A diverse lineup of musicians will grace Jersey City’s landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre starting this November and continuing until June 2010 as part of a concert series showcasing the historic theatre and the city’s vibrant Journal Square District. The Loew’s Jersey is located at 54 Journal Square in Jersey City.
The first concert will be at 8 p.m., Friday Nov. 13, when Jersey City Magazine presents Doo Wop at the Loew’s. Headlining will be Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge and Larry Chance & The Earls.
The two hour show opens with Larry Chance & The Earls, based out of Jersey City, performing such classics as “I Believe” and “Life Is But A Dream.” The main act, Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge, are known worldwide for their hits including “16 Candles” and “The Worst That Could Happen.”
The first concert is on Nov. 13.
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Hammond, the son of legendary music producer John Hammond Sr., has earned acclaim on his own for being a Grammy Award winner and four time nominee, and a multiple W.C. Handy award winner. He has shared the stage and/or recorded with many of the blues masters, including Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker and Howlin’ Wolf.
Robillard is known as a premier guitarist in jazz, swing, rock and roll and modern electric blues forms, and is renowned as a guitar player for continuing the blues style of T-Bone Walker. He has also been a member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Booking the acts
Don Smartt, head of the Journal Square Restoration Corporation, said recently he is also working on booking other musicians for future concerts, including the doo-wop group The Duprees, blues songstress Shameeka Copeland, 70s supergroup Blood, Sweat and Tears, and disco diva Gloria Gaynor.
Smartt said among the criteria for choosing the performers is that some of them are Jersey City residents, such as members of the Duprees and Larry Chance and the Earls. And there were other considerations.
“We are going for a cross-generational audience of both longtime residents and young people who just moved into the city,” Smartt said. “However, the real purpose is to bring nighttime entertainment back to Journal Square, and we regard the Loew’s as having untapped potential.”
Get those tickets
Tickets for the Nov. 13 show are $30 for Preferred Seating in orchestra rows A-R, and $25 for General Admission and are available online at www.loewsjersey.org and by calling (800)440-7654. Tickets can also be purchased on Saturdays from noon until 3 p.m. at the Loew’s Jersey Theatre box office, 54 Journal Square. The cost of parking for ticket holders will be reduced for the event to just $5 at Square Ramp Parking, located directly behind the theatre.
The show is the premier event in the six-concert series.
The concert series’ promotional partners include the Journal Square Restoration Corporation, Friends of the Loew’s, the City of Jersey City, and Square Ramp Parking. The United Jersey Blues Network is the music partner for the concert series. Media partners include The Hudson Reporter Newspapers and WFDU-FM. The concerts are funded with contributions from the Journal Square Restoration Corporation as well as through the Jersey City Urban Enterprise Zone program.
For more information about future shows, call the Journal Square Restoration Corporation at (201)795-1854 or visit thenewjournalsquare.com. For more information on the theatre, call the Loew’s Jersey Theatre at (201)798-6055 or visit loewsjersey.org.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.