Our Virtual 2020 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival: Spread out your beach blanket

Antoinette Montague steps out at the 2019 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Jeff Sovelove
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What a day it would have been.

Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020: The 10th Annual Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival.

A pandemic pulled the plug on this seminal summer event, which has drawn thousands to the historic Morristown Green over the years.

Fortunately, our video vault is packed with priceless moments from the festival, which was hatched by Mayor Tim Dougherty, produced by Don Jay Smith and Linda Smith, and underwritten by scores of local businesses.

MorristownGreen.com is proud to share some of our favorite performances, stretching all the way to the festival’s start in 2011.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER… nine years of video highlights from the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Click icon, top right, to toggle through playlist. Videos by Kevin Coughlin for MorristownGreen.com:

Hometown heroes span from Grover Kemble to Robert Randolph. How’s this for a lineup of all-star axmen: Davy Knowles, Bernard Allison, Robben Ford, Johnny A , Matt Schofield and Walter Trout. Love the blues harp?  Try Rob Paparozzi or Charlie Musselwhite.

Pizazz? Louis Prima Jr. and The Witnesses, La Bamba and The Hubcaps, and the Frank Vignola Trio are hard to beat  The ladies are no slouches, either: Ana Popovic, Antoinette Montague and Bria Skonberg sparkled.

MEMORIES: Great moments from nine years of the Morristown Jazz & Blues Fest. Click / hover on images for captions:

TWO-FISTED TRUMPETER, for Louis Prima Jr. and The Witnesses, at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Alexander Hamilton enjoys the 2018 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Walter Trout goes for it, as Mark Rivera waits his turn, at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Having fun, ath the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Robert Randolph takes the pedal off the metal, at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Drummer Marcus Randolph with daughter Tristen, 6, a dancer, at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bucky Pizzarelli , 91, rebounded from health setbacks to perform at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Mike Kostak of Basking Ridge and Diana Kidd of Ramsey dance at the 2018 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Richie 'LaBamba' Rosenberg at the 2018 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Fans ring stage for Robert Randolph show, at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Ana Popović at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Ana Popović reaches for the stars at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Ana Popović solos at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bucky Pizzarelli with Morristown First Lady Mary Dougherty and Mayor Tim Dougherty, at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Lavondo Thomas of Ana Popović's band, at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Louis Prima Jr. and his Witnesses reach for a high note at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
STARS IN HIS EYES: Sun reflects off shades of Quinn Sullivan, at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Madasyn Tarver, 3, at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Marco Palos of Louis Prima Jr & The Witnesses at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Crowd settles in at at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bernard Allison and Davy Knowles, scheduled headliners, share an umbrella after their sets were rained out at the 2018 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Janice Nellins and daughter Sammie, 4, of Denville, at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
THUMBS UP: Richie 'LaBamba' Rosenberg at the 2018 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
The Sazonovs of East Brunswick--Iryna, 9, and parents George and Victoria--at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Marco Palos of Louis Prima Jr. and The Witnesses, at the M
Linda Smith and Don Jay Smith, co-producers of the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Will Pattinson of Louis Prima Jr. and The Witnesses, at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
DOG DAYS OF SUMMER, at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Johnny A leaves 'em smiling at the 2013 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Adam Casadevall.
Mayor Tim Dougherty and Louis Prima Jr. at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Pianist Jerry Vezza of Madison leads the Jerry Vezza Quartet at the first Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival.Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Walter Trout headlining at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 19, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Nicki Parrott, shown here at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, was Les Paul's comic foil for a decade. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Quinn Sullivan, 14, shreds away at the Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Adam Casadevall
THE SHOW MUST GO ON: Grover Kemble was ill this week, but you never would have known it from his high-energy performance at the first Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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All ages have filled the audience–and graced the stage. Quinn Sullivan dazzled at 13, Bucky Pizzarelli was sublime at 90.

The pandemic claimed Pizzarelli this spring.  We dedicate this virtual festival, with love, to the legendary jazz guitarist.

Thanks for the memories, Bucky.

LOOKING GOOD: Bucky Pizzarelli, at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
SEVEN STRINGS AND A SMILE: Bucky Pizzarelli, at the 2016 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

 

 

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