Category Archives: TVD Asbury Park

“College radio” probably conjures up images of walls of records and pimply faced geeks gently dropping a needle on a Ramones record with WWII-era radar operator headphones on. For me it’s hard to update the image I have of college radio from the cliché from the ’80s and ’90s, even having worked at one for the last three years.

Some of the bigger college radio stations have found success within their communities by offering programming that commercial radio does not. Whether it’s the advantage of having their thumb on the pulse of what students in college are listening to because the jocks and programmers are students, or just offering musical options a little off the beaten path—introduced by people who may not be professionals but are passionate about it—can gain these stations a rabidly loyal fan base.

WFDU on Fairleigh Dickinson’s Teaneck, NJ campus is one such station. Over the last year the station has pivoted its main terrestrial programming to a “Retro Radio Oldies” format, filling the void left by other stations who decided to move their “oldies” cuts up to the late ’70s and ’80s, leaving stacks of hits to gather dust.

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Friday, September 30 marked the return of the annual Rock Carnival in Lakewood, NJ. A three-day festival boasting rock and roll royalty—Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, and Twisted Sister as well as Overkill, Monster Magnet, and Clutch.

The event is a unique concept. It’s a full-scale carnival with games, vendors, carnival rides, and gourmet food trucks. Not just your traditional scale carnival food, although that was offered, but higher end fare as well. There was also a small tent stage that hosted some local and regional cover bands, as well as national artist like Zebra and Trickster. All of this sat in the parking lot of First Energy Park, a minor league baseball stadium which hosts the Lakewood Blue Claws as its main resident. Once inside the baseball stadium, two large stages were placed in the outfield.

We arrived at the park just in time to check out the first band which was to be Zakk Sabbath, Zakk Wylde’s Black Sabbath cover band. Recently I saw Zakk do a 20 minute cover of “N.I.B.” while I was covering the Generation Axe tour, and to refer to it as epic would be an understatement.

It was raining pretty hard when we arrived and it seemed we had a few minutes to spare, so we went to say hello to a friend who was working the merchandise booth. This is when we were informed that Zakk wasn’t playing. Evidently the stage has some flooding on it due to the heavy rains and he would not be able to perform. We were then told that although it was not public yet, Clutch would also have to cancel their set as well. I was speaking with a fan who overheard the conversation and actually left because he was only there to see Zakk Wylde and Clutch. It was a bit heartbreaking to us as well, but as long as Alice Cooper was still going on, my 3 hour drive was worth it.

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All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

Well, nothing lasts forever. Here is the final episode of Garden State Sound. After two years, and 88 episodes, the time has come to bring our travels through New Jersey music to an end. For now, at least.

My new shift at WFDU, 89.1 FM (6am-9am) will take up most of my radio time, and I don’t know that I’ll have the extra gusto to produce this weekly program. It feels like the right time to shut it down.

We go out with a rollicking trip through some of my favorite music and guests from the last two years: Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Uncle Floyd, Donald Fagen, The Rascals, Soul Attack, D.L. Byron, Bob Crewe, Val Emmich, Titus Andronicus, Spin Doctors, Nathalie Pires, and others.

To The Vinyl District, WFDU, all guests of the show, and to our supporters we say: Thank You. I hope you’ll follow me on this lifelong journey of music. Thank you for listening!

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

There is a little bit of everything on this most recent episode of Garden State Sound. Tune in for the usual gang of Garden Staters, and—as always—a few surprises!

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

This week, we continue—and conclude—our tribute and memorial for Rudy Van Gelder with some fine, clean sides—all vinyl. Included in this episode are: Milt Jackson, Ron Carter, Bob James, Wayne Shorter, Grover Washington, Jr., Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Paul Desmond, Modern Jazz Quartet, and more!

While this may mark the end of our two-part series, there is no doubt that RVG’s influence will always be heard in any thorough examination of music from the Garden State.

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

People abuse hyperbole in this business of media: he/she was a legend, this was groundbreaking, that was the first of its kind. Usually, it’s a bit much, but in this case, Rudy Van Gelder has earned his kudos. Mr. Van Gelder passed away last week at the age of 91. During his time on Earth, Mr. Van Gelder ran two studios (in Hackensack and in Englewood Cliffs) and recorded the majority of the greatest jazz albums ever (no hyperbole).

While not a producer, he was a skilled and thoughtful engineer whose job it was to figure out how to get the sound that the musician and producer wanted to hear on tape. He pioneered the use of tape and brought in the Neumann microphone—both of which have since become gold standards of recording.

There’s much to say about Mr. Van Gelder’s impact on jazz music, recording, and otherwise, but in this case we’ll let the music do the talking. I pulled some of my favorite Van Gelder recordings and cleaned the grooves just for this show. Listen and enjoy.

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

No one has as many fingerprints on as many classic jazz recordings as Rudy Van Gelder who died last week at the age of 91. Not a producer or arranger, but a fantastically talented engineer who recorded some of the greatest jazz albums of all time in his studios in both Hackensack and Englewood Cliffs.

Mr. Van Gelder also served as a mastering engineer for albums not recorded in his studio and made mobile recordings of some of the greatest live jazz performances ever captured on tape (Mr. Van Gelder also heralded the use of tape in recording before much of the sound community embraced it). He was a hero of jazz music, but also a titan of the New Jersey music scene. With his talents, Mr. Van Gelder could have set up shop anywhere, but he chose to stay in New Jersey for his entire career.

This week, we revisit a broadcast commemorating his 90th birthday. Next week, you’ll hear a brand new show memorializing his recordings and further discussing his life.

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

Here we offer you another hot summer dive into the NJ bag of goodies. This week we explore some original music from Alyssa Sequoia, a new track from Val Emmich’s newest release Whatever’s Chasing You, some local reggae from Hoboken HiFi, and a very well-done tribute to Les Paul and Mary Ford.

Also, Lesley Gore gets “Paranoid” and Dizzy Gillespie bops and blows his horn with “Stuff” Smith. We also delve into some local rock and roll from Wormburner and Schizo Fun Addict. Good gracious, folks, there’s a little something here for everyone. Join us and let’s listen to what New Jersey sounds like.

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

This week, a relaxing funky, jazzy show before we bust open the rock and roll and discuss Sugarfest which happened on 8/12-13 in Jersey City. Also, The Roches, George Benson, Frank Sinatra, Antonio Carlos Jobim, a great Sarah Vaughan track from the Frasier soundtrack (of all things), Tal Farlow, Stuyvesant, The Brixton Riot, and a few more odds and ends.

I also come through on my promise to purchase—and play for you—a few tracks from a sealed copy of D.L. Byron’s 1980 power-pop masterpiece, This Day and Age. Click the link and let’s get busy.

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

I don’t attend church much anymore, but listening to records at Michael Fremer’s home is—for me—about as close as it gets. That’s really not hyperbole: if you believe that music is one of the highest representations of holiness on Earth, then listening to pure analog on a major hi-fi system is nothing short of a moving, religious experience. Again, Michael has graciously allowed me to cull through his library, pull out some Jersey-based albums, hear them on his system, and make digital copies of those recordings for you to hear.

For Mr. Fremer—Senior Contributing Editor of Stereophile magazine and Editor of Analog Planet—vinyl is not just a recent fad. He’s loved and championed records for decades and has a true passion in discovering the ones which sound the best and make the little hairs on your arms stand up. Hear him tell you all about it this week. We’ll also talk Sinatra, Bill Evans, Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Les Paul, The Isley Brothers, George Clinton, and more.

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

This week, we get back to basics. A mix of old and new Jersey classics, many of which are captured on vinyl. On this episode of Garden State Sound: Val Emmich, Melody Gardot, Danielia Cotton, David Grisman, Yo La Tengo, and many more.

Tune in to hear the best that New Jersey has to offer!

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

This week, we continue dusting off the compact disc collection and discovering what New Jersey gems have been hiding on the old A/V shelves. In doing so, we listen to the Hoppin’ Haole Brothers (featuring Uncle Floyd on piano, of course), Sewell’s somewhat forgotten The Parcels, the wonderful accordion slinger John Foti, the greatest cover band in New Jersey—if not America—The Nerds, Duncan Sheik, The Joe Deninzon Jazz Trio, the McCartneyesque Elephant Goes West, and, of course, Val Emmich.

A French copy of Albert Francis’ and Antonio Carlos’ 1967 gem and a Japanese pressing of Springsteen’s “Born to Run” also make an appearance, as does a brand new song by Avi Wisnia. So, tune in for a little of the old—and a bit of the new—as heard on a rapidly disappearing medium that holds its own bit of mystique and magic.

Last summer in Asbury Park it was hard to go anywhere without Dentist being there. If they weren’t playing the venue you were at, chances are they just had and they were coming back. This summer they’ve released a new album Ceilings and have seen the single “Meet You There (in Delaware)” take off on platforms like Spotify and Itunes. A video for the song shows the band performing in many of these clubs in which they’ve become staples.

At the end of June they set out on a multi-state tour that included Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, and Ohio. Returning to New Jersey, they’re right back at it with a full schedule of shows lined up for the rest of the summer.

I spoke to guitarist and songwriter Justin Bornemann on the way to Ohio while the rest of the band was sleeping in the van. Among other things we discussed the choice to release Ceilings on vinyl through Little Dickman Records—which you can purchase here. “We definitely wanted to put it out on vinyl,” Bornemann says. “All of us in the band, when we buy new music we tend to buy it on vinyl. It seems to us that’s the way things are going.”

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

Perhaps its heresy to write this at The Vinyl District, but I have a secret to share with you. Come closer, I don’t want anyone hearing this. This is strictly between you, and me. The truth is: I’ve been buying CDs again.

I know, I know. Shhhh. Stop reacting like that, people are going to see you!

I love collecting records and I’m in it for the long haul, but during the ’90s, I was also a diehard CD collector. When streaming began to take hold, I traded in my CDs while the going was good. But, I do miss them a little.

The strengths and weaknesses of each format might make for a separate column, but the fact is that I do have many NJ recordings available only on CD, so I thought it was a good time to raid the dusty CD collection.

Hear Jersey favorites like Frank Sinatra, Donald Fagen, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, and Debbie Harry, but also be prepared for some new names: Paul Brubaker, Bob Cannon, Blendre, Freddie Hendrix, The Prime Time Sublime Community Orchestra, and Alfa.

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

P.M. Dawn always presented themselves as cosmic and interplanetary, but they did most of their work right here in Jersey City. I didn’t have cable through much of the ’90s, but I recall watching some show on network television that aired that week’s most played music videos, the replays were on Saturday morning.

I’d watch the usual offerings and then P.M. Dawn would come on and I wouldn’t know what to think. This was hip hop? R&B? What did I know? I was 13. Anyway, what I did know was that this was not the usual video, or musical, fodder.

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