Jazz & blues fest jumps to Monmouth Pk.

The 24th annual Red Bank Jazz & Blues Festival will have a new name and a new venue when the annual event moves four miles down the road to Monmouth Park racetrack in Oceanport.

The festival features local and national performers. Known for many years as RiverFest and then as the Red Bank Jazz & Blues Festival, one of New Jersey’s oldest and largest free outdoor jazz and blues events will now be known as the Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Festival (JSJBF), said Dennis Eschbach, festival chairman and past president of festival sponsor, the Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation.

“We were very fortunate in finding a new host for the festival only 11 minutes away from where it has been traditionally held,” Eschbach said during an interview on Feb. 2.

“Repairs to Marine Park have precluded us from holding the festival there, but thanks to Monmouth Park officials, we’ll be able to continue our annual showcase of New Jersey’s best jazz and blues bands in an exciting and easily accessible new venue,” Eschbach said. The three-day music and food festival traditionally takes place over the first weekend in June and draws more than 100,000 people to Red Bank.

This year, however, the $3.36 million Marine Park bulkhead replacement project that was started last July is under way. The project includes a new sidewalk, redecking of the pier, a new mooring system, floating docks and water and electric marina upgrades.

The entire bulkhead at the park’s north edge is being replaced from the Monmouth Boat Club to the Irwin Marine property, including the cove near the midpoint of the run.

“We’re in Monmouth Park due to construction of the bulkhead in Marine Park,” Eschbach said. “We were told to find an alternate site for 2010. Monmouth Park was looking to host more events, so it’s a good fit.”

Last week, Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels said festival officials needed to know that the park would be ready by June when they met last December.

“We couldn’t guarantee the project would be done by the first week in June,” Sickels said. “Now I understand it is moving on schedule.”

According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, all work on the bulkhead should be completed within the first 10 days of May.

The festival, which will run from noon to 8 p.m. on June 5 and 6, will once again showcase local bands performing simultaneously on multiple stages capped by appearances by nationally known jazz and blues artists.

According to the JSJBF, the food vendors and crafters traditionally a part of the festival will be following the event to its new racetrack location.

The festival also provides an opportunity for the foundation to showcase some of its younger performers when a youth jazz and blues ensemble performs during the two-day festival.

“We couldn’t be happier to have the JSJBF at Monmouth Park this year,” said Bill Knauf, assistant general manager at the racetrack.

Last July the racetrack hosted Van’s Warped Tour, a touring music and extreme sports festival attended by a crowd of some 16,000.

“This pairing of two of Monmouth County’s most recognizable names creates a unique opportunity to showcase world-class thoroughbred racing alongside some great jazz and blues music,” Knauf said in a press release.

According to Eschbach, headliners and local bands will be announced shortly. Since the jazz and blues festivalwill be held on the grounds, all entrants to the racetrack will have

access to the festival

area, in addition to easy access to the acres of parking around the track.

“Jazz and blues enthusiasts will be able to park all day and listen to music without worrying about metered parking or finding street parking,” Eschbach said. “I’m hoping for good weather,” he added.

Eschbach said the races would go on simultaneously with the festival.

“We’ll be located on their grounds, but it won’t affect the horses,” said Eschbach. “People can go inside and see the races. It’s unique and different.”

During an Oceanport workshop meeting on Feb. 4, Councilman Gerald Briscione told Eschbach that the borough is glad to have them.

“We are very happy to have you here. Selfishly, I would hope it’s for more than one year,” Briscione said. “I can guarantee you that you won’t have one parking complaint here.”

No decisions have been made about the location of the 2011 festival.

“Red Bank has been nothing but helpful. They’ve been terrific. Hopefully, the doors remain open,” Eschbach said.

“We’re taking it one festival at a time, seeing how it goes.”

Nancy Adams, executive director of Red Bank RiverCenter, the downtown business alliance, said opinions among borough business owners have been mixed.

Adams added that part of the festival’s success is due to the attraction of the borough’s downtown.

“I think the determining factor will be how it goes for them at Monmouth Park,” Adams said last week.

NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast Line provides north and southbound service from New York’s Penn Station and Hoboken. The Monmouth Park stop is located just steps from the racetrack and the festival, Eschbach noted

For more information about the festival and the foundation, visit www.jsjbf.org.