Being Blown Away at The Saint (Asbury Park): Gedeon Luke. (on Wed. Jan 30^th)      By Calvin Schwartz    Feb 1, 2013

For the last several weeks every which way I seemed to turn in my central Jersey music world, people asked me, “Did you ever see Gedeon Luke perform?” I thought it better to say, “No I haven’t,” and let it be. I don’t want to let my guard down (image) and mention I’ve never heard of him. Perhaps like an old saying about fire (appropriate for Gedeon) and smoke, when enough people accosted me, I checked around. Gedeon Luke and band and back-up singers were doing a gig at one of my favorite places in Asbury Park, The Saint; an affable, affordable, artistic, acoustical place of ambiance and alcohol with stage and curtain.

Life is funny sometimes. When I was six years old in first grade, World War II ended a few years before. My teacher had a lesson plan one day. A newspaper headline on the bulletin board said, “Pearl Harbor Attacked.” My mother had a friend Pearl so I thought another lady named Pearl was attacked; the imagery of a young innocent mind. And I also thought that Gedeon Luke was a young teenage guitarist from an all-white suburban upper middle class Monmouth county township. It would be a night of epiphany and being blown away by a young 24 year old black singer from a tough part of Memphis.

Being blown away almost became a physical reality much like Dorothy on her way to Oz. The weather forecast for Wednesday night was ominous. Tornadoes down south. Thunderstorms and bad weather was heading to Asbury Park with 60 mile per hour winds. That was enough reason to stay home on a warm sofa in front of a listless TV. But it was the collection of praises for Gedeon over the past few weeks that got me on the road to Asbury. The Dorothy and Oz metaphor works well. I was headed to the land of a magical place; Gedeon Luke’s stage. Witness the beginnings of a musical presence here in America.

A friend got me a seat right up front. Before the show, she introduced me to Gedeon; of course not what I imagined. Then the curtain opened. What I saw and heard instantaneously was energy, love, passion, electricity and soulful fire; a love for his music and words.  Gracefully he moved over the stage manipulating a microphone much like a renaissance artist’s brush doing an oil painting. The audience was mixed (culturally, sociologically, and age with an interesting representation of Asbury’s music elite insiders.)  A few people had eyes closed as if in a dreamy state.  Soon I snaked to the back for a different perspective. Claiming my spot of concrete floor, I was moving and gyrating. Gedeon suddenly was off the stage in the audience. He was a magnet; his audience, small metal chips of adoration. I knew then molecularly and synchronistically about witnessing the early days of a major musical presence.

The blown away was sealed after listening to his gospel, soul and rock influences and feeling his freedom of expression and love and then suddenly hearing the Beatles’ “Come Together.”  I thought about a power to reach every kind of audience; it’s also the wind and fire element of being blown away.

At “Calvin Schwartz-Cerebral Writer” on Facebook a few hours later I quickly dropped these words on my wall. “i like beginnings. you can say you were there. it is insight. involvement. belief. absorption. digestion. fascination. faith. luck. conviction. and being blown away by a performer. severe weather was forecast. 2 inches of rain. 60 mph wind. but the lure of a dynamic new performer on stage where you can feel vibes and be part….so i was at the Saint in Asbury Park last night being a music journalist and loving every moment, fulfilled.  and later the wind at my back pushed me around.”

Concert over; I thanked Gedeon’s manager Marc Swersky and congratulated him. And to Gedeon, I said, “You’ll be filling up arenas soon enough. Thanks for sharing your passion and music.” One of my favorite things in life is to be able to say I was there in the beginning. I watched Neil Armstrong land on the moon; the Brooklyn Dodgers win their first World Series and saw Gedeon Luke live when he was only 24. You all need to do that one of these days.

Gedeon Luke: http://gedeonluke.com/

Calvin Schwartz

Facebook: Cal Schwartz     Calvin Schwartz-Cerebral Writer

Twitter:  @earthood

Blog: http://vichywater.net

Celebrating Clarence: The Big Man’s Birthday Benefit

The “Official Clemons Family Event” – to celebrate New Jersey’s newly declared “Clarence Clemons Day”.

On Jan 12th we will be celebrating the birthday of the Big Man – Clarence Clemons at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park. This is a benefit to raise money for area school district music departments that have lost instruments and various supplies in the storm. We urge all of you to attend it will be a great event and for a great cause that will see immediate results for our local communities!

The Bands lined up to play are……

The Nick Clemons Band

Jobonanno & The Godsons

Steve Smith and the Nakeds

with special guest JT Bowen and MANY MORE!

 AND THIS IS JUST IN: (1-9-13   7 pm) A BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR CLARENCE

We will be singing Happy Birthday and will have a cake from non other than Carlos Bakery in Hoboken. They are creating a saxophone masterpiece.  Carlo’s Bakery IS the setting of the hit TLC show “Cake Boss”

The State of New Jersey has made an official declaration….January 11th is now “Clarence Clemons Day” and although there will be many events in the following weeks; this is the official “Clemons Family Event”.  We hope that you will put this special birthday benefit show on your calendar as friends, fans and loved ones of the Big Man to celebrate his birthday.

Proceeds to benefit Jersey Shore school music departments affected by Hurricane Sandy!  There will be a Silent Auction to further raise money for the school music departments.  All support is appreciated for this event by musician to support the arts and up and coming musicians in our schools.

Facebook event page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/180868898725836

Doors 6pm.  Tickets $15 advance $20 at the door.

Tickets on sale now at Ticketmaster and the Stone Pony Box Office.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0000498B85C46699

INGREDIENTS OF A MAJOR MUSICAL EVENT:

Historic ingredients (alignment of celestial forces of relevancy) of a special day/musical concert: There have been Hurricane Sandy events throughout our state. We’ve all come to understand what ‘Jersey Strong’ means. We live it every day; always have; just so much more pronounced these days. You take this awareness and add the late great Clarence Clemon’s Birthday on January 11^th and the historic resolution by the New Jersey Senate to annually honor one of the Jersey Shore’s (and worlds) most iconic musicians with a day named after him. Every Jan. 11 will now be Clarence Clemons Day. Last week the NJ Senate passed a resolution sponsored by Senator Jennifer Beck (R-11) that memorializes the legendary saxophonist from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.

More ingredients. The Clemons Family and Nick Clemons (Clarence Clemons III) chose to celebrate Clarence’s birthday with “Celebrating Clarence: The Big Man’s Birthday Benefit” at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park  January 12^th.

Even More ingredients. Nick Clemons has a sensitive and caring soul tuned to the pulse of what’s relevant, happening and charitable (pay it forward) in our Jersey world. Last summer, he produced the Asbury Comedy and Music Festival to benefit the Lenny Bruce Foundation and Lenny’s House.  With this benefit on January 12^th, Nick and the Clemons Family decided to raise money for area school district music departments that have lost instruments and various supplies in Hurricane Sandy; how relevant and meaningful to give to the dramatically impacted world of music education in the name of iconic musician Clarence Clemons.

I just talked to Emma Fretz, instrument, choral and general music instructor at both Point Pleasant Beach High and Bay Head Schools which suffered heavy damage to their music resources. Things you never realize: In Bay Head School, they had seven feet of water in the music room. And “because the room is two feet below sea level, content insurance does not cover this and the insurance is null and void,” Emma explained. So their music program resources were completely destroyed. “You don’t realize how expensive even the little things are, like sheet music or hand bells,” Emma continued.  Along comes Clarence’s birthday, Nick Clemons and his energy and we’ve got a special night of music and birthday celebrations ; as I say, “Get off the sedentary sofa and come for music, celebration, a poignant cause and history.”

I think the perfect celestial alignment of stars, moon and Big Man.

Calvin Schwartz

December 26th 2012

NJ Discover Filmed a demo for ShopRite.

Featuring wine opener Legacy & VinOair Wine Aerator – Purchase at any ShopRite Stores.

Perfect Gift for the Holidays!

Christie Administration Announces Recovery Assistance Services for New Jersey Businesses Impacted by Hurricane Sandy

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Contact: Michael Drewniak Kevin Roberts 609-777-2600

Trenton, NJ – To support the recovery of New Jersey’s businesses and protect the overall economic interests of our state in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Governor Chris Christie and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno have announced a series of business assistance services for those affected by the storm. Among these vital services are those related to financial support, information on temporary space, and technical assistance for impacted businesses. Information for all services may be easily accessed through New Jersey’s Business Action Center (BAC) by calling 1-866-534-7789 or through the state’s business portal at www.newjerseybusiness.gov, the “one-stop” shop for business resources. Agents are also available to assist callers that speak Spanish.

“In response to this natural disaster, New Jersey has coordinated a range of multi-agency resources to assist impacted businesses and ensure they are operational quickly,” said Lt. Governor Guadagno. “Providing a thorough and inter-departmental business recovery assistance program is another demonstration of our support for our business community and their workers. The Business Action Center can help businesses tap into a variety of resources that will help them begin to recover from this catastrophic storm.”

The business recovery assistance services are designed to support businesses and workers who may be temporarily unable to perform their jobs due to the storm. These services include:

• Guarantees of up to $500,000 for commercial lines of credit to businesses that need access to cash to improve their damaged property while awaiting insurance proceeds, with all related New Jersey Economic Development Authority fees waived.
• Grant awards for businesses to assist with on-the-job training costs for new workers hired specifically to assist in disaster-related activities, such as landscaping and tree removal, construction, insurance claims, building supplies sales, materials transport, utility work, call and claims centers staffing, and infrastructure clearing and repair.
• Availability of the Business Resource Centers at any of the currently operational local One-Stop Career Centers across the state as temporary hubs for businesses to access telephone and internet services as well as for job seekers and displaced workers seeking workforce development and unemployment assistance – Temporary Hubs for Affected Business to Access Telephones and Internet Services
• The availability of Disaster Unemployment Benefits to provide income security for those displaced workers suffering temporary storm-related job loss.
• Dispatch of Rapid Response team members to identified Disaster Recovery Centers to assist displaced workers.
• Availability of services through New Jersey Youth Corps to assist non-profit, public and governmental entities in a variety of ways for disaster relief and clean-up.

In addition, BAC’s Business Call Center is also the one-stop resource for more information on how to get businesses back up and running. The Call Center staff can assist with the following services:

• Arranging business facility inspections for buildings suffering major flood damage, as such conditions require structural integrity inspections before utility service can be restored. These inspections are handled in local code enforcement offices and by local code enforcement officials. Anticipating an enormous increase in such work, the Department of Community Affairs has mobilized all qualified personnel to assist local governments in this effort.
• Advocating for businesses seeking information from local utilities to restore electric, phone, gas and water services.
• Advocating with insurance carriers to file and expedite claims.
• Providing information on how to qualify for federal recovery assistance, and
• Connecting businesses to the other county and local business services and to the services offered by the Small Business Administration and Small Business Development Centers that include assistance with insurance claims, as well as loans and business plan revisions.

Since October 28, 2012, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (OHSP) has staffed a Private Sector Desk at the Regional Intelligence Operations Center (ROIC), which has served as the primary point of contact for critical private sector industries leading up to, during and after Hurricane Sandy. OHSP staff operating the Private Sector Desk at the ROIC can be reached at 609-963-6810.

For further information about best practices in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, please visit www.ready.nj.gov for continual updates.

The Invisible World. Everybody has one. It’s called a “haunt detector.” It’s the little alarm that goes off in our heads whenever we detect that something mysterious or supernatural has occurred.

http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-World

You could be sitting around relaxing one day at home, and for no special reason you start thinking about someone. Maybe you haven’t thought about this person in years. Then the phone rings; you pick it up, and amazingly, it’s that person! Many of us have experienced this phenomenon.