The 14^th Annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival will take place at multiple Newark venues from November 8 to November 23. It is the state’s largest such fest and, this year, its theme is social justice.

Monmouth Arts has announced that Stevie Van Zandt will bestow upon the legendary vocalist Darlene Love a “Lifetime Achievement in Music” award at the “POP! A Night at the Lanes” fundraiser on October 23 at Asbury Lanes.

On October 17, one week before the Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere feature film hits theaters Oct. 24, Sony Music will release Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition with previously unreleased material, including a full-length Blu-Ray concert, and a raw stripped-down “Born In The USA” from the Electric Nebraska sessions.

There are those in the small town of Jefferson in Morris County who still remember the shocking murder-suicide of a mother-son. In 1988, the fear of heavy metal music was reaching epidemic proportions. The so-called “Satanic Panic” had ultra-conservative right-wing preachers, teachers, parents and politicians shouting at the devil to blame bands like Black Sabbath, Kiss, AC-/DC, Judas Priest, Slayer and Iron Maiden for all of society’s woes.

Carrie Jackson is a producer, arranger, actor, educator, sweet soul purveyor, a beboppin’ scatter, blues belter, music-biz exec and now a bouncer. No, not a nightclub bouncer, but the artist behind the new album, Jersey Bounce where she takes songs by The Beatles (“And I Love Him”), Bruce (“Fire”) and Al Green (“Let’s Stay Together”) and makes them her own.

The Nimbus Arts Center, at 329 Warren Street in Jersey City, is the site for the FREE Hudson West Fest on September 13. It’s an all-day groove to the sounds of Americana, Jazz, Folk, Country, Pop, Rock and even family square dancing.

The follow-up to last year’s Revelation, by Piper & The Hard Times, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Blues Album chart, is the self-released Good Company.

Bon Jovi’s current album, Forever, came out last year. This year it’s coming out again as Forever (Legendary Edition), re-recorded with a different guest artist on each song (plus one new song).

For those who like to dance to compositions in 7/8 time, with no radio play whatsoever, the American Northeast’s only international Progressive Rock Festival, ProgStock, happens October 9, 10, 11 and 12 at the Williams Center in Rutherford, Bergen County, an artist-run arts center, complete with cinema and comedy club.

A special concert this Wednesday, Sept. 3, has been added to the various celebrations put on by the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music (BSACAM) to honor the 50^th Anniversary of Born To Run, the album that made Bruce a star.

The scenic campus of Drew University in Madison, Morris County, is where Drew U’s 433-seat Concert Hall is nestled. The following shows have just been announced.

Cre8ive_MC, of Parsippany, has released his Make Sure They Spell Your Name Right debut. Born to an art teacher and sculptor/guitarist, Glenn Paul Simon, as he was born, has opened shows for Common, and was the featured poet at the Madison Community Arts Center in Morris County.

When Debbie Harry was being raised in Hawthorne (Passaic County), sure, she thought about being a rock star. Never once did she think of being a Comic Book Hero. But in 2023, out came Blondie: Against The Odds, a hardcover comic book, or Hardcover Graphic Novel as they’re calling it. Written by a team of 10 writers, illustrated by 13 graphic artists, in honor of the band’s 50^th Anniversary, Harry loved it because, as she said at the time, “one of the things that brought us all together as a band was comics and comic art. No matter how you slice it, Blondie has its roots deep into the genre.”

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark has announced its 2025-2026 winter season of classical music. San Francisco’s Chanticleer, “The World’s Reigning Male Chorus” (according to The New Yorker magazine), kicks it off December 6 at 3:00 p.m. with its “Chanticleer Christmas” presentation.

Very Early: Remembering Bill Evans (Joplin & Sweeney Music Company), by the Jim Witzel Quartet, is the latest tribute to one of the greatest pianists of all-time. Bill Evans was born in Plainfield, Union County, and died in 1980 at 51, a victim of his own excess. But before he killed himself with drugs, he was known for his complex melodic inventions, influential, introspective, innovative. His lyrical romanticism made what would become the biggest-selling jazz album of all-time, Kind Of Blue, in 1959, with the sextet of Miles Davis.

Free concerts have been going on at the PNC Bank Arts Center right off the Garden State Parkway in Holmdel for a few years. The Garden State Arts Foundation has now announced its fall free shows.

A free all-day fest in Jersey City with bands and beer takes place this Sunday, August 24, starting at 1:00. The Eartheart Festival is dedicated to the proposition that a well-balanced symbiosis between brain and body makes all the difference in the world.

The deadline to register for the 14^th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition (known as The Sassy Awards) is September 2. The finals of the competition will be held November 23 in Newark as part of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) James Moody Festival.

There’s a rest stop in Forked River (Ocean County) on the Garden State Parkway in honor of New Jersey Hall of Famer Celia Cruz. When “The Queen Of Salsa” escaped Castro in 1961, she ultimately—after brief stops in New York City and Miami—wound up in Fort Lee (Bergen County) where she lived out the rest of her life. Now her Tremendo Trio (Craft Recordings Latino), with percussionist Ray Barretto and vocalist Adalberto Santiago, long out-of-print, returns to glorious life as Craft will re-release it on vinyl October 3 in honor of the centennial of the birth of Celia Cruz.

For four hours on Friday, September 19, starting at 5:00 p.m. and eight hours on Saturday, September 20, starting at 1:00 p.m., Freedom Park on Union Street in Medford (Burlington County) will ring long and strong FOR FREE with three stages of live music featuring Remember Jones, Williams Honor, Nik Greeley & the Operators and the champions of the Philadelphia Mummers Parade, the Quaker City String Band.