pawley, Alexander says, “is just irreplaceable. Neal Pawley is a tremendous musician, and he plays incredible guitar. When I first met Neal, long before I joined the Jukes, I thought his main instrument was bass. He was playing bass in New York in a couple of bands. And then he’s an extraordinary trombone player. But more than that, he’s the consummate entertainer. People love him because he’s just wacky and funny. I’m just sharing that because I booked some dates in Europe for early October, and it’s looking like Neal can’t do it, and I’m almost beside myself. I’m not even going to get a sub. I’m just going to go with two horns — with Chris and John.”
Oria and Glenn Alexander
Shadowland also includes Greg Novick on bass; Gary Dates on drums; and Alexander’s daughter, Oria, on vocals and flute. Alexander and Oria often perform as a duo, in addition to their work with Shadowland.
Alexander lives in Scotch Plains, but he grew up in Kansas. He has been a fixture on the New Jersey/New York music scene since he came East, in the early ’80s, when he was in his early 20s.
“My whole intent of coming here was to learn from the greatest,” he says. “Early on, playing with the jazz greats, in Chico Hamilton’s band, and all of these monsters … and right away I had that band Stretch, and then not long after that I signed my own contracts and had my own records … my whole thing is doing original music. And I loved playing with Southside. But I am just not ever going to join a tribute band. I’ve been called to join some pretty amazing tribute bands. But that’s not for me.
“I didn’t leave everything I loved and everyone I loved in my entire life in Kansas to end up in a tribute band. I’m not knocking it. I totally understand. I have great friends who do it, and those bands are great, but it’s just not anything that I even remotely … so, Shadowland is it. We do some covers: Albert King, Jimmy Reed. We do a Jeff Beck tune. But largely we do original material, and it’s just a hard road. And I know I’m not going to change.
“But for this show … now, in the absence of the Jukes, what I have started doing, and I probably think, that night, we’ll probably do at least four or five Jukes songs. And I’ll do those in Europe, for sure.”
The cover of Glenn Alexander & Shadowland’s 2019 album, “Knockin’ on the Door.”
Shadowland’s first album, Glenn Alexander & Shadowland, came out in 2016, and was followed by Knockin’ on the Door in 2019.
Shadowland has not released a new album since Knockin’ on the Door, though several singles have come out. “I’ve just been doing it that way,” says Alexander. “I’m probably going to release a couple more and then, yes, I have a dozen songs recorded in the can: I’m just trying to find time to get them mixed and mastered. And then I will put the whole collection out. That will happen in 2026, for sure.”
In addition to being a music professor at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, Alexander maintains a busy performing schedule, with both the large Shadowland ensemble, and duo and smaller band shows with Oria. (Even during the pandemic, he kept busy with regular online “Quarantunes” performances, also featuring Oria and sometimes Shadowland.)
“Touring with Southside …. those were great circumstances,” he says. “I’m not lugging gear and, you know, you’re flying here and there and you’re playing for larger audiences, certainly, in festivals. And now, of course, all of that has ended and I’m doing, sometimes, little restaurant gigs with my daughter, and club gigs. But it’s OK. I’ve had a long run, and I’m loving every moment that I get to perform with my daughter. I just feel fortunate to get to do that.”
He says all of the Jukes, as well as Jukes crew and management, are still in touch with each other, via a text group, and Southside sometimes sends out “really funny things” to everyone. “Last May or June, many of us went to a ballgame together, because so many of the cats in the band are baseball fans,” he says. “And we keep talking about doing something (again). I haven’t tried to orchestrate it, but if somebody else doesn’t jump on it soon, I’m going to: just us getting together. If it’s a ballgame, great. Otherwise I don’t care — a barbecue or whatever.”
Alexander mentions that Jukes bassist John Conte sometimes performs with him and Oria, and Conte and Jeff Kazee play Elton John music in their Early Elton Trio. “And then, you know, I have the horns often, so there are cross-pollinations and things going back and forth.”
The horns also recently played with Eddie Testa at The Stone Pony, “and it’s my understanding they covered, like, seven or eight Jukes songs,” Alexander says.
GLENN ALEXANDER
Regarding his upcoming European tour with Shadowland, Alexander says, “I couldn’t do it without the horns. That’s a thing: the Asbury Jukes Horns. They have a name and it certainly helps me, not only musically.
“John Isley, he goes out (on the road) with Diana Ross, and I know they all do different things, but they often work as a section, both in recording and doing some gigs. I just love every moment we get together. It’s maybe more special, now that the Jukes are over. I love seeing those guys.”
Despite looking back fondly on his days with The Jukes, Alexander acknowledges the pressures of touring, and says Southside in particular felt a lot of responsibility to present a fresh, spontaneous “old-school” show, every night.
“I don’t know how he did it as long as he did,” says Alexander. “He was 76 when he threw in the towel.
“I gotta tell you, he’s got a big heart. He loved this last incarnation of the band: That exact unit was together for a solid 15 years. And he kept us working. You know, our last tour in Europe, I’m sure he lost tons of money. He didn’t even care. It was like a paid vacation and it was a great time. He tried to keep the band working, I think, as long as he could, because he didn’t want it to be a band of subs, where, you know, if he started working less, that’s gonna happen: People are subbing in and out and eventually there’s hardly anybody in the band that you recognize. He didn’t want that, and I think that pushed him.”
Glenn Alexander & Shadowland, featuing The Asbury Jukes Horns and Bobby Lynch, will perform at Tim McLoone’s Supper Club in Asbury Park, March 14 at 8 p.m. Visit timmcloonessupperclub.com.
For more on the band, visit glennalexandershadowland.com.
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