Monmouth County has a beautiful new piano showroom on East Main Street in Oceanport. Helmed by Todd Sanders, a former Steinway & Sons VP, the showroom will feature Estonia Pianos, handcrafted in Estonia by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe, as well as Cristofori Pianos, makers for over 70 years of some of the finest pianos in the world (with their Siberian spruce soundboards).

Hero Sgt. John Basilone will be remembered November 18 at the New Jersey Hall of Fame. During World War II, the Raritan native fought heroically at the Battle of Guadalcanal, for which he won the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Guitarist-Vocalist-Keyboardist Jimmy Vivino, 69, of the Paterson Vivino family (which also includes Uncle Floyd and sax man Jerry) will participate in the December 7 John Lennon tribute at Symphony Space in Manhattan when Kenny Loggins receives the 2024 John Lennon Real Love Award.

Asbury Park band The Break Plans will celebrate the November 15 release of their debut Mistakes Are A Friend Of Mine EP by performing live at The Wonder Bar Saturday, the day after their “Happy Again” single comes out tomorrow.

How about six hours of good food, drink and music from the lead guitar guitarist of the Asbury Jukes, Glenn Alexander, and all for a good cause? The Italian American Hall in Scotch Plains will rock this Sunday, November 10 for six solid hours:  from 2:00 in the afternoon to 8:00 at night.

The Ronnie James Dio “Stand Up And Shout” Cancer Fund will have another fun fundraiser November 14 in Studio City California at the PINZ Bowling Center. Trunk—who tells his great story of just how Metallica got its start right here in The Garden State in The Jersey Sound documentary—can be heard on SiriusXM’s 103 Faction Talk channel.

As Antoine Poncelet says, “this song is for all us weirdos who ‘Live For The Night.’” Dedicated to those late-night/early mornings at Newark nightspot QXTs, “Live For The Night” has the band—whose members live in such far-flung Jersey locations like West Orange, Totowa, Lodi, Hasbrouck Heights and Matawan—performing at QXTs. It was shot and edited by Brian and son Jacob Jude.

Friday we announced the five finalists of the 13^th Annual New Jersey Performing Arts Center Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition (otherwise known as The Sassy Awards). Jazzmeia Horn, from Dallas, was the 2013 winner. Her new album, Messages (Empress Legacy Records) was just released (see video here).

On December 7, the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center Ballroom in Edison (97 Sunfield Avenue)—from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.—will be the site of the 2024 Horror Sideshow Holiday Flea Market. It is but a prelude to the 2025 Horror Con & Film Festival in March. The one-day event features artists, vintage movie posters, pop culture artifacts and plenty of shopping for the most bizarre gifts on the planet.

They call him “The Love King.” Raheem DeVaughn, born in Newark 49 years ago, has released seven albums in 19 years all with LOVE in the titles. Son of jazz cellist Abdul Wadud, inspired by Babyface, he’s been compared to D’Angelo, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. He describes himself as an “R’n’B hippie neo-soul rock star.”

Orrin Evans, 49, born in Trenton—a Rutgers grad (where he still lectures)—has taken a time-out from his career as a bebop piano man with 29 albums as a leader to arrange and perform in a new musical based on the life and times of Frederick Douglass [1818-1895].

He just opened for the Jayhawks at the Newton Theatre Saturday and now James Mastro of The Bongos, Health & Happiness Show and Ian Hunter will flex his musical muscle as a solo A-List Americana rockin’ singer-songwriter in support of his debut solo effort, Dawn Of A New Error.

The top five finalists for the 13^th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition—known as The Sassy Awards—have been announced by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Over 220 entrants from 21 countries submitted songs and now only five remain.

When Melanie Anne Safka [1947-2024] graduated Long Branch High School, she had no idea she’d become a cultural icon (known only by her first name), perform bravely by herself at the Woodstock festival in 1969 (capturing the heart of a generation) or have a composition of hers that she never even properly recorded be brought back to life by an acoustic goth folk cabaret duo from Brooklyn, Charming Disaster.

Jack Antonoff is carving out a damn impressive career with his Bleachers band and as Taylor Swift’s producer. The Bergenfield native has also been active in raising funds and awareness for the plight of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender kids (LGBTQ), the homeless, and those crushed under the weight of today’s society. He founded The Ally Coalition with his sister Rachel Antonoff, and on December 17 in New York City, the 10^th Annual Talent Show at the Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts will take place.

He pulls no punches. He calls it like he sees it. And he doesn’t like what he sees. Keyboardist David Sancious asks the philosophical question “Why Must It Be So” today.  But we’ll let Sancious tell you about it himself.

In what’s being publicized as a “Super-Collab Rock Collective,” This Wild Darkness has released the second single (“The Wild Darkness”)—the first single was “Dawn Rider”—from The Notorious Memphis Rains EP, a five-song concept EP landing Friday. Scotti Hill, from Toms River—Ocean County—band Skid Row, known to shred bigtime electric shrieks, plays some subtle slide guitar on the project.

A Bruce Springsteen interview special will air in prime-time on ABC-TV Sunday, October 20. “Backstage and Backstreets” will be seen at 10:00 p.m. EST with Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos. The show is part of a promotional push for Bruce’s upcoming Hulu and Disney+ “Road Diary” documentary to debut October 25.

After blowing for Bowie, Bruce, Jagger, Southside, Radiohead, Talking Heads, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stevie Van Zandt and Duran Duran, Hudson County sax man Stan Harrison will step out front with the release of the all-original nine-track Some Poor Soul Has a Fire album (Adhyaropa Records), to be released October 28.

On October 26 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, “A Evening Of Conversation,” with Jon Bon Jovi and Stephen Colbert, will be part of this year’s Montclair Film Festival.