WBGO presents All That Jazz, a unique series showcasing some of the genre’s most talented and respected performers! This month features smooth jazz musician and visual artist Marion Meadows. This series is a partnership between UCPAC and Smooth Jazz NJ.
Enjoy an evening of smooth jazz, beginning in the WBGO Piano Lounge. Come early to enjoy cocktails and live piano music from the phenomenal Leonieke Scheuble on the Fazioli piano before the performance – doors open one hour before showtime. Marion’s art will be displayed and available for purchase at this event!
About Marion Meadows
Marion was born in West Virginia and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut. He began playing the clarinet and studying classical music at the age of nine. He started playing tenor sax in high school, and then migrated to soprano sax. His passion for various types of music led him down an eclectic musical path. He was intrigued by the styles of jazz musicians, like Stanley Turrentine, Sidney Bichet, Johnny Hodges, John Coltrane, Sonny Stitt, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Dexter Gordon, Cannonball Adderley, Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Fortune, Joe Henderson, Grover Washington, and many others.
After studying jazz at Rippowam High School in Stamford, CT with Anthony Truglia, Meadows attended Berklee College of Music. There he majored in arranging and composition.
He later went to the SUNY Purchase School for the Arts. During his college years he played in a number of bands including disco, R&B and various jazz ensembles.
“I got a lot of sideman jobs in college, and I have always said I got my real graduate degree playing clubs,” says Meadows, who perfected his craft studying with Sonny Fortune, Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman and Eddie Daniels. “Not long after I finished school, (drummer) Norman Connors recorded one of my songs, Invitation, and then asked me to join his band. I later produced his Passion album with my colleague Jacques Burvick (Aquarium Dream). Things just fell into place.”
Meadows first hit the airwaves in 1991 with “For Lovers Only”, but his career really began one day in the late ‘80s at New York’s Grand Central Station. He had been a sideman with Connors for three years, with only vague notions of eventually going solo. One day, while waiting for a train, he pulled out his horn and began playing under the huge dome. His sweet sound caught the attention of fellow traveler, producer and TV composer Jay Chattaway, who happened to be passing by on his way to the train. Chattaway was so impressed with Meadows’ sound that he hooked Meadows up with legendary keyboardist Bob James. Meadows and James collaborated on a recording that unfortunately went unreleased. The experience put him on the road to his eventual success.
Meadows hooked up with numerous artists and musicians and became a well-known sideman in his own right, recording or performing over the years with Brook Benton, Eartha Kitt, Phyllis Hyman, Jean Carne, The Temptations, Michael Bolton, Angela Bofill, Will Downing, Bob Baldwin, Chuck Loeb, John Lee, among many others. In the late ‘80s, Meadows stretched his boundaries by becoming a member of a New York avant-garde band called the Aboriginal Music Society. In 1990 Meadows submitted a solo project to Steve Backer at Novus/RCA and was signed to a recording contract, thus marking the beginning of his solo career.
Meadows’ first RCA release For Lovers Only was a huge success and was followed by his groundbreaking album Keep it Right There. He became a staple of the contemporary jazz format with his subsequent recordings, which include Body Rhythm (1994), Forbidden Fruit (1996), Passion (1997), Another Side Of Midnight (1999), Next To You (2000), In Deep (2002), Players Club (2004), Dressed To Chill (2006), Secrets (2009) Whisper (2013) and most recently Soul Traveler, the first installment of his Soul Trilogy which now showcases his current release, Soul City on the New York-based Shanachie Label.
A holiday mash-up for the whole family, The Hip Hop Nutcracker returns for another spectacular tour. Directed and choreographed by Tony and Olivier® Award-nominated Jennifer Weber, this contemporary dance spectacle is a re-mixed and re-imagined version of the classic, smashing hip hop dance and Tchaikovsky’s timeless music together into a heart-stirring and inspirational holiday event. The Hip Hop Nutcracker is brought to life by a powerhouse cast of a dozen all-star dancers, a DJ, a violinist, and an MC.
Two iconic singers perform their hits and celebrate America’s 250 birthday! Singer/songwriter Don McLean is best known for the classic hit “American Pie,” as well as “Vincent” and “Castles in the Air.” Country superstar Lee Greenwood has seven top charting singles, including “I.O.U,” “It Turns Me Inside Out,” and the patriotic favorite, “God Bless the U.S.A.”
Join us for a 35mm screening of 1955’s iconic film “Rebel Without a Cause” starring James Dean, Natalie Wood (Academy Award Nominee, Best Supporting Actress), and Sal Mineo (Academy Award Nominee, Best Supporting Actor).
Music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
If you’re feeling all alone in the universe – or even if you’re not – Triangle’s newest musical comedy is for you! Join us as Triangle explores what it means to have friends in high – or should we say “sky”? – places. Extraterrestrial visitors, crazy conspiracy theories, and intergalactic shenanigans power this year’s annual laugh-fest of witty jokes, lavish production numbers, and, of course, Triangle’s famous kickline. Can interplanetary goodwill blossom in the dystopian desert of our current times? Get your Triangle tickets now and learn if Roswell That Ends Well!
Dunbar Repertory Company presents Ntozake Shange’s FOR COLORED GIRLS Who have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf, the groundbreaking “choreopoem” – a spellbinding collection of vivid prose and free verse narratives about and performed by Black women. Directed by Darrell Lawrence Willis, SR.
Singer-songwriter/pianist Bruce Hornsby and NJPAC Jazz Advisor/bassist Christian McBride will jam and chat on the intimate Victoria Theater stage, in celebration of Hornsby’s 2026 album, Indigo Park. The two artists share plenty in common: Musical adventurousness that transcends genre. Constant collaboration with the biggest names on the scene. And many well-earned GRAMMY® Awards between them. Pitchfork hails Hornsby as “a solitary spirit drifting through time, bringing people together and bringing out their best, finding the strange resolution in all the dissonance.”
Marvel at the abundance of New Jersey talent in this awe-inspiring annual performance. Students from high schools across the state will put their artistry and hard work on display in NJPAC’s grand Prudential Hall. Members of the 100-piece orchestra and 350-voice mixed chorus have been selected through a rigorous audition process and will be led by a professional conductor. As a longtime leader in youth arts education, NJPAC is proud to host these students. Come cheer them on!
Being over 40 and the only single person in your family is hard. Being over 40, single, and Indian? That’s a WhatsApp family chat emergency.
A meditative rock odyssey weaving reimagined contemporary songs, stream-of-consciousness poetry and live painting.
(PARAMUS, NJ) -- The Forte Piano Music Company presents a Piano Trio Concert - "Exquisite Contrasts" - Haydn & Schubert on Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 2:30pm. This program brings together two landmarks of the piano trio repertoire, revealing the evolution of the genre from the Classical era to early Romanticism.
(MAHWAH, NJ) -- Come to the Mahwah Museum on Sunday, November 15, 2026 for a discussion of a 29-year friendship, rare memorabilia, and the story behind Les Paul's home with Mahwah Mayor Jim Wysocki from his nearly three-decade friendship with legendary musician and inventor Les Paul. The event begins at 2:00pm.
(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The Stress Factory Comedy Club presents Malik Elassal on Sunday, November 15, 2026 with performances at 7:00pm & 9:30pm. His stand-up comedy earned him a spot on Vulture's 2024 "Comedians You Should and Will Know" list.
(ATLANTIC CITY, NJ) -- You can get your holiday shopping done on Sunday, November 15, 2026 when Anchor Rock Club hosts the Atlantic City Punk Rock Flea Market - Holiday Edition. The event runs from noon to 6:00pm.
