Hub City Sounds, Live at the Ferry Slip offer families a free blend of world music
Bob Makin
To find world music acts as good as the ones presented by the New Brunswick Cultural Center’s sixth annual Hub City Sounds concert series and Perth Amboy Artworks’ second annual Live at the Ferry Slip shows, you usually have to go into New York City.
And after you’ve added up the tickets, the tolls, the gas, and the parking, the costs can become a challenge, if not a barrier, to attending.
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But Hub City Sounds and Live at the Ferry Slip not only are close to home, they are free.
In this age of $105 tickets to take your kids to acts you never heard of, New Brunswick and Perth Amboy are offering the opportunity to turn your young ones onto an entire world of music from Mexico, the Caribbean, India, Brazil, Latin America and more throughout the summer and into the fall.
“Hub City Sounds is an extremely diverse series offering a traditional, cultural, visual, performing arts, concert and culinary experience for all tastes,” said Tracey O’Reggio Clark, director of New Brunswick Cultural Center.
Hub City Sounds' mission goals include, she said:
- Strengthening the bridge of communication between the arts and the community
- Increasing awareness of the arts by engaging residents, and attracting new audiences by celebrating the beautiful artistry and reflecting the cultural diversity of New Brunswick and the surrounding region
- Augmenting the outreach efforts to our younger residents of New Brunswick and the region by providing affordable access to local professional arts venues and increasing engagement with the arts and community partners in New Brunswick and beyond.
“We believe that all residents and visitors alike should have access to the arts and deserve to experience the high quality of the arts and cultural events that this series and the City of New Brunswick offer,” O’Reggio Clark added. “We have organized these events with free admission from the beginning and emphasized the importance of the majority of the events to be promoted as all ages to further welcome an all-encompassing audience.”
Caroline Torres, director of the nonprofit Perth Amboy Artworks and chairwoman of Live at the Ferry Slip, agreed that reflecting the her city’s cultural diversity with free concerts designed to appeal to all ages is crucial to the enrichment of the community.
Artworks’ has a similar mission to celebrate Perth Amboy through arts and culture, Torres said.
“We have a very diverse community with many cultures represented and that is represented in our lineup for Live at the Ferry Slip Music Series,” she said. “We focus on original music. We give an opportunity for original local and regional artists to perform, and many of the bands we showcase explore roots music, and fuse elements with genres of music, such as rock, jazz, punk, folk, rockabilly, and soul, and make something new and innovative. The bands are really experimental and creative. You can come to one of our shows and hear bongos in a punk song.
“A lot of percussion in music comes from Latin instruments,” Torres added. “Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and Iggy Pop all have had tremendous Latin artists by their sides, using Latin instruments and time changes. Profiling the Latin influences in music and booking Latin artists celebrates cultural heritage and Perth Amboy.”
World of sound
Hub City Sounds will present (all locations are in Boyd Park on Memorial Parkway at Commercial Avenue unless indicated):
- Guelaguetza, featuring the beautiful music, cultural dances, healing traditions, and heritage of Oaxaca, Mexico, 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, July 23
- Second annual Indo-American Festival, 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12
- Second annual Caribbean Festival, noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26
- Fourth annual ROCK New Brunswick, Sept. 8 to 10 throughout Hub City with five music media-curated events dedicated to the local music scene, three of which are free, including a festival noon to 6 p.m. in Boyd Park with eight bands, 40 DIY Market vendors, five food trucks, community workshops, aerialist acrobats and a DJ
- New Brunswick Jazz Project’s fifth annual Central Jersey Jazz Festival, 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, Livingston Avenue at George Street, with Cocomama, Hub City Brass Band, Lucian Barbarian Septet, and Jimmy Cobb Trio with Matt Chertkoff
- 3rd Annual Corazon Latino Festival, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, Joyce Kilmer Park, 143 Joyce Kilmer Ave., as part of New Brunswick Ciclovia, a citywide event mainly produced by the New Brunswick Tomorrow nonprofit dedicated to health, wellness and the arts.
In addition to producing Hub City Sounds, New Brunswick Cultural Center co-presents the annual Hub City Music Festival with founder Iguana Music to benefit the Elijah’s Promise food justice and empowerment program. The arts organization also partners with resident companies and venues George Street Playhouse, Crossroads Theatre Co., American Repertory Ballet, State Theatre New Jersey, Zimmerli Art Museum, and Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts.
“In 2012, under new leadership, we decided to still showcase our arts partners, as well as incorporate our strong partnerships with Rutgers' Mason Gross School of the Arts … coLAB Arts, Lazos America Unida, and Black Circle Symphony,” O’Reggio Clark said. “We diversified … to feature locally to nationally and internationally known artists who call and still consider New Brunswick their first home base. In addition to including new genres of music, such as funk, hip-hop, Latino, Asian Indian, Caribbean and more, and mediums, such as dance, comedy and visual and culinary arts, we continue to build on this necessary concept and attract more audiences every year.”
Having opened on July 8 with the Perth Amboy acts Destitute NJ, a Latin rock band, and I4, a Latin reggae and rock act, Live at the Ferry Slip will continue from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Ferry Slip Museum, 300 Front St. with:
- San Simón, a seven-piece combo playing original soul songs with an Afro-Caribbean pulse, borrowing from American and Latin Caribbean music with old and new influences, and GMJ Groove, an eclectic mix of funk, jazz, reggae and R&B with forays into blues, Middle Eastern and Latin music styles, Aug. 5
- Proper, an indie singer-songwriter who fuses a Cuban style of folk music called trova with elements of Afrobeat, rock and salsa, and Joseph Frame, whose Brazilian jazz is combined with classical, gypsy jazz, and the Great American Songbook, Sept. 9
- Segunda Quimbamba, a dance-and-drum ensemble that performs authentic bomba and plena, the vibrant drum music of Puerto Rico, and United States of Boogaloo, a Spanglish unit that melds boogaloo, punk, salsa, rockabilly, samba, bomba and plena, Oct. 7.
“The music series has given us a great opportunity to network with the local arts community and attract regional artists,” Torres said. “We began the series with one act per show, but booked more acts and dates, as it quickly became popular with artists and the community. We feature local bands and singer-songwriters, amazing talents, like Joseph Frame, The Rollbacks, The EMKays, United States of Boogaloo, Proper, I4, and Destitute NJ, all with Perth Amboy roots.
“We will be hosting our first show with regional acts this year on Aug. 5, featuring San Simon and GMJ Groove,” she added. “The kickoff this year was our largest concert to date. We saw members of the community who came out last year and many new people, young and old, and a diverse crowd all rocking out together. It was very positive.”
Economic development
While offering styles of music that bring a world of music to Central Jersey, Live at the Ferry Slip also aims to use arts and culture to stimulate economic development to help revitalize Perth Amboy, Torres said.
The series is conducted in the city’s maritime history museum and offers a breathtaking view of a moonlit Raritan Bay as acts perform on the venue’s outdoor deck.
“The Ferry Slip is a unique historic property and hosting the live music series there helps to create new interest and use of the space by the community,” Torres said. “The pop-up concerts add vibrancy to our waterfront. There are fun things to do there, in addition to boating, fishing, eating and walking around. By holding local arts activities, we are helping to create a high quality of life.
“Our well-publicized events also attract visitors to Perth Amboy, and people learn about the progressive things happening here and think about living here,” she added. “We encourage people to explore Perth Amboy’s waterfront and visit the ice cream parlor, food trucks, bars and restaurants on the waterfront. Since Superstorm Sandy, the Perth Amboy waterfront has been beautifully rebuilt with a new marina, plantings, and a mile-long waterfront walkway extending from the Ferry Slip to Second Street.”
Few cities in New Jersey have seen a renaissance as strong as New Brunswick.
While Hub City Sounds provides the city with a great return on investment, O’Reggio Clark said she most values the authenticity behind each event and the many stakeholders who make them happen.
“All of the extremely vital, hard-working and diverse committee members are reflected in each event,” she said.
Grooves of growth
Hub City Sounds is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, City of New Brunswick, New Brunswick City Market, and Magyar Bank. All events feature free parking. Boyd Park events also feature free parking in the city’s Public Safety Building at 55 Commercial Ave., right over the Commercial Avenue Bridge into the park.
Hub City Sounds has expanded this year with two new partnerships.
The 18 outlets of the NJ Music Media Partnership came alongside Hub City Sounds and was created specifically to curate and expand ROCK New Brunswick, the fourth annual nod to the music scene that has spawned several national and international acts. They include The Smithereens, Glen Burtnik, Jack Petruzelli, Crossfire Choir, Chicken Scratch, Nudeswirl, Buzzkill, Bouncing Souls, Lifetime, Deadguy, Thursday, Midtown, New Blood Revival, Inspecter 7, Catch 22, Streetlight Manifesto, Jaheim, The Ergs, The Gaslight Anthem, Screaming Females, Roadside Graves, and Night Birds.
Once again co-produced by Hub City-based Smugbug Productions, ROCK New Brunswick will feature for the first time food trucks and a DIY Market on Sept. 10 in Boyd Park. Performances will be provided by Hub City Stompers, Sharief in Burgundy, Silent Knight and the Band Called FUSE, The Anderson Council, Cook Thugless, Nalani & Sarina, Killer Shrimp, DJ Don Dazzo, Vertical Fixation, and a headliner to be named on July 31.
Also for the first time, four other ROCK New Brunswick events will take place: a New Brunswick Music Scene Archive panel discussion, two warmup parties and an after party. More details can be found at here.
The other Hub City Sounds partnership is with the city’s annual fall Ciclovia Festival, which also takes place in spring and summer. Ciclovia will get a cultural boost when the citywide health and wellness fest combines with Hub City Sounds’ third annual Corazon Latino Festival on Oct. 8 in Joyce Kilmer Park. The vibrant festival showcases the city’s rich Latino and Caribbean culture, including traditional dances, music, food and more.
“We are very fortunate that the County of Middlesex and the City of New Brunswick continue to contribute such a significant investment in the arts and recognize the importance and value of diverse, quality and affordable programming for residents and visitors to participate,” O’Reggio Clark said. “The City of New Brunswick has offered their annual Raritan River Festival for almost four decades and their newer program, Ciclovia, closing several streets downtown and in neighborhoods, so audiences can participate in outside activities beyond the city parks. Similar to Ciclovia's unique approach to enable participants to learn more about health and wellness, Hub City Sounds is our pathway to educate festival goers about the vast arts and culture that New Brunswick and the surrounding region have to offer. And it's free!”
Live at the Ferry Slip also has developed new partnerships with Mayor Wilda Diaz, Middlesex County Board of Freeholders, State Council on the Arts, and a new waterfront venue.
Torres said she was grateful for these relationships.
“They allow us to bring the community together and celebrate Perth Amboy,” she said. “This year, we are going to incorporate into the music series some art shows and artists selling their work, as well as more food trucks. We are calling it the Perth Amboy Bazaar.
“We are very happy to be working in partnership with the Perth Amboy Ferry Slip Museum, which is also open during the concerts,” Torres added. “It’s a charming museum filled with interesting exhibits, with history, war and sailing artifacts from the area. It’s an added attraction at our concerts and people really enjoy checking it out. We will continue to expand the series at the Ferry Slip and will also start doing shows at other venues around town.”
For more on Hub City Sounds, visit www.newbrunswickarts.org/2017-hub-city-sounds-festival/. For more on Live at the Ferry Slip, check out (www.perthamboyartworks.org/).
Bob Makin: 732-565-7319; bmakin@gannett.com
See a complete listing of free municipal and county concerts throughout Central Jersey into the fall at http://mycj.co/2uoysfl.