Cultural capital New York City and history capital Philadelphia may bookend the Garden State, but New Jersey resonates with its own, singular star power when it comes to music. From colonial days to the present, Jersey natives and residents have scored a remarkable American soundtrack.
Francis Hopkinson, designer of the first official American flag, is credited as the first American composer for his 1759 song My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free. Dr. Lowell Mason, a best-selling hymn tune writer of the early 1800s, was renowned as the “father of American church music” and saw music added to public school education. Born elsewhere, both settled in New Jersey.
Newark was a Jazz Age headquarters. Nicknamed “The Lion” for his bravery in WWI, Newark-born Willie Smith was also a lion on the piano, mastering the “Harlem stride” and influencing future greats including Duke Ellington and Artie Shaw. Born in Red Bank in 1904, William “Count” Basie remains one of the most influential musicians in jazz history.
Around 1900 in Camden, Eldridge Johnson invented the spring mechanism for recording music on flat disks—later records—at his Victor Talking Machine Company.
Local music icons include Hoboken-born Frank Sinatra and Long Branch-born Bruce Springsteen. In 1975, the former famously made the covers of TIME (“Rock’s New Sensation”) and Newsweek (“Making of a Rock Star”) in the same week following the release of his career-catapulting album Born to Run. And this year marks the 30th anniversary of Slippery When Wet, the album that rocketed Perth Amboy-born Jon Bon Jovi to lasting fame.
From homegrown talent, including The Shirelles, creators of the “Girl Group Sound,” and funk legend George Clinton, to stars who grew up or settled here, including Blondie’s Deborah Harry and guitar pioneer Les Paul, the roster shines, with more below.
For New Jersey groups, music is the ultimate memory-maker.
Historic Halls
Post-Jazz Age, Newark became birthplace of the stars, producing Paul Simon, rapper Ice-T, disco legend Gloria Gaynor and the late Whitney Houston.
Legendary, too, is Newark’s 1925 Symphony Hall, graced by performers from George Gershwin to Newark-born Queen Latifah. Originally “The Mosque,” the 2,703-seat main theater, renamed Sarah Vaughan Concert Hall after the Newark-born legend, is one versatile space for groups. Others include the 800-person capacity Terrace Ballroom.
Also from Newark is Frankie Valli. Still active and presently touring the U.S., the pop icon is the only lifetime member of the original Four Seasons, which sold 175 million records worldwide behind hits such as Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry and Oh What a Night.
Jersey Boys, the long-running (2005) smash theatrical story of the Four Seasons’ generation-defining rise to fame, makes its New Jersey debut this October at the State Theatre New Jersey in downtown New Brunswick.
Opened in 1921 as a vaudeville/silent-film house, the group-capable 1,800-seat State, neighbored by the preeminent Crossroads Theatre Company and the George Street Playhouse, faces the 248-room Heldrich Hotel, offering 25,000 square feet of IACC-certified conference space.
In Jersey City, hometown of Kool & the Gang, the 1910 White Eagle Hall reopened last month following a $6 million renovation. Featuring a stained-glass portrait of Frederic Chopin in the ceiling, the 8,000-square-foot hall, with a wraparound balcony but no fixed seating, is configurable for seated shows for 400 people or standing-room concerts for 800. Available for private events, the Hall also has two restaurants, seating 200 combined.
Birthplace of multi-talented performer Paul Robeson (best known for his deep-voiced rendition of Ol’ Man River in Showboat), Princeton’s assets include the group-capable McCarter Theatre Center for the Performing Arts. Princeton University sophomore Jimmy Stewart appeared in the venue’s inaugural 1930 show; Joan Baez and Billy Joel are among the greats that followed.
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Coastal Chords
Deep in music history, the 130-mile Jersey Shore has a soundtrack all its own.
Opened in 1926, Red Bank’s Carlton Theatre was renamed the Count Basie Theatre in 1984, after the jazz icon and local son. Springsteen and Bon Jovi have played the group-capable 1,568-seat national landmark, which continues to attract headline acts and is planning for an expansion and modernization.
Basie, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald were part of the once-thriving music scene in Asbury Park. In 1973, Springsteen immortalized the Victorian-era beach resort in his 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park.
Today, the resurgent destination, 90 minutes north of Atlantic City, maintains its exalted musical standing with historic concert venues that include the 3,600-capacity Convention Hall and 1,600-seat Paramount Theatre. Opened in 1973, the event-capable Stone Pony helped launch Springsteen, along with Jon Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.
Atlantic City is also upping the tempo for groups. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is investing as much as $400 million in its post-acquisition transformation of Trump Taj Mahal, targeting completion by summer 2018. With famed Springsteen tribute band the B Street Band (See Zoom In, page 44.) warming up the press conference, also on hand was E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who intends to bring bands to Atlantic City via his rock radio show Little Steven’s Underground Garage.
Live entertainment figures prominently in the destination’s strategy for product diversification. Cavernous 14,770-seat Boardwalk Hall, from 1929, ranks among the world’s top grossing midsize multipurpose venues, with event space that includes the 3,200-seat Adrian Phillips Ballroom. The venue welcomes legendary rockers The Who next month.
Set to rock the entire summer is Tropicana Casino & Resort. With its daily Multimedia Light & Sound Show dazzling revelers on the Boardwalk, accompanied by free Saturday night fireworks shows from May to September, the property’s diverse entertainment hot spots include the 2,000-seat Broadway-style Showroom, Tango’s Lounge and Ivan Kane’s Kiss Kiss Nightclub.
Star-studded events are also calling at Resorts Hotel Casino, where venues include the classic 1,700-seat Superstar Theatre and indoor-outdoor Margaritaville casino and entertainment complex, featuring Atlantic City’s only year-round beach bar and programmable outdoor space.
Atlantic City options extend from the Circus Maximus Theater at Caesars Atlantic City to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, where along with its brand-new 18,000-square-foot Central Conference Center, group venues include the 30,000-square-foot Event Center, 1,000-seat The Music Box theater and 18,000-square-foot Premier Nightclub, as well as the Borgata Beer Garden.
An hour south of Atlantic City, the ocean-facing, 260,000-square-foot Wildwoods Convention Center can host 10,000 people for concerts, such as this October’s Fabulous ’50s & Beyond Celebration.
Big Tickets
Like New Jerseyans, the state’s larger-scale facilities rock with the best of them.
At MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands, home of the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Giants, wide-ranging group programs include guided tours and on-field banquets, with diverse gathering spaces ranging from VIP meeting rooms to the visitors’ locker rooms. The 82,500-seat stadium is also for mega-concerts, Springsteen and Bon Jovi again among them.
Opened in 2007, the multipurpose, 19,000-seat Prudential Center in downtown Newark is home ice for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and concert stage for acts like Sir Paul McCartney, playing here for the first time ever this September. Fall 2017 also sees the debut of the arena’s interactive GRAMMY Museum Experience. Versatile event spaces at “The Rock” include the arena floor; main concourse, with NYC views through its 75-foot windows; and adjacent 17,000-square-foot practice facility.
Turning 20 this year, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, also in Newark, hosts events ranging from intimate dinners to corporate meetings in the 2,850-seat Prudential Hall.
Outside of Newark in the suburban Oranges (birthplace of Dionne Warwick and Grammy-winning R&B star Lauryn Hill), the multipurpose South Orange Performing Arts Center offers its 439-seat theater and 325-capacity Loft for events. In West Orange, the Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center also hosts private events.
Just over the George Washington Bridge in Englewood (where Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder once lived), the versatile Bergen Performing Arts Center offers its 1,367-seat main auditorium and more intimate cabaret, lounge and gallery spaces for meetings and events.
In central Jersey, with its own Garden State Parkway exit, PNC Bank Arts Center, turning 50 next year, is a fan favorite for headliner concerts from May to September. Seating 17,500 with lawn space for another 10,500 guests, the venue offers pre-show party space for groups of 20-plus.
