The new season of “Peak Performances” at Montclair State commences September 17 with the dance troupe known as A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham.

19^th Century French and Italian operas are the order of the day when New Jersey Lyric Opera (NJLO) presents its “Summer Opera Festival” with Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet at Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theatre in West Windsor this Friday, Saturday and Sunday August 28, 29 and 30.

Self-Produced, self-released, recorded in Little Falls, mixed and mastered in South Orange, Dishes Ain’t Clean, the fourth album from the duo known as Sounds of April and Randall, contains 13 of their originals that veer from jazz, indie-folk and world-pop to soul-funk.

The “American Voices” series of New York City’s Hunter College continues October 6 and 7 with the addition of “Frank Sinatra: From Band Singer to Icon” at The Kaye Playhouse. Previously, The on-campus Kaye has featured “Women In Jazz” and “Louis Armstrong: A Celebration of the Father of Jazz.”

Back in June, we told you about Princeton Jazz Guitarist Stanley Jordan’s Feather In The Wind album, due this fall. Jordan, who pioneered a style of guitar punctuated with his patented touch-tapping technique, will release the second single from the upcoming album this Friday, August 28, “Flight Of The Eagle,” his first original in 14 years.

Split Level Concerts has announced its third season of 8:00 p.m. Saturday shows at the Jersey Shore Arts Center (JSAC) on South Main Street in Ocean Grove at its Palaia Theater. The eight concerts start on Halloween when Willie Nile will perform a special “Solo Storyteller Show” with Americana singer-songwriter Robinson Treacher opening.

Registration is now open for NJ PAC’s 2026-2027 TD Jazz For Teens Education Program. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center as been doing so for 29 years. The new semester starts Oct. 3 and runs through May 15.

It’s been 67 years and counting for the prestigious Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. Executive Producer Jay Sweet and host Devon Gilfillian have been responsible for the latest twist in the fest’s long-standing cultural DNA, “Sea to Shining Sea,” an interview segment. They interviewed Bruce Springsteen recently and you can watch the entire spot here.

Dan Lorenzo, Surfing For Daisy, Sensational Soul Cruisers, The Weeklings, The Cynz and NFJ Izzy — six New Jersey artists, six new songs spanning metal, soul, indie, rap and Dylan covers. Press play.

Drummer Rikki Rockett, 65, touring with The Rockett Mafia, and promoting his Ghost Notes: My Life In Poison memoir, will stop on Chestnut Street in Red Bank September 13 for a Music & Drum Clinic at Octopus Music School.

As lead singer for Hoboken’s Best Ex, Mariel Loveland wasn’t always such a “Good Girl.” When we covered Best Ex in 2023, she was promising to ruin your life and the picture accompanying our story back then made it seem almost worth it. Now, though, she is, indeed, a “Good Girl” and it’s the irresistible title tune of her band’s upcoming album on Iodine Records to be released November 6.

Singer-Songwriter-Guitarist Jesse Malin will be the subject of a new 26-track double-album tribute September 11. Friends of Jesse Malin: I Would Do It For You, Volume #1 features Gogol Bordello, Dead Milkmen, Bebe Buell, Sami Yaffa, James Maddock, Valley Lodge and others. Eighty songs were recorded so expect more.

They’re calling the 11 originals on Willow Layne’s new album “a heartfelt Americana collection of hope, healing, roots, family, faith, love and loss.” The Roots Run Deep (Bongo Boy Records, out of Blairstown in Warren County), is heavily influenced by the sounds Layne—real name: Lisa Benedetto—grew up with in West Orange as her parents turned her on to Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry, John Denver, The Everly Brothers and Frank Sinatra.

All you cat lovers out there should know that on October 10 and 11, The Jersey Sound will be the sound of meow, the universal language that cats make when they want to talk to people. Please note that cats do not meow at other cats, only at people!

Cancer has claimed vocalist Jeanie Bryson—the only child of Dizzy Gillespie—at 68.

Gar Francis Songbook Volume #2 (Bongo Boy Records), by Sapphire Star (who doesn’t really exist), hits streaming platforms TODAY. The 12 Gar originals includes one he wrote for his band, The Doughboys, in 2010 (“Turn Your Love On Me”). 

A documentary film about the scandalous Sunset Marquis Hotel, If These Walls Could Rock, opens August 14. For a time, it was Rock Star Central, filled with drugs, sex and rock’n’roll by the biggest names in the business:  Bruce, Little Steven, Sheryl Crow, Morrissey, Ringo, Billy Bob Thornton, Slash, Dave Grohl, Cyndi Lauper, Roger Daltrey, Julian Lennon, John Oates, Nile Rodgers, Darius Rucker, Gene Simmons, Nancy Wilson and many more.

It’s been seven years since the promising PURGE debut of Berlin-based Dis Fig (who graduated from Randolph High School in Morris County when she was only known as Felicia Chen). Thrill Jockey is getting ready to finally release her follow-up, What To Make Of These Mortal Hands, on October 23. In the meantime, its first single, “The Account,” points to even more of an avant-garde presentation as it opens, not with her voice, but with the spoken words of the poet known as the wind between.

Futura is the name of an alien girl from a far-away planet who rebels against her parents and travels to Earth in search of love. It is also the name of a new comic book written by singer-songwriter-producer Rexxy from Peru who has five albums under her belt of romantic heartbreak synth-pop.

Sixteen years ago, Danzig put out his self-produced ninth album, Deth Red Sabaoth, with drummer Johnny Kelly and guitarist Tommy Victor backing up his vocals, compositions, guitar, bass and piano. It only reached #45 but on August 21, Cleopatra Records will re-release it.