FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE
1. THE PONY INTERVIEW WITH BOB MAKIN OF THE JERSEY JAMS FUND
2. MONDAY NIGHTS AT THE STONE PONY: OPEN MIC
3. THURSDAY NIGHTS AT THE STONE PONY: LADIES NIGHT
4. CALENDAR OF EVENTS
This Week at The Stone Pony: Local Jams (Sunday), Open Mic Night (Monday), Jersey Style Wednesdays (Wednesday)
New on the Stone Pony Calendar: Nils Lofgren (August 28), Count Basie 100th Birthday Bash for Children (August 29), Gary U.S. Bonds (September 4), Long Beach Short Bus (September 5), Graham Colton Band (September 7), Borialis (September 10), Melissa Ferrick (September 11), Rich Robinson (September 21), Helmet (September 24), Amfibian (September 25), Matt Haimovitz (October 1), La Bamba's Big Band (October 2), Critters Buggin' (October 8), Martin Barre (October 23), Hippie Halloween Jamboree (October 29), The Weird NJ Halloween Party (October 30), The Slackers (November 14), Tony Trischka Band (December 11)
JERSEY JAMES, JERSEY CARES CELEBRATES COUNT BASIE'S 100TH BIRTHDAY WITH A FREE BASH FOR CHILDREN
The Jersey Shore music scene has a long and proud tradition of support for charitable causes. Virtually from its inception, the Stone Pony has hosted countless shows that raised money or awareness for important and worthwhile organizations or individuals in need of help and support. One of the most recent of these, The Jersey Jams Fund, was created as a response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks to "fight terrorism with the healing power of music and enrich children with its positive impact." Initially making its mark with the "Jersey Jams, Jersey Cares" CD, which features 15 tracks by artists such as Robert Randolph, Glen Burtnik, Kathy Phillips and John Eddie, the Fund has expanded with a series of concerts. The most popular concert events have paid tribute to artists such as the Beatles and Jerry Garcia, focusing on their contributions to music and the spirit which they inspired. The latest of the these tributes honors "The Kid from Red Bank," Count Basie, the seminal jazz pianist, who infused elements of blues into the mix and brought swing to the forefront of American popular music. The Pony Newsletter interviewed music journalist Bob Makin, one of the founders of the Jersey Jams Fund and the organizer of the upcoming event, about the importance of Basie's mark on the music world, the free birthday bash being thrown in his honor at the Pony on Sunday, August 29, and the work of the Jersey Jams Fund that has made it a popular cause for the area's local musical community.
The Stone Pony: For fans who are not familiar with Jersey Jams Fund, can you briefly talk about how the foundation was started, and how it was a response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks?
Bob Makin: I wrote a song, "Never Again," while Bush was giving his speech on Sept. 20, 2001. That was the beginning of Jersey Jams Fund. The next day, I called my friend, Matt Angus, owner of Black Potatoe Records and Atomic Productions and co-producer of the Black Potatoe Festival, all in Clinton, and my friend Seth Alexander, owner of Q-Vo Records and SRA Studios in Scotch Plains, and by the end of that day, we had a five-song compilation. Within two months, we had a 15-song compilation that we released as a tribute to the NJ Families of 9/11 and initially sold, along with benefit concert tickets, to raise music scholarship money for the NJ Children of 9/11 as a form of music therapy.
The fund-raising mechanism became known as Jersey Jams Fund, a fiduciary fund of Bergen County United Way. The program then expanded to include our own music mentorship program, which started with a Summer Arts Carnival in 2002, to which the NJ Families of 9/11 were invited to attend free of charge, again as a form of music therapy.
The Stone Pony: You've been very involved in working with and supporting New Jersey families who were affected by 9/11. When the foundation was started, how did you go about contacting those families and letting them know what you were trying to do? Are there families that you've built a relationship with and have been particularity supportive of the work you're doing?
BM: All our contact with the NJ Families of 9/11 was through Bergen County United Way, other United Way chapters and other 9/11 advocacy groups. We've had very little direct contact with the families out of respect for their privacy. We created a music scholarship application for them that those organizations distributed. Each child would get about $600 for free music lessons or school band equipment. We gave $22,000 to 37 children between the ages of four and 16.
The families I did come in contact with were very supportive and appreciative of both the music scholarship and the summer arts carnival, especially since Bruce Springsteen attended that. About 14 families came to the carnival. One woman said that her late husband played the guitar and with the funds that we gave her, her son started taking lessons. She said she could feel the spirit of her husband channeled through her son. I thought that was about the most beautiful result of Jersey Jams Fund and its Jersey Jams, Jersey Cares music education program.
The Stone Pony: What's been your intention with regards to directing most of the efforts of the Jersey Jams Fund towards children and their relationship with music?
BM: Our aim is to fight terrorism with the healing power of music and to enrich children with its positive impact. We've done that two ways: our scholarship for the NJ Children of 9/11 as form of music therapy and our music mentorship events, such as the Basie Bash. All of our mentorship events are free for children. The Basie Bash is free for everyone.
We will also be raising money to sponsor Little Kids Rock (www.littlekidsrock.org) so we can bring their after-school music mentorship program into NJ schools. We have four CDs in production and will be working with non-profit arts organizations, such as the Count Basie Theatre, to sell the disc in order to provide music scholarship to disadvantaged high school seniors who plan to study music in college.
Down the road, we'd like to open arts education centers, but that's quite a ways off.
The Stone Pony: Is it a little tougher to get artists and venues to give their time to a cause that doesn't cater to their usual audience, or do you find that working with children and being involved with such an effort makes it more appealing?
BM: No. It's never been hard to get support from the music scene, from artists and venues. They've been unbelievably supportive, as have the fans who've bought CDs, concert tickets and raffle tickets. Through them all, we've been able to raise more than $35,000, and we should be at $40,000 by Sept. 11 through the three events we had scheduled at press time. What's been hard is getting volunteers to help with the concert booth, especially considering that it gives them access to any free concert of their choice produced by Concerts East, Max Crusie and Create A Vibe, NJ's three largest independent concert promoters. We also could use more volunteers for our events. High school- and college-age volunteers can be nominated for scholarships, so it's definitely a worthwhile volunteer program given that and the free concerts.
The Stone Pony: Copies of your "Jersey Jams, Jersey Cares" CD have been donated to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. How were these CDs donated and what were the logistics of getting them to the troops? Have you gotten any responses from soldiers in the field who have heard the record?
BM: No responses. They were distributed by the Girls Scouts and the Red Cross. I think the USO had a hand [in] it, too.
The Stone Pony: The Jersey Jams Fund has donated $22,000 in music lessons and school band equipment to 37 New Jersey children affected by 9/11. Can you give us an idea of how some of the money is being used, and are there any stories that have been especially rewarding?
BM: It's all gone to music lessons and school band equipment. I think the most rewarding story is the woman who said she felt the spirit of her late husband in her son after he started taking the guitar lessons we had provided for him.
The Stone Pony: Let's switch to the "Count Basie 100th Birthday Bash for Children" being held here at the club on August 29. What's the goal of this free event, and what are some of the activities that will be taking place that afternoon?
BM: The goal is for families to turn their children onto Count Basie, to have them all learn how much of influence his boogie-woogie beat has been on rock, funk and hip-hop. His piano playing, that left hand, is what rock 'n' roll is all about. Without him and Louis Armstrong, the father of swing, there'd be [no] rhythm 'n' blues. Without [them], there's no rock 'n' roll, no funk, no reggae, no dub, no toasting, no hip-hop. Granted, there is a huge Caribbean influence on hip-hop, but what came out of the Bronx in the late '70s would not be without the Kid from Red Bank or Satchmo. We want kids to learn that and love it, especially kids from the Jersey Shore because that's where the Count was from. They should have an enormous sense of pride in that. We hope to instill it in them and hope this event can be annual so we can instill that pride in as many kids as possible.
The Stone Pony: Can you give a little history about Count Basie's connection to New Jersey, and the importance of his contribution to modern American music?
BM: A great place for that is www.countbasietheatre.org/basie.php. It's his bio that Regina Paleau wrote for the theater's gala Aug. 20 in celebration of the Count's 100th birthday. Regina really lives up to her name. She's our pal, very helpful with Jersey Jams. The theater may be donating some free prizes to kids at our event and they helped to promote it.
Basie's contribution to American music is basically his left hand. It is rock 'n' roll and directly influenced Johnnie Johnson, Chuck Berry's piano player, Professor Longhair, Little Richard, Fats Domino, tons of boogie-woogie and R&B piano players and indirectly influenced everybody that came after him.
The Stone Pony: This event, and the Jersey Jams Fund in general, has several sponsors who are associated with it. How important has the support of your sponsors been to the ongoing work of the foundation, and are there any involved with the event on the 29th in particular who deserve special mention for their contributions?
BM: Well, I can't thank the Stone Pony, Max Cruise and ChorusandVerse.com enough. Without them, and other other sponsors, such as Concerts East, Create A Vibe, Upstage magazine, The Aquarian Weekly, Atomic Productions, SRA Studios, Giancarla Designs, there is no Jersey Jams Fund. They're wonderful, beautiful people who feel very strongly about making sure that kids get turned onto good music and get the opportunity to play it, especially since music education is going down the tubes in our schools.
The Stone Pony: How can readers support the work of the Jersey Jams Fund if they are interested in making a donation, volunteering, or otherwise becoming involved?
BM: They can make a donation by sending a check or money order made out to "Bergen County United Way" with "Jersey Jams Fund" in the memo to: Cheryl Moses, Grants Coordinator, Bergen County United Way, 690 Kinderkamack Road, Oradell, NJ 07649. They [can] volunteer by calling me at 732-977-8902 or emailing me at jersey_jams@yahoo.com. Again, our volunteers run our booth at Concerts East, Max Cruise and Create A Vibe concerts. They get to see the show for free. Running our booth means they sell CDs, handout handbills for our events, sign people up to our email list and sometimes sell raffle tickets for merchandise donated by the music industry. They also can volunteer to help run our events, whether they be benefit concerts or music mentorship events for kids or a combination of both. Again, scholarship is available to high school- and college-age volunteers from corporations and scholarship funds.
We are in the process of producing a Jerry Garcia tribute CD. Artists can send me a Jerry track, either an original or cover that he did with the Dead, solo or a side project to: Jersey Jams Fund, 33 Aberdeen Road, Suite 355A, Matawan, NJ 07747.
The Stone Pony: What are some of the future plans for the Jersey Jams Fund beyond the birthday bash? Are there any thoughts of making a follow-up CD, or producing any other projects that supporters and music fans should be watching out for?
BM: We pay tribute to the Beatles and Jerry Garcia every year. We also hope to pay tribute to the Count every year. These tribute usually contain a music and arts mentorship component that is free for children, sometimes 16 and under, sometimes 12 and under. We hope to keep the Basie Bash free for all if we can continue to do it.
We will be releasing a children's CD that will include Mr. Ray and other popular acts. We hope to have that out by Thanksgiving. I'm producing that with Seth Alexander and Donna Lisa, an excellent children's performer from Westfield. The Jerry tribute CD will be out August 2005. We have a tribute to the Beatles' Revolver album that will be out in 2006. Nasty Ned is working a blues harp compilation. He also will display his artwork and perform on Sept. 11 at the South Street Grille in South Bound Brook to benefit Jersey Jams Fund. Ned's one of our most supportive artists, along with Kathy Phillips.
We'll have our third annual "All You Need Is Love Fest" and Children's Beatles Singalong in tribute to the Beatles in early December 2005. That will be announced this time next year. And I hope to work with Robin Renee, Suzanne Carrington and other NJ women singer-songwriters to release a women's compilation by 2006. I'd also like to do tribute CDs to Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Phish, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and Parliament-Funkadelic. All good things in all good time. Peace.
The official Jersey Jams Fund website can be found at www.jerseyjamsfund.org.
Now at AsburyPark.net:
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Helm and Dan Bern are among the musical headliners for the 29th annual
Clearwater Festival, the largest eco-festival in New Jersey, Aug. 21 and 22
at Sunset Park in historic Asbury Park.
MONDAY NIGHTS AT THE STONE PONY: OPEN MIC
Acoustic, electric, solo, band performances welcome. Backline provided by MUSICMAKERS, just bring guitars. Hosted by PETER SCHERER of HWY 9. Guest DJs from 105.5 WDHA, 105.7 The Hawk, 95.9 WRAT, Sirius Satellite Radio, 90.5 The NIGHT and more. Voting by everyone in attendance.
Prizes from the Pony, Budweiser, Max Cruise, Yoo-Hoo, Compact Disc World, Music Makers, Funk and Standard, Starbucks, Jack Daniels and more. Happy hour 8-11, $1 off all drinks, 25-cent drafts 8-11, $1 drafts after 11, shot specials all night.
Doors at 8 pm. Sign-up begins at 8:30 or e-mail openmic@stoneponyonline.com to sign-up in advance. Admission: $5.
THURSDAY NIGHTS AT THE STONE PONY: LADIES NIGHT
The hottest Thursday night continues with LADIES NIGHT at The Stone Pony.
Music by DJ PRIME spinning the best in house, hip hop, reggae and trance. 18 to enter, 21 to drink. ID a must! Doors open at 9:30 pm. Dress to impress. 25 cent Budweiser drafts 'till 11 pm. $1 drafts after 11. $2 shot specials all night.
Come see for yourself why Thursday nights are the hottest with Ladies Night at the Pony!
