Southside Johnny
Here is a roundup of arts events taking place around the state, through July 7.
• The July 4 Freedom Festival at Wiggins Park on the Camden waterfront will begin at 5 p.m. with the Tri-County Symphonic Band, in a “Salute to America and Our Veterans.” This will be followed by jazz trumpeter Arnetta Johnson and her Sunny band at 6:30; Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes at 8; and fireworks at 9:30. There will be no admission charge.
Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes will also perform at the Ocean City Music Pier, July 5 at 7 p.m.
Also coming up this week:
POP/ROCK
• ’80s hit-maker Tiffany (“I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Could’ve Been,” “All This Time”) will headline the free 100.1 WJRZ’s Red White & Boom Concert, July 2 at 7 p.m. on the Franklin Avenue Stage of the Seaside Heights Boardwalk, with fireworks following the music.
KRISTIN BARLOWE
RAUL MALO
• Raul Malo, the golden-voiced frontman of the band The Mavericks, will perform a free solo show outdoors at Woodbridge High School, July 7 at 7:30 p.m., as part of the weekly Woodbridge Wednesdays series.
• Stormin’ Norman Seldin, one of the founding fathers of the Asbury Park rock scene, will present a free tribute to New Orleans music in the city, July 5 at 6 p.m., as part of the Asbury Park Music Foundation’s Music Mondays at Springwood Park series. Seldin’s big band will feature him and fellow pianist Ryan Gregg up front, as well as a five-saxophone horn section and singer-guitarists Pam McCoy and Chuck Lambert. The Ocean Avenue Stompers will open.
• Singers Jerry Pearce and Tony Corrao, past winners of Hoboken’s annual Sinatra Idol contest, will perform at a free “Sounds of Sinatra” concert at Sinatra Park in Sinatra’s hometown, Hoboken, July 1 at 7 p.m.
• In honor of guitarist Ernie Trionfo, who died in 2019, the free Concerts on the Beach series at William Morrow Beach/Municipal Beach Park in Somers Point will present a concert titled “Everybody Loves Ernie,” July 4, with the Tony Mart Allstars and guests Billy Walton, Danny Eyer and Patty Blee performing the music of classic rock guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
JAZZ
• During the pandemic, clarinetist and saxophonist Dan Levinson was part of a band that performed traditional jazz regularly in New York’s Central Park. July 1 at 8 p.m., he’ll bring members of that band, including trumpeter Simon Wettenhall, to New Jersey for an outdoor show at the Morris Museum in Morris Township. The show will be titled “Dan Levinson’s Midsummer Night’s Jazz Party: Central Park Stomp.”
The same venue will present a tribute to the late Bucky Pizzarelli, who died last year, July 8 at 8 p.m., with Pizzarelli’s son, bassist Martin Pizzarelli, leading a quartet featuring saxophonist and clarinetist Linus Wyrsch, pianist Hyuna Park and violinist Aaron Weinstein.
JILL GREENBERG
ANDREW McCARTHY
OTHER
• Andrew McCarthy — the New Jersey native who starred in ’80s movies such as “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “Pretty in Pink” and “Less Than Zero” and has continued acting since then, though in recent years he has worked more as a director, on TV series like “Orange Is the New Black,” “The Blacklist” and “The Family” — has written a memoir about his Brat Pack past. It’s titled “Brat: An ’80s Story.” Hoboken’s Little City Books will present him in an online conversation with actor and Hoboken resident Matt Lawler, July 1 at 8 p.m.
• The 17th annual L.E.A.D (Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence) Fest State Fair at Mercer County Park in West Windsor runs from July 1 to 11, with rides, food, animals, magic shows and other attractions, including fireworks on July 3, 4 and 10, and nightly bands: Lovelight, July 1; Tequila Rose, July 2; Rock of Ages, July 3; Kindred Spirit, July 4; Paul Plumeri Blues Band, July 5; the Cosmic Jerry Band, July 6; El Kabong, July 7; Diamond Eye Jack, July 8; the B Street Band, July 9, Southern Steel, July 10; and Ernie White, July 11.
• The City of Long Branch will present a Poetry Festival at West End Park, July 4 from 10 a.m. to noon, with readings by Estelle Bajou, Gregg Brown, Jennifer Stahl Brown, Olivia Calbrese, Frank Finale, Charlie Bruns, Marshall Harth and Daniel Weeks.
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