New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

Makin Waves Scene Report with Jahk, cB3, Karen Mansfield and more

By Bob Makin

originally published: 05/31/2018


Jahk performs May 19 at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park during “Honoring Powerhouse Females,” an all-star tribute concert that benefitted Planned Parenthood.  Also featured in this week’s Scene Report are Homeless Apians, Karmic Juggernaut, Predator Dub Assassins, and Franke Previte & Lisa Sherman. 

Jersey Shore-based Jahk are releasing a few singles that will lead up to an album at the end of the year. The latest, the chill, sultry love song “Into You,” can be heard live on June 1 at Lemon Restaurant in Freehold.

Jahk will drop their next single, the upbeat indie-pop tune “Round,” on June 18. Namesake singer-songwriter Jahk said the Monday release is on a special date that honors her late grandfather ...

Asbury Park-based cB3 are a new take on a soul-jazz organ trio along the lines of Soulive, Medeski, Martin & Wood with guitarist John Scofield, Hammond B3 players Jimmy Scott or Jimmy McGriff with guitarist Grant Green, and Masters of Groove with guitarist Grant Green Jr., Hammond B3 player Reuben Wilson, and drummer Bernard Purdie.




Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here



The funky all-star three-piece consist of organist Ben Stivers (Gregg Allman, Gloria Estefan), drummer Tobias Ralph (Lauryn Hill, Adrien Belew) and namesake guitarist Chris Buono (Dweezil Zappa). They will make their live debut May 31 at 10th Avenue Burrito in Belmar. They also will open every Thursday from June 21 to Aug. 30 for the national and regional acts playing Jams on the Sand at Anchor’s Bend. The headliners of those free shows include Pink Talking Fish, Kung Fu, Organ Freeman, Aztec Sun and New Kingston. Visit www.JamsontheSand.com for more info ...

Also, Buono has released “Guitar Gym Weekly Workouts V. 3-6,” the second half of 48 guitar lessons originally produced in 2015 for his Guitar Gym Online Classroom. They all can be found at www.chrisbuono.com/guitar-instruction/truefire-courses/ ...

Twenty-six years ago, Jersey Shore singer-songwriter Karen Mansfield embarked on a cross-country journey with her friend Leslie Kiffin. The trek inspired “Me and Leslie,” the latest single and video from her first full-length, “Thistle & Boon,” released earlier this year.

About the trip, Mansfield said, “When your friend needs a companion on her cross-country trip to join her love, and you’re along for the ride, filled with belief in all the good that awaits, like true love everlasting and living out your rock ‘n’ roll dreams. Life, love, risks, adventure, blessings and danger. Trusting that the sun’s gonna shine, love is supreme and the story will unfold as it will.”

In the video, that story is made up of the photos taken during the cross-country trek and continued at a first-time reunion of Mansfield and Kiffin since that trip on the night of the “Thistle & Boon” release party last month.

Mansfield next will perform on June 3 at a house concert accompanied by Jimmy Farkas. Show info can be found at www.facebook.com/KarenMansfieldMusic/posts/10156241439351698 ...

The eco-minded alt-roots trio Homeless Apians and the jam ‘n’ groove outfit Karmic Juggernaut will celebrate a dual record release on June 1 at Langosta Lounge, Asbury Park. Homeless Apians are dropping “Humour as a Defense Mechanism,” a seven-song follow-up to the 2016 full-length debut, “Mr. Sun.” Their buds in Karmic Juggernaut are releasing their debut LP, “The Dreams that Stuff Are Made of,” following two EPs since 2012. For more info on the show, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/172365496920127??ti=ia




Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here



Karmic Juggernaut also will play on June 16 at Beardfest. The seventh annual three-day festival will combine live music, outdoor fun, personal music and art expression, and community engagement from June 14 to 16 in the Pinelands of Hammonton. Other performers will include former Prince bassist MonoNeon and John Medeski and Billy Martin of Medeski, Martin & Wood; Moon Hooch; Marco Benevento of Benevento-Russo; Ghost-Note; Splintered Sunlight; Upstate Rubdown; Swift Technique; Medusa’s Disco; Underwater Sounds; Muscle Tough; The G-Nome Project; Suburban Sensi; Hungry Ghost; Miss Cantaloupe; The Quixote Project; PanSong and much more. For info, visit www.beardfest.org

Karmic Juggernaut also will play June 24, John & Peter’s, New Hope, and July 7, FarmJammaLamma, Brookville, Pa. ...

Asbury island-flavored favorites Predator Dub Assassins will release their first album in two years, “Songs in the Key of Sea,” on June 1 at Asbury Park Yacht Club. Sharing the bill will be everyone’s favorite pirate band The Jolly Daggers, plus DJ Joe HoldFast, who’ll spin some of the tasty platters he found in Jamaica that he sells at his Asbury store and record shows. Also on hand will be artist Adelle Marcero, who will create a live painting ...

Oscar-winning Jersey Shore rocker Franke Previte and his talented partner Lisa Sherman have two hot stage revues coming up. “Calling All Divas” is a new production co-directed by Micheal LaFleur (Celine Dion, Cirque du Soleil, Disney), cast member/co-producer Frank Dicopoulos (“Guiding Light”) and Executive Producer Dennis D’Amico (Paul McCartney). Free tickets are available for a final dress rehearsal on June 6 at New York City’s Theatre at St. Jean, which will stage the full production on June 7.  The cast also includes Philly “Honey Soul” singer Carol Riddick (DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Jill Scott), Nashville triple threat Trenna Barnes Cowboy Crush, “Ring of Fire”), and Brittneyann Accetta, an actress-singer who is working on her debut album in between gigs singing the National Anthem at major sporting events.

"Broadway and Beyond" is back by popular demand on June 29 at McLoone’s Supper Club in Asbury. “This is by far one of my favorite productions and I'm so proud to share to it ... again with even more incredible songs than last time,” Sherman said on Facebook. Joining Sherman, Previte and Musical Director Bob Himmelberger will be cast members Kristin Cochran of Brian Kirk & the Jirks, Benny Gramm (Lou Gramm, Yoko Ono), John Micco (Crush, Cats on a Smooth Surface), Forrest Lawson (Gloria Gaynor, The Village People), and local performers Ralph Notaro and John Martin.

 

Bob Makin is the reporter for www.MyCentralJersey.com/entertainment and a former managing editor of The Aquarian Weekly, which launched this column in 1988. Contact him at [email protected]. And like Makin Waves at www.facebook.com/makinwavescolumn.





Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here



About the author:

New Jersey Stage is proud to be the home of Bob Makin's Makin Waves column since 2017. His Song of the Week column comes out every Friday. He also writes an Album of the Month and Interview of the Month as well.


EVENT PREVIEWS

(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- On Thursday, June 11, 2026, the Telegraph Quartet will return to perform for the Morris Museum's seventh annual Back Deck season. This outdoor concert series began during the pandemic, and The New York Times describes it as "Live Music Splendor in a Parking Lot." Showtime is 7:30pm.
Carteret PAC presents Jo Dee Messina

Carteret PAC presents Jo Dee Messina

(CARTERET, NJ) -- Chart-topping country music icon Jo Dee Messina will perform at The URSB Carteret Performing Arts and Events Center on Friday, June 12, 2026. Messina is known for her powerful vocals and extensive catalog including nine number-one hits, 16 Top 40 songs, and awards and nominations from the ACM, CMA, AMA, Billboard, and the Grammys. Showtime is 8:000pm.
SOPAC to Celebrate 20th Anniversary with Gala 20: Featuring Max Weinberg

SOPAC to Celebrate 20th Anniversary with Gala 20: Featuring Max Weinberg's Jukebox

(SOUTH ORANGE, NJ) -- The South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) will celebrate its 20th Anniversary on Friday, June 12, 2026 with Gala 20: Featuring Max Weinberg's Jukebox — a venue-wide celebration from 5:00pm–11:00pm.
Trenton City Museum presents Art & Song: A Musical Gallery on June 12th

Trenton City Museum presents Art & Song: A Musical Gallery on June 12th

(TRENTON, NJ) -- Trenton City Museum presents the concert Art & Song: A Musical Gallery on Friday, June 12, 2026 at 6:30pm. Versatile vocalists Tom Chiola and Pam Jorgensen, accompanied by the George Sinkler Trio, will delight audience members with selections from Broadway, Blues, Jazz, and more. Transformed into a stylish jazz café, the museum will also provide delicious food and beverages amid the art of the just-opened Ellarslie Open 43 exhibition. Doors will open at 6:00pm.
French Montana to Headline Grand Opening of Dream Live Performing Arts Center

French Montana to Headline Grand Opening of Dream Live Performing Arts Center

(EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ) -- American Dream will celebrate the region's opening World Cup match between Brazil and Morocco with the debut of its newest venue, the Dream Live Performing Arts Center, with a postgame concert by French Montana on June 13, 2026 at 9:00pm.
Sergio Mendes

Sergio Mendes' Wife, Gracinha Leporace, Brings His 'Best Band Ever' to New Jersey

Sixty years ago, Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (A&M Records) emerged as both a masterful artistic statement and a major commercial breakthrough album. The record helped introduce the sophisticated rhythms and cool elegance of Brazilian bossa nova and samba to a truly global audience, blending Brazilian musical traditions with American pop, jazz, and contemporary studio production and repertoire.
Marc Ribler & Friends to perform Paul McCartney birthday tribute "When I

Marc Ribler & Friends to perform Paul McCartney birthday tribute "When I'm 84" at Axelrod PAC

(DEAL, NJ) -- As a tribute to Sir Paul McCartney's upcoming 84th birthday in June, Jersey Shore musician Marc Ribler has put together an all-star lineup to perform "When I'm 84" at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14, 2026.

Levoy Theatre presents Paul Thorn on June 18th

(MILLVILLE, NJ) -- The Levoy Theatre presents Paul Thorn on Thursday, June 18, 2026 at 7:30pm. When it comes to songwriting, less is more, and simplicity is strength. Just ask Paul Thorn, who’s spent three decades turning soulful grooves and small syllables into songs that pack a big wallop.

Erin Harpe & Countryman Jim Bring Award-Nominated Country Blues to Lizzie Rose Music Room on June 18th

(TUCKERTON, NJ) -- Award-nominated country blues duo Erin Harpe & Countryman Jim will bring their captivating blend of traditional country blues, folk, and Americana to the Lizzie Rose Music Room on Thursday, June 18, 2026 at 7:30pm.
The Black Crowes and Whiskey Myers to Perform at Prudential Center

The Black Crowes and Whiskey Myers to Perform at Prudential Center

(NEWARK, NJ) -- Genre-defying rock legends The Black Crowes bring their massive co-headlining Southern Hospitality Tour with modern rock's boundary-pushing powerhouse Whiskey Myers to Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 8:00pm.

 

MORE EVENTS

Click on the listing to bring up its webpage


Hamilton de Holanda Trio

Tuesday, June 09, 2026 @ 7:30pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Berlind Theatre)
Princeton, NJ


Sam Morrow Band

Tuesday, June 09, 2026 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
Tuckerton, NJ


The Brandee Younger Trio

Wednesday, June 10, 2026 @ 7:30pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Berlind Theatre)
Princeton, NJ


Susan Werner

Thursday, June 11, 2026 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
Tuckerton, NJ


The Sergio Mendes Band

Thursday, June 11, 2026 @ 7:30pm
Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC)
Morristown, NJ