The Red Bank train station will be dedicated to the memory of late Mayor and state Supreme Court Justice Dan O’Hern. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
After a four-year, $1.6-million facelift, the scaffolding is down at the Red Bank train station, revealing a spiffy new Victorian-era depot.
On Friday, the station will get a new identity to go along with the new roof, restored windows and gingerbread trim.
Local faves Brian Kirk and the Jirks, above, return for the fourth Red Bank Guinness Oyster Festival on Sunday. Below, Touch-a-Truck parks it at the Red Bank Middle School Saturday in a fundraiser for the Monmouth Day Care Center. (Click to enlarge)
Friday, September 20:
LINCROFT: Carpe diem at TEDxNavesink, where attendees will get to experience 25 live talks in addition to livecast sessions from the “TEDxCity2.0” conference. TED is a nonprofit organization devoting to sharing “Ideas worth Spreading.” The nine-hour day is filled with sessions on topics like redrawing our oceans, repicturing paradise, remapping the self and more. The sold-out event runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Brookdale Community College Performing Arts Center and is followed by a light reception. Newman Springs Road.
RUMSON: The second annual Canterbury Arts: A Tapestry of the Arts show features works by New Jersey artists, with all proceeds going to Outreach Grants to benefit Lunch Break, Family Promise, HABcore, 180 Turning Lives Around and more.The three-day exhibition kicks off Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Saint George’s-by-the-River Episcopal Church. Tickets include a wine, beer, and hors d’oeurves/dessert and admission to all days of the show. Reserve tickets in advance. Tickets are $10 day admission, $40 reception (in advance), $50 at the door. 7 Lincoln Avenue.
The Red Bank Street Fair late summer edition returns Sunday. The Count Basie Theatre, below, is home to a weekend-long food extravaganza called ‘Appetite.’ (Click to enlarge)
Friday, September 6:
MIDDLETOWN: The first and third Friday’s of the month mean Teen Art Club at the Middletown Public Library. This twice-monthly teen-led art session requires few tools: a drawing pad and pencil. Teen Art Club begins at 4 p.m. 55 New Monmouth Road.
RED BANK: The Count Basie 365 Cultural Series presents some cool Friday night jazz to cool down the summer heat in the pocket park at Shrewsbury Avenue and Drs. James Parker Boulevard. The concert begins at 7 p.m.
SANDY HOOK: Celebrate the end of summer as the Sandy Hook Foundation presents local caterers, live music and auction items at the End of Summer Party. Proceeds benefit the restoration, maintenance, and education projects of the National Park Service. The farewell to summer runs from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Sandy Hook North Beach.
Beer and wine will be sold in a Red Bank park for the first time at this weekend’s Sippin’ On the River food festival at Marine Park. David Byrne and St. Vincent, below, bring a honkin’ big brass band to the Basie. (Click to enlarge)
By ALEXIS ORLACCHIO
Friday, July 28:
RED BANK: The Downtown hosts Daddy Pop, an eclectic cover band. Let the octuplet take you back with their renditions of hits by the Jackson 5 and Frankie Valli or leave you tapping your feet to the latest hits from Black Eyed Peas and J Lo. The show starts at 10 p.m. 10 West Front Street.
RED BANK: Co-founder of the Talking Heads, David Byrne returns to the Count Basie Theatre, where the concert film Between the Teeth was made. This time, hes bringing Annie Clark, better known by her stage name St. Vincent, for the release of their collaborative album Love This Giant. Tickets are $35, $45, $59.50, and $75. The show starts at 8 p.m. 99 Monmouth Street.
Red Bank offered a sprawling buffet of delights for music lovers Saturday night as the Brookdale Big Band, right, laid down a smooth bed of Basie, Ellington and other greats at Riverside Gardens Park in a benefit for the borough library, while Attractive Nuisenze, above, and Tri City Jazz, below, were among the handful of acts buskingthe sidewalks as part of the summerlong StreetLife program. (Click to enlarge)
The Red Bank train station and the Route 36 Highlands-Sea Bright bridge, below, have new names. (Click to enlarge)
Two prominent pieces of public infrastructure one, some 140 years old, the other brand-new have officially been renamed for Red Bank-area leaders.
Governor Chris Christie has signed bills naming the century-old Red Bank rail station for the late borough mayor and state Supreme Court Justice Daniel OHern and dubbing a new bridge across the Shrewsbury River for the late Joe Azzolina, the longtime state Assemblyman from Middletown.
State Senator Jennifer Beck, who pushed for both, announced the changes Monday.
Monmouth Rugby of Red Bank, in blue, and Monmouth Rugby of Wales, in stripes, in a scrum at Thompson Park in Lincroft in May, 2008. (Click to enlarge)
Its home, the Wilde Rover, is in town, on Shrewsbury Avenue, and it contributes nicely to the community, one Red Bank council member says of the Monmouth Football Rugby Club.
But sorry, ruggers, you can’t practice here, the governing body told the club last week. You just play too rough.
It’s not a call that’s sitting well with the 38-year-old club.
John Alden of Middletown (left) and Cara Smith of Rumson (right) pay tribute to the Chairman, as Red Bank’s Joe Muccioli (center) and the Jazz Arts Project present the fourth annual Sinatra Birthday Bash this Friday night.
By TOM CHESEK
It happens every December over at the Count Basie Theatre and, in a surprise twist, it has nothing whatsoever to do with red-cheeked nutcrackers, reformed misers and various rockings around the Christmas tree.
It’s the Sinatra Birthday Bash, the fourth annual edition of which goes up on Friday night in Red Bank. Produced by the borough-based Jazz Arts Project, the concert offers a chance to hear a variety of voices pay tribute to the iconic Chairman of the Board, who would have marked his 95th lap around the sun this Sunday. They’ll be saluting Ol’ Blue Eyes in song with the accompaniment of the 18 piece Red Bank Jazz Orchestra and they’ll be doing it on the stage of the venerable venue named for one of Sinatra’s favorite frequent collaborators, William “Count” Basie.
It’s December in Red Bank, a time when we gather to celebrate a certain birthday in song and sense of community we’re talking of course about Frank Sinatra, the Jersey-bred Chairman to the Boss, a cultural icon who’d be turning 94 years young this weekend had his career not been cut prematurely short at age 82.
This Friday sees the third annual Sinatra Birthday Bash at the Count Basie Theatre, a recently minted tradition that assembles a pretty wild variety of vocal talent to honor the lasting legacy of the Kid from Hoboken (as well as his collaborations with our own Kid From Red Bank). They’ll perform in front of the Red Bank Jazz Orchestra, a 17-piece organization arranged and conducted by borough-based bandleader and globetrotting jazz scholar Joe Muccioli.
Today’s edition of Red Bank oRBit offers up an exclusive interview with the man called Mooch, on this thing called Jazz and what it takes to stage a swingin’ session under the (hopefully not so swingin’) chandelier of the Count’s crib. Read all about it, in Red Bank oRBit and tell ’em Joe sent ya.
Today’s edition of Red Bank oRBit has an exclusive interview with a performer who’s always been something of a favorite around these parts Jeffrey Gaines, the singer and songwriter who famously dueled with Peter Gabriel some years back over who would have the biggest hit with “In Your Eyes.”
A frequent visitor to the greater Red Bank area, Gaines was one of the stars of last May’s Band Together For Survival benefit at the Basie. This Sunday, June 28, he’ll be back in the borough for a special show at The Downtown. We talked to him about Red Bank, his Pennsylvania roots, and some places that can’t be triangulated on Google Earth.
From there, it’s a quick look at The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), the actual title of a speed-record spoof of all 37 Shakespeare comedies, tragedies and in the form of an onstage football game regal histories. Devised by a British improv troupe, the show comes to the historic and slightly haunted environs of the Woods Theatre at Monmouth U, for the first in its 2009 Shadow Lawn series of summertime stage presentations.
Like a lost packet of Astronaut Ice Cream, it’s all there, going round and round, forever in oRBit.