Tom Baldino recounts his interview for the upcoming Jersey Sound Documentary…
The History of Music from New Jersey

by Tom Baldino

Several months ago an old friend and neighbor, Tom Yaccarino, whose family owned the Green Parrot back in the eighties contacted me. He let me know that a filmmaker named Fulvio Cecere was going to reach out to me for an interview for his upcoming documentary “The Jersey Sound”. I thanked him and sure enough, about a month later I did hear from Fulvio. I wasn’t familiar with him and his work but I soon found out his forty year career spanned over 200 movies and TV shows.
He has been working on the project on and off for years, and the interviewing phase really picked up steam in the last six months as most of the musicians, promoters, producers and other music people were at home due to the pandemic.
This is an all encompassing project covering every style of music made in New Jersey over the last 150 years.
I was his 134th interview, and believe it or not, it started with the first musician who he asked “is there anyone you think I should interview” and it grew from there. At least 25 artists played to the camera and discussed their lives in the business.
The plan is to finish up a few more interviews, editing it down to a six part miniseries which he will pitch to HBO and Netflix. My interview lasted about 45 minutes and consisted of answering some stock questions which allowed me to talk about my first live music experiences, growing up in Asbury Park in the sixties and my years with the Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation, the last eight of which I have been President. It was so much fun and I can’t wait to see the finished project. Anyone who is a fan of music and musicians in the Garden State will find this a much watch.

Check out the attached links for more information:
- Fulvio Cecere is the Executive Producer/Director of Happy Fish Productions. More info about Fulvio Cecere on IMDb
- and more about the documentary in the article “Epic New Jersey Music Documentary Being Molded By Veteran Actor Fulvio Cecere” By Neil Sabatino on Blood Make Noise.
Did you know that the JSJBF mission is “To preserve, promote, and perpetuate jazz, blues, and other indigenous music forms here in New Jersey.” … right in line with this documentary’s goals.