Pianist-Composer Noah Haidu will celebrate the release of his ‘Standards II’ album (Sunnyside Records) at BRVSH CUL7UR3 in Teaneck on April 27 with bassist Paul Sikvie and drummer Charles Goold with sets at 7:00, 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.

If you’re heading to Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair at the Wellmont to see The Driver Era, get there early as Columbian Latin-Pop chanteuse Vale will be opening the show in support of her new single, “Chill Like That,” due April 19 (from her EP due late summer).

Southern California’s post-hardcore Dayseeker will support the release of their sixth album in 12 years—the all-acoustic Replica—with an American tour stopping in Newark at the Prudential Center on April 25 as part of the WDHA “Rock The Rock Fest.”

Singer-Rhythm Guitarist Aaron Lewis, Lead Guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April and drummer Sal Giancarelli—known collectively as Staind—will let it all hang out at downtown Newark’s Prudential Center on April 25 with Seether opening.

She was discovered at age 16 by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. Her electric lead guitar is, in a word, stunning. Just ask Stevie Wonder or Joe Bonamassa who have sung her praises. From the moment her 2009 ‘White Sugar’ debut landed, then on to two #1 Billboard Blues chart albums and her 2022 ‘Nobody’s Fool,’ she’s a Bad-Ass British Blues-Rock Bitch and the bitch is back! The Vogel in Red Bank will rock April 23 when she previews tracks off her new ‘Heavy Soul’ album due June 7.

Before the May 3 release of their self-titled Americana album, the husband-wife team of Pete Damore and Crys Hariu-Damore—known collectively as Ordinary Elephant—will perform in Hunterdon County at the Frenchtown Bookshop.

Alt-Ska rock band Sublime With Rome hits A.C. April 20 at Hard Rock Live on “The Farewell Tour” in support of its last single, “Love Is Dangerous,” due April 5. (Expect an album later this year.) Band founder/ singer/ songwriter/ guitarist Rome Ramirez will have with him this time around drummer Joe Tomino, bassist Brian Allen who previously provided the bottom for Miranda Lambert and Zac Brown, and trombonist/keyboardist Gabriel McNair of No Doubt and Green Day.

Trion uses no chords. Drummer Johnathan Blake, sax man Chris Potter and bassist Linda May Han Oh have to be experienced live to be believed. This incredible trio will no doubt raise the room off this hip unpronounceable Teaneck room.

Eleven years on, upbeat alt-pop Los Angeles trio Smallpools will support the April 5 release of ‘Ghost Town Road East’ and its first single, “Fake A Happy Face” (about separating social media from real life), with a tour co-headlining with Philadelphia’s Grayscale that lands them down the shore at The Stone Pony on April 14.

This concert series in Summit is called “Afternoon Music at Beacon” and on Sunday, April 14, at 3:00, singer-songwriter-actress Rosena M. Hill Jackson will perform with a hot quintet of piano, bass, drums, guitar and trombone (by her husband Jason Jackson). Rosena swings in multiple genres, be it Broadway, gospel, jazz, classical, R’n’B and pop.

Folk-Blues champ Chris Smither, 79, will be finger-picking his way throughout the USA, supporting the May 3 release of his 20th album, ‘All About The Bones’ (Signature Sounds) with a March-to-July tour that will land him in Blairstown on April 13 at Roy’s Hall.

Guitarist Lou Franco has his Jeff Beck chops down cold. The Pennsylvanian says, “I’ve waited all my life to play this music. It is both challenging and a total blast to perform.”

‘Salvation’ is coming June 7 from Quinn Sullivan but before that album is released, the singer-songwriter-guitarist will be in Ocean County at the Lizzie Rose Music Room on April 12.

Firewind’s new ‘Stand United’ album is out and their international tour will hit Canada, England, Europe and Japan, but not before they blow the roof off of Dingbatz in Clifton on April 11.

It’s called “Satch-Vai” and it marks the first time these two visionary string-benders will share a stage since they toured on the G3 tour with Eric Johnson. Word has it these longtime friends are collaborating on new music just for the occasion.

Vibraphonist/Educator Ted Piltzecker has five albums (the latest: ‘Brindica’) and, on this night in Teaneck, will, no doubt, show a mastery of the vibes in Tango, New Orleans, Jazz, Afro-Cuban and South African genres that he’s learned in New York City, Argentina, Iceland, India, Nepal and Bali.

This event is free…but please be 21 or older. Fear Of Falling will be performing selections from their ‘Simple Lessons,’ ‘Mind-Set’ and ‘Tree’ albums at 10:00 after opener Our Marvelous Lives play at 9:00. Finnegan’s Pub, 734 Willow Avenue in Hoboken, was rated the #2 venue for Irish food in the state on nj.com.

Acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell will lead his Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Orchestra into the New Jersey Performing Arts Center downtown Newark on March 30. The program will consist of some of the most beloved violin concertos and overtures—from Rossini, Mendelssohn and Schumann to Mozart, Bruch and Brahms—plus the premiere of a new work by composer Vince Mendoza.

She calls it “Ameri-Celtic-Cana.” That stands for Americana with a Celtic Twist. Helen O’Shea first heard about The Stone Pony back in her native Ireland during her obsessive Bruce phase as she attended medical school in Galway. Her taking the Stone Pony iconic stage this Saturday is a dream-come-true. It’s an all-day show with plenty of other artists. Her set is at 3:00 in the afternoon.

You gotta hear this North Carolina singer-songwriter do Al Green’s “Take Me To The River.” His 2021 ‘Your Van Is On Fire’ memoir lists his influences, chiefly Van Morrison and JJ Cale. In Newton on March 27, he’ll be performing with Mavericks lead singer Raul Malo in what promises to be a great double-bill.

Stevie Van Zandt’s latest signing to his Wicked Cool record label is Marc Valentine, who’s being called “The New King Of British Power-Pop.” His album, ‘Basement Sparks,’ is due March 22. The first single, “Strange Weather,” is out now.

Jazz In The Loft is a smaller venue housed within the South Orange Performing Arts Center. On March 24, Chicago’s James Austin Jr. & Luminescence will pay tribute to Dr. Barry Harris [1929-2021], the legendary pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger and educator who lived with Thelonious Monk for a time during the 1970s in New Jersey at the Weehawken mansion of the Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, a patron of the jazz arts. Austin’s first album was ‘Songs In The Key Of Wonder.’ His panoply of styles has no boundaries.

Trumpeter, Riley Mulherkar, just had his Riley debut come out February 16. If Louis Armstrong and Wynton Marsalis could have a baby, it would be Riley Mulherkar. Yet he’s avant-garde in his explorations of electronica. He co-founded brass band The Westerlies, and there’s no telling where their set—without Riley—in Jersey City at White Eagle Hall on March 19 might go. 

“New Jersey has always had some of the craziest crowds we have ever played to,” says Shadows Fall front man Brian Fair. Now, upon the occasion of the 20th anniversary of ‘The War Within,’ the Boston heavy metalers will bomb the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville on March 16 with its blitzkrieg attack.

The late jazz critic Leonard Feather once said about guitarist-composer Stanley Jordan, "genius is a word often tossed around in musical circles, but it has been rightfully applied to Stanley Jordan.” Four Grammy noms, shows in 60 countries on six continents, collaborations with Art Blakey, Return To Forever bassist Stanley Clarke and Kenny Rogers plus jam sessions with Dave Matthews, Les Paul and Phil Lesh, Jordan, 64, is THE MAN.

Sax man Boney James has 18 albums in 32 years, the latest of which is his Detour (Concord Records). It’s the follow-up to his wildly successful ‘Solid’ in 2020 which went Top 10 pop in ‘Billboard.’

Get to the Wellmont Theater in Montclair early on March 10 if you’re going to see Porno For Pyros so you won’t miss opener Tigercub, the hot new British power trio.

New York City pianist, by way of Ohio, Larry Fuller will light up the Cunningham Piano Company, established in 1891, and now presenting sterling live jazz like this trio with Fuller, bassist Matthew Parrish and drummer Byron Landham.

Since 1987, March has been “Women’s History Month.” This Saturday, March 9, at Little City Books in Hoboken, author Katherine Yeske Taylor will read from her book, ‘She’s A Badass: Women in Rock Shaping Feminism’ and be interviewed by Bongos guitarist James Mastro. Tammy Faye Starlite, Karyn Kuhl, Diane Gentile and Megan Reilly will perform live. The author will also appear March 23 in Oldwick (Hunterdon County) at Howling Basset Books for a wine & cheese meet’n’greet at 5pm.

The art of jazz organ is alive and well in the hands of Pat Bianchi. He has digested the essence of classic proponents of such like Jimmy Smith, Joey DeFrancesco, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Larry Young, Shirley Scott and Larry Goldings. Yet he’s an improvisor with an ear towards the future. His latest album is ‘Three.’