The band Jackson Pines will perform at The New Jersey Folk Festival in North Brunswick, Aug. 23.
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Aug. 28.
MUSIC
• The 50th anniversary edition of the New Jersey Folk Festival, originally scheduled for April 26 at Rutgers University in New Brunswick but postponed because of weather, will take place in a different location, Davidson’s Mill Pond Park in North Brunswick, Aug. 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with music, craft displays, talks, workshops, children’s activities, food trucks, early American cricket demonstrations, and more. There will be no admission charge.
Here are the schedules for the event’s two music stages:
ANGUS KRESS GILLESPIE SKYLANDS MAIN STAGE
10 a.m.: Long Time Coming (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tribute)
11 a.m.: Opening ceremonies
11:30 a.m.: New Brunswick Jazz Project Brass Band
12:15 p.m.: Jim Albertson
1 p.m.: Jackson Pines
3 p.m.: Mike Montrey Band
SHORE STAGE
10 a.m.: Lesser Séamus
11:15 p.m.: Sierra Peaks
12:15 p.m.: McDermott’s Handy
1 p.m.: Küf Knotz & Christine Elise
1:45 p.m.: Tempo Alegre
2:45 p.m.: Spook Handy (audience sing-along)
WES ORSHOSKI
Pete Townshend of The Who at The Prudential Center in Newark, on Aug. 19.
• The Who, who performed at The Prudential Center in Newark on Aug. 19 (read review HERE) will bring their The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour back to New Jersey for a show at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Aug. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Booker T. Jones, of Booker T & the M.G.’s fame, will open. (UPDATE: This show has been postponed.)
• The hard-rock band System of a Down — which has not released a new studio album in 20 years, and has presented concerts very infrequently during that time period — will give New Jersey fans a rare opportunity to see them in concert when they appear at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, Aug. 27-28 at 5:30 p.m. They are double-billed with Korn, with Polyphia and Wisp opening.
• The Brazilian band Blues Beatles, who have found ways to energetically reinvent Fab Four songs with classic blues arrangements, will headline this year’s edition of the free, annual Long Branch Jazz and Blues Festival, which will be presented by The Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation, Aug. 23 at Long Branch’s Great Lawn.
The festival’s schedule is: The Sweet Music Academy Youth Band at 1 p.m.; The New Watchdog Blues Band at 2:15 p.m.; Red123 at 3:30 p.m.; The Tommy LaBella AllStars (featuring Arne Wendt) at 4:45 p.m.; Peter Karp at 6 p.m.; and Blues Beatles at 7:30 p.m.
• Blues Beatles will also perform at Roy’s Hall in Blairstown, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m.
• The Outpost in the Burbs will present a free kickoff show for its upcoming fall season, Aug. 23 at 6 p.m. on the front lawn of the First Congregational Church in Montclair. Dave & the Divas, featuring Dave Amlen and others, will perform the songs of Elton John and Amlen’s late sister, Jenny Amlen, after an opening set by The Stacia Thiel Trio.
• The Emmy-winning, Tony-nominated actor Hank Azaria, who is best known for his work on “The Simpsons,” will sing Bruce Springsteen songs with his EZ Street Band at The Music Box at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, Aug. 23 at 8 p.m. (watch video of “Born to Run” below). The show is billed as “A Springsteen Celebration.”
“I’ve never worked harder preparing for any role than I did in perfecting a singing vocal impression of Bruce,” Azaria has said.
• Garden State Singers will premiere its own modernized version of Mozart’s 1791 opera “Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute),” Aug. 22 and 24 at 7 p.m. at The duCret Center of Art in Plainfield. Click HERE to read a preview by NJArts.net classical critic Courtney Smith.
MAVIS STAPLES
• Mavis Staples of the great gospel and R&B group The Staple Singers recently released a new single, “Godspeed” (listen below), which was written by Frank Ocean. She will perform at The Ocean City Music Pier, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m., with Jeffrey Gaines opening.
Ocean released his own version of “Godspeed” on his 2016 album Blonde. “Channel Orange (2012) was my first introduction to Frank Ocean and I was just amazed at the writing and soulfulness coming from his voice,” Staples has said. “And I loved Blonde when that record came out. That first line in ‘Godspeed’ of ‘I will always love you’ just crushes me every time I hear it … or sing it. It’s just such a beautiful song and he sounds amazing on it so I was a little nervous if we could pull it off. I was honored to sing his words.”
• Joe D’Urso & Stone Caravan and The Emily Duff Band will perform at a benefit for the Light of Day Foundation — which fights Parkinson’s disease and related disorders — at Parker Press Park in Woodbridge, Aug. 27 at 7:30 p.m., as part of the Woodbridge Wednesdays series. There will be no admission charge, but attendees can support Light of Day by making donations and/or participating in a 50/50 raffle.
• Actor Alan Cumming will present a cabaret show “Uncut” — at which he will be accompanied by pianist Henry Koperski — Aug. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank. Cumming has said that the themes for this show are “what it means to be an outsider and to live your authentic life.”
TITILAYO AYANGADE
The Tesla Quartet (from left, Michelle Lie, Ross Snyder, Austin Fisher and Edwin Kaplan).
• An 1834 String Quartet by Felix Mendelssohn’s less famous sister Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel will be among the works played by The Tesla Quartet at its 7:30 p.m. Aug. 23 concert in the outdoor Back Deck series at The Morris Museum in Morris Township. The program also will include Joseph Haydn’s “The Joke Quartet” and Grażyna Bacewicz’s First String Quartet.
THEATER
• George Street Playhouse will present Joy Behar in her own show “My First Ex-Husband” — a series of monologues described as “a bold and heartfelt adaptation of true stories (exploring) the messy, hilarious truths of love, sex, and relationships” — Aug. 28 at 3 and 7:30 p.m. at The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.
Veanne Cox and Sherri Shepherd — the latter, Behar’s former co-host on the daytime television talk show “The View” — will co-star.
“My First Ex-Husband” debuted off-Broadway in January, with a rotating cast featuring Behar and others. “Based on hours of deep-dive interviews Behar conducted several years ago with a number of divorcées, the stories have been redacted by her, with their permission, to lend her signature sardonic wit to the tales, to close each with a happy ending for the women, and to leave the audience laughing and celebrating their new beginnings,” wrote Deb Miller in a review for dctheaterarts.org.
“Truth to Power,” by Serj Tankian.
VISUAL ARTS
• Serj Tankian, frontman of the band System of a Down (see item above), will display his artwork at Wentworth Gallery at The Short Hills Mall, and make a personal appearance there, Aug. 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. Tankian has also created music specifically for each work that will be shown; the music can be heard via a free app.
“I see music and visual art as extensions of the same soul,” Tankian has said. “When I paint, I’m composing. When I compose, I’m painting. Each informs the other in ways words cannot express. Art is a vehicle for truth and transcendence, and through this fusion of sound and image, I aim to create a deeper connection — one that invites not just observation, but participation. My goal is to awaken the senses, provoke thought, and encourage reflection on the interconnectedness of all things.”
OTHER
• Montclair Early Music will present its annual Medieval Fest at The Montclair Art Museum, Aug. 24 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with performances of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music by Montclair Early Music’s vocal and instrumental ensembles plus historical enactments, food and crafts vendors, archery, fencing and more.
REVIEWS
“And in This Corner … Cassius Clay,” presented by The Theater Project at Oakes Center, Summit. (Through Aug. 24)
“The Garden State” at Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit. Works by members of New Jersey Photography Forum. (Through Aug. 25)
“Pulp: The Fluid and The Concrete” at Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton. Paper-making works. (Through Aug. 31)
“Léni Paquet-Morante: Extract/Abstract,” presented by Princeton University Art Museum at Art@Bainbridge. (Through Nov. 2)
“Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through Dec. 21)
“Morven Revealed: Untold Stories From New Jersey’s Most Historic Home” at Morven Museum & Garden, Princeton. (Through March 1)
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