September 9, 2025 • 32 mins
What if the arts could transform not just audiences, but entire cities? In this episode of Lost in Jersey, we sit down with John Schreiber, President and CEO of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), to explore how a lifelong passion for music and culture became the engine behind Newark’s cultural and economic revival.
From his early days as an 11-year-old Broadway superfan to producing jazz festivals with legends like Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan, Schreiber has spent five decades reimagining how arts institutions can thrive. His groundbreaking approach married corporate sponsorship with authentic cultural programming, reshaping how the arts are funded and experienced across America.
At NJPAC, John has built more than a venue—it’s a movement. The center anchors Newark’s downtown, sparks residential and business growth, and provides life-changing opportunities for 100,000 students each year. Through the celebrated TD James Moody Jazz Festival, the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, and bold new partnerships like film studios and arts-focused schools, NJPAC proves that culture is both community and catalyst.
This is a conversation about vision, impact, and the belief that everyone deserves a seat at the table. As Schreiber puts it: “Come on down. You all are welcome.”
Christopher Taylor's Road to Alvin Ailey
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
John, welcome to Lost in Jersey.
It's really nice to meet you.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah, nice to meet you too.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I knew that we were going to interview you.
Both of us started doingresearch and we were like, oh my
gosh, his background isincredible.
Not only are you the CEO andpresident of NJPAC, but you also
have an incredible backgroundof being part of the Newport
Jazz Festival for many years,and then you also produced some
of the most iconic films thatyou know.
(00:30):
I think we've seen all of them.
And then also now you arebringing in an incredible era of
NJPAC with its growth.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your road to getting into,
first of all, jazz andeverything?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Sure, yes, I have been doing this work for 50
years now, so I was very lucky.
When I was a student atHaverford College, outside of
Philadelphia, I became friendswith the British jazz pianist
named Marion McCartland and Ipresented Marion and other jazz
musicians when I was atHaverford and when I left school
I wanted to do one of twothings I wanted to either work
(01:08):
for Hal Prince or I wanted towork for George Wayne, who was
the founder of the US GrassFestival, and Marianne
introduced me to George andGeorge gave me a job right out
of school.
I was really lucky because thetime that I joined the company
which was called FestivalProductions, we produced over a
thousand events a year all overthe world with really
(01:28):
spectacular jazz musicians, andit was a time when Sarah Vaughan
and Ella Fitzgerald and CameronFacing and Charlie Mingus and
Dizzy Gillespie and you name it,were still working and touring
and it was just a remarkableeducation and I was able to go
on the road with all sorts ofheroes of mine around the world
(01:52):
and I developed a deep love ofjazz.
George was a genius, becauseGeorge was the first person who
figured out how to integratesponsors, brands, with
entertainment and the mostfamous thing that he did we did
was a series of festivals for 15years maybe called the Cool
(02:13):
Jazz Festivals, k-o-o-l.
That was at a time whencigarette companies were not
legally allowed to advertisethem.
So Cool Brown Williamson decidedto realize that jazz and R&B as
a way to help the customers,and so this sort of indivisible
association between a brand andan event was something that we
(02:37):
kind of pioneered.
So we did cool jazz festivals inhuge stadiums.
There were R&B festivals We'dbe in the Meadowlands or we'd be
in the Silver Domino Project,which would be, I know.
We'd do R&B festivals withAretha and the Temptations and
the Tops and Rachel Horton, youname it and those events would
draw 35,000, 40,000 people.
(03:00):
And then we evolved that workinto authentic jazz festivals in
about 20 cities around thecountry.
So when I was a kid, growing upsort of embedded in different
American cities and workedclosely with the jazz community,
with the nonprofit community,and create festivals featured
(03:24):
great headliners but alsocelebrated the talent that was
present in the community allyear round, it was a great gift
for me as a young producer tounderstand the intersection of
the arts and community viaheadliners and local heroes, and
so that kind of work and theability to integrate sponsors
(03:47):
into that in ways that madesense for them and the brands
was a kind of unique opportunitythat was sort of formed me as a
producer but also was great fun.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
They're legends.
I mean everyone that you namedand just you know you were there
during the, I would say, theapex peak of the jazz history.
What I find interestinginitially, the people that you
wanted to work with you went tothe top, either a Broadway
producer or the top jazzfestival producers.
Where did you get that kind ofgumption to say I'm going to,
(04:21):
just you know, go for the A-listtop.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
And I was an odd little boy.
I subscribed to Variety when Iwas 11 years old, so really I
loved all things theatrical andmusical and as an 11-year-old I
would read lots of road courses,for you know Broadway shows and
you know stuff like that, andit was just always something I
wanted to do, stuff like that,and it was just always something
(04:44):
I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Do you remember your first show that you, I think you
grew up in Queens, I did, andyou'd probably come into the
city for shows.
Do you remember the first bigshow you saw?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Sure, it was Angela Lansbury in Maine.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So I was 12.
And my folks were great.
We lived at the last stop onthe subway in Maine, wow.
So I was 12.
And my folks were great.
We lived at the last stop onthe subway in Queens and I would
take the E train into thetheater district and they would
give me $8 and I would buy abalcony ticket and I would go
and I would sit in the balconyand I would watch these.
You know, I remember seeing allblack production of Hello Dolly
(05:26):
.
You know, when I was 12, 13years old it was Pearl Valley,
it had Hellway with a Star andstuff like that and I just
thought that was magical.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
And.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I somehow said I want to be in that somehow.
And when I got to college, Iproduced a jazz series at
college and I also started asummer theater with the Bryn
Mawr College.
We'd have the Bryn Mawr SummerTheater.
We'd do a show a week for eightweeks and I just thought that
was great.
And I understood as a schoolboyactor that I was okay, I wasn't
(06:03):
going to make a career out ofit, and I thought, gosh, I want
to be around these people.
How can I be around thesepeople, even not as talent, but
as a facilitator.
And so I spent my life doingthat.
I spent my life surrounded bytalent.
I'm so lucky to have thesedifferent opportunities to
showcase talent.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Absolutely.
Did you play an instrument atany time or sing?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I've sung to myself.
I've also always been alistener.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I feel like you know people also need to get that
message that arts have animportant part to play.
You can be successful.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
You're right.
You can be successful doingthese things.
You can also lose your shirt.
Our young people that we workwith in our education program is
sharing with them the fact thatif one wants to be in the
entertainment business, thereare four dozen ways to be in the
entertainment business.
Everyone does not need to besent a stage with a microphone.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
How does this show happen?
And we have programs that ouryoung folks are involved in,
where we share with themdifferent career opportunities
in the arts, whether it is as asound technician, a lighting
technician, a tour accountant,any number of ways.
In order to get on stage, 50people have to do something to
(07:22):
make that performance possibleand I think illuminating that
for young people who love thearts, who love entertainment,
who love music, who love moviesor whatever it is, is part of
our opportunity.
At Indica, we're about to breakground on a film studio in the
south border of Newark with theLionsgate, and creating a high
(07:46):
school, a magnet high school forcareers in TV and film
production, is something that webegin to talk about with Newark
Public Schools, and I'mcouldn't remember what that
caused Interning or apprenticinga place like a film studio.
A young person can get a unioncard and a job without a college
degree in this business, andthis is a burgeoning business.
(08:09):
You know film and TV Thanks toJohn Murphy and the TV Film Tax
Credit Program.
What we try to instill in ouryoung folks is if you love this
stuff, there are so many ways tobe engaged in it as a
professional, many ways to beengaged in it as a professional.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Yes, and I think well for myself with NJPAC.
My first experience there waswith my Daughters.
All Dance in town at DanceworksStudios and they participate
with NJPAC during the AlvinAiley performances to dance in
the lobby before the performance.
(08:45):
So all the parents come and wewatch the dancers dance right
before and then we all go intothe theater and it is one of the
most joyous, community,communal, cheerful, it's one of
the best performances of theyear.
I love it so much and I've I'veseen Ailey in Manhattan when I
(09:06):
was younger, Uh, but at NJ Packit just feels different.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Just, I can't say enough about it.
You bring up the Ailey and Ilove Ailey, uh, and have forever
.
We do a program with Ailey andpotential called Ailey camp.
And uh, I, I think this one isin nine cities around the
country.
They really want to do is theyrecruit young folks from Newark
(09:32):
who had never set foot on astage before yes, who went to
intensive camp for about sixweeks, and then they do a
performance at the end of thatintensive camp experience and 60
kids all of a sudden becomeAiley dancers and more.
It is transformational to seethe confidence that the young
(09:53):
people have and the pride theyhave in their ability to execute
the choreography.
And the audience, of course, istheir family and their friends.
And there's a lot of whoopingand hollering going on and,
interestingly, out of Ailey Kenthave come dancers who are now
in the main company of Ailey.
We're working on a film rightnow based on a book called the
(10:14):
Good Life, which is abouthealthy and creative aging.
It's based on HarvardGerontological Studies going on
since 1938.
And one of our subjects in thefilm is a nearly dancer named
Chris Taylor.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Chris Taylor, yeah, we interviewed him.
You did, yes, great.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I mean, is there anybody better than him?
Speaker 3 (10:37):
No, he's amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I grew up in Newark, raised by the grandmother, and
is now a member of the maincompany of Ailey, and talking to
him about his growing up, hisevolution as a dancer and then
his thinking about his futurehas just been fascinating.
But again, he's a great exampleof how the arts can, yeah,
(11:02):
really transform.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
That's wonderful to know that you're making a
documentary film.
Well, you know, one of thethings that I'd like to touch on
is the importance of NJPAC.
The impact that NJPAC has hadon revitalizing new work cannot
be understated.
But looking back, I was likewhen did the turn start to
happen?
And it does look like itstarted to happen in 1997 when
(11:26):
NJPAC first broke ground andstarted.
It was part of therevitalization and it shows you
how the arts are able to helprevitalize a community.
And I know that you weretalking about breaking ground on
this new.
I believe it's a huge project,the $330-something million
(11:48):
project.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
That is our—we've managed to plant our candles.
When NGVAC was first imaginedin the late mid-'80s by Governor
Kane, who is still very muchpresent and part of our NGVAC
universe, we just celebrated his90th birthday.
Governor Kane, as a student atColumbia in the late 50s, we saw
(12:12):
what was happening on the westside of Manhattan with the
construction of Lincoln CenterRight, and Lincoln Center was
like one of the last things thatRobert Moses did.
And what they did with LincolnCenter was they built these six
theaters and they had a plaza inthe middle.
And that's what they did.
And they didn't save any landaround Lincoln Center for future
(12:34):
development.
So there was an enormousopportunity for Lincoln Center
as a business benefit, as a realestate developer.
They couldn't do it becausethey didn't save the land.
So when Governor Owen imaginedMJ back and the decision was
made to locate it in Newark,governor Cohen said you know
what?
We're going to build thebuildings, we're going to build
(12:55):
the theaters, but we're going tosave about 20 acres around the
art center for futuredevelopment.
Oh, and that was Preston andhis vote yeah, so the art center
opened.
It did well.
His building.
So the art center opened.
It did well.
And in 2008, my princess, larryGoldman, announced that we would
(13:19):
be building a residential toweracross the street on one of our
plots of land and thatresidential tower, which is
called One Theater Square.
It took 10 years from the firstannouncement to move in.
But One Theater Square, whichis a 24-story tower with 245, we
rented up really quickly whenwe opened it and it became a
market maker because it was thefirst ground-up market rate
(13:41):
residential in Newark in 60years.
And so we proved a point.
It was forever togetherfinancing all the stuff, but it
happened.
And once it happened when itworked, all of a sudden so much
more real estate is beingdeveloped, residential real
estate being developed in thedowntown of Newark With great
(14:04):
help from Prudential master planthe balance of our campus for
future development.
So right now we are inconstruction and if you come to
the campus you'll see all of thework going on the 25-story
tower on one of our parking lotsand six very low-rise and some
(14:24):
townhouses all in our parkinglot adjacent to the art center.
We are reclaiming thestreetscape.
The last 100 years Newark haslost 35 miles of streetscape and
this is not uncommon in urbancenters because in the old days
(14:45):
people didn't want to be on thestreet in urban centers.
And now we are turning that onits head and you're saying come
on down.
We are creating the residentialnow of 335 units, 60 townhomes,
and then across the streetwe're building a 60,000 square
foot education community center.
(15:05):
That will take everything we'redoing in social impact and in
engagement, arts, education,arts and well-being, and we are
locating, uh, the heart of thatwork here in that building,
which hold for a couple of years.
So everything we do in thatbuilding will be free of
community.
(15:25):
And the big idea is come ondown right.
Our community engagement workincludes about 200, 225 free
cultural events in the variouswards of Newark.
So we're saying to Newarkers infact, we'll come to you with
(15:47):
the cultural events and theopportunities to become engaged
and you're always welcome.
We want you to come downtownand experience what's happening
on the campus.
So it's hand-created and oneamong the legal three.
So that's the big idea.
And open for Summer of HoneyCenter Summer of Honey.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Center?
Oh okay, and are thereopportunities then also for the
schools in the area to be ableto do field trips or co-classes
like with some of that in mindwith the educational programs?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yes, there will be opportunities.
At the moment, we reach about100,000 kids with families every
year.
With our family programming,our digital programming.
30,000 kids a year come toNJPAC with school groups for
performances that are curatedspecifically for them.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
And for many of our students, this may be the first
time they've ever seen a liveperformance.
Yeah, If anyone hasn't been toNJPAC, it is a stunning theater.
It is gorgeous inside really.
It is so well-designed.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah, I would say to people when I show somebody the
theater for the first time, ourbig concert hall, if they don't
go like this, then you know it'sa lot.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Can you explain Streetscape?
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Well, yeah, it's beautiful.
Can you explain streetscape?
Anybody to walk on the street?
Right?
And years ago, afterdisturbances and the violence
that occurred in the 60s,whether it was in Hollywood or
Philadelphia or Newark or anynumber of cities, people became
disinclined to want to go todowntowns.
Right.
And it's taken Newark longer torecover from the Newark
Rebellion in 1967 as othercities and so Newark's downtown.
(17:52):
In terms of residential areas,believe it or not, newark has
had more than 10,000 peopleliving in the downtown right.
This is a city with over300,000 residents right.
So the opportunity to advance anew residential not market and
affordable right, and this isvery important to Mayor Baraka
(18:13):
there's always an affordableelement to all the new housing
in Newark.
Encourage those folks to comeon down.
And when I talk aboutstreetscape, I'm saying we're
adding back in streets that havebeen eliminated through urban
renewal.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
You see, on a set Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
So we want to have more feet on the street.
We want people to live downtown, but we also want them, when
they come to Injun, to plan aday, you know, go to the North
Museum, which is one of thegreat art museums in the country
.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Oh, it's, wonderful, yes.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Go there in the afternoon and tour the museum,
have dinner in the Ironbound orin one of the downtown
restaurants and they go home.
I don't want NJPAC to be asingular solo destination.
Newark has more and more tooffer.
Newark is a great city of thearts.
(19:08):
You do a program now called theDodge Poetry Program, and Dodge
Poetry Festival is the largestpoetry festival in Northern
America.
Dodge in their wisdom isworking with us now and we now
have poetry all year round inNewark.
Newark has many, many poets whoreside in the city.
We have young people working inpoetry workshops and I think
(19:33):
poetry is a wonderful way forkids to find their own voice and
tell us who they are.
And again, it's a way toacknowledge and to celebrate the
creative vitality of the cityand to encourage the next
generation of creators.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Okay, so let's talk about the TD Jazz Festival.
How many years has this beenhappening?
Speaker 2 (19:54):
We've been doing it since 2012.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Did you start the festival?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Yeah, I did.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
That's what I thought .
I was like I think you've beenthere for 14 years and I think
you're about to do the 14th one,and I was like, did he do that?
The first thing he did when hecame?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
That was the first thing I did.
Not surprising, there were manyjazz musicians who made Newark
home and one of them was JamesMoody.
And James Moody was a terrificsaxophonist and a flautist and
one of the most generous-heartedpeople ever.
(20:28):
And I wanted, if we were goingto make a jazz festival in
Newark, I wanted to name itafter James Moody, because his
spirit in my mind sort ofencompasses the spirit of jazz,
which is collaborative andgenerous and creative and all
the good things right.
So Linda Moody, his widow,agreed and so we named the
festival the James Moody JazzFestival.
(20:50):
And TD came in very early in thegame as our sponsor for the
festival and they've been withus every step of the way.
They now also sponsor ourstudent jazz education program
and jazz training program and sowe started the James Moody Jazz
Festival.
And then we created the SarahVaughan International Jazz Vocal
Competition and I had touredwith Sarah when I was a kid and
(21:15):
you know huge fan of Sarah's,and we got permission from the
family to do that and that isone of the most joyous events we
do.
It always is the last Sunday ofthe Jazz Festival.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
It's kind of like an audition and countdown to who's
the final winner.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
That's it.
So we have hundreds of singersfrom around the world who submit
to be considered for it andthen we net out with five
finalists and we do a wonderfullive performance with the
finalists and we have terrificjudges.
Great singers who become.
Who are the judges?
Probably our most famous winneris Samara Joy, and Samara Joy
(21:54):
won the Grammy for Best NewArtist two years after she won
the Cerevolon Jazz VocalCompetition, so we're very proud
of her.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
But before that you have what is it?
A week or two weeks of events.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Yeah, we have about 10 days worth of events.
One of the artists who'simportant to us is Christian
McBride, and Christian McBrideand I go back probably 35 years.
The first time I saw him I wasproducing a jazz festival in
Philadelphia and Dizzy Gillespiewas with me and we were
(22:27):
dedicating this jazz festival toDizzy Gillespie and we went to
see a high school band performand Dizzy sort of shoved me in
the side and said who is thatkid playing the bass?
That kid's a monster.
And that kid was 14-year-oldChristian McBride.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Oh my God, it's incredible.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
It's a lovely story.
That was my first meeting orknowing of who Christian McBride
was when I got to NJPAC.
I wanted Christian to be theartistic advisor to the Jazz
Festival and he said yes.
And then I added him to ourboard and around that time my
old boss, george Wein, made himthe artistic director of the
(23:07):
Newport Jazz Festival.
And he's a beautiful cat, right, yeah.
And he encompasses all sorts ofgenres of the music.
He's comfortable playing withanybody.
And the spirit of jazz, thespirit of collaboration.
Wynton Marsalis once said to methat jazz is the most
democratic of musics.
In order for great jazz to getproduced, musicians have to
(23:28):
listen to each other, respecteach other, give each other
space.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Everyone gets their time to shine and do a solo and
you step back and you then youadd in and right you just try to
enhance the whole piecetogether that's right and that,
to my mind, is what informs agood community, right.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
That kind of cross-collaboration, and nobody
is taking pride of place for anyyou know, tremendous length of
time.
It's one of the things I loveabout Newark it's a really
collaborative community andthat's, to my mind, one of the
funnest things about having thisjob and defining ourselves as
(24:11):
an agricultural institution,right, and that means to me
we're here, we'll be here and weare in service to community in
ways that we know about and wayswe don't know about, and so
we're always wide open to ideasand if we can do it, we'll do it
with them, with somebody orsome group.
If we can't do it because wework with so many different
(24:31):
organizations and individuals,we can say, oh, not for us, but
if you talk to these threepeople, maybe that idea can come
true.
So the idea of a performingarts center as an anchor
cultural institution in serviceto community is something that
we practice every day and it's agreat gift.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
That is a gift.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Let's not forget, we got to talk about the Moody
Festival artists.
What are some highlights thatyou'd like to point out?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Christian's going to do a show with his big band and
he has three good singers onthat show with him.
One is Andrew Day and then JoseJames and Lettucey, and it kind
of speaks to how Christianworks, because Christian is not
a traditionalist as it relatesto the music, and so this is a
show that will appeal to jazzaficionados and also fans of R&B
(25:20):
and soul.
Stanley Clark is coming to theJazz Festival and Stanley Clark
is probably one of the greatjazz bassists of all time and he
doesn't perform with greatfrequency, so we're really
excited that he'll be there.
Wonderful jazz guitarist namedStanley Jordan is coming, and
(25:41):
Stanley Jordan's got a wholeprogram of the music of Jimi
Hendrix, which should be reallyinteresting.
D'arthane Kirk is somebody whois kind of legendary in Newark.
She was one of the founders ofWBGO.
She's now 85 years old.
She is the first lady of jazzin Newark and every year we do a
jazz brunch that's called DarthAnn's Place and she is the
(26:03):
hostess.
And this year Nat Adderley Jris going to be the headliner at
the jazz brunch and he's areally wonderful pianist.
So he'll be there.
And then we've gotten in thehabit of doing a show called
Represent, which is a programthat, through the arts, advances
social justice narratives, andso that show, which is part of
(26:25):
our Dodge Poetry program, willinclude Chuck D Rakim, dj
Spinner, the New York and SlamPoetry team and others.
So this is again ouropportunity to sort of mix and
match genres.
My old boss, george Wein, usedto say not everybody likes jazz,
but everybody likes a jazzfestival.
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
It's true, they are very fun, they are very fun,
exactly so.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
The idea is let's bring folks in to hear
jazz-related musics, introducethem to it, and maybe we make
some new friends for the musicthrough that.
And what's another great thingabout jazz and it's also true of
dance through Ailey, forexample is these art forms draw
the most diverse audiences right.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Yes, it's the best all ages, everything, everyone,
and then that's why it feels sogood in the audience also yeah,
exactly that sort of sense ofcelebration and community.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
We come to these live events not only enjoy the
artists that we love, but to bewith our friends who love it too
.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Yes, it's a totally different feeling.
I also tell people my band hada gig on Sunday and everyone
said, oh, you got to send us thevideo and I said it's not going
to sound the same it never does, it's so much better live at
least in my ears.
It's so much better live atleast in my ears.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Right, and the experience is a memory for life
of the whole event.
It's not just the music, it'severything that came with it.
Knowing that you have been toso many festivals, I know that
this is a tough question to ask,but what is the first one that
you can think of?
Like?
That was just the mostincredible experience that I can
(28:08):
remember in my history.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Two of them.
One was what George did withthe Newport Jazz Festival.
He moved it from Newport to NewYork in 1972.
There were riots in Newport andit was a time after the
Woodstock Festival and stufflike that, where, you know, the
Newport Festival had been goingon for years without incident.
But after Woodstock andAltadena, all of a sudden the
(28:31):
nature of festivals changed andGeorge booked some pop acts and
rock and roll acts at theNewport Jazz Festival in Newport
in the late 60s and they hadtrouble, they had issues with
violence and unruly behavior.
And so George said you know what?
I'm going to move this festivalto New York, I'm going to
(28:51):
reinvent it and I'm going to do50 events in 10 days at, you
know, 20 different venues.
And it was at that time like arevolutionary thing to do that
and it worked.
And so my first festivalexperience was the Newport Jazz
Festival in New York, 1976.
(29:12):
And it was just mind-bogglingto me.
So we did things at CarnegieHall, we did things at Lincoln
Center, we did the Staten IslandFerry, we did Damage Park.
I mean free events, paid events.
It was just like I thought, man, I'm in heaven, you know.
Wow, every day it was thegreatest and I thought I have
like found my future right here.
(29:33):
And then the next April got towork on the New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festival, which wasanother one of our festivals,
and again it was the early daysof that festival and my job was
to park cars in the artistparking lot.
But that festival, thatfairgrounds, the multiple stages
(29:54):
, the food, the crafts, all thatstuff, you know, yeah, it's
incredible.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
It's interesting, it was the first of both of those
that were the most you knowmemorable.
You've had an incredible career.
We didn't even talk about thefilms that you've produced.
You've contributed so much toall of us.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Well, you're very kind to say that I've led a
really lucky life.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
I think you did a lot of work there behind the scenes
.
I don't think it was all luck.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
We can't let you go before we ask you to tell us
something you absolutely loveabout New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Gosh.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
I know it's a tough one.
It's a tough one.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
You know I'll tell you what pisses me off.
Okay, I have dual residency.
You know, I lived in Montclair.
I lived in Newark when weopened our apartment house
across the street and now I livein Brooklyn.
So I'm like a dual resident,right, I love both.
But what pisses me off is whenmy New York friends, when I say
(30:57):
I'm the you know I'm an NJ PACin Newark some of them say that
is so cool, what a great place.
You have such an amazing mayor.
You know, boy, I got to get outthere and then other people
that sort of lower their eyesand go.
You know, I'm so sorry aboutwhat's happened to your career.
You know it's like.
So there is an essentialmisunderstanding or lack of
(31:17):
knowledge about how diverseJersey is, how robust the
cultural environment is.
You know great the communitiesare and you know I feel like I
want to be an evangelist for whyJersey is cool and Jersey is
cool.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Or start a podcast.
Exactly, we agree with all thethings that you love and we're
pissed off about the same thingsyou are.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
You're doing a great public service right.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
We are.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Well, thank you so much for being with us on Lost
in Jersey.
It's really it's an honor tohave met you.
I'm so impressed with all thatNJPAC does for everyone and also
for the city of Newark.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Yeah, well, please, you know, please, come on down
and anybody who's listening orwatching come on down.
You all are welcome.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Thank, welcome.
Thank you Absolutely.
This podcast was produced byRachel Martens and Jeanette
Afsharian.
You can find us on Spotify,iTunes and Buzzsprout.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
John, welcome to Lost in Jersey.
It's really nice to meet you.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah, nice to meet you too.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I knew that we were going to interview you.
Both of us started doingresearch and we were like, oh my
gosh, his background isincredible.
Not only are you the CEO andpresident of NJPAC, but you also
have an incredible backgroundof being part of the Newport
Jazz Festival for many years,and then you also produced some
of the most iconic films thatyou know.
(00:30):
I think we've seen all of them.
And then also now you arebringing in an incredible era of
NJPAC with its growth.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your road to getting into,
first of all, jazz andeverything?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Sure, yes, I have been doing this work for 50
years now, so I was very lucky.
When I was a student atHaverford College, outside of
Philadelphia, I became friendswith the British jazz pianist
named Marion McCartland and Ipresented Marion and other jazz
musicians when I was atHaverford and when I left school
I wanted to do one of twothings I wanted to either work
(01:08):
for Hal Prince or I wanted towork for George Wayne, who was
the founder of the US GrassFestival, and Marianne
introduced me to George andGeorge gave me a job right out
of school.
I was really lucky because thetime that I joined the company
which was called FestivalProductions, we produced over a
thousand events a year all overthe world with really
(01:28):
spectacular jazz musicians, andit was a time when Sarah Vaughan
and Ella Fitzgerald and CameronFacing and Charlie Mingus and
Dizzy Gillespie and you name it,were still working and touring
and it was just a remarkableeducation and I was able to go
on the road with all sorts ofheroes of mine around the world
(01:52):
and I developed a deep love ofjazz.
George was a genius, becauseGeorge was the first person who
figured out how to integratesponsors, brands, with
entertainment and the mostfamous thing that he did we did
was a series of festivals for 15years maybe called the Cool
(02:13):
Jazz Festivals, k-o-o-l.
That was at a time whencigarette companies were not
legally allowed to advertisethem.
So Cool Brown Williamson decidedto realize that jazz and R&B as
a way to help the customers,and so this sort of indivisible
association between a brand andan event was something that we
(02:37):
kind of pioneered.
So we did cool jazz festivals inhuge stadiums.
There were R&B festivals We'dbe in the Meadowlands or we'd be
in the Silver Domino Project,which would be, I know.
We'd do R&B festivals withAretha and the Temptations and
the Tops and Rachel Horton, youname it and those events would
draw 35,000, 40,000 people.
(03:00):
And then we evolved that workinto authentic jazz festivals in
about 20 cities around thecountry.
So when I was a kid, growing upsort of embedded in different
American cities and workedclosely with the jazz community,
with the nonprofit community,and create festivals featured
(03:24):
great headliners but alsocelebrated the talent that was
present in the community allyear round, it was a great gift
for me as a young producer tounderstand the intersection of
the arts and community viaheadliners and local heroes, and
so that kind of work and theability to integrate sponsors
(03:47):
into that in ways that madesense for them and the brands
was a kind of unique opportunitythat was sort of formed me as a
producer but also was great fun.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
They're legends.
I mean everyone that you namedand just you know you were there
during the, I would say, theapex peak of the jazz history.
What I find interestinginitially, the people that you
wanted to work with you went tothe top, either a Broadway
producer or the top jazzfestival producers.
Where did you get that kind ofgumption to say I'm going to,
(04:21):
just you know, go for the A-listtop.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
And I was an odd little boy.
I subscribed to Variety when Iwas 11 years old, so really I
loved all things theatrical andmusical and as an 11-year-old I
would read lots of road courses,for you know Broadway shows and
you know stuff like that, andit was just always something I
wanted to do, stuff like that,and it was just always something
(04:44):
I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Do you remember your first show that you, I think you
grew up in Queens, I did, andyou'd probably come into the
city for shows.
Do you remember the first bigshow you saw?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Sure, it was Angela Lansbury in Maine.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So I was 12.
And my folks were great.
We lived at the last stop onthe subway in Maine, wow.
So I was 12.
And my folks were great.
We lived at the last stop onthe subway in Queens and I would
take the E train into thetheater district and they would
give me $8 and I would buy abalcony ticket and I would go
and I would sit in the balconyand I would watch these.
You know, I remember seeing allblack production of Hello Dolly
(05:26):
.
You know, when I was 12, 13years old it was Pearl Valley,
it had Hellway with a Star andstuff like that and I just
thought that was magical.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
And.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I somehow said I want to be in that somehow.
And when I got to college, Iproduced a jazz series at
college and I also started asummer theater with the Bryn
Mawr College.
We'd have the Bryn Mawr SummerTheater.
We'd do a show a week for eightweeks and I just thought that
was great.
And I understood as a schoolboyactor that I was okay, I wasn't
(06:03):
going to make a career out ofit, and I thought, gosh, I want
to be around these people.
How can I be around thesepeople, even not as talent, but
as a facilitator.
And so I spent my life doingthat.
I spent my life surrounded bytalent.
I'm so lucky to have thesedifferent opportunities to
showcase talent.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Absolutely.
Did you play an instrument atany time or sing?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I've sung to myself.
I've also always been alistener.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I feel like you know people also need to get that
message that arts have animportant part to play.
You can be successful.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
You're right.
You can be successful doingthese things.
You can also lose your shirt.
Our young people that we workwith in our education program is
sharing with them the fact thatif one wants to be in the
entertainment business, thereare four dozen ways to be in the
entertainment business.
Everyone does not need to besent a stage with a microphone.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
How does this show happen?
And we have programs that ouryoung folks are involved in,
where we share with themdifferent career opportunities
in the arts, whether it is as asound technician, a lighting
technician, a tour accountant,any number of ways.
In order to get on stage, 50people have to do something to
(07:22):
make that performance possibleand I think illuminating that
for young people who love thearts, who love entertainment,
who love music, who love moviesor whatever it is, is part of
our opportunity.
At Indica, we're about to breakground on a film studio in the
south border of Newark with theLionsgate, and creating a high
(07:46):
school, a magnet high school forcareers in TV and film
production, is something that webegin to talk about with Newark
Public Schools, and I'mcouldn't remember what that
caused Interning or apprenticinga place like a film studio.
A young person can get a unioncard and a job without a college
degree in this business, andthis is a burgeoning business.
(08:09):
You know film and TV Thanks toJohn Murphy and the TV Film Tax
Credit Program.
What we try to instill in ouryoung folks is if you love this
stuff, there are so many ways tobe engaged in it as a
professional, many ways to beengaged in it as a professional.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Yes, and I think well for myself with NJPAC.
My first experience there waswith my Daughters.
All Dance in town at DanceworksStudios and they participate
with NJPAC during the AlvinAiley performances to dance in
the lobby before the performance.
(08:45):
So all the parents come and wewatch the dancers dance right
before and then we all go intothe theater and it is one of the
most joyous, community,communal, cheerful, it's one of
the best performances of theyear.
I love it so much and I've I'veseen Ailey in Manhattan when I
(09:06):
was younger, Uh, but at NJ Packit just feels different.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Just, I can't say enough about it.
You bring up the Ailey and Ilove Ailey, uh, and have forever
.
We do a program with Ailey andpotential called Ailey camp.
And uh, I, I think this one isin nine cities around the
country.
They really want to do is theyrecruit young folks from Newark
(09:32):
who had never set foot on astage before yes, who went to
intensive camp for about sixweeks, and then they do a
performance at the end of thatintensive camp experience and 60
kids all of a sudden becomeAiley dancers and more.
It is transformational to seethe confidence that the young
(09:53):
people have and the pride theyhave in their ability to execute
the choreography.
And the audience, of course, istheir family and their friends.
And there's a lot of whoopingand hollering going on and,
interestingly, out of Ailey Kenthave come dancers who are now
in the main company of Ailey.
We're working on a film rightnow based on a book called the
(10:14):
Good Life, which is abouthealthy and creative aging.
It's based on HarvardGerontological Studies going on
since 1938.
And one of our subjects in thefilm is a nearly dancer named
Chris Taylor.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Chris Taylor, yeah, we interviewed him.
You did, yes, great.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I mean, is there anybody better than him?
Speaker 3 (10:37):
No, he's amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
I grew up in Newark, raised by the grandmother, and
is now a member of the maincompany of Ailey, and talking to
him about his growing up, hisevolution as a dancer and then
his thinking about his futurehas just been fascinating.
But again, he's a great exampleof how the arts can, yeah,
(11:02):
really transform.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
That's wonderful to know that you're making a
documentary film.
Well, you know, one of thethings that I'd like to touch on
is the importance of NJPAC.
The impact that NJPAC has hadon revitalizing new work cannot
be understated.
But looking back, I was likewhen did the turn start to
happen?
And it does look like itstarted to happen in 1997 when
(11:26):
NJPAC first broke ground andstarted.
It was part of therevitalization and it shows you
how the arts are able to helprevitalize a community.
And I know that you weretalking about breaking ground on
this new.
I believe it's a huge project,the $330-something million
(11:48):
project.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
That is our—we've managed to plant our candles.
When NGVAC was first imaginedin the late mid-'80s by Governor
Kane, who is still very muchpresent and part of our NGVAC
universe, we just celebrated his90th birthday.
Governor Kane, as a student atColumbia in the late 50s, we saw
(12:12):
what was happening on the westside of Manhattan with the
construction of Lincoln CenterRight, and Lincoln Center was
like one of the last things thatRobert Moses did.
And what they did with LincolnCenter was they built these six
theaters and they had a plaza inthe middle.
And that's what they did.
And they didn't save any landaround Lincoln Center for future
(12:34):
development.
So there was an enormousopportunity for Lincoln Center
as a business benefit, as a realestate developer.
They couldn't do it becausethey didn't save the land.
So when Governor Owen imaginedMJ back and the decision was
made to locate it in Newark,governor Cohen said you know
what?
We're going to build thebuildings, we're going to build
(12:55):
the theaters, but we're going tosave about 20 acres around the
art center for futuredevelopment.
Oh, and that was Preston andhis vote yeah, so the art center
opened.
It did well.
His building.
So the art center opened.
It did well.
And in 2008, my princess, larryGoldman, announced that we would
(13:19):
be building a residential toweracross the street on one of our
plots of land and thatresidential tower, which is
called One Theater Square.
It took 10 years from the firstannouncement to move in.
But One Theater Square, whichis a 24-story tower with 245, we
rented up really quickly whenwe opened it and it became a
market maker because it was thefirst ground-up market rate
(13:41):
residential in Newark in 60years.
And so we proved a point.
It was forever togetherfinancing all the stuff, but it
happened.
And once it happened when itworked, all of a sudden so much
more real estate is beingdeveloped, residential real
estate being developed in thedowntown of Newark With great
(14:04):
help from Prudential master planthe balance of our campus for
future development.
So right now we are inconstruction and if you come to
the campus you'll see all of thework going on the 25-story
tower on one of our parking lotsand six very low-rise and some
(14:24):
townhouses all in our parkinglot adjacent to the art center.
We are reclaiming thestreetscape.
The last 100 years Newark haslost 35 miles of streetscape and
this is not uncommon in urbancenters because in the old days
(14:45):
people didn't want to be on thestreet in urban centers.
And now we are turning that onits head and you're saying come
on down.
We are creating the residentialnow of 335 units, 60 townhomes,
and then across the streetwe're building a 60,000 square
foot education community center.
(15:05):
That will take everything we'redoing in social impact and in
engagement, arts, education,arts and well-being, and we are
locating, uh, the heart of thatwork here in that building,
which hold for a couple of years.
So everything we do in thatbuilding will be free of
community.
(15:25):
And the big idea is come ondown right.
Our community engagement workincludes about 200, 225 free
cultural events in the variouswards of Newark.
So we're saying to Newarkers infact, we'll come to you with
(15:47):
the cultural events and theopportunities to become engaged
and you're always welcome.
We want you to come downtownand experience what's happening
on the campus.
So it's hand-created and oneamong the legal three.
So that's the big idea.
And open for Summer of HoneyCenter Summer of Honey.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Center?
Oh okay, and are thereopportunities then also for the
schools in the area to be ableto do field trips or co-classes
like with some of that in mindwith the educational programs?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yes, there will be opportunities.
At the moment, we reach about100,000 kids with families every
year.
With our family programming,our digital programming.
30,000 kids a year come toNJPAC with school groups for
performances that are curatedspecifically for them.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
And for many of our students, this may be the first
time they've ever seen a liveperformance.
Yeah, If anyone hasn't been toNJPAC, it is a stunning theater.
It is gorgeous inside really.
It is so well-designed.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah, I would say to people when I show somebody the
theater for the first time, ourbig concert hall, if they don't
go like this, then you know it'sa lot.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Can you explain Streetscape?
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Well, yeah, it's beautiful.
Can you explain streetscape?
Anybody to walk on the street?
Right?
And years ago, afterdisturbances and the violence
that occurred in the 60s,whether it was in Hollywood or
Philadelphia or Newark or anynumber of cities, people became
disinclined to want to go todowntowns.
Right.
And it's taken Newark longer torecover from the Newark
Rebellion in 1967 as othercities and so Newark's downtown.
(17:52):
In terms of residential areas,believe it or not, newark has
had more than 10,000 peopleliving in the downtown right.
This is a city with over300,000 residents right.
So the opportunity to advance anew residential not market and
affordable right, and this isvery important to Mayor Baraka
(18:13):
there's always an affordableelement to all the new housing
in Newark.
Encourage those folks to comeon down.
And when I talk aboutstreetscape, I'm saying we're
adding back in streets that havebeen eliminated through urban
renewal.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
You see, on a set Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
So we want to have more feet on the street.
We want people to live downtown, but we also want them, when
they come to Injun, to plan aday, you know, go to the North
Museum, which is one of thegreat art museums in the country
.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Oh, it's, wonderful, yes.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Go there in the afternoon and tour the museum,
have dinner in the Ironbound orin one of the downtown
restaurants and they go home.
I don't want NJPAC to be asingular solo destination.
Newark has more and more tooffer.
Newark is a great city of thearts.
(19:08):
You do a program now called theDodge Poetry Program, and Dodge
Poetry Festival is the largestpoetry festival in Northern
America.
Dodge in their wisdom isworking with us now and we now
have poetry all year round inNewark.
Newark has many, many poets whoreside in the city.
We have young people working inpoetry workshops and I think
(19:33):
poetry is a wonderful way forkids to find their own voice and
tell us who they are.
And again, it's a way toacknowledge and to celebrate the
creative vitality of the cityand to encourage the next
generation of creators.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Okay, so let's talk about the TD Jazz Festival.
How many years has this beenhappening?
Speaker 2 (19:54):
We've been doing it since 2012.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Did you start the festival?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Yeah, I did.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
That's what I thought .
I was like I think you've beenthere for 14 years and I think
you're about to do the 14th one,and I was like, did he do that?
The first thing he did when hecame?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
That was the first thing I did.
Not surprising, there were manyjazz musicians who made Newark
home and one of them was JamesMoody.
And James Moody was a terrificsaxophonist and a flautist and
one of the most generous-heartedpeople ever.
(20:28):
And I wanted, if we were goingto make a jazz festival in
Newark, I wanted to name itafter James Moody, because his
spirit in my mind sort ofencompasses the spirit of jazz,
which is collaborative andgenerous and creative and all
the good things right.
So Linda Moody, his widow,agreed and so we named the
festival the James Moody JazzFestival.
(20:50):
And TD came in very early in thegame as our sponsor for the
festival and they've been withus every step of the way.
They now also sponsor ourstudent jazz education program
and jazz training program and sowe started the James Moody Jazz
Festival.
And then we created the SarahVaughan International Jazz Vocal
Competition and I had touredwith Sarah when I was a kid and
(21:15):
you know huge fan of Sarah's,and we got permission from the
family to do that and that isone of the most joyous events we
do.
It always is the last Sunday ofthe Jazz Festival.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
It's kind of like an audition and countdown to who's
the final winner.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
That's it.
So we have hundreds of singersfrom around the world who submit
to be considered for it andthen we net out with five
finalists and we do a wonderfullive performance with the
finalists and we have terrificjudges.
Great singers who become.
Who are the judges?
Probably our most famous winneris Samara Joy, and Samara Joy
(21:54):
won the Grammy for Best NewArtist two years after she won
the Cerevolon Jazz VocalCompetition, so we're very proud
of her.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
But before that you have what is it?
A week or two weeks of events.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Yeah, we have about 10 days worth of events.
One of the artists who'simportant to us is Christian
McBride, and Christian McBrideand I go back probably 35 years.
The first time I saw him I wasproducing a jazz festival in
Philadelphia and Dizzy Gillespiewas with me and we were
(22:27):
dedicating this jazz festival toDizzy Gillespie and we went to
see a high school band performand Dizzy sort of shoved me in
the side and said who is thatkid playing the bass?
That kid's a monster.
And that kid was 14-year-oldChristian McBride.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Oh my God, it's incredible.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
It's a lovely story.
That was my first meeting orknowing of who Christian McBride
was when I got to NJPAC.
I wanted Christian to be theartistic advisor to the Jazz
Festival and he said yes.
And then I added him to ourboard and around that time my
old boss, george Wein, made himthe artistic director of the
(23:07):
Newport Jazz Festival.
And he's a beautiful cat, right, yeah.
And he encompasses all sorts ofgenres of the music.
He's comfortable playing withanybody.
And the spirit of jazz, thespirit of collaboration.
Wynton Marsalis once said to methat jazz is the most
democratic of musics.
In order for great jazz to getproduced, musicians have to
(23:28):
listen to each other, respecteach other, give each other
space.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Everyone gets their time to shine and do a solo and
you step back and you then youadd in and right you just try to
enhance the whole piecetogether that's right and that,
to my mind, is what informs agood community, right.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
That kind of cross-collaboration, and nobody
is taking pride of place for anyyou know, tremendous length of
time.
It's one of the things I loveabout Newark it's a really
collaborative community andthat's, to my mind, one of the
funnest things about having thisjob and defining ourselves as
(24:11):
an agricultural institution,right, and that means to me
we're here, we'll be here and weare in service to community in
ways that we know about and wayswe don't know about, and so
we're always wide open to ideasand if we can do it, we'll do it
with them, with somebody orsome group.
If we can't do it because wework with so many different
(24:31):
organizations and individuals,we can say, oh, not for us, but
if you talk to these threepeople, maybe that idea can come
true.
So the idea of a performingarts center as an anchor
cultural institution in serviceto community is something that
we practice every day and it's agreat gift.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
That is a gift.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Let's not forget, we got to talk about the Moody
Festival artists.
What are some highlights thatyou'd like to point out?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Christian's going to do a show with his big band and
he has three good singers onthat show with him.
One is Andrew Day and then JoseJames and Lettucey, and it kind
of speaks to how Christianworks, because Christian is not
a traditionalist as it relatesto the music, and so this is a
show that will appeal to jazzaficionados and also fans of R&B
(25:20):
and soul.
Stanley Clark is coming to theJazz Festival and Stanley Clark
is probably one of the greatjazz bassists of all time and he
doesn't perform with greatfrequency, so we're really
excited that he'll be there.
Wonderful jazz guitarist namedStanley Jordan is coming, and
(25:41):
Stanley Jordan's got a wholeprogram of the music of Jimi
Hendrix, which should be reallyinteresting.
D'arthane Kirk is somebody whois kind of legendary in Newark.
She was one of the founders ofWBGO.
She's now 85 years old.
She is the first lady of jazzin Newark and every year we do a
jazz brunch that's called DarthAnn's Place and she is the
(26:03):
hostess.
And this year Nat Adderley Jris going to be the headliner at
the jazz brunch and he's areally wonderful pianist.
So he'll be there.
And then we've gotten in thehabit of doing a show called
Represent, which is a programthat, through the arts, advances
social justice narratives, andso that show, which is part of
(26:25):
our Dodge Poetry program, willinclude Chuck D Rakim, dj
Spinner, the New York and SlamPoetry team and others.
So this is again ouropportunity to sort of mix and
match genres.
My old boss, george Wein, usedto say not everybody likes jazz,
but everybody likes a jazzfestival.
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
It's true, they are very fun, they are very fun,
exactly so.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
The idea is let's bring folks in to hear
jazz-related musics, introducethem to it, and maybe we make
some new friends for the musicthrough that.
And what's another great thingabout jazz and it's also true of
dance through Ailey, forexample is these art forms draw
the most diverse audiences right.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Yes, it's the best all ages, everything, everyone,
and then that's why it feels sogood in the audience also yeah,
exactly that sort of sense ofcelebration and community.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
We come to these live events not only enjoy the
artists that we love, but to bewith our friends who love it too
.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Yes, it's a totally different feeling.
I also tell people my band hada gig on Sunday and everyone
said, oh, you got to send us thevideo and I said it's not going
to sound the same it never does, it's so much better live at
least in my ears.
It's so much better live atleast in my ears.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Right, and the experience is a memory for life
of the whole event.
It's not just the music, it'severything that came with it.
Knowing that you have been toso many festivals, I know that
this is a tough question to ask,but what is the first one that
you can think of?
Like?
That was just the mostincredible experience that I can
(28:08):
remember in my history.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Two of them.
One was what George did withthe Newport Jazz Festival.
He moved it from Newport to NewYork in 1972.
There were riots in Newport andit was a time after the
Woodstock Festival and stufflike that, where, you know, the
Newport Festival had been goingon for years without incident.
But after Woodstock andAltadena, all of a sudden the
(28:31):
nature of festivals changed andGeorge booked some pop acts and
rock and roll acts at theNewport Jazz Festival in Newport
in the late 60s and they hadtrouble, they had issues with
violence and unruly behavior.
And so George said you know what?
I'm going to move this festivalto New York, I'm going to
(28:51):
reinvent it and I'm going to do50 events in 10 days at, you
know, 20 different venues.
And it was at that time like arevolutionary thing to do that
and it worked.
And so my first festivalexperience was the Newport Jazz
Festival in New York, 1976.
(29:12):
And it was just mind-bogglingto me.
So we did things at CarnegieHall, we did things at Lincoln
Center, we did the Staten IslandFerry, we did Damage Park.
I mean free events, paid events.
It was just like I thought, man, I'm in heaven, you know.
Wow, every day it was thegreatest and I thought I have
like found my future right here.
(29:33):
And then the next April got towork on the New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festival, which wasanother one of our festivals,
and again it was the early daysof that festival and my job was
to park cars in the artistparking lot.
But that festival, thatfairgrounds, the multiple stages
(29:54):
, the food, the crafts, all thatstuff, you know, yeah, it's
incredible.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
It's interesting, it was the first of both of those
that were the most you knowmemorable.
You've had an incredible career.
We didn't even talk about thefilms that you've produced.
You've contributed so much toall of us.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Well, you're very kind to say that I've led a
really lucky life.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
I think you did a lot of work there behind the scenes
.
I don't think it was all luck.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
We can't let you go before we ask you to tell us
something you absolutely loveabout New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Gosh.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
I know it's a tough one.
It's a tough one.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
You know I'll tell you what pisses me off.
Okay, I have dual residency.
You know, I lived in Montclair.
I lived in Newark when weopened our apartment house
across the street and now I livein Brooklyn.
So I'm like a dual resident,right, I love both.
But what pisses me off is whenmy New York friends, when I say
(30:57):
I'm the you know I'm an NJ PACin Newark some of them say that
is so cool, what a great place.
You have such an amazing mayor.
You know, boy, I got to get outthere and then other people
that sort of lower their eyesand go.
You know, I'm so sorry aboutwhat's happened to your career.
You know it's like.
So there is an essentialmisunderstanding or lack of
(31:17):
knowledge about how diverseJersey is, how robust the
cultural environment is.
You know great the communitiesare and you know I feel like I
want to be an evangelist for whyJersey is cool and Jersey is
cool.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Or start a podcast.
Exactly, we agree with all thethings that you love and we're
pissed off about the same thingsyou are.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
You're doing a great public service right.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
We are.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Well, thank you so much for being with us on Lost
in Jersey.
It's really it's an honor tohave met you.
I'm so impressed with all thatNJPAC does for everyone and also
for the city of Newark.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Yeah, well, please, you know, please, come on down
and anybody who's listening orwatching come on down.
You all are welcome.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Thank, welcome.
Thank you Absolutely.
This podcast was produced byRachel Martens and Jeanette
Afsharian.
You can find us on Spotify,iTunes and Buzzsprout.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
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