A warm summer day at the Jersey Shore, served with a side of cool jazz and blues.
It’s the promise the Long Branch Jazz & Blues Festival has delivered on for more than two decades.
The free, one-day event — set for Aug. 23 — is expected to draw between 8,000 and 10,000 people to the Long Branch boardwalk for hours of family-friendly fun.
The festival - celebrating its 25th anniversary - is a labor of love created and maintained bythe Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation. The foundations is made up of several dedicated volunteers, including festival founder Barry Stein and Tom Baldino, president of the Jersey Shore Jaz & Blues Foundation.
“We’ve built it up into a really nice statewide event,” says Stein, who served for years as the special events director for the city of Long Branch before retiring. “We have national acts, fireworks, food vendors — and it’s held right on the beachfront by Rooney’s Oceanfront Restaurant, in what we call the Great Lawn.
“It’s become an event that I’m still very happy to be part of,” shares Stein.
Baldino and Stein, who have known each other for more than 60 years, says one of the most rewarding parts of the festival is introducing new audiences to jazz and blues.
“This is a cultural event,” explains Stein. “Jazz and blues are American culture. The festival exposes people who aren’t familiar with it — people who might just be walking by or heading to the beach — to a really important part of our cultural history.”
This year’s lineup includes local favorites such as the youth band from the Sweet Music Academy, the New Watchdog Blues Band, Red 123, and the Tommy LaBella Allstars featuring Arne Wendt and Peter Karp. Headlining the festival is the Blues Beatles, a band from Brazil that plays Beatles songs in a blues style.
“We try to mix it up and give people something different each year,” notes Baldino. “We thought this would be a really nice twist on what we’ve done in the past.”
Despite all the hard work from Baldino, Stein, and a committed team of volunteers, the festival wouldn’t be possible without support from the city of Long Branch, says Stein.
From the mayor and public works department to the police and local vendors, “we’ve had everyone’s full support,” shares Stein. “Everyone’s been extremely helpful and cooperative in putting this on.”
The effort is always worth it, emphasizes Baldino.
“We just have a very deep-seated love for the music, and that’s why we do this,” notes Baldino. “We’re all volunteers. Nobody gets a nickel out of this. And it’s a lot of work — it takes six months to plan. Then it goes by like your wedding. You plan and plan and plan, and all of a sudden, it’s over.”
While the festival lasts just one day, its impact continues long after.
Each year, scholarships are awarded to emerging artists, which they can use for music lessons, instruments, or other resources to help advance their craft.
And the return on the day’s investment — sharing music, community, and culture — is immeasurable.
“Success is not measured in dollars and cents,” explains Baldino. “It’s measured in community commitment. The important thing for us is to make sure that we’re passing this along to younger generations.”
The Long Branch Jazz & Blues Festival runs from 1 to 9 p.m. Aug. 23. For more information, or to donate to the festival or the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation, visit jsjbf.org.
The Long Branch Jazz & Blues Festival is funded and operated by the City of Long Branch with assistance from the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation.