Jazz Summer Series at Rutherfurd Hall Kicks off July 27

Rutherfurd Hall is swinging this Summer! The Jazz Summer Series, which starts July 27, 2018 and runs to the last day of summer, features two great 17-piece jazz bands and an All-Star Jam Session.

Tickets for each show as well as a special discount season pass – just $90 for all three shows - are now on sale.

These concerts will be performed Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m. The Summer Jazz Series is sponsored by Scala Memorial Home of Hackettstown.

Kicking off the series on July 27 is Pat Longo's Hollywood East Coast Big Band with a tribute to Stan Kenton. This 17-piece ensemble is led by Pat Longo, who went from playing in an orchestra to the Marine Corps, where he played clarinet and saxophone for the Second Marine Air Wing Band. From there it was on to playing for the Jimmy Dorsey Band and The Harry James Orchestra.

Pat decided to start his own band in 1978, and has played songs for HBO’s ‘The Sopranos’ episodes, the Academy Awards Governor’s Ball and many more venues.

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door.

Next up on Friday, August 24, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. is the Allan Harris Quartet featuring the music of Nat King Cole and Eddie Jefferson.

The outstanding and internationally renowned vocalist, guitarist and composer Allan Harris sums up his personal perspective on music in clear and straight forward terms: “There is nothing that I have found that defines and gives credence to my place in this wild and mysterious universe than this thing called music.”

Over the past 20 years, Harris has steadily developed his reputation as one of the finest vocalists of his era. In addition to his recordings, he has performed on a worldwide stage that has taken him to prestigious international festivals and halls in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, as well as the 2012 Olympics in London. At home, he has toured nationally at festivals and top venues, including New York’s Lincoln Center and Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center. He has received numerous awards, including the New York Nightlife Award for “Outstanding Jazz Vocalist” (which he won three times), the Backstage Bistro Award for “Ongoing Achievement in Jazz,” the Harlem Speaks “Jazz Museum of Harlem Award,” and the Down Beat Critic’s Poll Award for “Rising Star Vocalist.”

Tickets are $30 in advance, and $35 at the door.

Finally, the last night of summer brings the final concert of the series on Friday, September 21, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. with the NY NJ All Star Big Band with a Tribute to Count Basie.

The ensemble is comprised of outstanding musicians who have played under Basie, Ellington, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Wynton Marsalis and so many others.

The Jazz Summer Series at Rutherfurd Hall is produced by Coyne Enterprises, Inc. in cooperation with Rutherfurd Hall and WRNJ Radio. Contact Coyne Enterprises at 908-637-8461.

Tickets are available online at www.RutherfurdHall.org and available in the Hackettstown area at Mama’s Cafe Baci and Panther Valley Pharmacy. Tickets at the door would cost a total of $115 but lock in seats for three in advance for just $90 with the season pass.

Located just off I-80 Exit 19 in Allamuchy Township, Rutherfurd Hall is a National and New Jersey State Historic Landmark. Famed architect Whitney Warren, who also designed Grand Central Station in New York City as Warren and Wetmore Architects (1903-1911), designed the 18,000-square-foot Tudor “country home” in 1904. The renowned firm of Frederick Law Olmsted & Sons designed the landscape plan and the plantings for the site.

Now open as a cultural center and a museum owned and managed by the Allamuchy Township Board of Education, Rutherfurd Hall is an elegant and interesting venue to see and hear jazz. Plus, the ability to meet and converse with the performers makes attending these concerts special.

The Summer Jazz Series is just part of the many cultural offerings, which include the Jazz at Rutherfurd Hall series September through April, summer camps, art classes, yoga sessions, lectures, concerts, and tours of the historic mansion.