Jazz Music of New Jersey

During the early 20^th century, Newark was a significant center for jazz origination with other smaller New Jersey towns that also provides talent. James P. Johnson of the New Brunswick and other innovators helped invent the stride. While Willie the Lion Smith grew up in Newark, played stride as well as other patterns of jazz piano. Donald Lambert of Princeton was another popular jazz player. Jazz alto saxophone Richie Cole grew up and started playing in Mercer Country.  Other popular New Jersey jazzmen which include bandleader Count Basie, sax men Wayne Shorter and James moody, and also trumpeter Woody Saw of Newark and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie who stayed in Englewood from 1965 until his death in the year 1993.

source of picture: riverviewobserver.net

Newark was also the home of the great jazz singer like Sarah Vaughan who is one of the jazz’s most regarded vocalists. Viola wells that is also known as Miss Rhapsody was a Newark native who started her career singing jazz, religious songs and blues at the clubs in Newark, and eventually all over the United States and Europe. Bill Evans was born in Plainfield and began his career at the North Plainfield school. One of the more well-known jazz scenes in Newark in the first half of the 20^th century was the Grand Hotel on West market Street. Savoy records, which is an early important jazz record label, which was located in Newark. Casa Blanca on Broad Street and the Cadillac club are just two of the many Newark live jazz scenes that have shown artists in the 20^th century.

The jazz institute of studies at the Newark campus of Rutgers University has the biggest library of jazz and jazz related collections in the world. The museum of Newark has annual summer jazz shows series featuring world known musicians. Atlantic City, starting in the 1920s, was a world popular scene for jazz artists, as well as other music. The Paradise Club on IIIinois Avenue billed as the world’s first nightclub and hosted a wide variation of popular musicians.

Other renowned jazz instrumentalists from the Garden state are follow; Bucky Pizzarelli, Jose Pass, Al Di Meola and Nick Lucas. Literally hundreds of jazz songs for Blue Note Records were recorded in Alfred Lion’s home studio such as Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The Blue festival and the Red Bank jazz occur yearly. The liberty jazz festival which also occurs every year in the Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey continues to be the place where many jazz artists can call home like Malone, Steve Turre, Frank Fontaine, Tom Bones, Wallace Roney and many others.