New Brunswick Jazz Project
New Brunswick Jazz Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting world class jazz performances in downtown New Brunswick & other Central Jersey venues. Since its inception in 2010 NBJP has gone from presenting two jazz performances a month, to offering FREE year around shows, four nights every week. The Jazz Project has successfully fostered a supportive environment for regular live jazz performance in New Brunswick and has presented more than 700 events featuring over 1000 acclaimed national and international jazz leaders, sidemen and special guests, including among many others: Arturo O’Farrill, John Lee, Ed Cherry, Dave Stryker, Akiko Tsuruga, Roseanna Vitro, Mimi Jones, Jerry Weldon, Rudy Royston, Virginia Mayhew, Luis Perdomo, Dezron Douglas, Joe Magnarelli, Ralph Peterson, Steve Williams, Kenny Davis, Tia Fuller, Orrin Evans, Jared Gold, Tim Ries, Victor Lewis, Conrad Herwig, and Ravi Coltrane.
NBJP has also developed supportive, wide-reaching relationships with musicians who understand that the Project’s mission is to keep the only original American art form, jazz a vital part of the places where it began—in local communities. “Jazz shouldn’t only be found in New York, New Orleans and Kansas City or at annual festivals. The music should be everywhere–all the time.” New Brunswick is ranked #6 on a list from Movoto.com of the 10 Most Exciting Small Cities in America with live music being cited as one of the deciding factors.
In 2013, The New Brunswick Jazz Project collaborated with the five year old Somerville Jazz Festival to form two day The Central Jersey Jazz Festival. In 2014, the Festival, which takes place the second weekend in September added the township of Flemington and now the three day, three city, FREE musical event draws approximately 12,000 jazz lovers to the region.
NBJP also regularly partners with the New Brunswick Public Schools and the Hub Teen Center to provide after-school enrichment programming in the form of jazz performances with student participation and talk backs.
Mike, Virginia, Jimmy
New Brunswick Jazz Project founders Jimmy Lenihan, Virginia DeBerry and Michael Tublin are longtime friends who wanted to add to the cultural offerings in their already arts rich community. NBJP has created a real jazz scene and now brings guests from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania to the New Brunswick area multiple nights each week to enjoy this quintessential, uniquely American music.
The New Brunswick Jazz Project is a recognized tax exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
