Experience and exuberance will be showcased at the 2022 Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival this summer.
Experience, from 71-year-old guitar wiz Walter Trout, star of the 2017 festival and winner of numerous awards since his days with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.
Exuberance, from 18-year-old Veronica Lewis, whose rocking piano and blazing vocals have invited comparisons to Dr. John and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Video: Veronica Lewis
Trout and Lewis will be in good company on Sept. 17, 2022, when the festival marks its 11th edition with a free daylong concert on the historic Morristown Green.
Festival favorites Frank Vignola on guitar and trumpet-toting chanteuse Bria Skonberg are returning. James Langton’s New York All-Star Big Band, featuring Dan Levinson, will get the party started.
“Last year’s return following a pandemic hiatus paid tribute to two of our founders, Linda Kiger Smith and Michael Fabrizio,” Mayor Tim Dougherty said in a statement.
“And this year, we continue to salute them with an exceptional lineup. Because our move to the third Saturday in September was so popular, we have decided to make the change permanent and look forward to seeing everyone.”
The show runs from noon to 10 pm, and it looks like this:
Noon: Called “just amazingly great” by music critic Will Friedwald, James Langton’s14-piece ensemble creates a swing-era sound thanks in part to pianist Rossano Sportiello, trumpeters Brian Pareschi and Mike Davis, saxophonist Will Anderson, trombonists Jim Fryer and Harvey Tibbs, and guitarist/vocalist Molly Ryan. Dan Levinson’s clarinet provides the icing for this multi-layer cake.
2 pm: The late, great Bucky Pizzarelli will be honored by Frank Vignola’s Guitar Night at Birdland Band, which includes guitarist Jimmy Bruno, keyboardist John DiMartino, bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Vince Cherico. Jazz guitar fans have become enthralled by this band’s weekly gigs at New York’s renowned Birdland Theatre.
4 pm: Bria Skonberg, one of Canada’s finest exports, generated plenty of heat at the Festival in 2015 and 2018. She’ll mix new material and classics with her quintet.
6 pm: Veronica Lewis anchors the penultimate slot–and she’s barely old enough to vote. Her credits suggests she’s up to the task: The New Hampshire native’s debut album copped a pair of Blues Music Nominations in 2022, for Best Emerging Artist Album and Pinetop Piano Player of the Year. Lewis has won the Boston Music Awards Blues Artist of the Year, the 2021 Blues Blast New Artist Debut Album Award, and the 2021 Blues Blast Sean Costello Rising Star Award.
8 pm: John Mayall has called Walter Trout “one of the most talented rock and blues players on the world’s stage.” The Ocean City native has been ranked among the Top 10 blues guitarists, and last year he left the Blues Music Awards with Song of the Year honors.
Trout crammed several lifetimes of hard-living into his earlier days. Against all odds, he survived to share his sobering lesson: One need not suffer to play the blues. The genre is its own reward.
“It’s about as pure a musical form as it gets,” Trout told MorristownGreen.com in 2017.
“The pureness of it, the ability to express emotion over a very simple framework, is endless. It’s this simple foundation on which you can build anything that you want. It’s in the blood, and when it gets in there, it doesn’t leave.”
Here’s video of Trout and his son Jon riffing at Morristown’s 2017 festival:
This year’s sponsors include Morristown Airport; Deloitte; Scotto Properties; Hampshire Company; Inglesino Webster; Rainone Coughlin, Minchello;Sills Cummis & Gross; Atlantic Health, Delaware Raritan, and Headquarters Plaza.
The Best Western PLUS Morristown Inn is offering a special weekend rate for out-of-town guests attending the festival.
As in the past, local restaurants are anticipated to offer specials, too. Guests should bring lawn chairs and blankets to the Green.
