Jody Joseph just being Jody in this case brings her tribute to Janis Joplin and Stevie Nicks to the Brookdale PAC stage for an ambitious encore, even as she readies her first concert of inspirational tunes this weekend in Shrewsbury.
By TOM CHESEK
In a 2009 interview that appeared on our satellite site Red Bank oRBit, Jody Joseph described her latest project as “the most insane thing I’ve ever tried to pull off” an ambitious, three-part concert event involving multiple wardrobe changes, guest dancers and a very real apprehension “that Ill spin right off the edge of the stage and land in the VIP seats.”
The event, which debuted last year at the Paramount in Asbury Park, was One Legend, One Diva, One Woman, a custom crafted showcase in which the locally legendary singer, songwriter and music teacher a performer we promptly branded The Hardest Working Woman in Shore Business augmented a set of her own songs by stepping into bluesy character as Janis Joplin, as well as stepping into the formidable boots of Stevie Nicks.
The diminutive dynamo whose musical pedigree features direct bloodline links to arena football mogul Jon Bon Jovi AND to ultimate pop heartthrob Mario Lanza has announced that she’ll be bringing her tour de force triptych back to the boards in September, this time to the Performing Arts Center on the Lincroft campus of Brookdale Community College. Before all that, of course, she’ll be maintaining her usual busy schedule of gigs with a little something special offered up to fans old and new this Sunday, at one of the greater Red Bank area’s most historic locales.
Longtime listeners who’ve known Jody Joseph to step into the role of Lucifer him/herself on the Stones classic “Sympathy for the Devil” (or who’ve heard her out-caterwaul Robert Plant during the orgasmic interludes of “Whole Lotta Love”) might be surprised to know that she defines herself as an “Inspirational Rock/Blues Singer” these days and that she’s announced the release of On My Way Home, a carefully crafted EP of original devotional pop songs that’s been receiving advance airplay on stations from San Juan, PR to the real-America precincts of Wasilla, AK.
Jody and her band will be formally highlighting this particular color of Joseph’s amazing musical dreamcoat, with a free concert this Sunday, August 29. Presented inside the centuries-old Christ Church at Sycamore Avenue and Broad Street in Shrewsbury, the 6p performance is being billed as the star’s first-ever “church” concert, and it’s a donations-welcomed event for which a select group of Joseph’s vocal students will be opening the set.
Apparently not ones to rest for a single moment, the Jody Joseph Band will be spending the evening prior to the performance at The Dockside in Sea Bright, where on August 28 they’ll be serving up a Saturday night set of classic rock standards from their voluminous playlist (check it out here). The night of Friday, September 10 finds Jody and the boys (Bill Frank, Robert Kipp, Jon Rotman, Billy Siegel, Jon Huey Tatlow and B Jay Willis) down among the dartboards at the always-fun Claddagh Lounge in Highlands, while September 18 sees them playing multiple sets at the Colts Neck Inn on Route 537.
Then on Saturday, September 25, Jody Joseph dons the finery of Texas tornado Joplin and California coquette Nicks for a one night stand of One Legend, One Diva, One Woman on the stage of the Brookdale PAC, in a 5:30p show from which a portion of proceeds will be donated to the nonprofit Mary’s Place By The Sea, the Ocean Grove-based retreat for women who are undergoing cancer treatment.
Doors open at 5 for 1L1D1W, with tickets ($30) reserved via the JJ website or by calling (732)544-8513.
