Oleta Adams

Saturday, September 24, 2022 @ 8:00pm

The Woodland
60 Woodland Drive, Maplewood, NJ 07040

Smooth Jazz New Jersey and the Maplewood Department of Arts & Culture team up with Smooth Jazz New York to present 4-time Grammy Nominee Oleta Adams on September 24 at The Woodland. With Oleta behind the Baby Grand piano, she brings her dynamic voice, and the music that brought her international fame. This show is sure to be a blockbuster. With the last two performances selling out, music lovers may want to get tickets early. 

 Since the runaway success of her 1990 debut album Circle of One (which went Platinum), and the impassioned hit single "Get Here" (which became an unofficial anthem of the 1991 Gulf War) Oleta Adams has inspired a growing legion of fans around the world with journeys of the heart via songs that draw deeply from her roots in gospel, while crossing effortlessly into the realms of soul, R&B, urban, and popular music. Her success was first nurtured by worldwide tours with Tears for Fears, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton and Luther Vandross and was solidified by 4 Grammy nominations and more than 2.5 million records sold.

This is Smooth Jazz New Jersey’s sixth presentation in the Maplewood/South Orange area (the first at SOPAC and the past five at The Woodland in conjunction with the Maplewood Dept. of Arts & Culture).

The South Orange-based nonprofit JESPY House will be hosting the Wine Bar, receiving 75% of the wine proceeds. JESPY serves 260 adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, helping them to live lives of independence. Wine bar tickets can be purchased at check out.

After decades of presenting Smooth Jazz in New York either as a Producer for NY based Marquee Concerts, or as a Promotor, the founder of the CD101.9 Smooth Cruise is bringing live “Smooth Jazz” to New Jersey. 

Rich Engel a New Jersey resident has for decades, been involved with Smooth Jazz in NY with a particular concentration on the “Smooth Cruise” a two-hour music sailing with a view of the New York City skyline.

With the advent of Covid 19, the Smooth Cruise ended operations after the summer of 2019. Recognizing that approximately half of the passengers on the Smooth Cruise New York were making the trip from N.J. to see the top names in Adult Contemporary Jazz, it seemed apparent that a void existed.

With venues to few and far between, that present live nationally recognized Smooth Jazz artists, the creation of Smooth Jazz New Jersey now exists. The mission is to bring live adult contemporary music to various venues throughout the state.