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:
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.