The Weeklings will perform at the first Light of Day 2023 show, Jan. 7 in Philadelphia.
Here is a roundup of arts events taking place around the state, through Jan. 12.
MUSIC
• The Light of Day WinterFest gets under way Jan. 7. It will last through Jan. 20, but some of the early events include The Weeklings and Ben Arnold at World Café Live in Philadelphia, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m.; a “Clarence Clemons Birthday Tribute” with Jarod Clemons & Band, Glenn Alexander & Shadowland, Joe D’Urso & Stone Caravan, Jeffrey Gaines and Jeff Slate & Band at the City Winery Loft in Manhattan, Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m.; and a “Kickoff” concert at Asbury Lanes, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m., with Steve Forbert & the New Renditions, Williams Honor, James Maddock, Fantastic Cat, The Adam Ezra Band, and Lisa Bouchelle & The Bleu.
• To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of Bruce Springsteen’s debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch will present an all-day symposium about it, Jan. 7. It will be titled “The 50th Anniversary: Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J” and include panel discussions, interviews, a performance of the album’s songs by Jersey Shore musicians and more. Among the symposium participants will be album contributors and original E Street Band members Garry Tallent, David Sancious and Vini Lopez, along with former Springsteen manager Mike Appel.
ED SANCIOUS
DAVID SANCIOUS
• David Sancious will also perform with drummer Will Calhoun at The Vogel at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. After leaving The E Street Band in 1974, the Long Branch native led his own jazz fusion group Tone and played keyboards for artists such as Peter Gabriel, Sting, Eric Clapton and Stanley Clarke.
• Anyone classic-rock fan who bothers reading album credits is probably familiar with at least the names of guitarists Danny Kortchmar and Waddy Wachtel, drummer Russ Kunkel and bassist Leland Sklar. Together or separately, they have performed with and/or co-written songs with artists such as James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Don Henley, Keith Richards, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Stevie Nicks and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Along with guitarist Steve Postell, they form a band called The Immediate Family, who will perform at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. They’ll play original songs from their self-titled 2021 album as well as material from their respective musical pasts.
• Singer-songwriter James Dalton will present a show titled “Asbury Park and Me,” Jan. 8 at 2:30 p.m. at The Stephen Crane House in Asbury Park. Previously presented at the Brighton Fringe festival in England, the show has been described as a “songs-and-stories solo stage piece (in which the) ‘storyteller guy, song man, front man, radio personality and actor’ brings decades of his experiences in the music business on the Asbury Circuit (and the world beyond) to the stage.” The show is co-presented by the Asbury Park Historical Society and the Light of Day WinterFest.
DARIO ACOSTA
DANIIL TRIFONOV
• Daniil Trifonov will perform Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with the New Jersey Symphony at Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m.; Prudential Hall at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, Jan. 7 at 8 p.m.; and the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, Jan. 8 at 3 p.m. NJS music director Xian Zhang will conduct, and the program also will include Strauss’ Don Juan and Suite from Der Rosenkavalier.
• The Adelphi Chamber Orchestra will perform Schubert’s Quintet for Strings in C major, D. 956, Op. 163, and Gershwin’s Lullaby for Strings at the River Vale Public Library, Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. There is no admission charge though advance registration is required at rivervalelibrary.org.
• “The Hootenanny in the Pines,” Jan. 8 from noon to 5 p.m. at Albert Music Hall in Waretown, will raise funds for necessary improvements to the long-running country, bluegrass and folk venue. Performers will include Prograsstination, Libby Prison Minstrels, Lonesome Turnpike Ramblers, The Wild Grit, Elaine & the Cimarron Sky, Red River Boys, James Dalton, Redbird & Raven and Third Rail, with a jam session at the end.
The West Orange Classic Film Festival will screen “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” Jan. 8.
FILM
• This year’s West Orange Classic Film Festival begins Jan. 8 at 2 p.m. with a screening of “The Adventures of Robin Hood” at the AMC Dine-In Essex Green 9 in West Orange. Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains co-starred in the 1936 swashbuckler. Film critic Stephen Whitty, an NJArts.net contributor, will lead a discussion after the screening.
As part of the festival, other films will screen every Sunday through March 5.
• The Big Screen Wonders Film Festival kicks off Jan. 7 at ArtYard in Frenchtown, and runs through Jan. 28. It is devoted to “films that demand a giant screen” and will take place in ArtYard’s McDonnell Theater. The first offering, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m., will be the 1982 sci-fi film “Blade Runner,” followed by a question-and-answer session with its co-writer, Hampton Fancher. Films to be screened on later dates include “The Matrix,” “Days of Heaven” and “Gravity.”
REVIEWS
“Thread Hijack” at the Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton. (Through Jan. 8)
“RetroBlakesberg: Captured on Film, 1978-2008,” works by rock photographer Jay Blakesberg at Morris Museum, Morris Township. (Through Feb. 5)
“New Jersey Arts Annual: Reemergence” at State Museum, Trenton. (Through April 30)
“Ladies and Gentlemen … The Beatles!” at Grammy Museum Experience Prudential Center, Newark. (Through June 25)
“George Inness: Visionary Landscapes” at Montclair Art Museum. (Through June 30, 2024)
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