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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.

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 ...




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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

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




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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 makinwaves64@yahoo.com. And like Makin Waves at www.facebook.com/makinwavescolumn.




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.

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