The road to the 25th annual Long Branch Jazz & Blues Festival started last fall when I reached out to the management company for the Brazil based Blues Beatles, who were going to be coming to the states this year, as they we unable to make it here previously due to work visa issues. Next, I spoke to our old friend Nancy Lewis-Pegel who represents Peter Karp, and he was on board. Tommy LaBella is one of the finest horn players on the Jersey Shore, or anywhere else, for that matter, and has performed as a side man as a number of previous festivals. This was a chance to have him front his own band. Steve Bryant’s Red 123 was one of our new member jazz bands, and after reviewing their debut CD, I knew we had to have them play in front of our audience. The New Watchdog Blues Band had played for us at the Chubby Pickle and once we heard the three female lead vocalists, they punched their ticket to the festival.
We hadn’t seen youth performers on our stage for several years, and with Jay Sweet joining our board late last year, the idea of having a group representing his Youth Academy was the ideal way to start the day. As an extra added bonus, the three ladies from the New Watchdog Blues Band sang our National Anthem!
Back in April, Barry Stein and I were interviewed by the Greater Long Branch City Lifestyle magazine about the origin of the festival, as we were celebrating 25 years this August. If you haven’t seen the article, check it out at this link: https://citylifestyle.com/articles/jazz-blues-and-community.
Last week I joined Stu Coogan on 90.5 The Night, our great local radio station, to talk about the festival. Peter Karp was supposed to join us, but he was returning from Italy and his plane was delayed.
That brings us up to Saturday, and with picture perfect weather, great music, and food trucks, we had the recipe for a terrific festival, as the following pictures attest to.
Scholarship winners: Carlotta Schmidt, Chloe O’Rourke and Makaley Stetz
What a day! The 25th annual Long Branch Jazz & Blues Festival was a roaring success!
A massive thank you to our sponsors for their unwavering support, and to the City of Long Branch for hosting us. To the musicians who blessed us with their incredible talent—you were all amazing! And of course, a huge shout-out to our hardworking volunteers and the vibrant crowd that filled the festival with such great energy.
Your passion for jazz and blues is what makes this festival so special. We’ll see you next year!
Photo credit: John Posada, Posada Photography