Centenary Stage Company's annual Summer Jamfest continues tonight, July 18 at 8pm in the Sitnik Theater with Al Chez and the Brothers of Funk. With the resurgence of "funk" music made popular by such commercial success as "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars, Al Chez and the Brothers of Funk are on the front-lines of reinventing the genre. This high energy band, (which features sisters too) averages 15 amazing talented cats from the NY area. Along with unique musical arrangements of Rock-Soul-Jazz-Blues-Standards and original tunes, front man Al Chez stratospheric trumpet playing and soulful vocals, make for a magical memorable show.
Al Chez started his extensive music career at the age of 9 when he joined his father's local drum corps, The Saints. He joined forces with Jon Bon Jovi to create the band the Atlantic City Expressway. Chez went on to play with Tower of Power, Robert Cray Band, Spyro Gyra, Sting, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, Cee lo Greene, Snoop dog, James Brown as well as many others. In 1997, Chez joined the CBS Orchestra after years of sitting in on trumpet and flugelhorn with Late Night with David Letterman-NBC and the Late Show-CBS, with over 25 years collectively on the two shows he is the second longest network TV trumpet player second only to Doc Severenson with over 2800 Shows.
He has performed at multiple Presidential Inaugurations, over 25 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, featured on the DVD collection, John Lennon's 50th birthday celebration in Tokyo Japan, the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games Closing Ceremonies, multiple concerts at the White House, including the Concert of the Century and The Very Special Christmas Concert and the Concert for New York to honor the brave men and women of 9/11.
Al Chez and the Brothers of Funk are sponsored by The House of the Good Shepherd and tickets are $25.00 in advance. As with all jazz, concerts and special programs ticket prices increase $5.00 day of performance and all ticket sales are final. For more information or to purchase tickets visit centenarystageco.org or call (908) 979 - 0900. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the CSC box office located in the David and Carol Lackland Center on the campus of Centenary College; 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 - 5pm and two hours prior to every performance.
The 2014-15 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and CSC sponsors, including Premier Sponsor Heath Village Retirement Community, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, The Holiday Inn in Budd Lake, and Fulton Bank of New Jersey, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.
Videos